Garmisch-Partenkirchen; between the two Br 601 workings I must have popped back here for a ride on the Zugspitzbahn. The station is separate from but close to the DB one.

One of West Germany's many private railways, long before DB AG, this becomes a rack system after Grainau for the ascent of the Zugspitz mountain.

Here steeple cab electric no.3, AEG Berlin of 1929, waits with a train to Grainau. Like many enthusiasts I sadly overlooked these minor but very characterful systems in favour of the main lines, although I do have a fair number of slides of this.

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Mittenwald; the southbound Br 601 working, Dt13417 Dortmund - Seefeld, arrived here around 18.00, and is seen waiting in the station prior to entering the single track line into Austria. The station staff have been very conscientious in clearing the snow on the platforms!

The Br 601 units date from 1957, when they were introduced for the prestigious Trans European Express services in western Europe. A glimpse of the wood panelled interiors can just be seen through the windows.

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Klais, Southern Bavaria; a Br 601 unit heads north with Dt13884 Seefeld in Tyrol - Dortmund ski special, the Alpensee Express.

The classic view here, which I've just remembered only works if the sun is in as we are looking south! Klais station was the highest above sea level in all of West Germany at 933m, and is just round the corner from the back of the train.

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Seen here just to the north of Klais with train 5428, the 11.47 Innsbruck to Reutte in Tyrol.

This is a "Korridorzug", a train starting and finishing in Austria, but travelling through southern Bavaria in the then West Germany, hence the name.

Klais was and presumably still is the highest point on the German Rail network, at 933m above sea level. I think the overhead masts may well be original to the electrification of the line in the early part of the 20th century.

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111 018 pulls away from Klais station with the 12.17 Reutte in Tyrol to Innsbruck "Korridorzug".

These "Corridor trains" usually had both loco and coaches from Austria in my experience, but not so here. The 111's, which I think are still in service, were the mainstay of DB services in this area at the time, from Munich to Mittenwald.

1985 was the 150th anniversary of German railways, and most locos carried a sticker to this effect, which can just be seen behind the nearest cab door on the loco.

Nowadays we'd probably turn our noses up at a shot with the sun not quite on the nose, and shadows creeping up the locoside. However back then, particularly on a trip done by train and on foot, we were glad of any image in vaguely decent light, especially on a foreign venture for which a return might never happen!

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