A number of narrow gauge railways can be found today in Saxony, eastern Germany, with commercial daily steam-hauled trains. These were once part of a much more extensive network of lines in the region, built to a gauge of 750 mm, which once totalled over 500 kilometres (311 miles) all operated originally by the Royal Saxon State Railway company, and later the federal government railway. After the Second World War some railway assets were claimed by the Soviet Union as reparations, and the area became part of the German Democratic Republic. Many of the lines that served small towns and villages in rural areas were by then in poor condition and closed in the 1960s. However, those that were still running when the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989 are still working today, though now privatised, and have been joined by several other enthusiast-run museum railways reviving sections of lines closed earlier.
With a fascinating selection of rare and previously unpublished images, John Woodhams offers a wonderful insight into these unusual and quirky reminders of the days of the steam.
