Afternoon all...

 

I noticed I missed cross-posting a number of additional tram photos from this and last week onto this-here blog… So, here goes!

 

13 March

 

I felt like refreshing my route knowledge in the southern areas of the city, so I focused my attention on the Lößnig branch, served by Lines 10 and 16. As the Leipzig Book Fair was open for visitors, that also included the short turns designated Line 16E in the down direction to Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz, and normally as Line 16 when running up towards the Trade Fair Centre. This means that effectively, Line 16 runs at 5-minute intervals when Line 16E is in operation.

 

 

 

At the Lößnig terminus, 1136 "Wilhelm Ostwald" on Line 10 and 1209 "Frankfurt am Main" on Line 16 – booked for Turn 16-23 – are waiting to take on passengers.

 

 

 

 

 

A fairly unique sight just off Arno-Nitzsche-Straße is this Ilyushin Il-62 jet, tail code DDR-SEF, formerly operated by GDR state airline Interflug, which in 1990 owned fifteen of these – to my mind – graceful aircraft. This aircraft has been converted into a restaurant with an open dining area on the starboard wing. One Kuznetsov NK-8-4 engine is on display in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

Stock diagram changes related to the Book Fair also affected other lines, so that Line 12 had some turns booked with Leoliner cars. Here, 1350 "Heiterblick" – the last such car to have been built for LVB – is calling at Gohlis Station where the line to Halle via Schkeuditz – largely single-tracked through the northwestern boroughs – is on the viaduct in the foreground, while the double-tracked line to Leutzsch, Plagwitz and beyond is in the background and on a slightly lower level.

 

 

 

 

And seen here on the way up to Gohlis-Nord, 1347 "Zweinaundorf" is calling at the same stop.

 

 

 

I then walked over to Eutritzscher Straße (any volunteers for having a go at pronouncing this? )

 

 

…first catching 1204 "Köln" on Line 11 to Schkeuditz at the Chausseehaus junction…

 

 

 

 

 

…and then this Tatra Großzug on Line 16 bound for the Trade Fair Centre. This is actually one of those short turns signed as Line 16E when headed down. Großzüge are formations of two motor cars and one trailer, regardless of whether that trailer is a NB4 full low floor car as in this photo or one of the Tatra B4D trailers, of which several have been rebuilt with a low floor area between the bogies and are designated B4D-NF. The B4D and B4D-NF trailers are expected to be fully withdrawn in the foreseeable future, which was the reason why a number of T4D motor cars were adapted to be capable of running in multiples of three.

 

 

 

17 March

 

Today, I first decided to ride down Line 11 and have a look at the end of the branch to Markkleeberg Ost. As I mentioned last week, the town of Markkleeberg, immediately south of Leipzig, is very well served by public transport for a town of its size. with Line 11 providing a tram link to the eastern half of the town.

Ordinarily, the long Line 11 through turns from Schkeuditz – a town of approximately 17,000 residents northwest of Leipzig – to Markkleeberg Ost run at a minimum interval of 20 minutes, and augmented by the short turns from Wahren, which are called Line 11E. These would normally terminate at and reverse through the Dölitz tram depot just inside Leipzig's southern city limits, but as this depot is currently being rebuilt and modernised, Line 11E's southern terminus is currently set at the Klemmstraße loop in the southern borough of Connewitz, just next to the Connewitz suburban railway station. With long and short turns combined, Line 11 provides a 10-minutes interval on the stretch from Wahren to Klemmstraße.

 

Though it's difficult to see many details from the street, I first took three overview shots of the depot construction site across Bornaische Straße...

 

 

 

 

 

As the old tram shed was a listed building, measures have to be taken to restore the rebuilt shed – somewhat offset from its old position – to its historic appearance. I understand that to this end, the portico was dismantled and had to be re-erected.

 

The Markkleeberg Ost branch is single-tracked for roughly half its length. I elected to enjoy the spring-time sunshine and walk down to the terminus which is located at Schillerplatz...

 

 

…where 1205 "Hannover" has just pulled forward to the boarding position and is ready for its next round to Schkeuditz.

 

 

 

The single-tracked section through Markkleeberg is laid in the middle of Bornaische Straße. Here, 1214 "Lyon" is stopped at Virchowstraße, with just about 250 metres to go to the Schillerplatz loop.

I then rode back to the city and wanted to try my luck around the eastern part of the City Ring road...

 

 

…first capturing Leoliner prototype 1301 on what was initially signed as a driver training service. Here, the car is signed for a Line 16 service to Lößnig, so I suppose the driver trainee might have taken the opportunity of being stopped at the intersection of Grünewaldstraße, Roßplatz and Universitätsstraße for re-setting the passenger information system for practice.

 

 

 

It was soon followed by 1132 "Karl Tauchnitz" on a Line 10 turn to Lößnig, seen here against the backdrop of the Europe House with the admin offices of the Stadtwerke Leipzig public utilities company.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking the other way with the New City Hall to the right in the background, this Tatra Großzug headed by 2122 was on a Line 11E turn to Wahren.

 

 

 

 

At the large intersection of Georgiring and Grimmaischer Steinweg opposite Augustusplatz, I captured this panorama with 1145 "Martin Luther" on Line 4 against the backdrop of the Paulinum (left) and Königsbau (right).

The glazed, cylindrical structures, colloquially called "Milk Churns," are emergency exits for the large, multi-level underground parking garage at Augustusplatz.

 

 

Here, Tatra car 2146 and a NB4 trailer are seen on a Line 14 turn back to Plagwitz. As tram services must provide sufficient low floor areas on as many turns as possible due to accessibility goals, turns which must be booked with T4D cars due to stock availability but would otherwise be worked with newer types must comprise a low floor trailer.

The high rise building in the background is called the Wintergarten House. This building is 312 ft high from ground level to rooftop and 350 ft to the top of the rotating sign with the "Double M" logo of the Leipzig Trade Fair. Built from 1970 till 1972, it was intended as the first of three identical buildings to be built around the City Ring but remained a one-off project.

It is now a listed building and was refurbished in 2004 and 2005. The building contains 29 1-room, 78 2-room and 100 3-room apartments, of which 95% have at least one balcony or a loggia.

 

 

 

Another Line 11E turn to Klemmstraße, headed by 2135, was the last photo of my round today.

 

 

Thanks for reading!