Tag Archives: Germany

A trolleybus turntable in Germany

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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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How do trains change to daylight savings time?

Timekeeping is something that railways take seriously – but what happens to trains when the clocks changes from ‘normal’ time to daylight savings, and an hour is either lost or gained? Germany Deutsche Bahn cancel trains due to run in […]

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German railfans exploring the world of rail

For many railfans their interest in railways ends at the border of their own country, with little interest in the trains found elsewhere in the world. But it seems that German railfans are an exception to this, being happy to […]

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