European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday december 9, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Pago 945 years of legend end with run by Joseph Owen staff writer Berlin a the end of . Berlin duty train passenger service came 45 years to the Day after it began. Freight run had started july 27, 1945, but it was the passenger trains that assumed the Mantle of legend Over the years. The trains had three purposes to take personnel and supplies to and from Berlin to exercise Allied transit rights on a daily basis and to Force the soviet Union to guarantee those rights in accordance with and hoc postwar agreements that always remained informal. The soviets permitted France the United kingdom and the United states a total of 16 trains a Day to West Berlin beginning in 1945, according to military officials in the City. The number Rose to 19 after the lifting of the 1948-49 Berlin blockade. The British also plan to phase out their train service but the French have made no such announcements. The , service was free to military passengers but Cost West Germany a government dearly. The Frankfurt runs Cost $14 million in 1989 the Berlin to Brent Erh Aven runs Cost $4 million. In the 12-month period ending june 30, about 70,000 people climbed aboard. The trains have witnesses the dramatic the comical and the bizarre. One woman gave birth on the train in 1987 another unintentionally left a baby behind in the 1970s. Porters returned it. Scores of East germans leapt onto the trains in the Early years trying to escape their country. One such incident sparked a tense .-soviet standoff at Marien born providing the plot for a West German docudrama. In the West at least one person jumped the train Foh another reason a to commit suicide. For passengers the ride was almost always suspenseful. If Only because of the vaguely sinister formalities at the soviet checkpoints. A misspelled name or an inconsistent birth Date on Flag orders required since 1957 could delay there were terrorist attacks. A bomb damaged a locomotive and some of the track in 1988. Police later arrested a jordanian with alleged ties to a palestinian terrorist group. Others tried to Stop the train with boat anchors tires grappling Hooks and More bombs including some placed on the trains. Such attacks prompted . Officials to guard trains carefully keep planned routes secret and put misleading destination signs on the unmarked train cars. The Berlin train that arrived saturday morning was marked As a Mannheim to Hannover run. Army officials debated replacing the trains with buses several years ago hut never took definitive action until the inter German Border opening and German unification robbed the trains of their International political value. The requirement for individual Flag orders lapsed in june and service dropped to six Days weekly in each direction. The soviets abandoned their checkpoints permanently one Day without telling anyone. The . Berlin Bremerhaven runs transported thai last passengers on nov. 20. The last two trains on the Berlin Frankfurt line arrived in the respective cities saturday morning. In from Page 1 Mander lays Down the Law for the last time. No booze. No pulling the emergency Brake. No limbs out the windows. Spec. Joseph a. Cronin returning Home after a few weeks of training marvels at his Good Fortune. A this was the last Day of school and i just happened to Luck out a he says adding later a a it a a lot More comfortable sleeping on a rail car than it is sitting up on a 7 54 . A at the platform the train catering company Breaks rules immediately by giving away Flowers and Champagne. A that was our Cradle a director Alexander Bautz Mann says of the duty train noting that in the 1950s it provided one third of the firms business. A we never got one letter of complaint from this _ and what was the worst that happened a that its ending 1 think a Bautzman says. A a that a surely the Saddest thing.�?�. Quot 8 58 . A after volleys of photos and farewells the train an electric locomotive two passenger cars club car and baggage car a slips away into the frosty gloom almost an hour late. % 9 03 . A Porter Heinz Roesler makes his rounds As he has for 35 years. A no Marble cake tonight a he regrets aloud but other snacks decorate the club car tables. Even Beer and bubbly. Roesler boasts of having served Elvis Presley when the Singer then a Soldier Rode the train in 1958. A -. In her compartment Berlin native Brigitte Bateman Pines for the 1960s, when she first Rode the train. Bands played when entire units left town. _ a the train station was always full of people waving goodbye. And now when you get on its just empty a she says Bateman also Rode the final Bremerhaven to Berlin duty train last month. 10 12 . A at Fulda some reporters disembark. Another Porter Horst Behringer remarks How the train has become vacation oriented Over the years. Amps Jim of Tutelm Brigitte Bateman reflects. On decades with the train a a it a still called the duty train but 1 think fewer than half of them Are on duty a he says of the passengers. 1 11 37 . A in Gottinger a fresh Engineer climbs aboard. 1 38 . A mail Stop in Braunschweig. Most passe a Gers Are asleep. Die hards Cluster in the Stuffy club car arguing politics As they whisk through the night at up to 100 Mph. 2 20 . At Helmstedt the last Stop in former West Germany a diesel locomotive from the old East German Reichs Baho replaces the electric one. Francois Kachurka a translator who turned Down two offers to work the train before finally agreeing to it 28 years ago gets on Board. The worst political clash Kachurka recalls occurred when the americans discovered that the diesels bore red flags on East German holidays. After . Protests and a tense Border incident East German rail officials stopped the practice. 2 40 . A at Marie born once the soviet checkpoint the familiar acrid Coal smoke of the Eastern sector stings the nostrils. A huge Hole in a platform sign Marks the spot where the East German Crest once faced the train. Passengers encouraged to stay in their compartments at the Stop rarely saw the Crest or the fences that enclosed the station to Stop East germans from jumping on the train. Which they often did in the Early Days. Kachurka shows the news Media the locked ii platform cubicle that once housed the soviets. A they treated us respectfully a he says. A they were always Nice and Friendly if you disregarded the political relationships that confronted 5 20 .�?� the train creaks to a halt at berlins licht ctr Clde West station a whole hour ahead of schedule despite the late Start. A Light Frost Coats the rail ties. Groggy passengers trudge into the Stark waiting room to Nap or Chat before their uses arrive the train backs out of the station unceremoniously. Several minutes Lafer a Berlin come employee suddenly realizes she left her bags aboard. Oil Well she reasons the bags will be brought Back. _ but the train wins round Over challenger tapes Washington up a divided Federal appeals panel declined Friday to Force Nasa to release audio recordings of intercom conversations among challengers Crew members during their ill fated 73-second shuttle flight. The . Court of appeals in Washington decided 6-5 to Send the Case Back to District court for hearings to determine whether the audio tapes constitute a a personal information about the astronauts and Are therefore exempt from the Federal Freedom of information act _ a a _ a the new York times requested the audio tapes under the act which requires the government to make a wide Range of information available to the s Public. There Are a few exemptions to in act that allow government agencies to withhold information to protect National Security or an individuals privacy Nasa released a transcript of. The cockpit conversations but refused to release the audio tapes arguing that they fell under the personal category Ofoia exemptions and would cause additional grief to the astronauts families the times filed suit in Federal District court in Washington seeking to Force Nasa to release the tapes an initial ruling in favor of the newspaper was later appealed to the . Circuit court of appeals. In calling for hearings in District court on whether the tapes Are indeed personal the court wrote that a Unasa is entitled to an Opportunity to prove its claim that release of the tape would invade the privacy of the deceased astronauts or of their lawyers for the times declined to comment on the appeals court action or Quot to say if they would ask the supreme court to consider the Case. T the tape includes the few Crew comments made on challengers intercom system and not broadcast to Mission control by the shuttles a air to ground radio system. The last Public air to ground com rent from a Crew member came about 70 seconds after Blastoff Jan 28, j986, when commander Francis a a Dick so Bee calmly acknowledged the shuttles three main engines were operating at 1q4 percent Power As planned. A Roger go at throttle up Quot Scobee said. The shuttle disintegrated in a giant fireball about three seconds later the Only other Public comment by a Crew member came just seconds after launch when Scobee told Mission control challenger was a a rolling properly to attain the Correct trajectory his Crew mates were co Pilot Michael Smith Judith Resnik Ellison Onizuka Ronald Mcnair satellite Engineer Gregory Jarvis and new Hampshire schoolteacher Christa Mcauliffe a the dissenting appeals court judges disputed Nasa s Contention that the tapes were personal and therefore should not be made Public noting that Nasa previously conceded the tapes contained no personal information. A a nasal a claim before this court is somewhat astonishing in Light of its Concession before District court that a the words spoken on the withheld tape Are the observations and communications of certain of the challenger astronauts concerning the launching of the space shuttle. The withheld tape contains no information about the personal lives of the j challenger astronauts or any of their family a
