Must see railway museums in Germany!
I am lucky enough to be visiting Germany and Holland in January 2009. I am planning to spend as much time as possible on the rails while there, and am keen to visit some museum. Does anyone have suggestions as to good railway museums in Germany (particulalry the south)? I have already discovered a number will be closed for a winter break, but I thought the discussion could be useful. Cheers, JC.

James hi, When in south you MUST visit Deutsches Museum in Munich. There is also a section for transport where you can see truly historic locomotives. I will probably visit the place within one month and will give you detailed info + some photos. Apart from this, I'm sure you can find many museums in the area with working steamers. Best regards, Cem.

Hi James, A lot depends on what your interests are. Munich has the DM, which IMHO is well worth a visit, and not only for the trains. Nurenberg has the railway museum. Lindau on the Bodensee has both Austrian, Swiss and German trains. Have a look at when trains run between cities and maybe look at traveling on night trains to maximise the number of days in cities, John

Railway museums in germany
Hello, whatabout an invitation to see the roundhouse of " Eisenbahnfreunde Betzdorf" in Siegen???

Thanks Guys, your suggestions sound great! DDM and the BD Museum have definitely been placed on the list! Unfortunately the DFS seems to be closed during January, which is rather dissapointing after Tim's description. I would also like to visit Eisenbahnfreunde Untermain, but they also seem to be closed. I guess it gets a bit chilly in the middle of winter for tourists! Others that I have added to my list so far are Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij in Beekbergen Holland, and Localbahn Museum Bayerisch Eisenstein, and I hope to add more. Hello, whatabout an invitation to see the roundhouse of " Eisenbahnfreunde Betzdorf" in Siegen??? Dear Wolfgang, this sounds very tempting!! Is there a train service from Koeln to Siegen? (I am limited to public transport). Once again, thanks to everyone for their help. I shall make a start on planning my trip. Cheers, JC.

Must see Railway Museums in Germany
Hello James, it is possible to go from Cologne to Siegen by train. Every hour leaves a train heading for Siegen. The trip will take You one hour. Before You visit Siegen, please have a look on the homepage of "Eisenbahnfreunde Betzdorf", because the roundhouse has no regular opening hours. It might be useful to write an e-mail wherein You could mention that You are comming from Australia(?!). So it might be that You can get a private session, because club members are very kind. The club has two 52.80 modernized Austerity locos, one class 50, a class 57 loco( formerly allocated to Haltingen) , a Jung diesel shunter, an E 18 electric loco in blue livery, a class E 44 , a "Schienenbus" autorail. The Ek 38 1772 passenger train loco is allocated to Siegen as well. If You decide to visit Siegen on a weekend, do not hesitate to contact me, because I am living near Siegen and i could be a kind of tor guide. Best regards, Wolfgang

Hi James, there is much more to see, when you are looking for ancient steamers in germany! YOu should visit Dresden, and if you are already in this beatiful town, you should go to the BW Dresden-Altstadt and stay a while: http://www.igbwdresdenaltstadt.de/index2.php Another museum with historic steamers is the Dampflokmuseum Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg not too far from Nuremberg: http://www.dampflokmuseum.de/index.php?seite=museum&sub=exponate Not far from Munich is the city of Augsburg which has the Bahnpark with old steamers and historic trains from europe: http://www.bahnpark-augsburg.de/ Enjoy your stay, feel welcome in Germany and please post some of your photos afterwards here for our pleasure ;)

Another interesting site, close to the main station is in Heilbronn: http://www.eisenbahnmuseum-heilbronn.de/

What do you people think of the Deutsches Dampflokomotiv Museum in Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg north of Bayreuth. A friend recommended it to me and from his pictures it looks interesting.

Hi John, I can highly recommend it and if you can visit on one of the days they run steam specials :8) , what more can one say :D . Last time I was there, the model railway was only operational on the weekends. David

Hi James, ... railway museums in Germany particularly the south? Then you should think about a visit at Bayerisches Eisenbahnmuseum located in Nördlingen. In January a visit is possible only after advance notification. All the members here gave you good informations, so it's on you to make your planning for 2009.