Berlin - the British way - 1971

   I owe the Queen a lunch.

In addition to the two nightly American military trains (to Bremerhaven and to Frankfurt), there also was a daily British military train between Berlin-Charlottenburg Bahnhof and a tri-weekly French Train Militaire between Berlin-Tegel Bahnhof and Strasbourg, France.  Personnel of the allied military forces and their governments and dependents could ride on any of the trains, but special arrangements were required.

I liked the British train for several reasons: it was a daylight run, which was more interesting through the Soviet Zone, and it carried a superb dining car.  Seating in the diner was by class, First Class plus foreign guests in one seating, Second Class in the other. Tea was served on the eastbound afternoon train, with the ritual often occuring while the train was stopped for operating reasons in an East German station.  The Germans could watch as we drank our tea from china cups, and chose from a selection of biscuits.  I used to wonder whether the British were oblivious to how this looked to the East Germans, or whether they just liked to rub it in as to who won the war.

On my last trip on the British train, I must have seemed a familiar enough figure that the Train Conducting Warrant Officer (TCWO) thought that I should have a meal ticket.  When he handed out the chits to the British officers in that seating, he gave me one, too.  I started to refuse it, but the British Army officer seated opposite me, and with whom I had been chatting, told me not to worry, to consider it "a treat."  I made a mental note that I owe the Queen a lunch the next time I see her.

The British were capable of running their train with fewer people than required for the similar U.S. Army trains.  The TCWO carried responsibilities of both our Train Commander (an officer, who might or might not know railroading) and Train Conductor (a genuine Transportation Corps sergeant with railway experience).  They also did a better job than we did of turning up sufficient Russian-English interpreters from within their own ranks.

Ever ready to sieze an opportunity, a British Captain went up to Second Class to turn out his men when our train was spotted adjacent to a Soviet Army train in a three-way meet.  The Soviet train carried tanks on flatcars, their identification numbers pasted over with back issues of Red Star. The newspapers were peeling off from the weather.  A Soviet Army soldier stood guard, red-faced as a crowd of British soldiers vied for the best spots to look him over.  The British officer began to conduct a class on the Soviet tanks, pointing out their various features.  Finally we got under way, to the guard's relief.

Large format photos of the British Military Train in Braunschweig and the story of one moment in the Cold War on the rails.

View the British Military Train in Braunschweig.

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