previous page (January and February 1946)
EARLY SPRING 1946 (March and April)
Early in March, the weather was a little better for getting about by road and on foot, so I took a lift west to the very hilly Lenne valley line (KBS 360 Hagen—Siegen—Giessen—Frankfurt). I left the truck at Altenhunden and the driver promised to look out for me on his return. This village is at the foot of the long incline leading south to a summit tunnel near Kreutztal. Over this line went much coal from the Ruhr to steel works at Siegen as well as to Frankfurt and the U.S. Zone.
The locos shedded here, as at Bestwig, were a big squad of BR 44s used both as train engines and as bankers. There were thirty on shed that day with nine more derelicts in sidings by the shed. Among the derelicts, there was one of the big pre-war 2-8-2Ts of BR 86, 86.492 from Bw Olpe. On the return from here I had to walk much of the way.
74.1067, a 2-6-0T, ran by on the roadside line (Altenhunden—Fredeburg; former KBS 239a and now closed). I got a lift for about thirteen miles in a 3-ton truck driven by a German. He was in the "Arbeitsdienst" (Labour Service), a British army unit of German P.O.W.s not yet released and usefully employed on general labouring duties. He was glad of company and very chatty. When I finally got back, I was pretty tired after a long trudge over lonely, snowy roads but very pleased with the day’s results. After this trip, I decided to go as regularly as possible on local journeys by lorry (or as happened, in the event, by local train) to sheds or on trackside observation when officially off-duty. The only snag was that every trip by lorry, or local train, to the nearest mainline at Nuttlar was about 24 Km.
Successive
journeys in March and April took me first to Arnsberg, and then
back to Nuttlar, where I saw 52.5261 of Bw Warburg, a new class for me on this
line. It was being banked by a BR93 and, also seen that day, was 94.751 returning
down the bank light engine. I finished this day out by travelling for the first
time by civilian train, without a ticket. It was on the late afternoon train
from Bestwig up to Winterberg behind 56.496 and was
packed. A week later, towards the end of March, I went by lorry on a long trip
to Soest (KBS 340/342) and this meant a lot of hitch-hiking and a return over
the rebuilt Mö
Early
in April, I went quite a long way, to a large main junction station to the east
on KBS 350. This was Warburg, very close to the American Zone border. For some
reason or other, I bought a ticket from Winterberg to Nuttlar and travelled 3rd
class departing at 0747 . I still possess
this particular ticket. After a short wait at Nuttlar, P601 arrived from the
west behind 38.3443. This was an all stations train leaving Hagen at 0510 and
reaching Warburg at 1120, 151km in just over six hours. For the first time I got
in the ‘Dienstabteil’ which was a compartment in every train of
non-corridor stock reserved for railway men travelling on duty, or ‘on the
cushions’, as they say in Britain. I never had any difficulty in doing this,
and an interesting conversation usually began especially as I always offered
chocolate or cigarettes at the outset. Eating the chocolate with them was rather
a penance as it was War-time ‘dark’ chocolate which I did not like, but it
all helped. Bw Warburg was undamaged and there were plenty of locos stored dead
there; BR 38s, 42s, 44s, 50s, 58s and one or two with boilers holed by cannon
shells fired from aircraft. There were two BR 41s (one from
Bw Sangerhausen) and a 78 4-6-4T, the first
I had seen round there. The station was in charge of a Royal Engineers Sergeant
who told me to see everything I wanted. On the return journey in P640 (Kassel to
Hagen) and again hauled by 38.3443 of Bw Arnsberg, I noted at Scherfede an old
0-6-0, 53.7752 and a strange looking 4-6-0, 38.4611. The latter was a former Polish class 0k22. built in 1934 and taken into German stock
in 1941.
Both were very derelict looking. I found that the BR 53 was a Prussian engine
given to Poland as reparations in 1918 and taken over again in I 941. I went
through to Bestwig and changed straight into the train to Winterberg which was
waiting at 1745. The train was again hauled by 56.2776.
This had been another very successful journey.
My last trip out before the fourth home leave was not quite so good. I went west again to Altenhunden, and then north along the valley road to Finnentrop, where I dropped off the truck. There was a small shed here and a yard, both undamaged. As I was walking across, a German railway policeman came over and I suggested I really ought to get permission to go around and that I should phone the army at Siegen . I ‘chatted him up’ and offered cigarettes and he agreed I might look round, take photos and then go off with nothing said.
It was a bright spring day and I got a few snaps, including a very early BR 50; 50.025. There were BR 55s shunting, three BR 38s, all from Bw Hagen-Eckesey, but only two BR 44s. one being from Bw Vorhalle, a goods engine shed just north of Hagen on the Bochum line (KBS 330).
I
went on my fourth home leave on April 16th by truck direct to Mü
94.816 (Bw Düsseldorf Derendorf) is stored at Altenhunden on 4th March 1946.
One of the heavy brigade, 44.733 at Altenhunden shed on 4th March 1946
BR 74.787 is stored at Altenhunden on 4th March 1946
On a beautiful sunny day 50.211 stands in Winterberg station on 22nd March 1946.
42.626 at Bestwig shed on 28th March 1946.
38.3410 at Bestwig shed on 28th March 1946.
50.098 (Bw Hagen Gbf) being serviced at Bestwig shed on 28th March 1946.
Two views of 50.1469 (Bw Bestwig) at Bestwig shed on 28th March 1946.
One of the earliest of the BR50s: 50.025 at Finnentrop on 12th April 1946.
55.1666 stands in the yard at Finnentrop on 12/4/46.
03.296 at Bad Bentheim on 17th April 1946.
Next page (May and June 1946)