RAILWAY
MUSEUM DARMSTADT-KRANICHSTEIN
Stream Train Museum Rhine-Main
They
hulk like behemoths of days gone by – iron giants of
the industrial might of steam and coal. The great steam engines of
Germany can be found in the sheds of museums around the country,
sheltered and unmoving (see German
Technical Museum Berlin ,
but in a suburb of Darmstadt near Frankfurt the mighty steam locomotives
live, at least for a Sunday
each month.
This former railway repair depot on the Rhine-Main-Neckar line,
running between Darmstadt and Aschaffenburg (see Johannisburg
Palace), was
first opened 1898 by the combined Hessian and Prussian State Railways.
It operated as a service yard on siding tracks across from the
small town’s main line rail station for most of its life
and opened as a rail museum (Eisenbahnmuseum) in 1976, when the
disused property
was leased from the state railway, and is currently the largest
operating rail museum in the state of Hesse. The displays on the
grounds include
a locomotive shed and turntable, coal bunkers and other facilities,
with an engine shop where major repairs can be carried out to keep
operating locomotives in service.
A variety of both large steam locomotives, some smaller diesel
switching locomotives and self-driven tram trains are on display
at the museum,
with several still operational. The “Mainz” 4981 a Prussian
G8 class engine, which returned from service in Turkey following
WWI, still runs on railways across Germany for appearances at other
museums and events, operated by the Deutsches Museum of Munich. Other
engines on display include an Austrian cog railway steam engine from
the Erzberg Railway, a Schichau Hanover 2676 from 1923, and a few
pre-war 1940s Henschel & Son locomotives.
The
Henschel factory in Kassel, was converted to producing tanks for the
war years, building
Panzers and Tiger Tanks, returning to rail engines after the
war, and is now one of Germany’s largest, bought by Thyssen (see
Secret War Factories), but now owned by the Canadian Bombardier company,
building high-speed and commuter rail stock. Aside from the engines
and some limited rolling stock, the museum presents technical exhibits
like a sectioned boiler of a Deutsche Reichsbahn steam engine, painting
in illustrative colors, an engineer’s driver's cab as well
as a collection of signal box equipment, with historic mechanical
signals, and a display of period railway tickets. An H0 gauge model
layout depicts the railway and the Darmstadt station from the turn
of the last century.
Visiting Darmstadt-Kranichstein Rail Museum
The
Darmstadt-Kranichstein Rail Museum offers steam rides, generally on Sundays,
with steams days once a month and a schedule of special
theme days and activities. The museum is only open on Wednesdays
(April - September) and Sundays and public holidays. Regular
admission is 5€ adults, 2.50€ children 4-14, with a
family ticket for 12.50€. Steam days and special theme festivals
are a few euros higher. The rail museum can be reached by S-Bahn
train from Frankfurt to Darmstadt then to Darmstadt-Kranichstein
station or from Aschaffenburg, and by car
from the A5 autobahn 2 miles north of central Darmstadt, about
7 miles
from
Frankfurt-Main
Airport.
The elegant
Baroque castle and museum Hotel
Jagdschloss Kranichstein is a few blocks
away © Bargain
Travel Europe
Find best hotel and vacation deals in Hesse at TripAdvisor
German
High Speed Train ICE
Booking Center
Web
Info
Rail
World Kranichstein
(in German)
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See Also:
RAIL MUSEUM BOCHUM-DAHLHAUSEN - RUHR
MARKLIN MODEL TRAIN MUSEUM - GOPPINGEN
CHRISTMAS MARKETS – FRANKFURT RHINE-MAIN
