Jena, Probstzella, Kronach, Bamberg, Gemünden am Main

Today I'm travelling from Thuringia to Bavaria in Germany. 

 From Erfurt in the morning I will take a RE train to Jena. While waiting, I see an 185 587 Traxx F140 AC2 from RheinCargo GmbH & Co

From Erfurt I'm taking Thüringer Bahn and Weimar-Gera railways. Here is the junction with Erfurt-Leipzig/Halle high speed railway.

Between Weimar and Jena the railway is non-electrified and it is operated by DB Class 612 diesel multiple unit

During rush hours three sets of class 612 are running in combination

Jena West station from 1878

Jena is the second largest town in Thuringia after Erfurt. Here is Phyletisches Museum

GT6M-ZR from ADtranz

Solaris Tramino

152 066-7 Krauss-Maffei ES 64 F at Jena Paradies station

Taking Class 9442 from Jena West to Jena Göschwitz

Jena Göschwitz station connects Weimar-Gera railway with Saalbahn

Since 2015 Abellio is operating the lines of Saale-Thüringen-Südharz. The operation is done with Bombardier Talent2 trains. Here is a train with "Martin Luther" livery

RB24 line Großheringen-Göschwitz

Göschwitz (Saale) is located along Saalbahn which connects the Thuringian Railway (Thüringer Bahn) at Großheringen (near Naumburg) with the Franconian Forest Railway (Frankenwaldbahn) at Saalfeld and is part of the north-south main line, Munich–Nuremberg–Halle / Leipzig–Berlin.

193 839 Vectron MS from ELL, hired to SETG - Salzburger EisenbahnTransportLogistik GmbH

This Vectron is approved for operations Germany, Austria and Hungary

My next train is an SE 15 service between Leipzig and Saalfeld. It is also an Class 9442 (Talent 2). Usually there are faster RE (Regional Express) or slower RB (Regional Bahn) services, SE (Stadt-Express) is a mixture between RE and RB, trains skipped many stations in urban areas but made all stops in the countryside

Kahla (Thür)

Saale river to the left

Rudolstadt (Thür)

Schloss Heidecksburg

SE 15 has arrived to its final destination - Saalfeld, which is also the end stop for Saalbahn and the first stop for Franconian Forest Railway.

152 066 and 187 148

From Saalfeld and further southbound I'm taking RB18 service Saalfeld-Bamberg. This service is operated by DB Class 442, which is a 5-part Talent 2 and it is basically same train as Abellio Class 9442. The latter one has larger seating and a lounge area.

2nd class coach of DB Class 442

Kaulsdorf(Saale)

Hockeroda

Marktgölitz

I have arrived to Probstzella station which is my 2nd East/West german border station to visit on this trip, after Schwanheide 2 days before.

From Wikipedia: "The station is 1.3 km from the Bavarian-Thuringian border and after the Second World War until German reunification in 1990, it served as the point of entry for traffic passing from West Germany to East Germany and is considered the last remaining border station on the Inner German border."

Until german reunification, there were both border controls and locomotive change operations at this station.

187 115 Traxx F140 AC3

151 164 is a locomotive from the 70's

Since 2010 there is historic museum about the border station

151 099 and 151 022

From Wikipedia: "The Franconian Forest Railway (German: Frankenwaldbahn), route no. KBS 840, is an 88 kilometre long, electrified, double-tracked main line from Lichtenfels via Kronach to Saalfeld. It is part of the Munich–Nuremberg–Bam­berg–Jena–Halle/Leipzig–Berlin trunk route. It was completed in October 1885. Climbing the ramps from Pressig-Rothenkirchen and Probstzella to Steinbach am Wald the line ascends the heights of the Franconian Forest (Frankenwald). The ramps have a maximum incline of 29 ‰ and, even today, heavy goods trains require an additional banking locomotive at the front or rear of the train."

Taking the next Regional service further south, this time it is a 3-coach set of Class 442.

Ludwigsstadt

Steinbach am Wald

Pressig-Rothenkirchen

My train has arrived to Kronach

Kronach is equipped with a nearly complete city-wall and Germany's biggest medieval fortress Festung Rosenberg.

Kronach station

Kath. Pfarramt St. Johannes

I'm back at the station

155 253 from Railpool

Class 155 is an old East german locomotive from the early 80's

187 313 Traxx F160 AC3 LM from Railpool, hired to HSL Logistik GmbH

Continuing my journey along Frankenwaldbahn, here is Küps station

Hochstadt-Marktzeuln

Railway yard with historic coaches at Lichtenfels

Banz Abbey/Castle is a former Benedictine monastery, since 1978 a part of the town of Bad Staffelstein north of Bamberg, Bavaria.

Bad Staffelstein

High speed line Erfurt-Ebensfeld

Between Ebensfeld and Bamberg, the conventional line and high speed line runs next to each other

I have now reached Bamberg

RE line between Nuremberg-Coburg are operated with Class 193 locomotive and DoSto coaches

Class 193 locomotives are rented from Railpool

Since 2017 and the opening of the new high speed line, this RE line is using these locomotives. DB is renting them due to the absence of its own ETCS supported locomotives.

Here is a train set with 193 804 and 193 805 from Railpool, with one Vectron locomotive at each end of the train.

There is a display at each end of the locomotive

Bamberg station

The old town of Bamberg is listed as UNESCO world heritage

Obere Brücke

River Main

Altes Rathaus Bamberg

I'm back at the station. Here is a view of Michael Weyermann Malt factory

My next train is this Class 445, Twindexx Vario

RE 54 Main-Spessart-Express from Bamberg to Frankfurt am Main

I'm now taking Bamberg–Rottendorf railway

Grafenrheinfeld

Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant. The plant operated from 1981 to June 28, 2015, when it was taken offline as part of the phase out policy for nuclear power in Germany.

From Rottendorf, the line connects to Nuremberg–Würzburg railway and later Main–Spessart railway

My journey today ends in Gemünden am Main which is a small town near Würzburg

Today the station serves only Regional trains, but it was once an important junction station. It has 9 platform tracks.

The main reason I'm here is that I've heard about the large amount of freight trains passing by, and I can tell that I was not disappointed.

1016 046 "Taurus" ES 64 U2 from ÖBB, hired to Rail Cargo Carrier - Germany GmbH

189 286 ES 64 F4 from MRCE, hired to TXL - TX Logistik AG

This Eurosprinter locomotive is approved for Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Romania according to this label

Evangelical Church to the right

My hotel is located next to the station

The church in Gemünden

Scherenburg Castle. Not sure why there was a dutch flag on top

The view from the castle

River Main

193 725 Vectron MS from ELL, hired to RTB CARGO GmbH

Vectron and Regio-Shuttle for service EB50 Schweinfurt–Bad Kissingen–Gemünden (Main)

185 694 Traxx F140 AC2 from Railpool, hired to EVB - Eisenbahnen and Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH

182 524 ES 64 U2-024 from MRCE, hired to TXL - TX Logistik AG

184 408 Traxx F140 AC2 from MRCE, hired to TXL

185 606 Traxx F140 AC2 from RheinCargo

It was freight trains each minute this evening, I had hardly time to turn around

193 236 Vectron AC from ELL, hired to WLC - Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo GmbH

193 722 Vectron MS from ELL, hired to TXL

For a short time another photographer joined med at the same spot

193 848 Vectron AC from EGP - Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam mbH

193 832 Vectron AC from ELL, hired to RTB Cargo - Rurtalbahn Cargo GmbH,

185 684

152 126

193 816 Vectron AC from Railpool, hired to RTB Cargo

185 356

182 580 ES 64 U2-080 from CargoServ - Cargo Service GmbH

185 277

185 167

187 076 Traxx F140 AC3 from RheinCargo

185 589 Traxx F140 AC2 from RheinCargo with "500 reformation Luther" livery

193 828 Vectron AC from Retrack GmbH & Co.

Night falls over Gemünden am Main

Time to clean the window

View from my room