[PRCo] Kirnitzsch Valley Railway

[Schneider Fred]

This was one of the most lovely trolley lines in the former German  
Democratic Republic (East Germany).   The copy was forwarded to me by  
a fellow "Weltfahrer."   I provided an explanation to some friends  
before they asked me ... I knew I was about to be asked.   And I  
thought a couple of you guys ... perhaps Mark and Ken and the  
Grateful Fred and maybe a few others might just like to see one of  
the prettiest trolley lines in the East.   Damned if I know why it is  
still running.   But these appear to have been taken today!     
Enjoy.   But don't try to pronounce it ... it's sort of like trying  
to spit out the name of that chap that Al Capp created that had the  
perpetual cloud over him.
On Jan 11, 2009, at 7:37 PM, Daniel Joseph wrote:

http://drehscheibe-online.ist-im-web.de/forum/read.php?5,4118480

In case you are not familiar, this darling little property, for which  
Dan Joseph sent the link, is along the Elbe River southeast of  
Dresden.  I visited it twice, once when it was still the Deutsche  
Demokratische Republik and again after the wall came tumbling down.    
The line starts at the train station in Bad Schandau, about 35 km  
(and a hour) up the river from Dresden, then it follows what was a  
brick paved road for about 7 kilometers up the valley to the final  
station where you may walk to the Lichtenhainer Waterfall.

The individual captions read:

Kirnitzschtalbahn (Kirnitzsch Valley Railway)
Written from Elbtaler 10 January 2009, 8:37 p.m.   Apparently these  
were taken today or yesterday.

A few winter impressions....

abgestellte Wagen in Bad Schandau =  Stored cars in Bad Schandau.

Etliche Fahrgäste haben sich versammelt. = A few passenges have  
gathered.

Hier schon an der Endstation =  Here already at the terminal.

Der Lichtenhainer Wasserfall ist in Winterstarre verfallen = The  
Lichtenhainer Waterfall is transfixed in winter cold.

1-mal bearbeitet. Zuletzt am gestern, 08:57:07.   I think he is  
saying this is a revision to something he sent yesterday.   This is  
very typical of the line through the Kirnitzschtal.


I'm astonished to see that the line is still running single-truck  
Gotha cars.   These were very ubiquitous in the DDR in the late 1980s  
in the small towns.   Berlin had some double-truck versions.  But  
once the wall came down, used streetcars from the west flooded the  
east just like used automobiles, trucks and buses did.   In fact, I'm  
astonished to see the line is still running period.   It didn't serve  
much of a useful purpose other than to move tourists in the summer  
season.   Twenty years ago there was a school car morning and  
afternoon.   There were a few commuters morning and evening.  But by  
1990 I thought most people had cars.   I guess this is what you call  
a public service ... you give us tax dollars ... we give you a service.

>
>