Anyway, I made it, phew. I bought a vegan falafel sandwich, we caught the Eurostar to Brussels and then the ICE to Frankfurt, checked in to the Leonardo hotel across the way and, after a pint at the irish pub next door, we all went out for a meal at the nearby Messina Italian restaurant. I couldn't finish my huge plate of veggie pasta. The veggies, gluten-intolerants and just plain fussy eaters were put on a table of their own.

Day 2 Friday 4 September 2015
The breakfast at the Leonardo was better than expected with scrambled egg and tortilla along with muesli and fruit - I'd brought my own tea bags. We got the train to Wetzlar and a bus to the Grube Fortuna mine and field museum, where the 600mm gauge locos were lined up outside the shed, accompanied by a traction engine. We had a look round the sheds, one of which contained loads of mine diesel locos, and the big black loco No. 6616 built 1912, took us round the loop in the woods a few times with several stops for photo opportunities.

Then it was the turn of the little green 0-4-0 Monika, built 1913.

We then went to the smart restaurant on site for a lovely meal (I thought we'd be at the tressle tables set out in the shed): the veggies (me and Neil) had a gorgeous salad with cheesy croquet things - and a glass of the wonderful schwarzbier (black beer)! The germans seem to miss a trick in the gift shop department!

After lunch, we headed back to Frankfurt and then on to Darmstadt Eberstadt where we took a bus to Frankenstein station and the steam tram. Of course it was another steam loco - a Henschel built 1919 -pulling some coaches to Alsbach and back alongside a road. Lots of cyclists rode alongside too.

We had to stop on the way back while they took on coal in buckets from the back of a car and attached a hose to a hydrant for water - all the stopping and starting had used up the fuel! Back at Frankenstein, we transferred to the Tram Museum (with a tantalising glimpse of the railway museum on the way) where after a quick look round (there were some very saucy goings on in the model tramway on display) we were taken on a tour of Darmstadt by vintage electric tram 57, which dropped us off at the main station.

That evening Neil (the husband of Angela who I met on the Polish trip) and I looked for a decent bar for more schwarzbier but settled on a rough looking sports bar we'd seen on the way to the Messina.
More photos on Flickr.
No comments:
Post a Comment