99.7243 passed a new clearing between Drängetal and Drei Annen Hohne with train 8933, the 09:40 Wernigerode - Brocken passenger, on Tuesday 21 February 2017.
Finding clear spots on the Harz system has always been difficult as much of the area is covered in dense pine forests. Enter the pine bark beetle, a tiny insect that kills big trees, and the landscape starts to open up. How much of this is directly due to beetle infestation and how much to landowners harvesting the trees while they’re still worth something is unclear but there are now gaps in the forest where there weren’t gaps before.