GERMAN RAIL HOT SPOTS

Introduction:

The north-german city of Hamburg offers plenty of rail action, especially freight. The harbour in Hamburg is among the biggest and busiest in the world, and this generates a lot of traffic - about 8% of all freight traffic on german rails are generated in Hamburg. So you might consider (I do) the whole Hamburg area as on big rail hot spot.

Railway lines:

The busiest part of Hamburg in terms of railway traffic is south of the Elbe down to the big Maschen Yard. South out of Hamburg Hbf runs a multi-track railway (part of both the Hamburg - Hannover line, KBS 110 and the Hamburg - Bremen - Wanne-Eickel line, KBS 120) going south to Hamburg-Harburg, where most passenger trains stop.

Along the line are freight lines to and from the harbour areas. A little south of Hamburg Hbf the line is joined by the Güterumgehungsbahn, this is a freight only line allowing trains to and from the north to go avoid Hamburg Hbf and the main passenger lines. At Veddel a line goes of to the west to Hamburg Süd as well as the Peutebahn to the harbour areas east of Veddel. South of Wilhelmsburg (just north of the Hamburg Süderelbe bridge) a line goes of to Hohe Schaar.

Hamburg-Harburg is 12 km south of Hamburg Hbf., and the line south is here joined by the busy line to and from Cuxhaven (Niederelbebahn, KBS 121). A freight line of the Niederelbebahn serves the Walthershof and surrounding harbours.

This means that basically all north-south traffic goes through Hamburg-Harburg, making this a very busy rail hot spot.

A little south of Hamburg-Harburg the line to Bremen (KBS 120) goes of, but until Buchholz this line is almost only used by passenger trains. Trains to Hannover and most freight trains to Bremen continue south, freight trains going through the big Maschen yard. South of the Maschen yard a freight line takes the freight to Bremen onto the Hamburg - Bremen line in Buchholz. Traffic south to Hannover continue on the KBS 110.

Just south of Hamburg Hbf. lines goes of the north-south mainline to Lübeck (and Puttgarden/Denmark) and Berlin. West of Hamburg Hbf is Hamburg Altona, Altona and Hbf is connected with the Hamburg-Altonaer Verbindungsbahn. From Altona lines go north to Kiel, Flensburg - Padburg / Denmark and Niebüll.

Passenger trains (status autumn 2010):

Long-distance passenger trains south of Hamburg Hbf are either ICE 1 / ICE 2 or traditional trains hauled by class 101. Sometimes you will see other locomotives such as class 110, class 120, MRCE ES 64 U2 or ÖBB 1016.

At Altona besides the usual DB power you are likely to see Nord-Ostsee-Bahn class 251 - originally delivered to Norway, but returned to Siemens because of many problems - now they operating for Nord-Ostsee-Bahn.

Besides these mainlines are S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines, but these will not be described here.

Freight trains:

German operators use a varied mix of power, often rented. You are likely to see EVB, HGK, ITL and OHE with locomotive classes 185, ER20, 232 and Vossloh G2000. Besides something more unusual probably will show up.

Photography:

Specific locations:

Wilhelmsburg:
Wilhelmsburg is a stop on the S-bahn going to Hamburg-Harburg. There is a small yard here and 2 bridges cross the tracks, one at the station and one a bit north of the station. Photography from the bridges is not the best because of the overhead wires, but it can be done with reasonable result. Photography from the S-Bahn platform is difficult because of signals and catenary masts. See map on Google Maps.

Hamburg Süderelbe:
The railway crosses the Hamburg Süderelbe on bridges carrying 8 (!) tracks. This location is some distance from Hamburg-Harburg, but can be reached by bus 149, 152 or 153. There is both the north side and the south side, the south side is in my opinion the best, and the bridges make a nice background. You are pretty close to the tracks, so you need both a lens in the midrange - a 28-75 mm zoom or similar is ideal. Because most of the trains are going by fast, you also need a fast shutter speed to avoid blurry pictures. See map on Google Maps.

Hamburg-Harburg:
Hamburg-Harburg is a major rail station in the southern part of Hamburg with intense passenger and freight train action. It is located on the mainline out of Hamburg, north of where it splits into the mainline to Bremen and the mainline to Hannover.

The best place to be is probably the western platform (track 6), in the northern or southern end. The northern end offers a good photo point for southbound freight trains coming from the harbour, the southern end is better for northbound freights.

There are also some freight traffic on the through eastern tracks, photography is possible from the platform at track 1, it is a bit difficult to get a good composition because of the catenary masts, but it can be done. Through freights on the eastern tracks are running quite fast, so you need a fast shutter speed.

An easy way to get to Hamburg-Harburg is of course by train (....) - but if you travel by car, you can park in the Phoenix Center opposite the station. And if you are accompanied by your family or others, that do not have the same passion for trains, you may also "park" them in the Phoenix Center which offers good shopping.

Meckelfeld:
Meckelfeld is just north of the big Maschen Yard, and is served by regional trains. This location offers massive freight action, but doesn't offer good photographic opportunities. You can take pictures from the platform, but vegetation might be a problem, you can also take pictures from the bridge, but then only in one direction at a time. The third option is a parking area next to the tracks just south of the station, but here vegetation is also a bit of a problem.

Getting around:

DB Schenker 185 162 in Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg (311 kb, opens in a new browser).

DB ICE 401 062 at Hamburg Süderelbe (196 kb, opens in a new browser).

ITL 185 598 at Hamburg Süderelbe (216 kb, opens in a new browser).

DB Schenker 145 022 heading a container train into Hamburg-Harburg from the south (260 kb, opens in a new browser).

CFL Cargo 185 566 heads a freight north through Hamburg-Harburg on the eastern through track - timing is critical to avoid catenary masts (284 kb, opens in a new browser).

DB Schenker 145 096 running through Hamburg-Harburg on the through eastern tracks (232 kb, opens in a new browser).

DB Schenker 152 132 in Meckelfeld seen from the bridge (350 kb, opens in a new browser).

Introduction:

Leipzig-Thekla is a small station a few kilometers from Leipzig city centre. The line to Eilenburg and Cottbus here run side by side with the freight line around Leipzig, the Leipziger Güterring.

Railway lines:

On the map you can see the railway lines at Leipzig-Thekla. From the west both the freight line around Leipzig and the passenger line from Leipzig Hbf runs parallel into Leipzig-Thekla. In Leipzig-Thekla, passenger trains use the 2 southern tracks, that continue to Eilenburg and Cottbus. The 2 northern tracks cross over the tracks to Eilenburg on a bridge and continue south-east til Leipzig Engelsdorf freight yard.

Passenger trains (spring 2011):

Leipzig-Thekla is in general served by trains every hour, these trains are diesel trainsets and run between Eilenburg and Leipzig Hbf. Besides there are non-stopping trains, these are loco-hauled by a BR 143 or a BR 182. These passenger trains run on the two southern tracks.

Freight trains (spring 2011):

Freight trains normally run on the freight line, just north of the 2 tracks going to Eilenburg and Cottbus. These trains are coming from or going to the Engelsdorf freight yard in the eastern part of Leipzig. But freight trains sometimes also run on the tracks to Eilenburg/Cottbus.

Most freight are either mixed freights or chemicals. Container and intermodal are not so frequent. Perhaps 70% of all freights are run by DB Schenker, the rest is run by private operators. BR 155 is perhaps the most common locomotive, but there is a good variation in the types of locomotives used. Besides BR 155, also "Ludmillas" are relatively often seen.

Photography:

It relatively easy to get unobstructed photograps in both directions. But depending on the time of day, the rising or setting sun can be challenging.

DB Schenker 185 162 against the setting sun in Leipzig-Thekla (218 kb, opens in a new browser).

DB Schenker 232 635 + DB Schenker 232 693 in Leipzig-Thekla (256 kb, opens in a new browser).

Introduction:

The right bank of the Rhine from Wiesbaden north to Köln.
Both banks of the Rhine between Rüdesheim/Bingen and Koblenz has double tracked railway lines with quite a lot of traffic. The lines carries both passenger and freight trains, but the high speed trains use another line between Köln and Frankfurt.

There are sevaral good locations along the right bank, below is some of my favorites.

Kaub: Just north of Kaub you can take a small road up to the tracks, here you can get good pictures of southbound trains going through a s-curve. Northbound trains are however a bit difficult to photograph.

Lorch: Follow the road that leads to the station to just past the station. This is a good spot for taking pictures of trains in both directions. Coordinates: 50° 2'23.69" N 7°48'50.27" E.

Assmannshausen: The northern end of the eastern platform is a good place to catch trains coming through the curves. There is a crossing just north of the station, when the crossing is activated you know a train is coming and can have your camera ready.

Rüdesheim: Rüdesheim offers many possibilities - you can walk on both sides of the tracks and crossings warn you of approaching trains.

Introduction:

Left bank of the Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz
Also the left bank offers many good locations.

Königsbach: A little south of Koblenz with a parking area. Good for northbound trains coming through a curve. Coordinates: 50°18'52" N 7°35'16" E.

Bacharach: A little north of Bacharach, opposite of Pfalzgrafenstein, where there is a ferry to Kaub, you can stand in the side of the road. However, watch carefully for car traffic.

Rheindiebach: A little north of Rheindiebach is a good place where the railways goes through a small s-curve, with good photo opportunities in both directions. Coordinates: 50° 2'38"N 7°47'10" E.

Introduction:

More to come...