2. Trains
  3. Continental Europe

Far-West Germany

Pictures from the triangle Cologne - Aachen - Düsseldorf in the far western part of Germany. There's quite a bit of traffic variety, in no small part due to the international trains running into Belgium and the Netherlands and a sizeable industrial base in the nearby Ruhr area.
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    Soda ash is an ingredient used in glass making. This empty train returns from the Vegla glass plant in Stolberg to eastern Germany for a fresh load. Squeaky clean MRCE 185 551 (operating under lease to Veolia) powers it northbound through Kohlscheid.
    After a cold afternoon in Stolberg (east of Aachen) the very last shot of the day netted 2809 racing westbound with the FE 44532 (Gremberg - Antwerpen Noord/B) into the setting sun. In better times, this train would have had a trio of class 77 diesels on the point. If there's something to be said for light, fast freights it's the nice snowstorm they produce even in snow that's been on the ground for a couple days.
    Here's one of the few Dutch-owned ICE3M (for multi-system) trainsets departing Aachen for Frankfurt. You can just see the "Hispeed" logo where usually the "DB" logo would be placed on the nose.