780 of RWE Power (formerly Rheinbraun) seen parked at the end of the sand
unloading track at Hürth-Knapsack (south west of Cologne) on 18 August
2007. This kind of vehicle is called "Pflugrücker" in German, it is used to
shove the sand dumped by side-dump gondolas away from the track and down the
scarp. The vehicle is obviously self-propelled and powered electrically (as well
as the overburden trains which deliver the sand), note the two pantographs. The
cab is mounted laterally in the middle of the vehicle. Maybe it fits into the
loading gauge when the blades are removed, but it seems to be used at this
location permanently. Some sections of the track are equipped with a third rail,
probably remains of the time when Rheinbraun also operated narrow gauge trains
(900 mm).
<p>
Digital photo by
<a href="http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/christoph.schmitz2/index.html">Christoph
Schmitz</a>
(<a href="mailto:christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de">christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de</a>)