Berlin

Here's the turnout that the abandoned switchstand was connected to. If I'm not mistake this was on or near the hump.

I'm not actually posting Picture 2, as it was a bracket and I don't think it was very good. :-) This is another, clearer shot of the abandoned turnout in the last shot.

This was my first ever photo of Checkpoint Charlie, taken from the Eastern side in January of 2007, when the Christmas tree was still up. This was the same trip during which I shot the other Ektachromes of the Brandenberger Tor and other landmarks.

This was taken from the western side of Checkpoint Charlie. When you face east, you see the poster of the East German soldier, and when you look west you see the poster of the American soldier, both posters being on the same post.

This was the warning sign used during the Cold War to formally inform people crossing the border that they were entering the American sector. Although it's obviously obsolete now, it's been kept up as part of the overall preservation effort on Checkpoint Charlie.

I attempted a number of shots from the Berlin Television Tower, but regrettably this was one of the only ones that came out because the windows were very dirty that day. I can't tell if this train was an Intercity or a Eurocity, but it would be one or the other, as that's DB Intercity equipment, which is also used on the Eurocities.

The Brandenberger Tor, or Brandenberg Gate, was constructed in 1788-1791 by the architect Carl Gotthard Langhans as an actual city gate, back in the days when Berlin was indeed a walled city with gates. It was the last, and most monumental of all the gates, and has long been one of the most recognizable landmarks of Berlin. This was an alternate to shot 1.

The Brandenberger Tor, or Brandenberg Gate, was constructed in 1788-1791 by the architect Carl Gotthard Langhans as an actual city gate, back in the days when Berlin was indeed a walled city with gates. It was the last, and most monumental of all the gates, and has long been one of the most recognizable landmarks of Berlin. I took this right after I took my black and white which mirrors it, using my MZ-10 loaded with E100GX instead of my Ikoflex, which had had Delta 100 in it.

Wagons-Lits are better known for providing sleepers and other luxury passenger equipment for the Orient Express, but indeed they do provide a full sleeper service to many carriers. RZD, the Russian Railway, is a major customer, and their sleeper trains, equipped with Wagons-Lits stock, connect Moscow and St. Petersburg to many Eastern and Central European cities such as Prague, Budapest, Karlovy Vary, and of course Berlin, seen here.

Wagons-Lits are better known for providing sleepers and other luxury passenger equipment for the Orient Express, but indeed they do provide a full sleeper service to many carriers. RZD, the Russian Railway, is a major customer, and their sleeper trains, equipped with Wagons-Lits stock, connect Moscow and St. Petersburg to many Eastern and Central European cities such as Prague, Budapest, Karlovy Vary, and of course Berlin, seen here. This is a fuller, but less sharp, alternate of Picture 1.

The Brandenberger Tor, or Brandenberg Gate, was constructed in 1788-1791 by the architect Carl Gotthard Langhans as an actual city gate, back in the days when Berlin was indeed a walled city with gates. It was the last, and most monumental of all the gates, and has long been one of the most recognizable landmarks of Berlin.

The Berliner Dom (Dome) was built as a cathedral between 1895 and 1905 to replace an earlier cathedral constructed here in 1747, which in turn replaced a chapel constructed in 1465 for the Hohenzollem family. Heavily damaged in World War II, the current Berliner Dom is a simpler and less glamourous building than the original, although an extensive reconstruction was conducted during the period 1975-1993.

This is the Bundestag, formerly the Reichstag, which is the seat of the German government. Constructed in 1894, it was pulled from service in 1933 with the dissolution of the Reichstag, or German parliament, destroyed in World War II 1939-1945, and rebuilt in 1989-1999, becoming the new seat of the Bundestag, successor to the Reichstag.

This very-tall Television tower is the tallest structure in Berlin, at 368 meters. Built in 1965-1966 by the government of the Deutche Democratische Republik (DDR, or simply East Germany), it was used by the East German government as a symbol of Berlin, and since the fall of the Berlin wall it has not only continued transmissions, but been expanded, with three meters being added to the heigh of the antenna. The large ball that you see towards the top is an observation deck and restaurant. Notice the tram at street level. :-) Berlin does indeed have both an extensive tram system and metro system, both of which have been expanded many times, although the original systems predate World War II.

This photo is a companion to a black and white that I shot with my Ikoflex from the park over to the left in this picture (if park is really the word). I like this shot not only because I like the building, but because there's that completely out-of-place double-decker bus on the street. Admittedly, they're only used for sightseeing in Berlin, but they're obviously more associated with Britain, not Germany.

This was my train, a Nacht Zug, or Couchette, which had just got me into Berlin in the extreme early morning hours, hence the darkness. These Class 120 electrics aren't monstrously fast, but they're powerful, versatile, and enough.

Built by Siemens, the 402 Class ICE high speed trains were the second production variant of the ICE, introduced in the mid-1990s. They were smaller and slower than the original 401 Class (250 Km/h instead of 280), but they offered better safety, and their shorter length allowed them to handle more minor routes. In this case, though, it doesn't look to have worked, as two sets had to be coupled together.

After I arrived in Berlin, there wasn't much to do for a few hours, so I walked around taking photos before getting the next train #NZ242 for Bruxelles-Midi, at 2146. Berlin Hbf was recently restored and rebuilt massively, and bears little resemblence at this point to the steam-era station. It's as much mall as station, like Washington Union, Cleveland Union Terminal (but with more trains), London Liverpool Street, or London Waterloo in this respect. The food isn't too bad, and the shopping is so-so. I didn't find anything worth buying.