Wernigerode Station
Wernigerode station is the Northern terminus and main depot of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways.
It has an interchange with the Deutsche Bahn, that runs between Goslar and Magdeburg.
This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
It appears to me that the station has a common layout for this part of Germany, where there is a loop that serves the platform closest to the station building.
Trains on Deutsche Bahn seem to be about every hour and although the local diesel services seem to link together fairly well, the information isn’t as good as it might be.
I certainly think that if the weather had been better, it would have been a more interesting town to visit.
Drei Annen Hohne Station
Drei Annen Hohne station is a junction station on the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways.
We stopped on our way to Wernigerode to change locomotives, so that our locomotive could be replenished with water.
By Steam Between Eisfielder Talmühle And Drei Annen Hohne Stations
At Eisfielder Talmühle station, we changed from the diesel rail-car to a steam-hauled train.
Note.
- I sensed that the train climbed quite a bit.
- There were a lot of level crossings.
It’s certainly a spectacularly railway.
By Diesel Rail-Car Between Nordhausen Nord And Eisfielder Talmühle Stations
I travelled between Nordhausen Nord And Eisfielder Talmühle stations in a vintage diesel rail-car.
I got the impression that this train was used by locals to come into town for work or shopping.
Note the rather unusual hybrid tram that duplicates part of the route.
Nordhausen
Nordhausen has two stations close together.
- Nordhausen is the main Deutche Bahn station.
- Nordhausen Nord is the Southern terminus of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways.
These pictures show the two stations, the Bahnhofsplatz that connects them, the trams and the town.
It’s certainly not difficult to get between the two stations.
I was hoping I’d find something to eat, but I couldn’t find a food shop, so had to be content with a good coffee and a banana. Although, since I’ve looked on the map and find that there is a Lidl in walking distance of the stations. I have struck lucky for gluten-free food in the former East Germany before, as I wrote about in Lunch In Chemnitz, but on this visit I wasn’t very lucky.
Why Aren’t More High Streets Like Liverpool?
These pictures were taken early on a sunny morning in Liverpool’s main shopping street.
No buses, cars and taxis, only a few deliveries and little street clutter.
Imagine Oxford Street like this. Except you can’t as it’s not wide enough!
Both my local High Streets; Angel and Dalston are even main routes for trucks.
Borders Railway Tourist Impact Revealed
The title of this post is the same as this article on the BBC web site.
This is said.
New data has shown a “significant improvement” in tourism levels after the opening of the Borders Railway.
The Scottish Tourism Economic Assessment Monitor (STEAM) statistics compared the first half of 2016 to the same period the year before.
It is the first time in 10 years that every category saw improvement.
The company which produces STEAM data said the most likely source for the rise in tourism activity in the Borders and Midlothian was the railway.
Perhaps now the Department of Transport and the Treasury will believe that funding well-designed schemes is very much worthwhile.
Westminster Council To Trial Diesel Parking Charge
The title of this post is the title of an article on the BBC web site.
There will be a lot of complaints, but just as the Congestion Charge was accepted, this charge will be too!
And if it works for Westminster, how long before other Boroughs in London introduce it?
I do think though, that cities that cut pollution will benefit from the good publicity, that could generate extra visitors and increased business activity.
Why Isn’t The Mall Traffic Free?
This article on the BBC is entitledPlans to block vehicles from the Mall brought forward after Berlin lorry attack.
I can’t understand, why the Mall isn’t traffic free from say nine in the morning until perhaps four or five in the afternoon.
This would create a large walking area from Trafalgar Square to Victoria, with the shops of Oxford, Bond and Regent Streets and Crossrail to the North-West and the Thames not far away in the East.
This Google Map shows the area around Buckingham Palace.
It would improve London for everyone, except prossibly taxi and Uber drivers.
But just as with the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, there would be protests.
Carlisle Station Gets A Makeover
In If Manchester Victoria And Birmingham New Street Were The First Two Courses, Is Carlisle The Third?, I wrote how Carlisle station was going to get a £14.7 million upgrade including a new ETFE roof.
These pictures show the progress.
Note.
- There are two through lines in the station for freight and other trains that don’t stop.
- The four bay platforms at Carlisle are all electrified to some extent and it wouldn’t be the biggest task to make the station fully-electrified.
- It looked to me like a lot of the magnificent station building, isn’t being used to its full potential.
- The welcoming square outside the station needs an upgrade to become a real gateway to Carlisle.
I think that after the makeover, it will be a second very high-class station to mark the border between England and Scotland.
Carlisle could be in a unique position in a few years.
- It is already the best connected city in the Borderlands.
- Published plans mean that electric express trains will serve Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Manchester Airport, at least once an hour, with some places getting at least double.
- As I wrote in Arriva Rail North’s New Trains, new CAF Civity trains will be arriving, in both electric and diesel variants.
- After the current landslide at Armathwaite is cleared up on the Settle-Carlisle Line, these new trains will surely be running at least an hourly service to Leeds.
- The new trains will be providing an improvement in comfort, speed and possibly frequency on the hourly service to Newcastle, on the Tyne Valley Line.
- The new trains, would surely work their magic on the Cumbrian Coast Line around the Lake District.
- Scotrail is getting new trains too, and will some be used to provide a better service to Glasgow via Dumfries and Kilmarnock, using the Glasgow South Western Line.
If this doesn’t increase the numbers of tourists taking a rail-based exploration holiday of the Borderlands and the Lake District, I would be extremely surprised.
I’m not the only person, who thinks this way, as in the July 2016 Edition of Modern Railways, Theo Steel discusses options for the increase in traffic on the Settle to Carlisle Line.
In addition, other developments may happen, that will also increase Carlisle’s importance to the Anglo-Scottish railway system.
- The events of this winter, where the West Coast Main Line was closed because of bad weather, could see the Glasgow South Western Line improved and electrified to provide a valuable diversion route for train services between England and Glasgow.
- There could be a need for more Anglo-Scottish freight trains, but the West Coast Main Line is very busy. So will this mean that freight trains will increasingly use secondary routes like Settle-Carlisle and the Glasgow South Western Line.
- Carstairs station sits between Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow and I can’t believe that Scotrail won’t use their new trains to improve services through the town. As ever, the improvements in services around Carstairs, will probably be driven by the need for new housing and commuting to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The big question though, is whether the Borders Railway will ever get to Carlisle. If it does, then Carlisle will be ready with a refurbished and electrified platform, alongside the one currently used for services on the Glasgow South Western Line.
Network Rail seem to deserve a few plaudits for their foresight in preparing Carlisle station for the future.
The Anonymous Widower 