The little sweetie 1975 to 1978
The little Sweetie 1975 to 1978
No, no sugar beets were harvested in the Warburg area in June. The first sighting was unprepared on 08. June 1975. Actually we had come for a special trip with 012 061-8, which turned in Warburg.
While turning the locomotive in the depot, all "models"; in the field of vision were loudly rebuked by the photographer front.
Photo shootings, where today besides the locomotive also other motives are in the foreground, did not exist at that time.
So the picture of the old lady (at the top) in front of the parked car park of the special train was taken rather by chance.
What a fortunate coincidence: my geography teacher, who was a railway enthusiast, also turned up in his former home town of Warburg. Looking ahead I had also only bought a single ticket and in the evening I was taken back home by car together with a guinea pig. The A44 in the direction of the Ruhr area was not quite finished at that time, so that we had enough time for future planning in the traffic jam on the B1. The plan matured to see the locomotive in operation in autumn. This was then implemented in 1975 and 1978. I am still grateful, because without the free rides I would never have been able to take these pictures.
The three-coupler, built in 1898 at HANOMAG, was first in service with the Oschersleben-Schöninger Eisenbahn (O. S. E. ) as locomotive 2b and then had a seasonal job at the sugar factory in Warburg under the same identity for almost 50 years from 1930.
Company sign at the office entrance of the sugar factory with locomotive and photographer
Even at the Warburg sugar factory it kept its number and the reference to the original owner.
Conveniently, the visit in October 1975 was also combined with a special trip and a visit to the Ottbergen class 44s. Saturday, 25. October 1975 the sun was still shining:
Whereas on Sunday, 26. October 1975, the day of the special trip, was very foggy, at least early in the morning.
Also on 04. November 1978, in the penultimate year of operation of the 2b, the old lady wrapped herself in fog.
Mountains of sugar beets:
There were special timetables for the delivery of the beets and collection of the empty wagons for trains that only ran in "sugar beet traffic".
Unfortunately I do not have a suitable extract for Warburg.
For the sugar factory in Bockenem, which had already been closed in 1977, the book timetable in issue 9/10/17G of the Bundesbahndirektion Hannover, valid from 29. 09. 1974 onwards, even provided for a 2 times daily delivery with class 50 engines.
Originally intended as a warning of train movements, this sign could also have come from the truck diesel fraction. Much has now been shifted from rail to road.
The Warburg sugar factory is now history. The last beet campaign was carried out in 2019.
But the old lady still exists. In the meantime it has a new identity and appears as locomotive 107 "Oschersleben" at the Braunschweig traffic friends.