Hello again everywhere! A last pic from this little saxonian narrow gauge railway - the yard with the water pump unit and the barn with its little steam locomotice inside... Once Saxony had a very large system of narrow gauge railways, more then 500 kilometers. The reason why: Saxony is very mountainous with lots of narrow valleys. It would be very expensive to connect them all with normal railway tracks. Our ancestors decided to use a narrow gauge system with narrow curves and small radius with simple little railway stations like this here and a very simple system of rules for running these railroads. They were constructed between 1871 and 1914, when WW 1 began. At the begin of WW I all construction works came to an end. This railroads worked well and were good frequented by passengers and used for freight, too, because Saxony has a lot of mineral resources (and a great industrial production with many factories, too) These railroads had their first crisis in the Twenties of the last century, when Germany have had a galopping inflation of its money. A lot of systems were closed and later replaced by upcoming trucks and busses. In Nazi Germany between 1933-45 the railroads grew up again; many of the saxonian factories were important for the weapon industry and the transport of mineral resources. Many of this railroads survived WW II very good; they were not important enough to destroy them. After WW II Saxony became part East Germany and part of the Soviet System. The early German Democratic Republic was a very poor and lousy system, and the railroads had to survive hard times. The authorities of the GDR were not able to replace the old railways with its steam locomotives by modern trucks and busses. And there was only a few material to do necessary repairs. It must be a hard time. After the building of the Berlin Wall the communistic part grew up a little bit, and in the year 1975 all of this little railroads should be closed. This plan failed again, they were not able to replace them with busses and trucks... In 1981 the Soviet Union, engaged in Afghanistan, decided to stop all petroleum deliveries to their brother nations. This was a shock for Eastern Germany and everybody was happy to have this coal-fired steam locomotives. This is the reason why these hundred years old railways survived till the fall of the Wall in 1989. It was a sensation for railway friends from the west to detect places like this. Now these railroads are touristical highlights, and many railroad friends visit them, some of them from far away countries. The narrow gauge railway from Radebeul Ost to Radeburg near Dresden is recent a "historical train". But it is more than a museum, it is in steady daily service with passengers and freight and serves 4 manufactories till today. But they use diesel engines for regular service and the steam locomotive comes out only for special events. Hope you like this little story. Tomorrow we will go to Meissen. Thanks for your comments and the fav. Hope you will enjoy this here, too. billcody