Tag Archives: Germany

Car vs steam train on the streets of Germany

The other day on Twitter I found a video of an odd scene – a steam train driving along a narrow street, then crashing into a Mercedes Benz after the driver decided to pull out from the curb. pic.twitter.com/RU4qQUxvqV — […]

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Turning trains on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn

The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn is a suspension railway in the German city of Wuppertal, where trains hang from a single rail built underneath a supporting steel frame. But how do the trains turn around at the end of the line? Photo […] Continue reading

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A trolleybus turntable in Germany

I’ve written about a lot of oddball turntables over the years, and here is another unusual example – a trolleybus turntable in the Germany city of Solingen. Photo by User:Christian Lindecke, via Wikimedia Commons Located at the terminus of trolleybus […]

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Slow boat from Germany – delivering Adelaide’s trams

A long time ago I wrote about Adelaide’s Flexity trams and their Germany connection – well this is the story of how they got to Australia. The trams were built at the Bombardier factory in Bautzen, Germany. Government of South […]

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Mobile traction substations for powering trains and trams

The power for an electric railway has to come from somewhere – and that place is a traction substation, a facility that convert hogh voltage electricity from the power grid to the voltage and frequency that trains or trams use. […]

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Crossing international borders by train

When I travelled across Europe by train, I crossed a few international borders. Some were simple, but others were more involved. The uneventful My first border crossing by train was on my journey from Germany and Austria, and it was […]

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Bending a tram like a banana

Modern low floor trams are made up of multiple articulated segments, which allow these long vehicles to make their way around sharp corners. But this 2018 crash in the German city of Bochum shows another thing these trams can do […]

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Reversing a tram in Düsseldorf, Germany

On the tram network of Düsseldorf, Germany is a curious terminus arrangement – a turning wye that crosses over itself! Google Street View This triangle is found at the route 706 terminus in Hamm, at the corner of Auf den […]

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Trams and freight trains share the road in Bremen

I’ve written about freight trams before, but in the city of Bremen in northeast Germany freight there is something a little different – a freight siding that shares the tram tracks. Photo by Spoorjan, via Wikimedia Commons The freight siding […]

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‘Do Re Mi’ music as the train powers out of the station

It’s normal for electric locomotives to make some kind of ‘buzzing’ noise as their accelerate, due to the way that power is applied to their traction motors. But the Siemens EuroSprinter family of electric locomotives make an unexpected sound – […]

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