After dreaming of visiting Wuppertal in Germany for a good ten years - this Autumn it became a reality. This smallish city in the Wupper valley not far from Dusseldorf and Cologne has something a bit special… The Schwebebahn. An thirteen kilometre long upside down hanging monorail suspension railway snaking it’s way from Vohwinkel in the west to Oberbarmen in the east, suspended for the majority above the Wupper river.

After Ryanair stopped flying direct from my local airport, it seemed like a trip would not happen. That was until I found some £19 flights from London Stansted. The only issue being the three hour drive through the night to get there in time for the 7am departure!

As per usual I packed too much gear including two digital cameras, three film cameras and ten rolls of film. In the end I only shot one and a half rolls, and shot mostly on the Olympus E-M10 Mark II.

Feeling like a kid brimming with excitement I got my first view of this incredible iron snake with it’s stylish yet weird trains - if train is the right word for it!

Wasting no time the 24 hour unlimited ticket was purchased and the whole afternoon was spent covering the full length of the Schwebebahn twice, hopping off at interesting looking stations for a wander or a coffee.

The weather and light were perfect with the Autumn colours and Kodak Gold film, and as usual the EOS 500 was spot on with it’s exposures.

After five hours of riding the Schwebebahn tiredness, hunger and motion sickness from the swaying of the carriages started to take it’s toll. Having been awake since 1am and driving three hours, a short one hour flight, and two trains just to get here, a break was needed!

With light fading there were a few more stops to tick off including possibly the best design of them all - Kluse. Like a glass alien spaceship straddling the river, the design is as simple as it is striking.

After dinner I headed out for some long exposures. The EOS 500 did a great job on Av mode at f8. The train became less frequent as it got later, so only manage a handful.

And that was it - mission accomplished. It would have been nice to have another day to shoot some more but the next morning I had a full day planned in Cologne before the flight back.

Autumn is a great time to travel for the colour and light, and the peak tourist is over. Even though every time I take too much gear I keep doing it to myself. I had planned to bring a fourth film camera too - the Nixon Ideal Color 35 made in the Barmen district of the city, but my bag was getting heavy already, and with limited time I had to show some restraint!

I didn’t even use the Kodak 66 folder, and only shot half a roll in the Fuji Work Record - so could have got away with just the Canon really!

Wuppertal…

Zorki 4K - Ilford HP5…