Good German Freight locations

[47444]

I am contemplating a short (probably InterRail) trip to Germany. Can anyone suggest some locations, accessible by passenger train, that are particularly good for viewing and photographing freight trains?

TIA

 

[STINT47]

Hamburg Harburg is good. Easily accessible with plenty of passenger trains and lots of freight movements to observe.

 

[matt]

Dresden is very busy for freight. The mainline that passes through Radebeul has a lot of freight traffic

 

[eastwestdivide]

For rail freight combined with river freight and scenery, the Rhine gorge around the Lorelei / Boppard / S of Koblenz isn't bad.

 

[ABB125]

Plenty of freight on the Munich bypass and onwards towards Austria (especially at the moment, given that the route via Passau is shut). And seems to be pretty frequent diesel hauled freight using the Simbach route (which is great along the single track sections towards Munich), much of which uses class 66s (well, they're actually class 77s). Bonus of some class 418-haulage on the Munich Muhldorf services (although most are modern class 245s). I also saw a Stadler class 159 (basically an even beefier class 99) when I was there in June

 

[Virgin Voyager]

Can anyone advise on any good Freight locations in Berlin? Or places for loco hauled trains / ICEs / good variety? Thanks

 

[ABB125]

Plenty of variety/haulage through Berlin Hbf - probably a bit better on the upper level? Been a few years since I was last there though so I may be out of date. For freight you'll probably have to venture out to somewhere on the Ringbahn, but I couldn't say where the best place to go would be

 

[gysev]

Gemunden am Main is a hotpot with a constant parade of freight trains.

 

[k-c-p]

For rail freight combined with river freight and scenery, the Rhine gorge around the Lorelei / Boppard / S of Koblenz isn't bad.

Note that the line of the right hand side of the Rhine (which usually sees a lot of freight) is currently closed for maintenance. The closure is all the way from Troisdorf (near Bonn) to Wiesbaden and will last until mid December.

 

[STINT47]

Note that the line of the right hand side of the Rhine (which usually sees a lot of freight) is currently closed for maintenance. The closure is all the way from Troisdorf (near Bonn) to Wiesbaden and will last until mid December.

The right side if you were facing north?

 

[Wandering Pom]

The right side if you were facing north?

Yes. The convention for the Rhine (and, as far as I know, other rivers) is that the left and right banks are as seen by someone facing downstream. Certainly in German the two lines through the Rhine gorge are known as the Linke Rheinstrecke (left / west side) and the Rechte Rheinstrecke (right / east side).

 

[43096]

Plenty of variety/haulage through Berlin Hbf - probably a bit better on the upper level? Been a few years since I was last there though so I may be out of date. For freight you'll probably have to venture out to somewhere on the Ringbahn, but I couldn't say where the best place to go would be

There's not much loco haulage on the upper level at Berlin Hbf - trains towards Poland and the RE2, although when I was there recently there was a block on the east-west route somewhere so even less. The downstairs platforms at Berlin Hbf have more loco haulage: RE3, RE4, RE5, RE20, FEX to the airport all have hauled diagrams, plus there are Class 147s on the Rostock to Dresden service and Czech Vectrons on the Praha services. In addition there's still power cars on ICE1 and ICE2 sets to be seen.

 

[duesselmartin]

The right side if you were facing north?

eastern bank yes, but the western bank will have plenty of traffic.

 

[Richard Scott]

Bremen also seems to be a good point and Frankfurt Sued not too bad either.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Weil am Rhein near Basel.