| THE DRESDEN LINES The city of Dresden is about 100 miles south of Berlin, my favourite gateway into Germany. The autobahn goes directly from Berlin Schonefeld airport to the outskirts of Dresden meaning that the keen photographer can be at the lineside within two hours of landing. Three working narrow gauge lines are to be found in the Dresden area. These are the liners from Frietal - Kipsdorf, Radebeul Ost - Radeburg and Cranzahl - Oberwiesentahl. All three are 750mm gauge lines, branching off from the main DB system. All have been, or are about to be, privatised and cut backs to services have begun as the new owners struggle to balance the books. Each line merits at least two days to explore and enjoy and there are plenty of photographic opportunities. Car chasing is possible but please respect local sensibilities and beware of police with radar guns! |
| The line from Frietal Hainsberg to Kipsdorf, now known as the Weisseritztahlbahn, is just under 27km long and is worked almost exclusively by 2-10-2T locomotives. There are 7 return trips a day and three locomotives are normally required to operate the service. The 16 mile journey takes a staggering 90 minutes which may go some way to explaining the steady loss of passengers to road transport! Locomotives work smokebox first from Frietal and there are no turning facilities at Kipsdorf. The line climbs through the delightful gorge at Rabenau and skirts a large lake near Malter before reaching the half-way station at Dippoldeswalde. From here the line climbs more steeply, crossing the spectacular viaduct at Schmiedeberg and eventually arriving in the massive terminus at Kipsdorf - possibly the largest narrow-gauge terminus in Germany. |
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| No.99-1741 stands at the head of the 17.00 train in Freital-Hainsberg station in July 2000 (upper left) No 99-1746 brings a morning train alongside a farm track between Seifersdorf and Malter (lower left) The gorge at Rabenau offers some spectacular scenery but timing and a low water level are essential to avoid heavy shadows and wet feet as No.99-1746 heads towards Dippoldeswald (right) |
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| Lineside scenes between Dippoldeswalde and Kipsdorf during July 2000 |