This week is the 100th showing of Tara’s Gallery, and for the theme she has of course chosen Picture Postcard. So here’s a postcard from me …

Double Departure from Alexisbad

This is from a set of Steam in the Harz Mountains, Germany taken on a RailTrail tour in February 2008. It was taken, as the title suggests, at Alexisbad during a steam charter from Quedlinberg to Wernigerode.

This was a special photoshoot staged for our group; the train on the right is our charter train; the one on the left was a service train which had just terminated at Alexisbad. And I must say it was a magnificent sight and not something you will see these days during normal service.

It was a fantastic trip with travel entirely by train from London: well organised, excellent and interesting tour leaders, good company, good food and lots of trains! As well as this full day charter the five day trip also included a tour of the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen works, a trip up the Broken Mountain (yes, by steam train) and a stop-over in Wuppertal for a ride on the Schwebebahn, their hanging monorail.

The only thing missing was the snow that we should have rightly had in February!

In five days the only train that was late was the return Thalys service from Köln to Brussels, and that was by the staggering amount of just 10 minutes.

An absolutely first class trip which really wasn’t long enough!

Lots more of my photos from the trip on Flickr.