The Museum

 At the end of 1985 the Bavarian Railway Museum (Bayerisches Eisenbahnmuseum e. V., BEM) moved to its present site, the abandoned engine depot at Nördlingen. Step by step a large part of the dismantled or disused facilities and tracks were restored. Now, nearly all facilities necessary for the operation and maintenance of steam and diesel locomotives are available and can be presented in operation. 

Thus a living railway museum demonstrating locomotive operation as it might have been in the 1950's era can be viewed. Our concern is not presenting sterile halls and high gloss polished vehicles, but the portrayal of a realistic railway environment with engines operating under steam.

The Bavarian Railway Museum at Nördlingen is open each Sunday from March till October from 10 am to 5 pm, additionally in July an August from Tuesday to Saturday from 12 am to 4 pm. Visits outside these times are only possible after advance reservation. Reservation for groups is recommended anyway. The museum is opposite Nördlingen DB railway station; the access to the museum is only possible via "Am Hohen Weg".

Here is a sketch of how to reach the museum, and some further information.

The engine depot the Bavarian Railway Museum is now located in can look back on a long history. Already in 1849, in the course of the construction of the so-called "Ludwigs-Süd-Nord-Bahn", a line running through all of Bavaria, from the most south-westerly city of Lindau to the city of Hof in the most north-easterly corner of Bavaria, a workshop for the maintenance of locomotives and coaches was built at the present site. Building 2 and 3 of the present roundhouse date back to that time, but were extended later to accommodate longer engines. Also the workshop building dates back to the time before 1900, as does the ground plan of the railcar shed that originally was called "Montierung", literally translated “assembly shop”. Up to 1937 the facilities were constantly enlarged and adapted to the growing requirements. The last extension was carried through from 1935 to 1937 when the roundhouse was lengthened and a turntable with a diameter of 20 metres was installed.

The last years of WWII, 1944 and 1945, brought about a heavy break in the depot’s history as large parts of it were destroyed during Allied air raids. Only the buildings 2 and 3 of the roundhouse, the workshop's buildings and the water tower remained intact. Facilities were restored and partly modernised until the year 1949.

During a short zenith at the beginning of the 1960s the depot even experienced the allocation of new diesel engines (class V100), railbusses (class VT98) and accumulator EMUs (class ETA 150). Already in 1966 the allocation of steam engines ended. Because of the electrification of the Donauwörth-Aalen- and Neuoffingen-Ingolstadt-lines many diesels became obsolete, so that the depot consequently ceased to exist as an independent department. After the closure of the branch lines around Nördlingen it became quiet in its station. In 1985 the remaining track maintenance shop was removed from the depot area and the facilities, until then a branch of Augsburg depot, were abandoned. By the way, today even Augsburg depot has stopped existing.

In fall 1985 the Bavarian Railway Museum took over the partly dismantled facilities. Since then we have been trying to reinstall a complete depot by laying some new tracks and connecting roundhouse tracks to the turntable. Apart from that two new standpipes were erected and a coaling facility has been put into service again. Recently the museum had to face problems with the partly very old tracks, and their renewal has begun. Our makeshift workshops for machining wood and metal were reinstalled, and the infrastructure for the visitors has been improved, a very expensive and time-consuming task, considering that all work is being done by amateurs and volunteers. You find some pictures here, so that you can get an impression of our work.

By the way, we are constantly looking for volunteers assisting us with the necessary work. If you are interested, please contact us via e-mail. Previous knowledge is not required, because we can train you. And you can simply avoid a visit to the gym.

The well-known Ries Steam Days will be organised once again this year. Different steam locomotives will haul trains together with some additional guest locos arriving with their extra steam specials. In the workshops you will experience the work necessary for the maintenance of steam locomotives. More than 30 engines will be presented around the turntable or heading appropriate rolling stock. In competent guided tours, which are offered every hour for free, you can get an overall view of and interesting information on the museum (sorry, only in German).

From 9 to 10 am the depot will be reserved for photographers and video cameramen to offer railroad fans the atmosphere of a German depot of the 1950s. You can get some impressions of our steam days in our  gallery.