8 September 2008 - Heidelberg, Germany - Bismarckplatz. Back in Heidelberg, a ‘clockwise’ Line 5 car passes the refuge siding where many Heidelberg city trams reverse at the end of their routes. Note the HUGE distance between the wheels on these trams.
7 September 2008 - Mannheim, Germany – Hauptbahnhof. RNV car 138 is one of the newest trams bought for the OEG lines and is here approaching the Hbf on a Line 5 ‘clockwise’ service to Heidelberg (and then back to Mannheim). Does anyone know how to get a clear photo of these electronic route indicators? This one looks like Arabic language, but isn’t.
7 September 2008 - Mannheim, Germany – Edingen OEG. The OEG station at Edingen is the terminus for Line 5 trams working short journeys from Mannheim, which are often maintained by these classic Deuwag GT-8 trams that still make up a large part of the OEG fleet. All OEG cars are double-ended. Car 107 is just arriving and will later go back to Mannheim. Note the third headlamp – always a legal requirement for interurban trams in Germany.
8 September 2008 - Heidelberg, Germany – Bismarckplatz. This Line 5 car arrived here direct from Mannheim and now goes back to Mannheim via the other OEG line, which is a much longer way. Bismarckplatz is the central tram station in Heidelberg and local routes also terminate here.
8 September 2008 - Heidelberg, Germany – Hauptbahnhof. OEG gradually built up a fleet of Adtranz/Bombardier low floor cars similar to those being introduced in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen where the OEG runs alongside the city trams – a far-sighted decision now all these systems are under common RNV ownership. This car on ‘circular’ Line 5 started its journey in Mannheim and will return there by a different route – a trip of over 70km and more than 2.5 hours.
7 September 2008 - Gonnheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Car 1042 flies along the fast, double track through the vineyards towards Bad Durkheim. Speeds of up to 90km/hour are quite normal. These are the first photos on TWB of this classic interurban tramway (actually treated as a railway in German law).
7 September 2008 - Mannheim, Germany – Hauptbahnhof. These Deuwag low floor cars came into service on the RHB before the company was merged into the RNV and operate the basic all-day service to Bad Durkheim. Here, car 1041 approaches Mannheim Hbf along the busy three-track section from the city centre.