Hi friends, this is the "ADLER" ("Eagle"), the first commercial steam locomotive ever run somewhere in Germany. It is 175 years ago, that the first steam powered train run between Nuernberg and Fuerth at he KING LUDWIG RAILWAY (Koenig Ludwig - Bahn) over a distance of 6 kilometers.... Germany didn`t exist in these times, only a conglomerate of differents middle and small territories with different kings, earls, hundreds of interests. Wise men thought that a railroad after english specifications could be a break-through. This engine, the ADLER (it`s a replica from 1935, carefully restored after a fire in 2003 in the German Railroad Museum) was constructed by Louis Stephenson & Co in Newcastle after british specifications in 1835 as the 118th engine of the manufactory. The journey to Nuernberg in Bavaria was pure adventure: The locomotive came divided in more than 100 pieces and 17 wooden containers with the ship to Rotterdam, Netherlands, than with smaller ships to Koeln at Rhein and then with horsepowered lorries over sandy and stony field ways to Bavaria.... The first official run with 200 honorable guests was at 7th December 1835. The distance of 6,1 kilometers ended after 14 minutes. 10 years after Stockton & Arlington Railways in the U.K. railroads had reached Germany, and in the next years the railroad systems began to explode and to change our world... This engine run from 1835 till 1857, at first only for passenger trains, later for freight trains. When the ADLER got out of service, it was the smallest steam locomotive at the european continent.... In 1935, when Germany's railroads were 100 years old, the authorities decided to build a replica, this here. This engine was star of countless events: 1936 Olympiade in Berlin, 150 years anniversary of German railroads, and, and, and... Till 2003.... A fire in the German Railroad Museum in nuernberg destroyed countless examples of german railroad history, so this engine. Only the waterfilled boiler survived and the axles, the wooden frame and the tender were destroyed completely. In 2005 till 2007 the locomotive was reconstructed - and runs again - as star to the 175 years anniversary here in Berlin-Lichtenberg in October 2010. Some technical specifications: Lenght over buffers: 7, 62 meters Weight in Service: 14,4 tons Axis formula 1-A-1 (2-2-2) Strenght: 21 horsepower Velocity: 24-28 kilometers/h official 65 kilometers/h inofficial Service: from 1835 - 1857 The King-Ludwig-railroad never expanded, it was a railroad isle. Today it is a tram line, and Fuerth is only a suburb of Nuernberg. You need 12 minutes for the distance, 2 minutes less the old days, but your clothes are not damaged by glowing coal particles.... Friends, my last railroad pic, a very special one, hope you like it. Please exuse me, one of my older pics have had a wrong advisory, please don`t be angry... Thanks for your interest and your comments, I was glad, thank you, and thanks for the favorite. Uff, a novel, hope there are not so many mistakes.. billcody