The Chemnitz Steam Gala

This all new tour visits one of Germany’s premier steam locomotive gatherings, including main line running, engine parades and turntable shows at the roundhouse. A private main line charter train with the 475.111 in Central Bohemia and narrow gauge steam on some of Saxony’s most scenic lines complete the exciting programme.

• Start the tour in beautiful Prague and experience the thrill of a private main line charter train from Pilsen to Zatec with the 4-8-2 giant 475.111, one of the most elegant and refined express steam locomotives in Central Europe.
• Enjoy a full weekend at the Chemnitz steam locomotive festival and participate in the wide variety of activities, including main line journeys behind giant tender locomotives, including parallel running.
• Sample the best of Saxon narrow gauge steam with rides at the Weisseritztalbahn, the mountainous Fichtelbergbahn to Oberwiesenthal and also the Chemnitz Park Railway. A ride on the panoramic Augustusburg funicular from 1897 is an added attraction, with wonderful views from the top.
• In both Chemnitz and Prague you’ll be given a complimentary public transport rover ticket, allowing convenient and comfortable travel as well as the opportunity to further explore the two tram networks.
  

Wednesday 20th August
Arrive in Prague
You have a direct morning flight from London to the Czech capital. After a transfer to your city centre hotel, you check-in and have lunch at the hotel, before having the afternoon to explore this city at leisure. With your complimentary public transport ticket, you could use it to ride up to Prague Castle on the heritage tramway. (L)

Thursday 21st August
Czech main line steam with 475.111 in West Bohemia
A real highlight of European steam awaits today with the elegant and refined Czech Class 475. These mighty 4-8-2 tender locomotives were built by Skoda in the late 1940s and are iconic for their large driving wheels and lofty boiler placement. These graceful machines were mainstay motive power until the late 1970s. You will travel with the Pilsen-based 475.111 from Pilsen north on the scenic secondary line to Zatec. Along the way you pause for photos and lunch. In the late afternoon your private charter train returns to Pilsen’s elegant Art Nouveau station, from where you return to Prague by Intercity train. (B L)

Friday 22nd August
Prague to Chemnitz and Augustusburg funicular
In the morning you take a direct EuroCity train from Prague to Dresden, travelling through the scenic Elbe Valley along the way, passing castles, villages and rock formations along the way. In Dresden you change for the onward train to Chemnitz and arrive there in the early afternoon. You check into your hotel and have lunch. Then you make an afternoon excursion with the vintage 1897 funicular to the hilltop castle at Augustusburg, from where there are sweeping views of Saxony and the Ore Mountains to the South. In the evening you are free to enjoy Chemnitz at leisure or join the night photography session at the steam shed, the first festival activity at the Hilbersdorf steam shed. (B L)

Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August
Chemnitz Steam Festival
This weekend is dedicated entirely to the large steam locomotive gathering at Chemnitz Hilbersdorf, one of the most impressive steam yards in Germany with two giant, semi-circular roundhouses, large coaling towers and vast tracks for attractive engine displays. There’s also a 600mm field railway on site, where a guest locomotive will also be in steam.
The Chemnitz steam festival offers locomotive parades, turntable shows, locomotive races and parallel running, foot-plate rides and of course main line excursions on the lines towards Dresden or Zwickau. You will be able to participate in all of these activities, including making the main line steam trip with parallel running on uphill gradients. Additionally, you will also visit the 600mm gauge Chemnitz Park Railway, where steam will also be active. After all the action and activities on each day, there will be a dinner back at your hotel. (B D)

Monday 25th August
Steam at the Weisseritz Valley Railway to Kurort Kipsdorf
Embrace on a morning excursion to the recently re-opened narrow-gauge Weisseritz Valley Railway. You’ll be steam-hauled through Saxony’s ‘canyon landscape’ from Freital-Hainsberg via Dippoldiswalde to Kurort Kipsdorf, along the river Weisseritz with a powerful 2-10-2 tank engine. Enjoy the panoramic views from the open balconies of your vintage carriage as you pass by historic villages and a large lake. You return to Chemnitz in the afternoon. Tonight you may spend at leisure in the city, perhaps having dinner at a typical German Brauhaus. (B)

Tuesday 26th August
Steam in the Ore Mountains from Cranzahl to Oberwiesenthal
You travel on a direct DB service train from Chemnitz to Cranzahl, here you board a steam train and travel over the iconic Fichtelbergbahn to Oberwiesenthal, the ‘St Moritz of Saxony’. Your train will be hauled by a type VII K 2-10-2 tank engine. After free time and photo opportunities with steam trains passing over the railway viaduct by the station, you return from Oberwiesenthal to Cranzahl by steam train in the afternoon and from there continue to Chemnitz on DB service trains. In the evening there’s a farewell dinner at the hotel. (B D)

Wednesday 27th August
Return to London
You travel from Chemnitz by train to Berlin airport, where you have a direct flight back to London. (B)