Steam locomotives being draughted into service again

[murphaph]

Here in Germany the shortage of diesel locomotives is so severe that hundred year old steam locos are being hired by various railway companies from heritage operators to operate trains, often on maintenance duties.

Several electrified mainline stretches are currently closed or restricted in their operations due to necessary upgrade works. This is forcing a lot of traffic onto the non-electrified parts of the network so the demand for diesel traction is very high.

It's not that easy to hire from abroad as the locos often don't possess the necessary signalling equipment but several mainline certified heritage locos including some steam locos do. 

An article in German here:

https://www.notebookcheck.com/Verkehrswende-mal-anders-Viele-DB-Bauarbeiten-und-Lokmangel-sorgen-fuer-Reaktivierung-der-Dampflok-58-311-fuer-wichtige-Aufgaben.862071.0.html

[Horsetan]

3 hours ago, murphaph said:

Here in Germany the shortage of diesel locomotives is so severe that hundred year old steam locos are being hired by various railway companies from heritage operators to operate trains, often on maintenance duties.

Several electrified mainline stretches are currently closed or restricted in their operations due to necessary upgrade works. This is forcing a lot of traffic onto the non-electrified parts of the network so the demand for diesel traction is very high.

It's not that easy to hire from abroad as the locos often don't possess the necessary signalling equipment but several mainline certified heritage locos including some steam locos do. 

An article in German here:

https://www.notebookcheck.com/Verkehrswende-mal-anders-Viele-DB-Bauarbeiten-und-Lokmangel-sorgen-fuer-Reaktivierung-der-Dampflok-58-311-fuer-wichtige-Aufgaben.862071.0.html

It's a bit like an unplanned Plandampf