Wed 20 June 2012
Wed 20 June 2012
31/07/12 16:53
From 10 June to 8 July the Buchloe - Memmingen line in southern Bayern is closed for engineering work and the three pairs of EuroCity trains that normally go that way are diverted over the infinitely more photogenic Allgäubahn via Kempten and Immenstadt, my favourite German line. That was more than enough of an excuse to justify another visit to the area.
I caught Lufthansa’s 06:40 flight from Heathrow to München, arriving 15 minutes late due to an AWS failure (or was it ILS?) on one of the runways at München. Despite this, I was still at the lineside at Schwabenhausen, west of Geltendorf, by 11:25. Everything seen there was as expected with 218s on almost everything but the 223 hauled ALEX trains. There can’t be many other places left where you can see eleven diesel worked passengers in just over two hours. During that time only two DMUs were seen. The light wasn’t particularly special but there were a few short periods of hazy sunshine.
By 13:30 the weather was looking grim so I headed south through increasingly heavy rain to Altstädten on the Oberstdorf branch, close to my base for the trip, the Landhotel Bauer in Sonthofen, booked via www.booking.com. The rain continued for a long time (a good excuse for a kip) but finally stopped around 17:00 and the sun even came out for a couple of hours before the cloud returned sometime after 19:30. Having got some good shots of red 2143.21 on my previous visit, I was pleased to find blue 2143.18 at work on the ALEX trains. The biggest surprise was the power for IC2013, the Magdeburg - Oberstdorf, which turned up with 218.326 on the front. Assuming it sticks to the diagram, it should work to Augsburg and back on Thursday and Saturday and Stuttgart and back on Friday and Sunday but don’t blame me if it doesn’t.
I caught Lufthansa’s 06:40 flight from Heathrow to München, arriving 15 minutes late due to an AWS failure (or was it ILS?) on one of the runways at München. Despite this, I was still at the lineside at Schwabenhausen, west of Geltendorf, by 11:25. Everything seen there was as expected with 218s on almost everything but the 223 hauled ALEX trains. There can’t be many other places left where you can see eleven diesel worked passengers in just over two hours. During that time only two DMUs were seen. The light wasn’t particularly special but there were a few short periods of hazy sunshine.
By 13:30 the weather was looking grim so I headed south through increasingly heavy rain to Altstädten on the Oberstdorf branch, close to my base for the trip, the Landhotel Bauer in Sonthofen, booked via www.booking.com. The rain continued for a long time (a good excuse for a kip) but finally stopped around 17:00 and the sun even came out for a couple of hours before the cloud returned sometime after 19:30. Having got some good shots of red 2143.21 on my previous visit, I was pleased to find blue 2143.18 at work on the ALEX trains. The biggest surprise was the power for IC2013, the Magdeburg - Oberstdorf, which turned up with 218.326 on the front. Assuming it sticks to the diagram, it should work to Augsburg and back on Thursday and Saturday and Stuttgart and back on Friday and Sunday but don’t blame me if it doesn’t.
Schwabenhausen, W of Geltendorf
| Loco | Train No. |
Train Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 218.490 | RE57586 | 10:51 München Hbf - Kempten(Allgäu) Hbf | 11:25 |
| 218.475 propelling |
RE57507 | 10:06 Füssen - München Hbf | 11:35 |
| 223.061 (VBG) | ALX84146 | 11:19 München Hbf - Lindau Hbf | 11:50 |
| 223.071 (VBG) | ALX84147 | 09:58 Lindau Hbf - München Hbf | 12:10 |
| 233.452 | EB light engine | 12:18 | |
| 218.467 | RE57508 | 11:51 München Hbf - Füssen | 12:25 |
| 218.xxx propelling 218.462 propelling |
RE57587 | 11:37 Kempten(Allgäu) Hbf - München Hbf | 12:39 |
| 218.402 218.xxx |
EC194 | 12:11 München Hbf - Zürich HB | 12:41 |
| 218.488 | RE57410 | 12:20 München Hbf - Memmingen | 12:58 |
| 218.459 propelling |
RE57409 | 12:04 Memmingen - München Hbf | 13:09 |
| 218.444 218.433 |
EC193 | 09:16 Zürich HB - München Hbf | 13:14 |
| 218.492 propelling |
RE57509 | 12:06 Füssen - München Hbf | 13:34 |
Altstädten
| Loco | Train No. |
Train Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2143.18 (SVG) | ALX84168 | 13:19 München Hbf - Oberstdorf | 15:26 |
| 218.481 | IC2085 | 13:56 Augsburg Hbf - Oberstdorf | 15:57 |
| 2143.18 (SVG) | ALX84173 | 16:12 Oberstdorf - München Hbf | 16:31 |
| 2143.18 (SVG) | ALX84170 | 15:19 München Hbf - Oberstdorf | 17:29 |
| 628.241 | RE57672 | 17:39 Oberstdorf - Kempten(Allgäu) Hbf | 17:58 |
| 218.326 | IC2013 | 05:58 Magdeburg Hbf - Oberstdorf | 18:01 |
| 2143.18 (SVG) | ALX84175 | 18:12 Oberstdorf - München Hbf | 18:37 |
| 218.485 propelling |
RE57651 | 16:15 Ulm Hbf - Oberstdorf | 18:42 |
| 2143.18 (SVG) | ALX84172 | 17:13 München Hbf - Oberstdorf | 19:30 |
| 218.485 | 71469 | 19:24 Oberstdorf - Immenstadt Empty Stock | 19:39 |
