Oberursel will soon have a steam railway again

It was three years ago, on 12th October, 2014, that the last train rolled over the tracks of the miniature railway belonging to the Dampfbahnclub Taunus in the Mainstraße.  After that day the tracks, buildings and other fixtures of the old layout were taken up and removed, work that took a whole year to complete.

After that workers from the local authority (Hochtaunuskreis) arrived and started the groundwork for the new railway.  They laid the foundations according to a plan that members of the club had designed.  In October 2015 the tunnel was installed and the club members moved the railway shed to its new location.

Come January 2016 the club was back on its own and started to build the new layout.  Not only did that have to do everything themselves, they had to make most of it as well as almost none of the elements from the old layout – including the tracks – could be re-used and had to be replaced. [Read more…]

A record number of visitors on the last day of the steam trains

The members of the steam train club (Dampfbahnclub Taunus) in the Mainstraße were not expecting quite so many visitors to turn up last Sunday, 12th October, 2014.  After all, a lot of the tracks had already been lifted along with the bridge, turntable and model railway.  But on the other hand it was the last chance to take a ride behind one of the miniature steam trains, before the area is cleared to make way for a new school building.

In total there were around 900 adults and 350 children at the last day of the saison, known as the “Abdampfen”, and for the first time in the history of the railway they had to go out during the day and stock up on charcoal for the barbeque.

The visitors had to wait more patiently than usual, with waiting times of up to 15 minutes not unusual despite them having 4 trains running. [Read more…]

A last chance to ride behind the steam trains

There has been a lot going on at the miniature railway in the Mainstraße, run by the “Dampfbahnclub Taunus”, with the club getting ready for their big move.  They have to vacate the land at the end of the current season to make way for a new school building.

They already dismantled their model railway after it ran for the last time in July, the turntable at the station has been removed and in two weeks the 5″ inner circle will be taken up.  After that, just the 7¼” and 5″ outer circle will remain for the last day of steam on 12th October, 2014.

For a while the club was uncertain as to whether they could even run on the last year, but last week at the penultimate public steam day operations manager Hans Kabbe insisted “we’ll be running!”  Those interested in the future of the club will not only be able to take a last ride around the grounds but also find out more about what is planned for the new site by way of the plan and the model that will be on display.

Operations manager Hans Kabbe (left) and Tobias Weber explaining the the plans for the new site to Manfred Kunz (right), who was at the opening of the current grounds in 1979.

Operations manager Hans Kabbe (left) and Tobias Weber explaining the the plans for the new site to Manfred Kunz (right), who was at the opening of the current grounds in 1979.

This article appeared in German on 18th September, 2014 in the Oberurseler Woche.

You may also like to listen to our 2007 podcast “Visiting the trains” where we first interviewed the chairman, Matthias Zundel, about the club.

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