esngblog

Our Sunday in Berlin was spent in pure tourism.  We started with brunch at “Sweethearts”, the coffee and brunch restaurant that our Ruth part runs.  It only opened a few months ago, but seems to be going well.

It’s tucked away in the back streets, but is easy to get to, near the U-bahn and the old Tempelhof airfield.  If you’re in the area, give it a visit.  Details here and here.

But – this week – disaster – a rent rise of 130% means that they have to close down and find somewhere else to go.  Property developer greed…..

The menu has a certain quality of inherited Bartlett humour that doesn’t translate well to German!  I didn’t try this, but it looks pretty fearsome!!!!

After brunch, a walk down the runway at Tempelhof to work off some food.  The terminal building here, that is so big it’s difficult to photograph, lies somewhere in the distance, for more than half the width of the photograph.  I understand that it’s still one of the largest structures in Europe.  The airfield is well used, with dog walkers, kite flyers, skateboarders (with and without ‘sails’) and cyclists.  Part of it has been fenced off as a nature reserve and is full of skylarks and the air is full of their lovely song.

This commons photograph gives a better idea of the scale.

And of course, it’s another historic part of the city to visit, as the main airfield in use during the Berlin airlift in 1948-9, with planes arriving every three minutes, being unloaded and back in the air in 30 minutes.  West Berlin was supplied with food, coal and other essentials throughout this period.  Interestingly, I found out that the RAF also used Sunderland flying boats to bring in stores, landing on the river.

The afternoon was meant to be spent on a boat trip.  But despite the sunny weather – the best day of the weekend – all boat trips were cancelled due to rain.  Wrong kind of sun??  The swans on the canal don’t look too bothered.

So it was back to Ruth’s flat to relax, and wife, daughter and dog to catch up with a little sleep.  I was happy to read a book and rest my feet.

Early evening, it was time to walk along the river and visit the Reichstag dome.

The new parliament offices are a fine example of modern brutalism architecture, but I like the way the river has been allowed to sweep between the buildings.

The Reichstag itself has been restored from a bombed out shell, with the interior being totally rebuilt and modernised.

But we were early for our visit to the dome, so there was a chance to visit the Russian war memorial, with some useful hardware guarding it.

And the nearby bell tower.  According to the sometimes reliable Wikipedia:

It is a large, manually played concert instrument, comprising 68 bells weighing a total of 48 metric tonnes (almost 106,000 lbs.) connected to a keyboard spanning 5½ fully chromatic octaves; the largest bell weighs 7.8 tonnes (almost 17,200 lbs.). The carillonneur sits in a playing cabin in the middle of the bells and plays with his fists and feet on a baton-and-pedal keyboard. The purely mechanical action makes it possible to play all dynamic gradations, from very soft to very loud.

What we heard from afar sounded tuneless and terrible.  Still, no accounting for taste…

Once in the Reichstag dome, there was a chance to admire the views and the interesting structure of the dome itself.  It’s a real model railway helix, with a spiral up to the top and a differenct spiral back down again.  Having got to the top, and looked through the side windows, it was a surprise that the roof itself is open.

An excellent finish to our few days in Berlin.  Monday, there was time to wander around a nearby park, before taking the U- and S-bahn back to the airport, and a EasyJet flight home.  Even better, Sothern Railways managed not to be on strike, and we quickly got a flight from Gatwick home.

Today, more trains, and planes.

There were a number of narrow gauge locomotives on display, including a couple of rack locomotives.  Gauges varied from 600mm to 1435mm.

And this South African Garrett, built by Krupp (hence its display here) was a contrast to the other small locomotives.

Entering the museum, you see this Cessna suspended from the foyer ceiling….

Whilst approaching it, this DC-3 Dakota is seen on the roof of the building.

At the top of the new museum building, there is an interesting collection of aircraft, again rather packed in and difficult to photograph.  It is perhaps revealing that I knew most of the aircraft types, but had little idea about the German trains….

The Junkers Ju 52 Trimotor is a wonderful plane, with its distinctive corrugated aluminium fuselage.  A dated design, but reliable, and still used in WW2.

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is unmistakable, and the backbone of the German air force fighters between 1937 and 1945.  Nearly 34,000 were build, and several upgrades meant they were a match for all Allied fighter aircraft.

And the Messerschmitt Bf 11o also served with distinction.  Once outclassed as a heavy, long-range fighter, it became an effective night fighter and ground attack aircraft.

Less well known was the Arado Ar 79, built in the 1930s, and designed as an aerobatic two-seat trainer and touring aircraft.

The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a small German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It remains famous for its excellent STOL performance, much as the British equivalent, the Westland Lysander.  Like the Lysander, the Storch had a very low landing speed and often appeared to land vertically, or even backwards, in strong winds from directly ahead.

The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger was a simple, mainly wooden, jet fighter built late in the war.  The design was intrinsically sound; problems came from shortage of materials and poor standards of construction.  A V1 flying bomb is displayed to its left.

Finally, two more modern, Cold War jets, a F-86 Sabre….

And a Mig 15.  These two jets met over Korea, and it is thought that they were equally matched – any advantages came from the pilot, rather than the plane.

So to the railway exhibits proper.  A lot of them were packed into the roundhouses, and were difficult to photograph well.  But I’ve included a selection of shots below.  We start with one of the first locomotives to run in Germany – British built, of course!

There was a good collection of small late-19th and early-20th century locomotives, most of them being small shunting locos.  But some very attractive designs.

And here we have the latest rolling stock for South-West Trains…..

Moving onto larger, more modern locomotives, there was an excellent cut-away Pacific…

And another Pacific showing the classic black with red motion DB livery.  There was also the ubiquitous  2-10-0 there, but it was badly placed for photos.

A diesel line-up, with a railcar and a V200 in the foreground…..

The V200 was, of course, the basis of the BR diesel-hydraulic ‘Warship’ class.  There is a distinct family likeness in the styling.

Wikipedia tells me that this is an experimental DB Class 202, representing a major milestone in the German locomotive development, since in these locomotives three phase asynchronous electric traction was first applied in a mainline diesel-electric locomotive.

All I know is that the livery made my eyes go funny….

The rest of my photos are of vintage electric locomotives.  I do very much like the early EMU in the first photograph.

Finally, today, I do admire the openness of the Germans about the Holocaust.  The wagon below, typical of those used to transport the Jewish people – and others – to the concentration camps was exhibited with a full set of boards describing what had happened.

At the end of June Maxine and I headed off for our annual visit to Berlin to see our eldest.  For once, I got the travel arrangements right.  Berlin was hit by torrential rain for much of the day, and the U-bahn was closed in places, as shown briefly below.

As we were arriving late, I pre-booked a car into town.  Amazingly, EasyJet arrived in Berlin on time (many flights were running late that evening) and having run from airport terminal to car in the downpour, we were whisked into town in comfort.  The weather progressively improved over the weekend, drying up on the Monday in time to sit on a bench in the sun outside the airport, whilst waiting for the return flight.

On the Friday, I had romantically suggested to Maxine that we celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Berlin Technology Museum (and the trains.)  Perhaps one reason we are still together is that she agreed….

So it was off on the U-bahn U9 line.  Outside the museum was the nearby U1 line.  The combination of elevated yellow trains and the canal is most photogenic, with some interesting bridge work.

And the line disappears through the middle of this building.

Inside the museum, the entrance to the railway section is through the entrance to the old royal station that was once nearby.

And between these classic beauties.  Another modelling challenge for your station?  Perhaps using a set of Noch’s slightly less dubious ‘HO’ figures?

The railway exhibits are in a pair of roundhouses – worth seeing in their own right, with the turntable, water cranes and coal stage preserved outside.  I was able to tell Allan that I had visited ERIC!

Between the two roundhouses is this administration building.  Railway brick buildings seem to be most attractive designs, wherever they come from.  Neat, symmetrical, and with good brickwork and interesting details.

Inside, there is a large ‘HO’ model railway.  It wasn’t operating when we visited, but seems to have computer (DCC?) control, and there are extensive storage return loops to the left of this photograph.

Closer examination showed this layout to be a fine model of the museum location in pre-war days.  Below, we see the two roundhouses and the offices.  The long building in the foreground was the goods shed, and is still part of the museum.  The main lines and sidings between have now been greened to become an attractive wild garden and woodland.

Here we see where the U-bahn goes through the building, although only parts of the original building remains – perhaps as a result of wartime bombing?  The main lines crossing the canal have all gone, and been replaced by the footbridge seen in the U-bahn pictures above.

All this station area has been redeveloped.

And a view down the layout shows the operator’s position to the right, and the storage loops in the distance.

And finally for today, a fine model of a cross-border rail bridge.  Perhaps this would be more interesting for the Stuttgart N-club meet, to replace the helix???

Next post, we’ll look at the trains themselves.