Makes you tired and saves energy: Traveling with a trolley

NNot only that the childhood dream of being a train driver comes alive, no, one of the nicest and, yes, most fascinating things about driving a trolley is: you hold the handlebars and don’t have to steer. This glorious absence of navigation doesn’t even exist on foot, only on rails. The hands are actually supported on a rigid bicycle handlebar.

Of course you have to kick. But you’re sitting so high above the rails and a bit above things, that body and mind go straight into a mode of supreme pleasure. When father and son sit enthroned on the outposts of the vehicle and pedal while grandpa and the other grandson sit on a wooden bench in the middle. When the steel horse starts to rattle, rattle, jerk and conversations are only possible with a raised voice. When the first traffic light is reached and the cars on the street crossed by the rails actually have to stop because a handcar trundles past. In any case, the Dutch senior quartet that started before us was no longer seen. The Netherlands are a cycling nation, we have to admit without envy. And the Extertal lies in front of us like a deep green picture book landscape. As if made for a draisine tour.

The rails, laid in 1927, have been used almost exclusively by handcars since 2007. The single-track route runs along fields, meadows and forests, small towns, and a few times it goes almost right through farmsteads that could have come from Bullerbü. Buzzards and red kites circle in the sky, a heron clumsily rises into the air. The river Exter remains a faithful companion. The view falls on trout ponds, paddocks, cow meadows and even a wallow for three merry pigs.

With four leg strengths ahead

Dearest, how Reinhard Viets (“do not adjust the points”, “the road traffic regulations apply”) sends us on the day trip to the Rinteln-Süd station, which is only used for handcar operation. There are 30 vehicles in the depot, one of which is specially equipped to accommodate a wheelchair user. The start is in the morning, from 2 p.m. all handcars have to turn around (single-track route!) and be back at the starting point in Rinteln by 5 p.m. The friendly Mr. Viets hands out a voucher for four free admissions to the outdoor pool in Alverdissen at the end of the line. The two-country tour by rail leads from Lower Saxony to Lipperland in North Rhine-Westphalia. 18.1 kilometers each way. You can’t tell from the gentle climbs that you have to climb 250 meters on the way there, but you can feel it in your thighs despite the seven-speed gearbox. The presence of a small battery that feeds in e-support and additionally strengthens the maximum 4 BS (leg strength) is nevertheless gratefully accepted. Every now and then you have to put your leg up if a nettle branch sticks out onto the rail again.

In Bösingfeld it goes right through a real train station, in which there are museum wagons. Every first Sunday of the month it’s time for the handcar pilots to dismount. And change to the museum railway, which, cherished by enthusiasts, then claims the track for itself.

Infantile gatekeepers

Otherwise there is actually a continuous green wave for handcars. If you drive slowly enough over the contact point, the traffic lights will turn green without you having to stop. The children argue about who can be the gatekeeper. It’s a good thing that there’s still a return trip and everyone can push up the lonely turnpike with their own hands.

But before the return trip, there is still a dip in the blue outdoor pool water. The steel horse can be easily lifted off the track and parked in Alverdissen with a so-called lifting car. The local “Batze” – a wonderful Westphalian word – is only a few steps away. The lifeguard recognizes the handcar guests from afar – by their wide gait after two hours in the saddle? The bathroom is as well-tended as it is picturesque, the children’s jump show from one and three begins in no time. And the fries – otherwise there is hardly any gastronomy left along the route due to the corona – taste superb. In any case, this fine family triathlon in Lower Saxony and East Westphalia could become a tradition: take the handcar to Alverdissen, swim there, and take the handcar back to Rinteln-Süd.