In the great days of railroads, the railroad company were sometimes also the biggest local employers and took pride into taking care of their employes.
Begin of the 20th century the Bavarian railroad constructed in Nuernberg what became to be one of the biggest shunting yards in Germany. The little hill was used to divide up the trains.
The wagons were uncoupled and rolled down the track to be redirected to form other trains. Now the whole yard is modernised. The dark installation is a brake, which electronically slows down the wagons depending on weight, speed and distance to the waiting train.
For all the people working there they also built this neighbourhood in 1912. The engine above the entrance was stolen at the end of WW II, but returned when it was found in the harbour of Bremen and ready to be shipped to America
They not only built houses, but also schools and churches
This building in the middle was called "die Burg" and had separate entrances to all the appartments.
These buildings had a typical southern Bavarian style.... otherwise the buildings of this time in Nuernberg were from non-plastered/sandstone-blocks.
You could even rent (and still can do so) patches of land between the tracks as little gardens. They call it railroad agriculture
In the 50ties and sixties, a completely new quarter named after the planets of the solar system was constructed next to the railroad town.
Part of it were separate houses, part of it big appartment buildings in the style of the time.
The hall like building was not used for entertainment, but it provided for central heating of the whole new neighbourhood.
The little station serving the railroad men is long out of use. They now take a car to work....
