Much to the delight of the many children who attended, the time had finally come again on Easter Sunday after more than 3 years of abstinence: The first steam train ran again on the Wiehltalbahn in bright weather - and had little surprises from the Easter Bunny on board for the children, who were very happy about it.
Mr. Eisenhauer from the IG Bw Dieringhausen distributed Easter eggs to the children, who were very happy about them.
But also the numerous adults had a happy smile on their faces. There were even passengers from Nepal and the Philippines who were visibly happy that something like this still exists today. They asked me to convey their heartfelt thanks to all those involved in the Wiehltalbahn/bergischger Löwe project, which I am of course happy to do herewith.
Passengers from Nepal and the Philippines were also there - all had a joyful smile on their face
As Minister Scharrenbach said just a fortnight ago: "If you have a "Bergischer Löwe (Lion of the Berg county)", then it has to roar!"
Minister, the "Bergischer Löwe" roared - and each and every one came...
There were 133 seats on the train, all of which were occupied. In the end, according to the IGBw Dieringhausen, there were about 220 - 230 passengers on board for the first ride of the day and about 180 - 190 passengers for the afternoon ride.
The train set off punctually at 10:30 a.m. and drove up the ramp from the railway museum to the premises of Dierinhausen station. There, however, the train had to wait.
Waiting for RB25
The reason were delays of the RB25 due to construction works on the Aggertal line and the resulting rail replacement service between Overath and Engelskirchen. After the RB25 was finally through, the steam train could be shunted to the DB platform, where some more passengers boarded the already full train.
Do they all want to come along too?
Then, with a delay of about half an hour, the train set off in the direction of Osberghausen, where it had to stop again because the turnout points onto the Wiehltal line had to be manually unlocked and reversed before the train could branch off from the Aggertal to the Wiehltal line and pull forward to the platform of the Osberghausen stop. There he waited until the switch had been restored to its original position and locked again and the colleague had walked from the points to the platform and boarded the train.
We continued through the picturesque Wiehl valley along the Wiehl rivulet, past vegetation slowly awakening from "hibernation" via Weiershagen, Bielstein and Alperbrück up to Wiehl. Shortly before the station, the progress of the construction works in the Wiehlpark could be seen from the moving train.
Past vegetation slowly awakening from 'hibernation'...
...the ride goes via Weiershagen, Bielstein and Alperbrück to Wiehl.
Arriving at platform 1 in Wiehl, there was a big crowd of passengers. The train then stopped in Wiehl for about three quarters of an hour before returning to Dieringhausen. During this time, the locomotive was moved to the other end of the train and its water supply was replenished.
Large crowd at track 1 in Wiehl
Large crowd at track 1 in Wiehl
Explaining words to the grandson...
The locomotive 'Waldbröl' is moved to the other end of the train and takes fresh water...
It was a nice ride that definitely whetted peoples appetite...
...and there was more : e.g. a tour through the roundhouse...
Front view of a class 41 186 freight locomotive
The 41 186 is being reconditioned