Trackside

On July 10 we traveled via InterCity Express (ICE) train from Heidelberg to Berlin. For this portion of our vacation I really wanted to travel on land, as opposed to flying. My Dad lived in the former republic of East Germany for most of his life before immigrating to Canada in approximately 1957, before the Wall was erected. I’m not exactly sure which year it was; his family was always quite secretive regarding details of that time period.

It’s been 24 years now since the dis-mantling of Wall but I was curious to see if I could still tell the difference between the former states of West and East Germany. Twenty-four years would not necessarily be enough time to undue the decline bestowed upon East Germany by approximately 45 years of separation, not to mention the damage inflicted by WW 2. Something else to consider as well is that train routes don’t always travel through the best parts of towns or cities; they skirt past the edges, which can be seedier. We traveled by train from Toronto to New York City once and I remember we never really got to see the best parts of the towns we passed.

However, on this particular journey it wasn’t long after passing Frankfurt (which I knew to have been West German) that my photos begin to depict older style train buildings. Then, after Fulda, which was barely inside the former West state boundary, many buildings begin to look in need of repair.

I tried my best to photograph nameplates on trackside buildings as we passed, but the route we traveled didn’t stop often. Of course the train slowed to pass through urban areas, but it still was not easy to catch a name in a photograph as we sped by. I had to rely on the odd photo with a name, then fill in the blanks later with my notes. I wrote down all the place names I could remember as we passed them if I’d missed photographing them.

 

The first large old-style train station we passed looked reasonably well-kept. I missed the name of the town (between Fulda and Merseburg). 

Then it was industrial-style buildings for a while, including smoke stacks. The first genuinely rundown trackside building photo I have is at Merseburg. I checked online for an East German map, and this town is firmly located in the former East German republic.

Merseburg

 

Looking around the comfortable modern train car in which we were traveling I noticed most people were not even looking out the windows. Admittedly we were tourists, and being Canadian, rail travel is a novelty (whether that should be the case or not is another subject entirely). Perhaps most others were locals or frequent business travelers. I’ve always been one to have my nose glued to the window on a trip. Even as a small child I never wanted to sleep while we traveled in case I missed something good. The only time I’ve allowed myself to sleep on a trip is in the passenger seat of our car as my wife drove us through Saskatchewan. I don’t think I can be faulted for saying Sask looked much the same at the Western side as it does at its Eastern border.

Approaching Halle I saw many run-down, boarded-up factory buildings. The area began to look more prosperous as the train neared the passenger platform of the station. Buildings within sight of the train platform appeared to be well maintained.

Halle

Past Halle, trackside buildings were in noticeably poorer states is repair. Lots of graffiti, and plant growth taking root in mortar joints between the clay bricks, thus contributing to many low-tech, unintentional "green roofs".

Another trackside building I viewed from a different train was near Madrid. As we pulled into Vallodolid I was pleasantly surprised to see a roundhouse. It appeared to have been unused for many years, but being located in such a hot, dry region of Spain it seemed to be in reasonably good condition. I even caught a glimpse of a train coach inside. It’s definitely a building I would like to have explored. 

Valladolid, Spain

Valladolid

Valladolid