Steam running on street trackage in 2014? Narrow gauge line on the Baltic runs 20 trains per day behind steam

BAD DOBERAN, Germany – After finishing my visit to InnoTrans in Berlin, the world’s largest railroad technology and trade show last week, I decided to stay in the country and take a trip that would put me in touch with railroad technology of 100 years ago. I rode fast and modern electric and diesel regional trains three hours north of Berlin to a resort area on the Baltic Sea for my first visit to the Mollibahn, a 10-mile-long, 900 mm gauge branch off the main German railway system at Bad Doberan. The railroad’s official name is the Mecklenburgische Baderbahn Molli, but everybody, even the locals, affectionately call it the Molli.

The railroad features four operating steam locomotives, 2-8-2Ts, with normally two of them running on schedules opposite each other back and forth from the junction at Bad Doberan to a seaside resort at Kuhlungsborn. They don’t use a turntable, so the engines operate bi-directionally, switching ends at the terminals, and running with ease at speeds up to 25 mph. One of the engines was even built as late as 2009.

My first encounter with the Molli was unique. I used it as a taxi. When my regional German railways train pulled up to the platform in the charming town of Bad Doberan on a rainy Friday afternoon, the Molli was sitting there, steaming, coupled up to her train, and ready to go. I knew that the railroad has a regular stop in front of my hotel, and with my heavy backpack sagging and my suitcase feeling as if were jammed full of lead bricks, my back was ready for a break. So I hopped off one train and onto the other. The trip was short – maybe five-minutes on board a steam-hauled commuter train ride to the Hotel Doberaner Hof. But how many folks can say they arrived at their hotel by steam train and got dropped off at the front door? This is no exaggeration. I piled off the train, bags in hand, and walked into the lobby of the hotel, not 20 feet away. My luck continued with the assignment of room 18, which overlooks the tracks from a sitting room with opening windows. From here, I could watch the trains come and go.

The Molli’s claim to fame is street running, and it begins right in front of the hotel. For the rest of the block, which is filled with boutiques, cafes, a pharmacy, gift shops for tourists, and even a butcher shop, the tracks follow a narrow, slightly curved alley that is reminiscent of the cobble-stoned neighborhoods of Baltimore. The second floor of buildings along this street are apartments, and more than once I saw residents open windows and watch the street traffic, human, automobile, and train, below. In America, this type of street running would scare most of the folks in our safety conscious railroad business, but sidewalks and a healthy respect for the train seem to make the Molli blend right in. They should: The railroad runs 10 times each way per day – that’s 20 moves on the street running daily. You won’t see guys in bright yellow or orange safety vests shooing cars and pedestrians out of the way. You won’t hear the crew blaring the shrill whistle or making a nuisance of the cast iron bell. Residents walk or bicycle alongside the train, and cars dart out of the way when the locomotive comes into view. Further into town is a broad avenue where cars and the train travel together, and I even saw some adventuresome motorists pass the train on this short stretch. After that, it’s out into the country for the Molli, and back to railroading in the farmlands until it gets to the resort area, where there’s more residential running, and even a little running alongside the shoulder of the road.

Germany has great narrow gauge preservation railroads across this country, the most famous of which is the Harz mountain railway at Wernigerode that climbs to the national park at Mount Brocken. You’ll enjoy it for its mainline experience – sort of Cumbres & Toltec meets Cass with concrete ties, signals, and ambitious schedules. The Dresden area also harbors great narrow gauge steam railways. But the Mollibahn has something that the others don’t: Branchline appeal and street running that can’t be beat in terms of charm and audacity.