Connecting Europe - II -

Connecting Europe - II -

A block train of forty four-axled vans bound for a destination north of Frankfurt for re-loading.

The train is in charge of two multi-purpose engines of Swiss BLS(Bern-Loetschberg-Simplon Railway), class 485, engines No. 012 and 009,
able to run under four AC/DC systems, all the way from Italy to it´s destination in central Germany.

There the cars will be re-loaded with argillacious earth to be transported into Italy for ceramical purposes.
The loaded cars will have a weight of an estimated 3600 tons, thus of course requiring two powerful engines, at least for crossing the Alps.

In my photograph (dating from August 1st, 2007) the train is entering the busy junction of Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld,
a description of which you may find under the little layout plan I also like to provide here,
just to give you a better impression of the importance of this hotspot.