Clay Time

The 21km branch from Amberg to Schnaittenbach owes it’s continuing existence to the china clay industry centred on Hirschau, 4km from the terminus. Although the last passenger service ran in 1976, freight trips continue to run Mondays to Fridays, worked by class 294 diesels. Timings are a bit uncertain with the trains I saw running later than the scheduled morning trip but earlier than the afternoon one, possibly to ensure loaded tanks arrived at Amberg in time to be attached to the afternoon freight to Nürnberg. 294.647 approached Hirschau with a couple of empty tank wagons at lunchtime on Monday 9 May 2016.