Lothar Spielhoff

The subtitle to this book says it all: "The first freight of German railways - beer". That's not just hyperbole: the first railway in Germany ran between Nuremburg and Fürth, and on its opening day in 1836 the inaugural train carried two barrels of beer on the locomotive tender. And on 11th July of that year, the Lederer brewery consigned two barrels of beer to be transported by the railway; hence the claim that beer was, indeed, the first freight carried by rail in Germany.

This book is a study of the very brightly finished private beer vans operated by German breweries. They were a distinctive feature of German railways, and many have been depicted - not always accurately - in model form. The book is illustrated with a wealth of drawings and contemporary photographs. If there is one criticism, it is that although it covers the post-war story (itself not really needing much description, as new post-war beer vans in West Germany were built to standard trans-European UIC designs), it does not mention post-war beer vans in East Germany: such things existed, and they were quickly repainted to carry traditional graphic designs in the years immediately after re-unification. This book dates from 2000, so it should have been possible to get some information on the subject. Equally, beer vans from Switzerland and Austria are not covered.

Nonetheless, an excellent guide to the subject.… (meer)