This survey of the Railways of Southern Germany begins on the border with Belgium in Aachen and proceeds, with one or two branch line detours, down the castle-strewn Rhine to Mainz. Frankfurt and its suburban connections are examined and steam is in action along the Main waterfront. Private railways such as the Frankfurt-Königsteiner and the Gelnhäuser Keisebahnen are not forgotten.

An old TEE 6-car unit is in action on a charter trip which provides a striking contrast with the ICE experimental train on the Neubaustrecke between Fulda and Würzburg. We also take the slower but more picturesque route through the Main Valley. There are railways along the many river valleys and we follow the Neckar to Mannheim, the headquarters of two narrow gauge railways and the point where we join the Rhine again.

Among Germany’s most famous trains was the old Rheingold and we follow a steam-hauled outing of the violet and ivory train from Karlsruhe to Bad Herrenalb in the Black Forest. Steam is also in action around the Kaiserstuhl.

The Black Forest is inhospitable terrain for railways and we follow some difficult routes including the preserved Wutachtal Railway where large steam engines with ten coach trains and assistance from banker locomotives fight their way around tortuous curves and over soaring viaducts.

AVAILABLE FROM SEPTEMBER 17