-
9. Steaming Through the Harz Mountains (1994)
- Indiana University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
9 W hen the Iron Curtain fell, Communist Bloc countriessuddenlylayopentotheStatesidetravelermuchlikealate winter landscape revealed by melting snow. Predictably, many of the uncovered vistas were dispiriting, drab, littered landscapes of despair. But amid the gray detritus were some glittering gems, like the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen —the Harz Mountain Narrow Gauge Railways, or HSB, in former East Germany—and Wernigerode, the ancient city that is their operating headquarters . I arrived at the Schmalspurbahnen’s Wernigerode station, adjacent to the platforms of the Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s now-unified national rail system, on a warm September afternoon in 1994. Waiting there was a string ofdiminutivered-and-creamcoacheslettered“HSB”;attheheadend,ashiny black locomotive, a 2-10-2T, steamed quietly, with fragrant coal smoke curling from its stack. Wheels, driving rods, and frame were neatly tricked out in red. I boarded the third coach; soon, with a shrill and urgent whistle cry, the husky little locomotive lurched into motion. We were bound at a stately pace for Brocken, 2,900 feet higher up in the Harz Mountains and minutely visible dead ahead of the chuffing locomotive. We threaded our way among steaming through the harz mountains • Book 1.indb 105 2/16/10 8:49:54 AM l i t t l e t r a i n s t o f a r a w a y p l a c e s . 106 . startlingly picturesque half-timber, tile-roofed shops and houses that fronted winding streets, then paused briefly at Wernigerode-Westerntor, where a handsome stucco depot presided over platforms dotted with flower boxes. Adjacent stood the railroad’s sprawling shop buildings, industrial architecture in classic brick. The coach I was riding had been made there. Onceintothemountains,ourenginebegantotalkitup,itsexhauststeady and loud to announce a climb that would continue virtually unrelieved all the way to Brocken. The HSB’s tracks are meter gauge. However, the locomotive —from a fleet of 17 built between 1954 and 1956 that were the HSB’s everyday engines—was more bruiser than ballerina, with a hulking boiler atop 10 driving wheels, small for good traction. These are tank engines, no tenders, with water carried in tanks astride the boiler and coal in a bunker at the rear. However, these chunky, hefty, no-nonsense brawlers bear little resemblancetoThomas,thesmiling,anthropomorphiclittletankenginecreated by Reverend W. D. Awdry. Older locomotives on the Harz roster—eight all told, including a quartet of 0-4-4-0T Mallets, articulated compounds, three of which had been built in 1897 and 1898 for the Nordhausen-Wernigrode Eisenbahn—did appear on occasion, though, and they were more like Thomas and his pals Oliver and Percy. The HSB had three parts when I visited, all operated as a single railroad. The Harzquerbahn ran 38 miles north-south from Wernigerode to Nordhausen Nord. At Drei Annen Hohne, 12 miles from Wernigerode, the Brockenbahn , my route for the first day of my visit, veered off. These two lines had been built in 1896 as the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Eisenbahn (or railway, literally “iron road”). At Eisfelder Talmuhle, 18 miles further on, the Selketalbahn forks eastward, extending 32 miles to Gernrode, with additional branches to Hasselfelde and Harzgerode. Originally this was all part of the Gernrode-Harzgerode Eisenbahn, built a decade earlier than the NWE, in 1886.(Athirdline,theSüdHarzEisenbahn,finishedin1897,hadbeencutoff from the balance of the system by the post–World War II East-West German border and was lifted in 1963.) These distances are short, but the steep grades, sharp curves, and leisurely stops to meet other trains and take on water conspired to make them seem far longer. At Drei Annen Hohne, for instance, while our Brocken -bound train loaded passengers, the fireman swung the spout in place to top off our tanks. Meanwhile, a whistle around the bend announced a Nordhausen-Wernigerode train that rambled into the station on a passing track. As we swung onto the Brocken branch we entered national park land. Schierke,afewmilesfurtheron,wasasfarasthehighwaywent,sotheremaining empty seats on the train filled. The clientele was decidedly middle-aged to elderly, but vigorous, outdoor types. The coaches—clean and perfectly Book 1.indb 106 2/16/10 8:49:55 AM [3.89.116.152] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 00:03 GMT) . 107 . comfortable, if spartan—had one great feature: windows that opened far enough for me to squeeze my head out and watch the locomotive churn and flail along, hoisted up the mountain on an alternating succession of curves. Hereandtherethedeepevergreenforestbrokeaway,andthenthevistaswere far and fine. Approaching the summit, the...