German Mega Steam IV

Railtrail proudly announce our fourth German Mega Steam tour featuring the famous Meiningen Works steam festival. The tour is again packed with steam action - from park railway through to standard gauge - and travels through beautiful scenery that is sure to appeal to enthusiasts, photographers and partners alike.

Book now for mile after glorious mile of steam running and great photo opportunities, including parallel running on the mainline in Stuttgart.

This is the “Tour of Tours” where German steam is concerned!

DAY 1 Thursday September 2nd Depart by Eurostar from London St Pancras International at 12.57 hrs (Ebbsfleet 13.15 hrs) to Brussels, then onwards by high speed ICE train to Frankfurt where we have one night bed & breakfast at the Leonardo Hotel adjacent to the station. (Earlier Eurostar & DB option for clients based near to London). DAY 2 Friday September 3rd A superb start as we travel by train to Hanau to view locos 89 906 and 2-10-0 50 3552 at the former Hanau depot. We then have a private mainline steam charter with 50 3552 commencing at Hanau and travelling over the lightly-used, traditional secondary line between Kahl and Schöllkrippen, enabling us to include photo run-pasts between the service trains – something that may not be possible for much longer. After this amazing charter day we return to Frankfurt to collect our luggage from the hotel and continue by train to Stuttgart where we have 4 nights bed & breakfast at the Ibis City hotel on the banks of the River Neckar, a short journey by underground from the main station. (B) DAY 3 Saturday September 4th Another of the tour highlights as we board the mainline steam charter from Stuttgart to Meiningen hauled by Ampflwang-based Pacific 01 533 on this 600 kilometre return journey. Our route to Meiningen is via Heilbronn, Wurzburg, Schweinfurt and Bad Neustadt with photo run-past en route. The afternoon includes admission to the fantastic Meiningen Loco Works festival. A time-capsule of years gone by with the opportunity to view steam locomotives under renovation inside the traditional works whilst in the yard is a great collection of locomotives, including some in steam giving demonstrations and footplate rides. Throughout the afternoon steam locos will be using the turntable to access the shed for servicing before returning their excursion trains to various points in Germany. A truly splendid afternoon soaking up the atmosphere of a railway works open day in the heyday of steam – you can even enjoy a meal in the traditional works canteen (not included in fare). We conclude our day by returning to Stuttgart with 01 533. (B) DAY 4 Sunday September 5th Another day of mainline steam operation, riding around Stuttgart using one of the Sofazugle line’s locos (loco 11) and 2-10-0 Class 50 3636. The route takes us over both the Konig Wilhelm and Zazenhausen viaducts as well as through Schnarrenberg tunnel. The locos are making the run three times during the day including parallel running between Zazenhausen and Stuttgart-Munster. A wonderful relaxing day of mainline steam action with the opportunity to both ride and lineside with numerous photo opportunities. (B) DAY 5 Monday September 6h Commencing with a private steam charter at Kleinbahn Killesberg Park Eisenbahn before traveling by train to the amazing Sinsheim Museum, home to an incredible collection of around 20 locomotives, plus the largest collection of Formula 1 racing cars in Europe, 60 aeroplanes including the ‘Queen of the Air’ a genuine Air France Concorde and the Russian Tupolev TU-144 (‘their Concorde’) which are both ‘walk-in’ exhibits, and over 300 classic cars and 200 motorbikes. To conclude our holiday we travel by train in the late afternoon to Heilbronn to enjoy an evening barbecue and drinks with members of the South German Railway Museum at their roundhouse which is home to over 15 locomotives including 4 magnificent Pacifics. We then travel by regional train to arrive back in Stuttgart late evening. (B,D) DAY 6 Tuesday September 7th Bidding farewell to Stuttgart we return by train to London St Pancras International arriving at 19.03 hrs, (Ebbsfleet 18.45 hrs). (B)