[PRCo]

[Fred Schneider]

No one has either commented unfavorably, or favorably, or kicked me  
in the behind....   This item came to me this morning from several  
people, and the added paragraph came from Jack May, one of my  
predecessor editors of Headlights magazine.

The Schoeneichebahn is one of two private electric railways serving  
Berlin's eastern suburbs.     Note imbedded in all the B. S. are two  
links.   The address in Jack's note will lead you to some pictures of  
the Schoeneichebahn showing some of their Goetha-built trams.   The  
Goetha car works in the small east German city of Goetha built all  
the cars for the systems in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR)  
until all eastern European tram production was assigned to Tatra and  
every city began to buy PCC cars.   Most of the Goetha cars were  
single truck although Berlin did have some bogie or double-truck cars  
still running when the wall came tumbling down.

The second URL is the company's own web address.   For those  
unfamiliar, the addresses ending in dot de are German web  
addresses.   If you clock on the British flag, you get to download an  
English version.   Amazing isn't it.   A small tram company with one  
line that publishes its company information in Germany and  
downloadable English for the tourist railfans!   Makes most of our  
systems look pretty pathetic in comparison.   Think how many  
Europeans vacation in Florida and then ask if Miami's Metrorail  
issues a similar brochure downloadable in French and German.  No,  
don't ask.   It's an embarrassment.  We like their Euros but we have  
not yet learned how to be civilized.

Now go on to Jack's comments and below his signature is a post from  
Joe Saitta.  BUT DO CLICK ON THE URLS.

 From the guy who has seen 56 of the 59 U S and Canadian light rail  
and subway and monorails plus most German, French, Italian,  
Portuguese, English, Scottish, Finnish, Swedish, etc. systems.   And  
somehow I'm partial to the other side of the pond.


The metre-gauge Schoneiche line (Berlin route 88) is truly a very nice
operation, and I visited it in both 1990 and 2005.  It is easy to  
access by
riding line 3 of the S-Bahn to Friedrichshagen station.  About half  
of the
quaint line is single track.  Although operated by a separate  
company, the
fares are integrated with those of the entire City of Berlin (as the  
site
indicates), so a day ticket is valid.

If you get to Berlin, which has a very modern streetcar system, I
recommended you also riding another nearby independent operation, the
Woltersdorf line (route 87), which leaves from Rahnsdorf, one station
further out from Friedrichshagen on the S-3 line.  It is standard  
gauge, but
entirely single track, and uses East German motor-trailer units built  
in the
late 50s and early 60s.  See

http://website.lineone.net/~tramscape/Woltersdorf/Woltersdorf.htm

Jack

The following comes from page 7 of the pdf that is downloaded when  
you click
on the British flag on page 1 of the Schoneiche website

www.srs-tram.de;
:
Information for tramline enthusiasts:
The SRS line offers the photographer various eye-catching viewpoints.  
But in
order to fully enjoy your stay until the last moment, please always keep
well
clear of the track and beware of the trams!
Photographers are recommended to pay a visit to the so-called S-curve:
Alight
at Waldstraße stop and walk 200 m along the tracks into the Berlin  
forest.
Under any weather conditions, this is by far the best place to  
capture the
SRS
and its special atmosphere. Apart from this, there are the urban  
sections at
Rüdersdorf-Busbahnhof (best in the afternoon, with the limestone  
church in
the background) and Schöneiche, as well as the rural stretch between  
Berghof
and Berghof-Weiche. The best time for taking pictures at the Schöneiche
Depot
is late afternoon. Visitors are always welcome - please contact the
dispatcher
at the entrance of the yard.
Our Customer Centre at the depot offers the entire range of SRS and VBB
tickets. We are happy provide groups visiting the Berlin-Brandenburg  
area
with
all the travel information they require, including the choice of the  
best
tariff.
We shall be delighted to supply visitors in advance with all tickets
required -
please allow 2 weeks for booking and postal delivery. For further
information