Ausbesserungswerk Opladen

You may have read the term AW Opladen a few times in my descriptions, mostly when I rant about how Leverkusen-Opladen was once home to one of the largest locomotive workshops in Germany. It was closed in 2003, exactly 100 years after it's foundation, despite protests, hunger strikes, and bids from companies like Bombardier.

This is how it all looked from above, back in the day. Some buildings have been torn down, many of the surrounding rails have been lifted, but the two large halls are still there. This photo was taken in the righthand hall, standing in the path of the now nonexitant traveling platform. That was used to move locomotives along the width of the building, so they could be pushed into one of the numbered repair bays, depending on what sort of work needed to be done on them.

If you want to know what it was like when still in use, here's a DSO thread with a handful of b+w images from 1979. Locomotives of all shapes and classes were serviced here, be it the lightweight 141 for local commuters, the monstrous 103 for fast long distance trains, or the multi-tension capable 181 for international traffic. All electric locomotives from the northern parts of West-Germany were serviced here. New paint, new wheels, complete overhauls or even rebuilds following accidents, the AW Opladen could fix anything.

Here are some colour photos as well, if you're interested.

Now, the area is being bulldozed, a campus will be built here. Complete with lecture halls, cafeteria, library, and living quarters for students. Some buildings like the boiler house or the water tower will be preserved, but I still don't know what will happen to these great halls of the former workshop. At first, I thought they wanted to erect some structures inside, buildings within a building so to speak. But looking at the current papers, it seems like architects are supposed to go crazy with glass and steel, as usual. It may very well be that these halls will also disappear, just like railroading disappeared from Opladen...

I wasn't trespassing this time, but asked for permission to enter. Not that anyone would have stopped me, but it felt somewhat eerie that one could just walk through the now unguarded gates.