During September I was fortunate enough to be in Berlin on my travels at a major rail fair. I have done the attractions in Berlin such as the Brandenberg Gate etc many times but had not done the Technical Museum so on the advise of a friend I took the U'bahn and was rewarded with a superb museum.
Whilst there was very little by way of mining exhibits there were some fabulous locomotives (DB Class 50, 52, 38 v200, Garrett etc, as well as aviation, marine and industrial pieces.

The real gem however was the conserved length of 16th Century wooden rail track found in a German Silver mine along with a wagon also of timber construction. To top this they had recreated a length of mine level, with track which has a replica wooden wagon also of 16th century design which can be pushed along the level.
I got straight in there and all I can say is if this was childs work then goodluck... with the wagon empty it winded me to get it moving and I'm no weakling!
Overall it was a fantastic and sobering exhibit and a fantastic glimpse back to early mining and railways. :thumbsup: Hope you like....
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They also had a nice German copy of an Outram Gangway with dimensionally identical rails as in the UK. ;D
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Great stuff. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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I must admit Carnkie that I was thrilled to see this! What was really nice was they had made a perfect replica so you could touch it and see how it worked. Superb museum and a credit to the City of Berlin. The admission was a whole 4 euros and it took 3 hours to get around. The museum is based in two converted railway engine roundhouse sheds.
I love how the track is pegged together... ace!

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It's the wheels that fascinate me. Not knowing much about this, something to do with the load?

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If you are fascinated by this you should try to obtain a copy of "Early Wooden Railways" by MJT Lewis (1970). I was fortunate to be given a copy a year or so back and it is a really good insight into early mine transportation.