MiniRails - Eras

German Railroad eras as per NEM
(Norms of European Model Railroaders)

Era	from	until	Description
1a	1835	1865	Start of railroading in Germany as private or state railway. The country Baden was a somewhat peculiar case. It insisted on a track gauge of 1600 mm ( 62.99 in.). For fans of this era, modelling is extremely difficult since there are not too many models out there.
1b	1865	1885	Development of state-owned railway networks
1c	1885	1910	Development of the superheated steam locos
1d	1910	1920	Locos in Prussia are painted black
2a	1920	1924	The German Reich took over the State Railways. This era is also significant for new developments in traction: diesel, electrics and railbuses
2b	1924	1937	Foundation of the private 'Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft'.
2c	1937	1949	The state took over the Reichsbahn. From 1945 the 'Reichsadler' (Reichs-Eagle) as heralds was dropped.
3a	1949	1956	Renaming of the Reichsbahn to 'DB' (Deutsche Bahn). The East-German railways kept their name and had their own management.
3b	1956	1970	1956 the 3rd class was dropped; new DB and DR - signets
4a	1970	1980	Computer numbers for all rolling stock throughout Europe. The last steam loco had it's run in 1977
4b	1980	1990	From fall 1979 on introduction 2-class ICs at the DB
5a	1990	1994	Locos are painted karmin-red. Collaboration between DB and DR. 1990 Re-union of DB and DR. Since 01/01/1992 uniform number schemes at DB and DR.
5b	1994	2002	Foundation of the "Deutsche Bahn AG", new logo and new paint schemes.
6	2002		Parallel to the traditional railway companies, private companies without own trackage roam the tracks. Accordingly, the UIC-code has been corrected to cater for this. The international treaties (RIC, RIV, etc.) have been adjusted to new EU-conform rules (OTIF,TSI). Freightcar pools (EUROP and OPW) are obsolete. Regional highspeed lines grow into an international network. Passenger traffic is dominated by push-pull trains or multiple-unit trains.

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