The while-we-wait-for-river-cruises photo quiz

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Oh, yes, I remember now, the street at night. I admit, Google maps was my friend with this one, I looked for towns and boulangeries North of Avignon and after some time going up and down the map, a photo of the shop front appeared.

 

Got a bit pekish over it, particularly fancied the macaroons that kept popping up in photos on the left on my screen...

 

notamermaid

 

Between this and the Water Cooler thread, you are going to pack on a few pounds!  😉

[Renmar]

Probably way out of whack but I give it a try anyway; Zugspitze rail line ?

 

Theo

[vada_9]

Is it the Childrens railway, Budapest, Danube River?  If so it was on my list to visit in 2020 - will do so in 2022 (all going well)

[AnhaltER1960]

Looks like a narrow gauge to me (or the people are giants). And some steep hill in the background, imho too steep and high for a Budapest background, but not high enough for the Zugspitze. I am rather looking at what we call Mittelgebirge in German. Still plenty of choice tho.

[notamermaid]

9 hours ago, Renmar said:

Probably way out of whack but I give it a try anyway; Zugspitze rail line ?

 

Theo

Not Zugspitze, but it goes uphill - without cogs.

 

@vada_9 not on the Danube, but popular with children, not a complete tourist line.

 

1 hour ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

Looks like a narrow gauge to me (or the people are giants). And some steep hill in the background, imho too steep and high for a Budapest background, but not high enough for the Zugspitze. I am rather looking at what we call Mittelgebirge in German. Still plenty of choice tho.

You all noticed the dimensions, it is indeed a narrow gauge railway. Industrial and tourist.

 

At its final station up the hill it is by altitude in the Mittelgebirge. But the area is not topographically classified as such - something the Vosges mountains to the West of Strasbourg are for example.

 

A standard gauge railway line is close by.

 

notamermaid 

 

 

[dogs4fun]

Wild guess ...

Chemin De Fer Forestier/Abreschviller Forest Railway?

[notamermaid]

8 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Wild guess ...

Chemin De Fer Forestier/Abreschviller Forest Railway?

Abreschviller sounds Alsatian. If it is then you could say the large river I am looking for is close by, but not the town.

 

notamermaid

 

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

the large river I am looking for is close by, but not the town.

Really have no idea. Is it the river the Moselle?

Edited February 5, 2021 by dogs4fun

[notamermaid]

2 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Is it the Moselle?

No, not the Moselle.

 

I have looked at Abreschviller, lovely railway line. The place I am looking for really is surprisingly close to the river I am looking for.

 

Next clue: the area where this engine goes up the hill is known not for forest industry but stone industry and the rather violent forces of nature associated with the stone.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

There are so many pictures of steam locomotives, just a bit reduced by the gauge tho. Browsing thru all the pictures on the internet, it keep getting stuck at the Mallet-Locomotive type M105 in a B'B configuration. And there is this 11 on the back (not a football-side obviously). This pointed me to the Brohltalbahn, marketed as "Vulkan-Express" (Volcano-Express) from the Rhine into the Eifel. , their engine No 11 was built 115 years ago.

 

So, Rhine river, not exactly sure abut the location. My guess is Brohl narrow gauge station.

 

[notamermaid]

11 minutes ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

There are so many pictures of steam locomotives, just a bit reduced by the gauge tho. Browsing thru all the pictures on the internet, it keep getting stuck at the Mallet-Locomotive type M105 in a B'B configuration. And there is this 11 on the back (not a football-side obviously). This pointed me to the Brohltalbahn, marketed as "Vulkan-Express" (Volcano-Express) from the Rhine into the Eifel. , their engine No 11 was built 115 years ago.

 

So, Rhine river, not exactly sure abut the location. My guess is Brohl narrow gauge station.

 

Well done, it is! The engine is called 11sm Mallet. She is the surviving sister of No. 10 and No.12. After 50 years and much restoration she returned to her home line in 2015. In the photo she is going to the shed from Brohl narrow gauge station (hence the points being changed) after a hard day's work on the Vulkan-Express line. That is the tourist arm of the line, the goods trains carry stone from the valley to the Rhine, where they are loaded onto lorries as the connecting bridge to the harbour no longer exists. They are going to do some work there though with state funding. The station is right next to the main line station Brohl (Koblenz to Cologne), just up some steep steps behind it.

 

This is an excursion with the river cruise Company Arena Travel based in the UK. Not spectacular, but a fun ride into a valley shaped by the volcanic activity many years ago. Maria Laach abbey and the Lake nearby are an excursion with AvalonWaterways. The stone quarried is mainly phonolite and tuff. It is one of only a few narrow gauge railways in Germany that both are tourist and goods train lines.

 

Here is the train in full:

 

The view from the platform towards the left bank of the Rhine (the building on the left is the main line station):

 

The line is steep, but the old engine manages without cogs as it is a special design (the sm in the name) that helps with narrow bends and gradients.

 

Over to, AnhalterER1960.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

My apologies, geography mistake. Hill in the photo is on the right bank, I am standing on the left bank.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

Ok, lets stay in the industry corner. Please name the body of water and the city. First correct guess will get to post the next photo.

 

 

[notamermaid]

Wow, love this. Reminds me of Battersea Power Station in London (different layout, but also four chimneys). Never seen this before, I think. River or canal? Looking forward to the guesses and finding out.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Bit off the wall but Wolfsburg Austria, Lavant river. CA

[Daisi]

VW plant, Wolfsburg, Germany, Mittelland Canal.

 

If I am correct, please call a wild card.

[AnhaltER1960]

24 minutes ago, Daisi said:

VW plant, Wolfsburg, Germany, Mittelland Canal.

 

If I am correct, please call a wild card.

This is the correct Wolfsburg. The Volkswagen plant was built in the 1930ies as an extension of the (then rather a village) Wolfsburg, which is in the back of the photographer. Opposite the canal there is this massive industry compound with its own power plant. Further to the right there is now an automotive theme park called "Autostadt" showing the brands of the Volkswagen (literally peoples car) company like Bentley or Lamborghini, yes, Volkswagen and Skoda, too. Croisieurpoe pass and stop here on their Berlin-Amsterdam cruises.

 

On behalf of @Daisi its wild card now.

[Daisi]

My husband's dream European vacation....hitting every car manufacturing plant he could.  Good thing we live so far.... 🙂

 

[Canal archive]

My car was built there it’s a Mini on steroids (Countryman) CA

[notamermaid]

40 minutes ago, Daisi said:

My husband's dream European vacation....hitting every car manufacturing plant he could.  Good thing we live so far.... 🙂

 

Do not tell him that he could visit three plants on a German river cruise if it went from the Neckar to the Rhine and then the Mittellandkanal.   Stuttgart - Cologne - Wolfsburg. Perhaps with an excursion to the Technical Museum in Speyer thrown it.

 

To be honest, I actually think there should be an "ultimate men's river cruise". Real hardware, from car plant to beer tasting to knight's reenactment dinner in a castle, etc. Around father's day would be good. Koblenz with the military exhibition, perhaps the railway museum there as well. Only other museum allowed would be the FC Köln football one. Would love to get such a river cruise together as a (female) cruise director... Oh and to finish off the day the lounge would be turned into "the club" on Father's Day where only the men gather. Females are relegated to dining room or cabin. I think that could work very nicely...

 

Anyway, back to the wild card.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Daisi]

@notamermaid, I've spent over 40 years being dragged out to car shows, train exhibits, air shows..  I don't mind it once in a while, but I can think of better ways to spend my holiday.  I get revenge every once in a while, we went to Keukenhof on our last cruise.  I could handle the beer tasting though, that could be fun, even the (European) football.  If we ever have an optional cruise to visit a car factory, I would probably make sure it was included, as long as I got to go to some castle tours or garden tours. 🙂

 

[Canal archive]

Hopefully I’m not treading on anyone’s toes but this might give everyone a bit of a giggle for those who haven’t seen it!

 

 

just nosing about. River and nearest city please. CA

[jpalbny]

If you're already on the Neckar, it would be tragic to miss the Audi Forum in Neckarsulm. It's where they make the RS models. It's amazing. We have toured both there, and in Ingolstadt. Love both locations! 

 

Cool nose statue! Our guide didn't point that out when we sailed by.

Edited February 5, 2021 by jpalbny

[Host Jazzbeau]

14 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Cool nose statue! Our guide didn't point that out when we sailed by.

Is that where it goes when an uncle plays 'I stole your nose' ??? 

[notamermaid]

@Daisi, if you are used to the car shows and all - no then you definitely do not want that on holiday.

 

On the Danube do not know of any car or similar interest places. Plenty of castles and gardens. Loved it! Melk Abbey is a delight, if you are seeing that. And Budapest has lots to see for so many fields of interest. I think I would struggle with a car factory tour but trains and trams are my interests. Must check out that line in the Alsatian forest that dogs4fun found.

 

@Canal archive that is a funny statue for sure. Not idea where it is, but there is a road sign which seems to point to getting out of a built-up area in the way France does it I think. Therefore, in France?

 

notamermaid