I have spent most of my adult life living happily in Germany. Everything has really been fine, I have really been most fortunate, but I have been accompanied by one particular preconception. That being that in Germany, certainly in the economy, and perhaps more generally that while everything is rolling along fine and dandy everything works well and Germany is the greateat nation in the world. However, woe betide if there is an obstruction in the path and forward movement is suddenly prevented. Here, and I have experienced some examples of this in the past over the years, the most important thing in everyone's minds sometimes seems to be not pooling resources and mindsets to first solve the immediate problem in hand as quickly and efficiently as possible, as would be the probable scenario in an anglophile environment. Instead one could imagine that after an unforseen occurence of disaster, the thing that takes initial and over-riding importance is the apportion of blame so that those concerned in the solution consider themselves devoid of any possible later retribution before they address the actual task in hand. On Sunday evening after playing for two days at Little Britain in Vettelschoß during the coronation weekend I thought I was heading for such a situation. I was travelling on the tourist train from Vettelschoss down to Linz and after two quite rainy days (some would say typical English weather) some of the trees surrounding the tracks had become quite waterlogged, then suddenly we were confronted with a tree which had fallen across the track blocking it for the train. So this was the situation that modified my preconception. The driver carefully secured the brake on the train, despatched the conductor to the rear of the train to collect a sturdy pair of work gloves and a wood saw that was stored in the toilet compartment. The driver then dropped down onto the tracks and began wielding the saw like a forester. Soon he had sawn through and the offending part of the tree was pushed off the track and the path was now clear. Within ten minutes we were on our way again and there was no hint of appropriating blame just wonderful efficient problem solving. It was the last train of the day leaving Kalenborn at 18:23 on the Sunday evening and there were only two passengers on board as most people had decided to walk the downward journey back to Linz, but I now had a much modified preconception.
Hands-on problem solving!
The ten minute delay was sufficient for us to miss the sheduled northbound DB connection to Bonn from Linz which meant a further 20 minute delay, but it was very well worth it for the total experience. Thanks so much to the altruistic staff of the Kasbachtalbahn for their great contribution to modern life by keeping this wonderful old institution running so well and for thankfully trashing my malaligned preconceptions. A trip on this nostalgic picturesque railway is a highlight of any visit to „Little Britain“ in Kalenborn/Vettelschoß and a most thankful sign that eccentricity is both alive and well and positively thriving in Germany.
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