December 5, 1961

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Martin Antonenko

A Fixture
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Jul 11, 2008
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Escape with a whole train!


On December 5, 1961, engine driver Harry Deterling and a fellow stoker "kidnapped" an entire passenger train with a steam locomotive and eight passenger cars from Oranienburg via the Hamburg-Berlin main line from the GDR to West Berlin...



... to fly further west from Berlin.

On board the train, which can break through the border barriers with its sheer force, are several families who are friends of Deterling, as well as his own family – a total of 25 people.



The following picture shows Deterling with his family immediately after the escape in the Berlin refugee center at Lichterfelde...:



What a treat for the West German media...:



The spectacular escape will be filmed in 1963 under the title "Breakthrough Locomotive 234"...:

 
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