I was sent this photograph and asked to identify where this dock is located.
My opinion from some of the things I noticed, that this is Germany.
I maybe wrong, but the style of freight cars and the font used on the cars and cranes, I think it is German.
If not German, for sure it is European
I do not know what time frame this pic was taken.
I do not know what class of tank engine is switching the freight cars.
If you can add something to this pic, please let me know.
Thank you!
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Wow this is a tough one...possibly Bremerhaven?...
Chris
Wow this is a tough one...possibly Bremerhaven?...
Chris
That is exactly what I thought, as I have been to Bremerhaven when I served in the US Army.
I couldn't tell you what city it is, but the cranes and locomotive definitely look German to me. But then again, I don't know much about European trains. The cranes just remind me of the Marklin HO dock cranes.
OK, I am going to go out on a limb here [ not that I've ever done that before, of course ]:
When I first looked at this photo, my instinctive thought was "That's Hamburg" -- not from anything on the quayside, but rather because it seemed to be on a river [ rather than in dredged dock area ], with tall squarish building(s) on the other side, eg, the photo would have been taken on the south side of the Elbe.
However, that seemed like a rush to judgement, and there are other locations that might fit the bill -- but I can't quickly find one. Further, because Hamburg dock area has changed over the years, I can't 'find' this spot on a map. The rolling stock and signage is German.
Now, to the locomotive: The loco seems to be numbered in German [ post 1923 ] practice, but I couldn't make out the number, nor could I readily match the appearance, especially the water tank not extending so far forward, and a bunch of other things. But it appeared to be an 0-8-0T or a 0-10-0T -- and then I noticed what appears to be a greater gap between the 2nd and 3rd coupled axles. Hence, a little further loco research, and....
I believe the loco is one of the rather rare DRG class 87 0-10-0 tank locos, only 16 of which were built specifically for switching in the Hamburg dock area with its tight curves -- they had special arrangements on their 1st and 5th axles for this.
The details of the look of the photo'd loco seem to agree with the appearance of an 87; and they all, with minor exceptions, spent their working lives on the docks on the Elbe from 1927 through 1953.
So, I think this photo was taken in Hamburg [ well, Wilhelmsburg ] in the 1930's.
Best regards, SZ [ who could be wrong, but it's still a good quiz ]
There were a number of famous photographers flocking to Germany to take industrial photos. The most famous was E.O. Hoppe who did two books, including his famous "Deutsche Arbeit." I put an enlargement of the engine below. It seems to have five axles. I put red dots under where each wheel seems to be above it.
Kent in SD
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Bryan, it would help a lot if you can provide a higher resolution image! It's an interesting puzzle. I'm supposing that the cranes are offloading coal from ships to rail cars. I'm wondering if the symbol at lower right can be explained; it appears to have been added to the photo.
You could probably get much more feedback from a European railway forum.
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Well It certainly appears to be German, I believe the large sign on the crane leg says Vorsicht which is german for caution. Well I think we have it narrowed down to Bremerhaven or Hamburg....now I am really wanting to nail this down....I love a good mystery.
Chris