Cleaning up the site
In the course of the new construction of the ICE parking and cleaning facility (ARA), in addition to the vehicle collection, a number of collected spare parts must also be sifted through and subsequently relocated or disposed of, as the museum will have less storage space available in the future. In the peripheral areas of the museum grounds, a number of no longer operational road scooters of the heavy-duty transport collection have been stored so far. These were kept as spare parts carriers, but have now been scrapped.
In addition, some old turnouts were crushed and scrapped, as it is now clear that no double-crossing turnouts will ever be installed in the museum’s siding again and their material condition also does not allow for reuse. They were secured about 20 years ago during the demolition of the Darmstadt Aw (Knell), transported to the museum at great expense and temporarily stored there as replacements for any defective points.
Only through weeks of own work is the scrapping cost-covering possible, as the recovery and dismantling of the turnouts and road rollers requires a lot of work.
By the way, there are still one or two road scooters for sale. If you are interested, please contact us via info@bahnwelt.de.
Establishment of a new storage area
Even if not all collection items and spare parts can be sensibly preserved from the areas to be cleared, new, efficiently usable storage facilities are needed in the remaining core area. In the area behind the locomotive coaling plant, a storage area for large parts and spare parts (axles, etc.) has therefore recently been developed in order to have direct access to them and to consolidate parts that are currently stored in a wide variety of places on the site.
Sewer inspection
All sewers in the museum were inspected to check for leaks, to find out about unclear pipe runs and to be able to estimate the waste water quantities, because in the course of the new construction of the sewage treatment plant, many underground pipes will also be newly built, to which the existing pipes of the museum will be connected.
Repairs to the infrastructure
In recent months, a thorough review of the museum’s infrastructure, grounds, buildings and facilities has been carried out. Among other things, maintenance and repair work was needed on the tracks, the turntable and the coal crane. These will now be worked on in various concerted actions until the end of the year.
Work has already begun on the turntable. The planks of the side walkways were renewed. In addition, a track end sleeper was replaced and the locking rail on track 13 was refitted.
In addition, part of the roof of the existing locomotive shed urgently needs to be renovated. Thanks to the support of the city of Darmstadt, Deutsche Bahn and the local roofing company Höhne, the work (totalling a six-figure investment) can begin this autumn.
For these reasons (repair work on the infrastructure and organisational reorganisation of railway operations), the Steam Locomotive Festival planned for the third weekend in September must unfortunately also be postponed. We are currently working on an alternative programme and a make-up date.
Restoration of the oil pipes on 23 042
Even though a lot of work in the museum is currently focused on the infrastructure and on exploring and tidying up the collections, the care and maintenance of the operating vehicles is of course not neglected. For example, oil pipes of the 23 042 were dismantled, cleaned and fitted with new flanges.
