Dampflok-Ausbesserungswerk Meiningen
The Dampflok-Ausbesserungswerk Meiningen is a famous steam locomotive repair shop in Germany. It opened in 1914 and it is still active today. Many old steam trains from all over Europe come here for repair.
Dampflok-Ausbesserungswerk Meiningen is a special place in Germany. It is a repair shop for steam locomotives. The factory is in the town of Meiningen. Many people know it as Dampflokwerk Meiningen. Old trains come here for repair, service, and testing. It is one of the last places in Europe that can do this work.
Werrabahn
The history starts earlier. In 1863 the railway company Werrabahn built a small workshop near the station of Meiningen. In 1902, it became an important workshop for the Prussian state railways. Soon the workshop was too small. A new factory was needed. The new halls were built in 1910. On 2 March 1914 the new workshop opened. It had 420 workers. The factory repaired all kinds of steam locomotives.
Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk Meiningen
The company grew very fast. In 1918 more than 2,200 people worked here. From 1919 the Deutsche Reichsbahn took control. The factory got a new name: Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk Meiningen, or RAW Meiningen.
During the Second World War, the work changed. The factory repaired Class 52 war locomotives. It also serviced the fast locomotives of Hitler’s Führersonderzug. At this time, almost 2,500 workers were here.
Explosion
After the war, the number of workers grew again. In 1946 almost 3,000 people worked at RAW Meiningen. But there was also a tragedy. In 1951 a boiler exploded in the boiler testing shop. Nine workers died and one person on the street. The boiler flew into the garden of the hospital next door.
In the 1960s, the factory built snow plough trains. It also changed steam locomotives to oil firing. Later it also repaired diesel locomotives.
After the merger of the Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn into the Deutsche Bahn in 1994, there was a drastic cutback in the workforce. Several halls were abandoned.
Today, only about 120 people still work here. The name is now Dampflokwerk Meiningen. The factory is a European specialist for steam trains. Railway companies, museums, and heritage groups bring their locomotives here. It is a unique place where history still lives.
