In Europe a series of epochs or eras have been standardised to identify particular periods in railway history. As events in history rarely fall into such convenient categories, here's a little background information...

The railway revolution in Germany began on the 7th December 1835 when the first 'German' train ran between Nürnberg and Fürth. I say German although both the locomotive and it's driver were actually English. The locomotive Adler (Eagle) was built by Robert Stephenson and Co. in Newcastle, and the driver; a Mr. William Wilson, stayed on in Germany and upon his death, was buried in Nürnberg.

Over time, the various lands (the German Länder are similar to English counties, or American states) in Germany started building their own railway systems, which beagn to connect the corners of Germany together.

The railways of Germany were nationalised in 1920, but after the Second World War, the railways were split again, one each for East and West Germany. On the 1st January 1994, after the re-unification of the two halves of Germany, the Deutsche Bahn AG was formed, and the railway systems were merged once again.

Principal events in German railway history

1835 (7^th December)	The first German train runs between Nürnberg and Fürth.
1840 (4^th October)	The first train on the München Augsburg Eisenbahn Gesellschaft.
1842	First saloon coach is built - for the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway
1850	Principal dimensions of rolling stock are agreed by the German railway companies allowing interchange of stock.
1853	First working rules for Prussian and North German railways.
1854	First steam railcar - Berlin-Hamburg Railway.
1857	First International through coach working - Frankfurt am Main - Basel.
1873	First sleeping car (Nagelmakers - later CIWL) Oostend to Berlin.
1875	Unified signalling for all of Germany.
1878	First Prussian 'standards' for locomotives, coaches and wagons.
1879	First electric locomotive in the world built in Berlin.
1880	First German sleeping car.
1882	First German owned restaurant coach. First corridor train between Berlin and Köln.
1883	First run of the Orient Express.
1894	Electrical signalling block system introduced in Prussia.
1896	Sunday tickets introduced.
1902	Berlin underground opened.
1907	Train ferry from Germany to Sweden opens.
1909	Pfalzbahn incorporated into the Bavarian State Railway. Formation of the Deutschen Staatsbahnwagen-Verband (German Railway Wagon Assoc.) by the 8 Länderbahnen.
1910	First Verbandsbauart wagon built.
1911	First long distance electrification in Germany - Bitterfeld-Dessau (15kv, 16²/₃Hz).
1912	The K.P.E.V. introduces the first diesel-electric locomotive. The K.P.E.V. introduces the first all steel through-corridor express passenger coaches.
1916	The MITROPA is founded.
1924	The Deutsche Reischbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft are created.
1928	The first run of the Rheingold from Hook van Holland to Basel.
1929	Leig (express parcels) services introduced.
1933	The Flying Hamburger (high speed diesel railcar) enters service.
1936 (11^th May)	The steam locomotive 05 002 sets a world record of 200.4 kmh (125.25 mph). (The English locomotive 'Mallard' broke this on 3rd July 1938 with 202.4 kmh (126.5 mph))
1937	The DRG becomes plain DR, and the Hoheits Adler (winged eagle + hakenkreuz (swastika)) is introduced.
1938	Germany takes control of the countries (and railways) of Austria, the Sudetenland, Bohemia and Moravia.
1939	Germany takes control of the countries (and railways) of Czechoslovakia, Danzig and Poland.
1940	The DR takes over control of the railways of Luxembourg.
1945	The 3^rd Reich is defeated, and the DR is split into zones operated by the occupying forces of Britain, France, America and Russia.
1949	The German Federal (west) and Democratic (east) Republics are formed.
1952	The DB and DR are formed.
1973 (12^th September)	The electric locomotive 103 118 reaches 252.9 kmh (165.6 mph) during tests.
1976	The effective end of steam operation on the DB.
1984 (7^th October)	The electric locomotive 120 001 reaches 265 kmh (158 mph) during tests.
1986 (1^st September)	The first section of the Neubaustrecke (new high speed lines) fom Mannheim to Graben Neudorf is completed.
1988 (1^st May)	The prototype Intercity Experimental sets a new German railway speed record of 406.9 kph (254.3 mph) on the newly completed high speed line between Fulda and Würzburg.
1994 (1^st January)	The DB and DR are merged to form the DB AG.

The Epochs explained. Epoch numbers are almost always written with Roman numerals

Epoch I 1835-1920 This is generally referred to as the Länderbahn era. For a better description of these Länderbahnen, have a look at the page Information on German locomotives.
85 years is a somewhat broad time range, and some people use an additional Epoch 0 for the period 1835-1870, and move Epoch I to 1870-1925. To the best of my knowledge, this is unofficial.

Epoch II 1920-1945 The period of the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft

Epoch III 1945-1970 The period of the separated DB and DR

Epoch IV 1970-1985 About the time of the introduction of the UIC numbering system.
The UIC (Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer), was founded in October 1922, but as of 1969, UIC numbering was used on rolling stock throughtout Europe, now that interchange was common.

Epoch V
unofficial 1985 onwards This pretty much covers what the DB call the 'New Railway'

Although these Epochs appear to be based around dates of German events, they are widely used throughout mainland Europe in the model railway industry.

[ last updated 31st Dec 2003 ]