Hamburg

[cactustwirly]

I'm going to Hamburg next weekend

Any interesting rail recommendations? I know some RE trains are hauled by BR 112s

Also planning a day trip to either Bremen or Lübeck

 

[duesselmartin]

Go north towards Husum. You still have 218 haulage and a wonderful town.
Westerland is good for diesel but the town is awful.

 

[Gloster]

Try the AKN, an efficient little line: possibly one way via Eidelstedt and the other via Norderstedt Mitte. Or U3 along the harbour’s northern edge. The most interesting bit of the S-Bahn is possibly S1 out to Wedel.
From Lubeck you can try Travemunde-Strand or Neustadt; unfortunately, the line on to Puttgarden is closed for rebuilding. You could also try Lubeck-Kiel via Plon.

(Sorry about the lack of diaereses.)

 

[MarcVD]

Miniatur Wunderland of course...

Homepage

Herzlich Willkommen auf der Internetseite des Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg, der » größten Modelleisenbahn der Welt « in der Speicherstadt.

www.miniatur-wunderland.de

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Miniatur Wunderland of course...

Yes!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Try the AKN, an efficient little line: possibly one way via Eidelstedt and the other via Norderstedt Mitte. Or U3 along the harbour’s northern edge. The most interesting bit of the S-Bahn is possibly S1 out to Wedel.
From Lubeck you can try Travemunde-Strand or Neustadt; unfortunately, the line on to Puttgarden is closed for rebuilding. You could also try Lubeck-Kiel via Plon.

(Sorry about the lack of diaereses.)

Second the AKN, it's a super quirky little setup, a set of hourly rural branch lines but with the feel and station design of a proper metro. They've got some modern units these days as well but look out for their older units, which are based on the old DT3 U-Bahn sets and have the feel of what a bogied Pacer might be like.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Sorry about the lack of diaereses

Off topic and to be precise, the two dots are Umlauts for German. The word means change of sound, i.e the single vowel is pronounced differently with and without an Umlaut, as in Mann/Männer with the same vowel change as English man/men.
Whereas a diaeresis denotes that two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately, as in Zoë or Noël.
Nice tips though thanks - noted for a future trip!

 

[ABB125]

Definitely try to have a day out on the 218s towards Westerland (assuming you're interested in such things!). But bear in mind that the 218-hauled trains (4 each way) are all IC, so aren't valid on the Hamburg regional ticket (RE trains only), so you'd need to buy an appropriate ticket. Others more familiar with the area may be able to advise as to what the best ticket is. The RE trains on the line (approximately hourly I think?) are hauled by diesel TRAXX locomotives.
There are one or two other 218-hauled trains I believe, but I don't know what they are. Again, someone more familiar may be able to advise.

If you're interested in freight, there's lots! Harburg station is good for seeing it pass through. If you fancy a trip out of the city, Maschen marshalling yard (the biggest in Europe?) is to the south. No idea how best to get there though, nor how easy it is to see anything in the yard.

 

[cactustwirly]

Definitely try to have a day out on the 218s towards Westerland (assuming you're interested in such things!). But bear in mind that the 218-hauled trains (4 each way) are all IC, so aren't valid on the Hamburg regional ticket (RE trains only), so you'd need to buy an appropriate ticket. Others more familiar with the area may be able to advise as to what the best ticket is. The RE trains on the line (approximately hourly I think?) are hauled by diesel TRAXX locomotives.
There are one or two other 218-hauled trains I believe, but I don't know what they are. Again, someone more familiar may be able to advise.

If you're interested in freight, there's lots! Harburg station is good for seeing it pass through. If you fancy a trip out of the city, Maschen marshalling yard (the biggest in Europe?) is to the south. No idea how best to get there though, nor how easy it is to see anything in the yard.

I have found the trains are quite expensive compared to other parts of Germany

I believe Maschen is on the S Bahn towards Harburg

 

[Nunners]

Definitely try to have a day out on the 218s towards Westerland (assuming you're interested in such things!). But bear in mind that the 218-hauled trains (4 each way) are all IC, so aren't valid on the Hamburg regional ticket (RE trains only), so you'd need to buy an appropriate ticket. Others more familiar with the area may be able to advise as to what the best ticket is. The RE trains on the line (approximately hourly I think?) are hauled by diesel TRAXX locomotives.
There are one or two other 218-hauled trains I believe, but I don't know what they are. Again, someone more familiar may be able to advise.

If you're interested in freight, there's lots! Harburg station is good for seeing it pass through. If you fancy a trip out of the city, Maschen marshalling yard (the biggest in Europe?) is to the south. No idea how best to get there though, nor how easy it is to see anything in the yard.

The 218s (which operate in pairs north of Itzehoe on IC trains) are definitely worth doing if you've got the right ticket. South of Itzehoe it's the Class 101s on ICs (as with all ICs through Hamburg).
Also in the Itzehoe direction, the local trains from Hamburg-Altona to Westerland are hauled by diesel TRAXX locos. These are hourly but with fast extras in the summer (not sure about next weekend).
All Metronom branded trains (RE/RB) south from Hamburg Hbf should be loco hauled (including to Bremen). Mostly electric TRAXX but also an hourly diesel TRAXX.
All RB/RE trains in the direction of Luebeck are loco hauled, by a variety of DB locos.
The other RE out of Hamburg Hbf are sometimes loco hauled. There is a daily 218 to somewhere as well but can't remember the time.

 

[duesselmartin]

I have found the trains are quite expensive compared to other parts of Germany

I believe Maschen is on the S Bahn towards Harburg

IC trains cost more than Regionals. Also the upcoming 49€ DeutschlandTicket is only valid on regional services.
I don't think the Hamburg/ Schleswig Holstein region costs more than elsewhere on average.

 

[Gloster]

The 218s (which operate in pairs north of Itzehoe on IC trains) are definitely worth doing if you've got the right ticket. South of Itzehoe it's the Class 101s on ICs (as with all ICs through Hamburg).
Also in the Itzehoe direction, the local trains from Hamburg-Altona to Westerland are hauled by diesel TRAXX locos. These are hourly but with fast extras in the summer (not sure about next weekend).
All Metronom branded trains (RE/RB) south from Hamburg Hbf should be loco hauled (including to Bremen). Mostly electric TRAXX but also an hourly diesel TRAXX.
All RB/RE trains in the direction of Luebeck are loco hauled, by a variety of DB locos.
The other RE out of Hamburg Hbf are sometimes loco hauled. There is a daily 218 to somewhere as well but can't remember the time.

You may be thinking of the through train from Köln to Fehmarn-Burg, which used to divide in Platform 8 at Hamburg Hbf, this being the only platform accessible from both Harburg and Lubeck. The line to Fehmarn is closed north of Neustadt and I presume that the train no longer runs: if it does go as far as Lubeck it can go all the way under the wires.

EDITED to change Hamburg to Harburg: one letter makes all the difference.

 

[ABB125]

There is a daily 218 to somewhere as well but can't remember the time.

Was it something like Hamburg-Kiel via Luebeck? Peak time departure, around 1715?

 

[30907]

For your day trip, Lübeck (showing off his Umlaut ) has more to offer the non-rail-enthusiast than Bremen.

 

[The exile]

I have found the trains are quite expensive compared to other parts of Germany

I believe Maschen is on the S Bahn towards Harburg

Maschen is the first station beyond Hamburg on the Winsen / Lueneburg line

 

[andersj]

Hamburg-Lübeck is now serviced by Stadler KISS EMU's, but you will find some BR 112 or BR 146 on the Hamburg-Ahrensburg and Hamburg-Bad Oldesloe local trains.

You will also be able to spot the DSB IC3 "rubbernose" DMU's as they arrive and depart Hamburg Hbf every two hours from/to Denmark as IC trains. This is the last year with IC3's in Hamburg.

 

[Gloster]

You will also be able to spot the DSB IC3 "rubbernose" DMU's as they arrive and depart Hamburg Hbf every two hours from/to Denmark as IC trains. This is the last year with IC3's in Hamburg.

These come in to Hbf from the west. They cross the border at Padborg (Flensburg) and come south via Rendsburg and its fascinating bridge, etc.

 

[XAM2175]

They cross the border at Padborg (Flensburg) and come south via Rendsburg and its fascinating bridge, etc.

It's a bit far from Hamburg for a simple out-and-back trip (unless you're happy to devote a fair chunk of the day to it), but I do recommend a trip over the Hochbrücke at some point for every enthusiast with an interest in infrastructure.

 

[cactustwirly]

I ended up doing the 218s to Sylt, thanks for your recommendations. DBs punctuality is a lot to be desired!

Unfortunately the S1 was a RRB between Blankenese and Wedel so I didn't end up doing that, but did enjoy the U3 along the harbour front.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Off topic and to be precise, the two dots are Umlauts for German. The word means change of sound, i.e the single vowel is pronounced differently with and without an Umlaut, as in Mann/Männer with the same vowel change as English man/men.
Whereas a diaeresis denotes that two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately, as in Zoë or Noël.
Nice tips though thanks - noted for a future trip!

You beat me to it - and a rare pleasure to meet another linguist in the wild!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Umlauted vowels can be replaced with that vowel and an E after it, and are pronounced accordingly. So e.g. as above Mann/Maenner (the latter is pronounced like "menner").

Similarly the Eszett (the B like character, so named because it used to be a combination of an S and a Z) can always be substituted with, and is pronounced as, a double S. (Though a double S can't always be swapped for an Eszett; there's a rule about it which I forget).

 

[gordonthemoron]

For your day trip, Lübeck (showing off his Umlaut ) has more to offer the non-rail-enthusiast than Bremen.

But Lübeck doesn’t have Bunker Valentin

 

[InkyScrolls]

'ss' is used if the preceding vowel is short, 'ß' if preceded by a diphthong (two vowel sounds within the same syllable) or long vowel. E.g. 'Mass' vs. 'Maß', with short and long A sounds respectively.

The letter ß is only used in Germany, not in other German-speaking countries.

 

[Gloster]

'ss' is used if the preceding vowel is short, 'ß' if preceded by a diphthong (two vowel sounds within the same syllable) or long vowel. E.g. 'Mass' vs. 'Maß', with short and long A sounds respectively.

The letter ß is only used in Germany, not in other German-speaking countries.

And, if I remember correctly from my German courses of thirty years ago, it had recently been ruled that it was no longer necessary to use the scharfes s and was now acceptable to use ss instead. There may have been exceptions.

 

[InkyScrolls]

And, if I remember correctly from my German courses of thirty years ago, it had recently been ruled that it was no longer necessary to use the scharfes s and was now acceptable to use ss instead. There may have been exceptions.

It is considered possible but 'lacking style'. Eszett has gained an official capital form recently, but this is not supported by the majority of fonts: ẞ, ß.

 

[Bletchleyite]

And, if I remember correctly from my German courses of thirty years ago, it had recently been ruled that it was no longer necessary to use the scharfes s and was now acceptable to use ss instead. There may have been exceptions.

It's always (well, in vaguely recent years, probably not back when it meant SZ) been acceptable to change the Eszett to ss or umlauted letters to ae, oe or ue. It's common practice when typing German on a keyboard that doesn't have the accented letters on it. You'd not see it in a newspaper or similar, but it's not wrong per-se. I started learning German before the 1990s Rechtscreibreform (spelling reform; unlike English there is a single official definition of what constitutes correct German) and you were allowed to do it then as well. That reform also changed slightly when the Eszett can be used, but I forget what the rule used to be.

 

[Austriantrain]

The letter ß is only used in Germany, not in other German-speaking countries.

It is used in Austria; Switzerland is the outlier that doesn’t use it.

 

[superalbs]

As an interesting aside, if on a Windows PC, then press Windows Key and semi-colon, then pick the Ω option, and you can insert all sorts of letters.

 

[DanielB]

As an interesting aside, if on a Windows PC, then press Windows Key and semi-colon, then pick the Ω option, and you can insert all sorts of letters.

Ah, interesting... didn't know about that option. Just happen to know a lot of the ASCII codes for those characters by heart. Side effect of that ë in my official first name probably
Happens to be one of the very few options where you find the 27th Dutch letter "ij" I noticed as well, though you'll hardly find anyone not just typing the seperate letters instead.

 

[popeter45]

speaking of hamburg any idea whats going on July 19th?
trying to book Hannover to copenhagen and its a right mess
the hamburg-copenhagen trains are going from Hamburg-Altona but that section to schleswig isnt bookable yet, no way to get to hbf from south as seems everything is terminating at hamburg-harburg (hence why starting at hannover as the NJ's are terminating early there)
nothing about any closures on DBs planned enginnering page