GERMANY - NARROW GAUGE STEAM CLINGS ON
It is perhaps a matter of debate as to whether or not there is still real working steam left in Germany. However the lines featured on this site are ones which still operate a year-round daily steam service which does not appear to coincide or be dependant on tourists alone. All seem to still be used as part of the local transport system and fare structures tend to reflect this. There are of course many other steam operated tourist lines in Germany but these are not within the remit of this website.
The 'working' lines are concentrated in three areas of what was formerly East Germany. In the Harz Mountains region there are three interconnected lines, the Harzquerbahn, the Selketalbahn and the Brockenbahn. These metre gauge lines (1000mm) lines are interlinked and have a total length exceeding 140 kilometres. Two more separate lines operate on the Baltic coast, near the city of Rostock - the Mollibahn from Bad Doberan to Kuhlungsborn and the Rasende Roland on the Isle Of Rugen. Much further south in Saxony are four 750mm gauge lines - all within reasonable proximity of Dresden - which continue to be a part of the local transport infrastructure catering for visitors and locals alike. All of these lines were formerly part of the Deutsche Reichsbahn but since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the Germany, they have passed into the ownership of private companies rather than remaining part of the state railway system. |
