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12.11.2022: A look behind the scenes

Now that the museum season of 2022 has ended, we begin today with a casual series of glimpses behind the scenes. We report on places or incidents that a visitor would not normally get to see. Today we turn our attention to the water tower at the back of our museum grounds, which was built in 1898.

The striking structure consists of three main parts, only two of which are visible from the outside. It serves to supply steam locomotives, which need lots of water to produce steam and which has to be "refueled" regularly. The wide upper part of the tower houses a steel tank that can hold about 200 m³ of water. Since the tank is at a height of 12 meters, the water pressure at the bottom of the tower is therefore a little more than one bar, depending on how high the tank is filled. Let's take a look inside together:
If you open the entrance door, you get into the shaft of the tower. Here you can see thick pipes in the middle that reach vertically from the floor to the ceiling. There are three pipes in total. Groundwater from our well system is pumped up into the storage tank through one of them. Through the other two pipes, water rushes down from the storage tank when one of the three water cranes located in the compound is opened.

Courageous museum staff who are free from giddiness can climb up a steel ladder in the tower. However, for safety reasons, please do not try this yourself the next time you visit our museum and the door of the tower should be open.

Above the false ceiling you reach the storage tank. Another staircase leads up to the top of the tank.


The third part of the tower is underground. Here there is a basement where the risers and downpipes lead through the thick walls into the soil outside and then on to the water cranes in the grounds. The technology of the water tower and the entire water supply system was restored to working order by our volunteers after the museum opened, so that today we can once again show you an authentic supply of our steam locomotives. More details next time.


There are other pleasing things to report. As you may have followed, the museum has been in possession of the sidecar 190 851 for about three years. It is an old Prignitzer, because it was used for decades on branch lines around Perleberg and thus in our nearest neighbourhood. After the closure of the lines, it was relocated to Berlin and served as a service vehicle for the (East) Berlin construction office and the Deutsche Reichsbahn. It was last stored in a warehouse of the Berlin Museum of Transport and Technology. This museum was kind enough to let us have the vehicle. We recall that it arrived in Wittenberge in mid-December 2019 with faded paint, but still on its own wheels.

Now the sheet metal work on the car body could be completed and the painting finished. Today the first roll out took place to see its new shiny paint in daylight.


In the medium term, the wagon should be ready for operation again so that it can transport you, dear visitors. However, there is still a long way to go. First of all, some of the windows have to be made of safety glass, and the interior, seats and floor need to be freshened up. Technically, axles and brakes, buffers and draw hooks need to be checked. We also want to install a modern autonomous heating system so that it can also be operated on cooler days. Perhaps a system from the bus or motorhome sector. If you have ideas or even parts for this, please feel free to contact us. We are grateful for any help.
vehicle: 190 851-6

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22.10.2022: After the season is before the season.

Today, Saturday, the museum was open for the last time this year. Quite a few visitors took this opportunity to pay us another visit. Thank you very much for coming this year.
The active members were busy preparing some locomotives for the winter. Thus, all steam locomotives were stripped of their slag and their fireboxes and smokeboxes were thoroughly cleaned. In the case of the steam locomotive Emma, the boiler was also washed out because lime scale builds up on its inside during operation. You may know this from your kettle or the heating rod of your washing machine at home. The limescale must be removed from time to time. To do this, all the washing hatches in the boiler are opened and the boiler is washed out with a sharp jet of water.
The following picture shows the colleague opening a hatch on the top of the boiler.

After rinsing, the result shows: lime residues are flushed out of the boiler

At 50 3570, the check valves have been removed. They are used to seal the lines through which fresh water can be fed into the boiler during operation. The valves consist of two parts: On the one hand, a housing with a sealing edge in it, and on the other hand, the actual valve body. The latter converges conically at the end and is pressed against the seat in the housing by the steam pressure in the boiler. If a pump is now turned on, the valve body is lifted out of the seat by the pump pressure and water can flow through the gap. The parts are made of brass to prevent them from rusting. However, brass is a relatively soft metal. Thus, closing the valve can cause a furrow to form in the valve body when it is pressed back onto the seat. This will cause the valve to leak over time. Valve bodies and seats must therefore be regularly reworked on the lathe. Here are a few pictures of the removal and machining of a valve and a comparison before and after machining.



Unfortunately, diesel locomotive 0604 developed an oil leak after the end of the last event, which now had to be localized. Fortunately, it now turns out that only the pressure hose to the oil pressure gauge in the driver's cab had leaked.


Dear visitors, that was the report from this weekend. We will of course keep you updated, also during the winter break. If you would like to visit the museum during the winter break, it will be possible by arrangement. Please register by mail or telephone. Contact details for this can be found in the imprint of our website. The museum will reopen regularly on 8.4.2023. Thank you and see you soon!
vehicles: 50 3570-4, Emma, OHE 0604

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13.10.2022: 10 years of the Historic Engine Shed - Review of our celebratory event.

October 2022 marked the tenth anniversary of the Historical Engine Shed in Wittenberge. This was, of course, reason enough for us to organize an extensive celebration that we will certainly remember fondly and for a long time to come. The preparations were indeed exhausting and gave some of the organisers a few more grey hairs. But we think it paid off and we believe that our more than 2,000 visitors last weekend felt the same way. We thank you, dear visitors, and you, dear supporters, very much for coming and helping us.
This time the preparations started already on Thursday before the event with some shunting tasks and the preparation of the logistics. There were benches and chairs set up, beer kegs hauled and barriers erected where necessary and signs hung. On Friday morning we started early with the firing up of our steam locomotives. So the fires were lit in the boilers of the "Emma", the "Pritzwalk" and the 50 3570. After the fires had burned out, the locomotives were cleaned. After all, one wanted to appear neatly at the festival.


Then the exhibits of the Blaulichtmuseum in Beuster were set up. The colleagues were present with an IFA L60 in the livery of the Technisches Hilfswerk and a tanker of the fire department on our premises. In addition, a rail-mounted Fortschritt ZT-320 tractor from the Schönebeck tractor plant was set up.


In the afternoon, more guest locomotives arrived. These were the diesel locomotives 232 356 and 112 365 of the former Deutsche Reichsbahn, which are used today by the companies WFL and Lok-Ost in freight and construction train service.


In the late afternoon, the boiler of our steam locomotive 50 3570 had finally reached operating pressure. Then, our locomotive was coupled to steam locomotive 01 0509, which belongs to the company Pressnitztalbahn. This was necessary because the latter is oil-fired and needs external starting aid to warm up the bunker oil and to operate the locomotive's own oil burners.

Finally, the pressure also rose in the 01 and the locomotive crew was able to ignite its own burners.


Now that all the locomotives had been brought to life and the preparations had been completed so far, the anticipation of the next two days increased. On Saturday and Sunday, we could certainly offer some highlights. Among them, of course, was the presence of our guest locomotives, which took turns presenting themselves on the turntable and also participated in our parade runs in the afternoon. Also worth mentioning were our rail excursions to the Wittenberg port railroad, which were carried out with railcar 672 910 of the Hanseatische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. The presentation of old uniforms from the GDR era, which were presented on the loading platform of our rail truck, was very diversified. And the little ones were also catered for: Behind the locomotive shed, the children's railroad was running, which delighted our youngsters. Here are some pictures taken during the two days.






In the evening there was a great rainbow pointing exactly at the locomotive shed.

We take this as a good sign and hope to have given you, dear visitors, much pleasure in the past ten years. And, of course, we also hope that we will be able to show you interesting things in the years to come. Please stay with us!
We thank among others
the city of Wittenberge and the district of Prignitz
the Prignitzer Eisenbahn and its sibling companies
the Pressnitztalbahn
Lok-Ost
Wedler und Franz Logistik (WFL)
the Blaulichtmuseum Beuster
the fire department Wittenberge
and all helpers and assistants for their untiring commitment
and of course you, dear visitors for your coming.

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02.10.2022: Express steam locomotive in the historic locomotive shed

We are very pleased to announce that express steam locomotive 01 0509-8 has reached us today. The express steam locomotive was built in 1935 by Krupp and underwent extensive reconstruction in 1963 at the Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk Meiningen. It was already at home in Wittenberge between 1968 and 1976 and was one of the stars of the depot and of the entire Deutsche Reichsbahn at that time, along with its sister locomotives. It was one of the most powerful steam locomotives ever to run on German rails. Among other things, it hauled the interzonal trains between Hamburg and Berlin and was thus used in very high-quality passenger service. Today, it belongs to the Pressnitztalbahn, which uses it regularly to haul special trains throughout Germany.
We are pleased to present this star to you on the occasion of our anniversary weekend. One more reason for you to visit us next weekend. After all, the opportunity to marvel at the locomotive in its old home does not come along very often. The following photos show the locomotive on its arrival in Wittenberge on Sunday, October 02, 2022.




On the anniversary weekend 8/9/10/22, we will be open daily from 10:00 am. In addition to the steam locomotive 01 0509, you can then marvel at other guest locomotives and our domestic vehicle fleet. Or you can take a tour with our museum trains through the grounds and to the port of Wittenberge. Not to forget the daily vehicle parades in the afternoon. We are looking forward to your visit!

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25.09.2022: Looking back at the Day of the Rail and looking forward to our anniversary weekend

First of all, we look back a little on the event organised by the Potsdam railway company on the occasion of the "Day of the Rail". Visitors had the opportunity to visit the company's workshop in locomotive shed III, to try their hand as a locomotive driver on the driving simulator and also to see some of the vehicles. Ellocomotive 151 007-2 was presented on our turntable and could also be seen from the inside. It was built by Krupp in 1973 and was in service with the Deutsche Bundesbahn for decades before it was sold to Railpool in Munich. This company leases locomotives on a long-term basis to other railway companies, such as the Potsdam railway company.


The next project of some club members was the PwG 88 baggage car. Here the floor covering in the entrance area was removed to replace the wooden boards underneath with new ones. In addition, the brake was dismantled in order to clean and inspect the parts. The wagon should be ready for use again soon. Here are pictures of the wagon and the parts of the vehicle brake.


The steam locomotive 50 3570 is also looking forward to its next use on the occasion of our upcoming anniversary. The driver's cab shines in new splendour.

This weekend, the locomotive was prepared for use. The water in the boiler was brought up to the necessary level for firing up.


Then the firebox was filled with wood, which is burnt to slowly warm up the boiler. The fireboxes of the other steam locomotives were also filled. Here a view into our steam locomotive Emma.

We would like to take this opportunity to once again drum up publicity for our anniversary event "10 Years of the Historic Wittenberge Engine Shed". Have you already reserved 8 and 9 October 2022 in your calendar for a visit with us? A large vehicle exhibition, round trips through the grounds and through the port of Wittenberge, trolley rides and, of course, our vehicle parades in the afternoon are planned.
As special guests we hope to welcome our colleagues from WFL, the Pressnitztalbahn, Lok-Ost and our club colleagues from Neumünster (on 8.10.). They will be represented with all types of traction. This means that we will see at least one diesel locomotive, one steam locomotive, one ellocomotive and one diesel railcar (8.10.) of our colleagues as guest vehicles on our premises.
A highlight of the event should be the presence of express steam locomotive 01 0509, which belongs to the Pressnitztalbahn. The locomotive was stationed in Wittenberge between 1968 and 1976 and at that time carried, among others, the express trains between Berlin and Hamburg.

We hope that the vehicles will be available as planned, because like many other companies, the owners are affected by staff shortages that may make it necessary to reschedule at short notice.
Look forward to these special days with us!
vehicles: 50 3570-4, Emma, Pwg 88

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