Am vergangenen Wochenende feierten die Aktiven das 25-jährige Jubiläum des Vereins Dampflokfreunde Salzwedel e.V., der sich im Jahr 2012 mit dem Verein Historischer Lokschuppen Wittenberge e.V. zusammentat, um gemeinsam den Lokschuppen in Wittenberge als Eisenbahnmuseum zu betreiben.
Es war ein wirklich großes Fest und mit vielen Besuchern, denen wir ganz herzlich für ihr Kommen danken. Da wären vor allem die rund 2.200 Personen zu nennen, die uns an den beiden Tagen aufsuchten. Eine tolle Zahl an großen und kleinen Eisenbahnfans, die uns durch ihr Interesse und ihre Begeisterung auf die nächsten 25 Jahre hoffen lassen. Danken möchten wir auch den beteiligten Firmen, die uns bei der Ausrichtung des Festes und mit Ausstellungsstücken unterstützt haben. Da wäre die Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam zu nennen, die uns die kleine Dampflok Pritzwalk für Führerstandsmitfahrten und den Schienenbus der Baureihe VT98 für die Hafenrundfahrten zur Verfügung gestellt hat. Die Firma Lok OST Staßfurt besuchte uns mit einer ehemaligen Reichsbahn-Diesellok der Baureihe 112, die ihrerseits zwei moderne Elloks der Baureihe 143 der Firma Salzland Railservice mitbrachte. Ausdrücklichen Dank sagen wir auch den Vereinskollegen aus Neumünster, die uns mit ihrem Sonderzug aus Kiel besuchten. Ebenso danken wir der IG Schienenverkehr Ostfriesland e.V., welche die Fahrt von Wismar nach Wittenberge und die Pendelfahrt von Wittenberge nach Pritzwalk und zurück mit Fahrzeugen aus Glauchau und Chemnitz organisiert und ausgeführt hat. Herzlichen Dank auch noch einmal in dieser Form an diejenigen Institutionen aus dem öffentlichen und privaten Sektor, die uns auch sonst dauerhaft unterstützen. Ohne Euch alle wäre diese Veranstaltung nicht möglich gewesen und überhaupt unser Museumsbetrieb nicht darstellbar! Und zuletzt noch der persönliche Dank an die Aktiven und ihre Angehörigen, die freiwillig die Vorbereitung und Durchführung der Veranstaltung geschultert haben. Wir sind stolz auf ein gutes Team.
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There was a rather unusual picture to be seen in Wittenberge today. When does a steam locomotive roll through the town? The mystery is quickly solved, because today the steam locomotive "Pritzwalk" was delivered by low-loader to the historical locomotive shed Wittenberge. The locomotive came piggyback from Meyenburg to take part in the museum's anniversary event on October 12 and 13, 2019. It will then be in steam and take turns with the museum's other locomotives in offering the popular driver's cab rides and will certainly also be given a place of honour in the vehicle parade, which will take place around 2 p.m. on the days of the event.
The small locomotive was built in 1912 by Henschel in Kassel as a shunting locomotive for a gasworks in Frankfurt. It was in service there until 1968 and was then displayed for decades as a monument, most recently in front of a model railway shop in Wuppertal. In 1999, it was acquired by the Prignitzer Eisenbahn, forerunner of today's Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam, and was recently returned to working order. The club members are most pleased to have the locomotive as a guest on the occasion of the club's anniversary.
The following pictures show the locomotive still on the special low-loader and after unloading under tow by a diesel locomotive on the turntable at the museum.
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At the weekend members worked hard on the car carrier. After the corrosion restoration was completed, the side sliding doors could be reinstalled, through which the state cars would be driven from a side loading ramp into the car in the early hours of the morning. Since a relatively acute angle was needed for this, the doors are correspondingly large. On each side of the car are two doors, each one about 3.5 metres wide, which open up an approximately seven-metre-wide entrance when pushed open sideways. With these dimensions you can guess what a door weighs. Accordingly, they could only be set up today with the help of the shed crane. The first picture shows the assembly work, the second the car after assembly on the turntable.
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On Wednesday, September 3, 2019, we had high-profile visitors to the museum. Our guests were Dagmar Ziegler (SPD), Member of the Bundestag, Mayor Dr. Oliver Hermann and Karsten Korup, who brought good news with them: The museum can continue to invest in its listed buildings because subsidies totalling around 80,000 euros are to be provided, half by the federal government and half by the town.
The money will be invested in renovating the remainns of former loco shed I. Part of the outer wall of the former rotunda, which was a circular engine shed with an internal turntable, still stands with the steel roof construction. Walls and roof struts dating back to 1872 are now threatened with decay despite preservation of the existing building in recent years, so that restoration in compliance with regulations governing listed buildings is necessary. With help from local companies, the wall crowns will be protected against penetration by rainwater and the roof re-covered.
This work goes hand in hand with the activities of the society, which is demolishing some non-listed installations from GDR times, which converted the remains of loco shed 1 into a garage and finally into a scrap storage. All of these activities greatly support the museum's aim to gradually resurrect the rotunda, as far as this is still possible. As reported, some time ago the museum was able to acquire a suitable Parchim turntable from its own funds, which in the medium term is to form the core of the new facility. In a few years' time, it is the hope of those active in the museum that railway vehicles from the museum's collection will once again be housed there.
The following pictures show the condition in August 2019. Under the steel roof construction the walls of the former car workshop can be seen, which have now been removed.
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Under the motto #digitalsommerprignitz, an initiative of the town of Wittenberge in cooperation with the Wirtschaftsförderung Land Brandenburg GmbH under the patronage of the Minister President of the State of Brandenburg invited guests to visit Wittenberge station on August 10, 2019, the historic station building of which was recently acquired by the Wittenberge municipal housing association. The aim was to inspire employees working predominantly digitally, for the "town in the countryside", so that they can move to the town of Wittenberge and the region, to work and play in the worldwide network from there. The station building is to be an anchor point for this in the future. After restoration, municipal authorities will move in here to support the digital settlement.
Today, however, there was another opportunity to admire the "old splendour". The dining hall on the ground floor, which some of our guests may still remember as a Mitropa restaurant, could be visited. Since a track from our museum area leads almost to the door of the station, we took the opportunity to draw attention to the Historic Locomotive Shed and offered the visitors cab rides on one of our diesel locomotives.
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The summer season and the warm temperatures only invite to a limited extent to sudorific activities in the historical locomotive shed. Nevertheless, active members are not idle, working on vehicles and ... zum Artikel
On Saturday, 18.5.2019, the workshop track in locoshed road 1 was completed. As part of the work on the track, the foundations were stabilised, new rails laid and the concrete floor adjusted to the rail ... zum Artikel
Last weekend the gates to the spring festival opened in the museum. Contrary to expectations (and all predictions!) the weather god looked on us kindly and so many visitors found their way to Wittenberge. ... zum Artikel
As regular readers of our newsletter will already know, we are currently in the middle of a general overhaul on our steam loco 50 3570. To obtain the official permit ("ticket") following the overhaul, ... zum Artikel
Many regular visitors to our museum and our website will be well aware that we have to do maintenance work on our loco 50 3570 in order to keep her fit to steam in the future.
A major part of ... zum Artikel
Most of our active members are currently working on locos which must be prepared for the forthcoming season. At he moment, we are concentrating on the necessary brake inspections. On diesellok 102 172 ... zum Artikel
In just a few days, the "Historische Lokschuppen Wittenberge" opens its shed doors to welcome visitors once again. On Saturday, April 6, 2019, the winter break is over. From then, the museum, located on ... zum Artikel
VB 197 805
First a few words on progress of restoring railcar trailer VB 197 805: the passenger accommodation was completely stripped out some time ago.
Now begins the work ... zum Artikel
In the past few days, two steam locomotives have visited Wittenberge depot to take on coal and water and to berth some historic passenger coaches here for a few days when they were not in use between working ... zum Artikel
Initial preparation have been made for repairs to the track beneath our sanding facility. These are necessary because the timber sleepers originally installed here are gradually showing their age and beginning ... zum Artikel
A number of members answered the call to a working party, which worked in the most unpleasant weather conditions (ground frost, snow, sleet and after that, rain during the day).
A demolition contractor ... zum Artikel
Several members took advantage of the good and generally frost-free weather to bury a signalling cable - a long outstanding task - leading from our signal box Wm to the extreme southern tip of our premises, ... zum Artikel
Work on No. 1 road in our locoshed continues. Today's task was to remove the longitudinal sleepers which were installed more than a century ago to support the rails on No.1 road. Over the years, they have ... zum Artikel
As we wrote in December, a number of our members are now tackling the tracklaying in No. 1 road in the locoshed. After removing the covering panels between the rails, the service pit underneath was partly ... zum Artikel
Dampflokfreunde Salzwedel e.V. Am Bahnhof 6, 19322 Wittenberge
