In 2016 I finally started exploring the German Ruhr area. Finally for multiple reasons: it’s actually not far from home, there’s a lot of interesting train traffic and the area breathes an industrial atmosphere. My first 2 visits were short, and followed photo moments in the Netherlands and Belgium respectively. Below you’ll find the report of the German part of both trips.

First day – Posing in Krefeld

Second stop on the day trip was to get the car approved in a TüV Prufcenter to drive into the Ruhr area, necessary if you want to avoid fines. Third stop was the station of Krefeld Uerdingen. I arrived here by accident, after all it was a trip meant to explore the area, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw: a nice looking old station building and a Hectorrail engine posing right next to it.

Another surprise was this Akiem engine in SNCF FRET colour scheme, posing next to the Hectorrail loco.

An abandoned bridge

The Ruhr area is densely populated with not only people, but also train tracks. Difference is that population is probably increasing, and the number of tracks are probably decreasing. This photo is taken standing atop a bridge of a once active railway line. The line going underneath connects Oberhausen to the Dutch Betuwe route and thus sees a lot of traffic from the port of Rotterdam, mainly hauled by class 189 locomotives.

Desolate crossing

A railway crossing in the middle of nowhere, right next to an abandoned bridge and railway bed, seems to be a preferred spot for local painters. This adds to the already abondened feeling scene, which probably looks and feels a lot different during another season. I still find the view from this side of the bridge quite fascinating. I also like the modern train in it, but it would be cool to get a vintage looking model here one day: it would send you 20 years back in time.

Giant steel monster

The gloomy and short winter day ended at the monumental bridge over the Rhine river at Duisburg. I squeezed the camera through a fence to get a decent view on the steel monster, hoping for some freight but getting a bright passenger train. Nicely contrasting the bridge. It was only getting darker and I was getting more and mmore soaked and cold: the signal for me to return home.

Second day – Historic bridges

By the time I got to the Ruhr area, I only got to check out the Duisburg-Hochfeld railway bridge, where I ended my previous visit. It’s an interesting
structure, mainly because of the original 1870’s bridgehead standing next to the bridge currently in use.
DB’s 185 192 is crossing the Rhine river with an intermodal train, probably heading south. There are so many lines running in the Ruhr area, it’s hard to know
which line is used by which trains. That’s another good excuse to return and go find out!