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Oh no Simon, not Gorlitz Hbf.
I have happy memories of this station:
In 1990 I visited Zittau and as the day grew late I thought that I should find an hotel. After the 4th hotel proved to be fully booked I thought it best to hotfoot it to Gorlitz and try my luck there. On arrival at the Hbf it was very late and asking for help from station staff they informed me that every hotel was fully booked for miles (kilometres) around because of the influx of Wessies who had been drafted in to help with the merging of East and West following the wall coming down the previous year, the Treuhand. I was told that I had two alternatives, to catch the overnight train to Frankfurt am Main or perhaps I would consider applying to the Banhofsmission for assistance. I chose the Bahnhofsmission and they offered me a camp bed in a room on the platform which I readily accepted. I even had a shower in the morning and a free cup of coffee ............ of course I gave a suitable donation for my nights lodging.
In 2000 I once again made the trip from Zittau to Gorlitz on that odd route that crosses and recrosses the river that separates Germany from Poland. We had a border guard on the train who casually watched proceedings when we halted in a Polish station. This was much earlier in the day so there was an opportunity to observe train movements in Gorlitz and a highlight was the arrival of a passenger train from Dresden hauled by a pair of Class 219 diesels. This is the only time i ever saw two 219's in multiple and I suspect it was a balancing working after one of the locos had received maintenance attention somewhere else; geting back to Gorlitz attached to a regular passenger train in preference to a light engine movement.
I took photographs of this but in slide format. I am currently scanning in all my slides but not yet reached Gorlitz in the year 2000. Scanning has been accelerated by lockdown but even at the current rate I fear that the man with the scythe and sand timer with come for me before all slides and negatives are digitised.
Best regards ............... Greyvoices (alias John)
I have happy memories of this station:
In 1990 I visited Zittau and as the day grew late I thought that I should find an hotel. After the 4th hotel proved to be fully booked I thought it best to hotfoot it to Gorlitz and try my luck there. On arrival at the Hbf it was very late and asking for help from station staff they informed me that every hotel was fully booked for miles (kilometres) around because of the influx of Wessies who had been drafted in to help with the merging of East and West following the wall coming down the previous year, the Treuhand. I was told that I had two alternatives, to catch the overnight train to Frankfurt am Main or perhaps I would consider applying to the Banhofsmission for assistance. I chose the Bahnhofsmission and they offered me a camp bed in a room on the platform which I readily accepted. I even had a shower in the morning and a free cup of coffee ............ of course I gave a suitable donation for my nights lodging.
In 2000 I once again made the trip from Zittau to Gorlitz on that odd route that crosses and recrosses the river that separates Germany from Poland. We had a border guard on the train who casually watched proceedings when we halted in a Polish station. This was much earlier in the day so there was an opportunity to observe train movements in Gorlitz and a highlight was the arrival of a passenger train from Dresden hauled by a pair of Class 219 diesels. This is the only time i ever saw two 219's in multiple and I suspect it was a balancing working after one of the locos had received maintenance attention somewhere else; geting back to Gorlitz attached to a regular passenger train in preference to a light engine movement.
I took photographs of this but in slide format. I am currently scanning in all my slides but not yet reached Gorlitz in the year 2000. Scanning has been accelerated by lockdown but even at the current rate I fear that the man with the scythe and sand timer with come for me before all slides and negatives are digitised.
Best regards ............... Greyvoices (alias John)