A Walk to the Shadows of Papphausen

Let's take a walk to the shadowy side of Papphausen. We were here before, but things can change...

First four images taken with the Chroma Camera Cube pinhole camera, the others with the Pentax, all on Ilford HP5 film.

A look down the main street and the Hauptbahnhof.

And along another road as we head to the Hafenkiez...

At the Bude...

What's happening here...?

Someone is keeping an eye on the Bordsteinschwalben, if that's what they are.

A couple strolling down towards Buchbinderei.

The window washer has moved to the side...

The guy with his Auspuffengel and the side-car better be careful...
And, the window washer missed a spot.

Bundesbahn in 1979/80, pt. 2

Was sorting through image files and was able to date the series at Bundesbahn in the '70s (to '81) to 1979 or 1980. Duisburg - Koblenz was my "home" trip as it connected my grandparents. Here two images that weren't included the first time around.

An unidentified 103 pulling an IC in Bonn Hbf. The driver looking back to make sure all clear as
he prepares to pull out.

The two love birds here can also be seen in the main series here. Just scroll down.

Revisiting Meschenich-Kölnberg

With one set of grandparents in Duisburg and my other grandmother in Koblenz, a lot of time during visits was on the train between the two. Going through some images I found two views of the same place between Cologne and Bonn, Meschenich-Kölnberg. This is a Trabantenstadt (satellite city) not dissimilar from the Plattenbauten in the DDR. The image below is from Google's Street View and was captured in 2008. Spinning the image around shows that it is really in the middle of no where.

Here an image of the same location from 1979 or 1980 taken from the train.
Film is super grainy, most likely because of my processing.
More images from that trip here.

And here from the trip I took with my daughter in 2004, my last time in Germany.

Who says you can't drop high rises amongst the farm fields in the countryside...

Down in Papphausen's harbor Kiez

Papphausen has its main freight yard and locomotive depot (BW) down near the harbor. There are also a few residences, and the most recent addition of a bookbindery. It's not a bad place to live with a Bude (kiosk) selling the essentials of beer, currywurst, sweets, and gossip. These Buden/Kiosks/Trinkhallen are everywhere and essential local fixtures. That said, unseemly things do happen from time to time...

All structures are scratchbuilt from card using scans from card models, Scalescenes sheets, and photographs. All images shot on Ilford HP5 400 speed black and white film using a tripod and cable release for these 2 second average exposures. And no, I did not forget the Farbfilm. Lighting for most of these was the bare 75 watt cool-white bulb on the basement ceiling. The layout lights were not on.

A view from the harbor towards the rail yard under the bridge. The faded signage advertises for Moden Doof (Dumb fashions) poking fun at the his n' hers jump suits that were once fashionable. The Bude is at the end of the block. The barge is a card kit from Schreiber-Bogen.

The Bude comes into focus. This is a child-friendly working-class Kiez

Looking down the street to the bookbindery.

The S-Bahn passing above the bookbindery.

What's this passing above the bookbindery in this looong exposure?

It's that coal train from the previous post carrying the coal mined from below Papphausen to the coke or steelworks. Looks like the window washer has finally arrived. Lots of grime on those windows.

It's gotten dark, and he's still at it. The binders are also working late, trying to finish a job the printers decided to let the deadline slip on... A mother with a small child is also walking by and looking in.

The bindery is detailed within, and lifting the roof up allows it to be lit with an LED flashlight. Still working on a better solution.

But, as mentioned, there is an unseemly side to this area. The Bretzelkäfer was found in the harbor, a body was removed, and it looked suspicious. Schimanski and Tanner are at the Tatort and on the case...