Not just a regional train

From the Ruhr area I had a long drive waiting for me. On the second day of my trip, weather forecasts in South-Eastern Germany were looking good. A perfect occasion to check out the RE2 trains hauled by BR218 locos.
Due to infrastructure works between Schwandorf and Regensburg, trains were limited to the Hof – Schwandorf section of the line. Trains were exceptionally running in push-pull mode due to these works, and only 2 of the 3 needed rakes were operated with BR218 and Dosto coaches. But it was still interesting enough to meet up with Bramtrains to chase some trains.

2 freights – part 1

There were 2 freight trains on our radar heading towards Weiden: 1 from Bindlach, and 1 from Kolin heading in the direction of Nürnberg.
Which one would be first? We made a deliberate guess, and judging on the map and cloud radar found a possible scenario to catch the two trains in nice sunlight.
Part 1 of the scenario: the Bindlach – Weiden train around the station of Parkstein Hütten. A photo at the entrance of the station wasn’t possible because the switch was turned to a track in the shadows. So we headed towards the other end of the station to picture the train when leaving. Really cool to see these mechanical signals in action!
Did part 2 of the scenario succeed as well?

2 freights – part 2

The photo in Parkstein Hütten was a fact, but would we make it for the second freight? This one came from Hof and would bend west towards Nürnberg south of Weiden. I had found a location on the map where the sun would be positioned nicely. We weren’t certain it would be a good photo location, but it was our best option.
Once arrived the location turned out to be decent. If now the sun would participate. The cloud cover was growing and growing, so that was going to become a thriller.
A local photographer was not expecting the train yet, but we kept our gear ready to shoot as the sun’s position was ideal. You never know. We were rewarded because a reasonable time after the passenger train passing in the opposite direction, we noticed a rumble. It grew louder quickly and passed us on the perfect moment. Success x2.

The DB red matches well

The 2 freights were in, check! Up next, an RE2 towards Schwandorf. We parked the car in a safe spot, avoiding falling chestnuts to damage the car and set up for an autumnal shot. The sun was almost completely gone now and it proved rather challenging to still get a sunny picture.
We see DB’s 218 406 hauling the RE2 4863 from Hof to Schwandorf.

The birch tree and the white… loco!

We were quite undecided on what to do next. We didn’t yet expect another loco-hauled RE2, and the giant cloud seemed to be remaining in place. Best thing we found was hanging around at the station of Marktleuthen, where we were surprised by the white nose of a loco. It turned out to be a rare diesel Traxx, operated by Stahlwerk Thüringen. THe white loco is almost lost amidst the abundant autumn colors.

Black sky in Schwarzenbach

We see DB’s 218 424 pushing an RE2 towards Schwandorf. The train is seen near Schwarzenbach, heading towards Markleuthen.

Moody scene

What a cool photo location we found a bit later for shooting the next RE2 towards Hof.
Again a photo of a loco pushing the train, due to the works south of Schwandorf.

Blue sky instead of pizza

Now that we had gotten so close to Hof, why not check out the station and get something to eat.
Dinner venues weren’t appealing, unfortunately, but we spent our time shooting the next train to Schwandorf instead. A good choice, as the train was posing under the blue hour evening sky.

After the shoot, Bramtrains headed north while I went south. I scored something to eat along the road and slept at a bad, but cheap, hotel in Passau, preparing for the next episode.