Key takeaways
- The DKBM is a field railway with 600mm gauge – that is a good four tenths of standard gauge width.
- The society built the line itself instead of taking over a disused route. That sets it apart from most heritage railways.
- The vehicles come from industry: brickworks, peat works, works railways – not from state railway stock.
- Identification runs through the works plate, not a class number. Field railway locomotives carry a manufacturer and works number.
- Camera height decides the photograph. Shot from eye level, a 600mm railway looks like a garden railway.
Contents
- 1.Fact file
- 2.Business areas
- 3.History at a glance
- 4.How to recognise the company
- 5.Strengths and weaknesses
- 6.What a field railway was – and why it vanished
- 7.Where these vehicles come from
- 8.The low camera position decides everything
- 9.Is a field railway the right choice for you?
- 10.Self-built rather than taken over
- 11.Verdict
- 12.Frequently asked questions
Fact file
| Legal form | Registered society (e.V.) – construction, operation and workshop all run by volunteers |
|---|---|
| Gauge | 600 mm – the classic field railway gauge |
| Location | Gütersloh, East Westphalia, in the Isselhorst-Mühlenstroth area |
| Site type | the society's own grounds with station, engine shed and workshop |
| Mode of operation | Steam on running days, diesel for shunting and support duties |
| Origin of the vehicles | industrial, works and field railways rather than state railway stock |
| Season | running days in the warmer half of the year, no continuous service |
| Special feature | a self-built line, not a taken-over former railway |
| Official website | www.dkbm.de |
Business areas
History at a glance
How to recognise Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth e.V.
Does the train really belong to Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth e.V.?
- 600mm track – just over half a metre in gauge, unmistakably narrow
- Small steam locomotives – low boilers, short frames, often without a cab rear wall
- Open passenger wagons – derived from tipper or wagon designs, not proper coaching stock
- Works plates instead of class numbers – field railway vehicles carry a manufacturer and works number
- Light track superstructure – short rail profiles, often on steel sleepers
- Tipper wagons and work equipment – tipping wagons and works wagons are a visible part of the fleet
- Society grounds rather than a station site – the layout looks built, not taken over
Strengths and weaknesses
What the company stands for
- Field railway steam is a rare sight running regularly in northern Germany
- Very compact site – short distances between station, shed and line
- Vehicles are low and closely accessible, ideal for detail shots
- Well suited to families and to newcomers to railway photography
- A slice of engineering history that is almost entirely absent from the big museums
Where it falls short
- A very small site – anyone looking for long line shots is in the wrong place
- 600mm is photographically tricky: the sense of scale slips easily
- Only a few running days per season, so spontaneous visits usually fall flat
- Field railway vehicles are hard to identify with certainty without a works plate
- No connection to the standard-gauge network, so you can only get close by public transport
Updated: August 2026 – Anyone standing in front of a 600mm track for the first time almost always underestimates it. The Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth near Gütersloh doesn’t run a scaled-down railway, but its own category of technology entirely: the field railway. It was once everywhere in brickworks, peat works and beet fields – and today it has almost completely disappeared.
Log field railway vehicles the right way
Manufacturer, works number, year of build: field railways run on different data than state railway vehicles.
What a field railway was – and why it vanished
Field railways solved a very specific problem: moving material over short distances on ground that offered no solid road. Peat bogs, clay pits, brickworks sites, beet fields, works sites – everywhere there, a light track was the cheapest solution. Track panels were laid by hand, used, and taken up again once the extraction site moved on.
This flexibility was its strength, and later became its undoing. As soon as lorries became reliable enough and conveyor belts cheap enough, the case for a railway line disappeared. Field railways didn’t vanish through political decisions but through quiet economic replacement – and were, as a result, barely documented. Manufacturers such as Schöma and Gmeinder supplied this market for decades.
Where these vehicles come from
| Field of use | What was transported | Typical equipment | What survives of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peat works | Peat sods from the bog | Open tipper wagons, light diesel locomotives | Comparatively a lot, often in museums |
| Brickworks and clay pits | Clay, unfired products, fuel | Tipping wagons, small steam locomotives | Individual vehicles, hardly any sites |
| Agriculture | Beet, fertiliser, harvest | Track laid seasonally | Almost nothing, because nothing was built permanently |
| Works and foundry railways | Raw materials within the works site | Robust diesel locomotives, special wagons | A few vehicles, few lines |
| Mining | Ore and coal, including underground | Compressed-air and battery-powered locomotives | Documented in mining museums |
The stock of a field railway collection is therefore put together completely differently from that of a classic heritage railway. There are no class families, no uniform procurement policy and no state-railway logic – instead, individual pieces that survived by chance. Typical examples of this class include the Diema DVL 150 or the small Ns 2 locomotives from East German production.
The works plate is your vehicle number
On a state railway locomotive you read the running number. On a field railway locomotive, there often isn't one – instead there's a works plate with manufacturer, works number and year of build, usually on the frame or on the cab. This combination is unambiguous and comparable worldwide. Photograph it too, even if it looks unspectacular: without it, your sighting is barely provable afterwards.
The low camera position decides everything
Check the running day
A society-run site operates on set days. Without checking the current season schedule, you'll be standing in front of a closed gate.
Bring the camera down to vehicle height
The single most important move at 600mm. From eye level every field railway looks like a model – from axle height, like a machine.
Bring a scale anchor into the frame
A person, a tool, a tipper wagon: without a size reference, the viewer can't place the vehicle.
Capture works plates and details
Boiler, valve gear, coupling, plate – on small vehicles the details are easily accessible and make for effective images.
Watch the operational routines
Running round, taking water, shunting with tipper wagons: more happens on a compact site than the timetable promises. Locations in regular service across the region are gathered in the Gütersloh district spotting guide.
Camera height for narrow-gauge subjects
The figure is a guide, not a rule. Try both extremes and compare the pictures right there on site.
File your field railway sightings properly
Manufacturer and works number instead of class – note them down so you can still find them in five years.
Is a field railway the right choice for you?
Definitely, if …
- your collection is missing industrial and works railway technology
- you like detail and technical shots
- you're travelling with children and want a manageable operation
With some caveats, if …
- you're expecting long line shots – the site is compact
- you dislike crouching down; without a low camera position it won't work
- you've only ever documented standard gauge so far and need to rethink your note-taking
Probably not, if …
- you're after big locomotives and heavy trains
- your visit doesn't fall on a running day
- you rely on a connection to the standard-gauge network
Anyone wanting to work through field railways systematically will find several very different approaches in Germany: a large collection at the Frankfurt Field Railway Museum, a line railway at the Muskau Forest Railway, and in Mecklenburg the narrow-gauge railway near Schwichtenberg. All three show the same gauge in quite different landscapes.
Self-built rather than taken over
The most important structural difference from other heritage railways isn’t in the gauge, but in how the railway came to be. Most society-run railways take over a disused line: track, stations and structures are already there, and the society keeps them in good repair. Here it’s the other way round – the line and its buildings were newly built, on the society’s own land, piece by piece.
That has consequences you can see on site. There’s no historically grown station architecture, no oversized goods facilities and no remnants of a former regular service. Instead, the site is exactly tailored to what the society needs: short distances, a functioning workshop, an operation that can be shown off in a single day. Volunteering here doesn’t just mean running trains, but building too – and that over decades. How the wider society scene works is described in the article on railway societies.
Small doesn't mean harmless
A 600mm steam locomotive still weighs several tonnes, brakes worse than a car and is hard to dodge. Because the vehicles are low and the speeds are modest, many visitors underestimate exactly that. Track, points, turntables and operational areas are working railway installations and remain off-limits unless explicitly opened up. The basic rules are set out in Safe distance from the track.
Verdict
The Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth is not a destination for people looking for big locomotives and long trains. It’s a destination for anyone who wants to document a category of technology that is practically absent from the big museums – and that has vanished almost entirely from everyday life.
The payoff hinges on two decisions: an announced running day and the willingness to get low enough. Anyone who brings both gets pictures that hardly anyone else has. For the steam subjects themselves, the same applies as on the main lines – the technique for that is covered in Photographing steam trains.
In short
A self-built 600mm field railway with steam operation, run by a society. Small, compact, technically self-contained – and only cracked photographically with a very low camera position.
Collect gauges, not just locomotives
600, 750, 1000, 1435 millimetres: keep a record of which forms of operation you're still missing.
Summary
- The site is small, but it shows a category of technology that is practically absent from the big collections.
- Anyone documenting field railways has to relearn the system: works number instead of class, type instead of running number.
- The practical key to good pictures is a very low camera position – everything else follows from that.
- Running days and admission charges are deliberately not listed here, because they are set anew each season.
Frequently asked questions
What is a field railway?
A narrow-gauge industrial railway, usually in 600 mm gauge, used wherever material had to be moved over short distances: brickworks, clay pits, peat works, sugar beet fields, works sites. Track was often laid only as a temporary measure and taken up again afterwards. That explains the light track superstructure and the short, nimble vehicles.
Why 600 millimetres specifically?
Because this gauge was a good compromise: narrow enough for track panels to be moved by hand, and wide enough to carry loaded tipper wagons safely. It corresponds to roughly four tenths of standard gauge. In Germany, 600mm effectively became the industry standard as a result – vehicles from different manufacturers were interchangeable with one another.
Did the society take over an old line?
No, and that is the most interesting point. The site was built on the society's own land. Most heritage railways take over a disused line complete with stations; here it is the other way round. That explains why the site feels compact and why there is no historically grown station architecture.
Which locomotives run there?
Small field railway steam locomotives and diesel vehicles from industrial stock. Typical manufacturers of this class include firms such as Schöma and Gmeinder. I won't say anything here about which specific vehicles run on a specific day – at a society with limited workshop capacity, the vehicles in service change.
How do I identify a field railway vehicle?
Via the works plate. Field railway locomotives don't carry a class number in the state railway sense, but instead a manufacturer's name, works number and year of build on a brass or metal plate, usually on the frame or cab. This combination is unambiguous and comparable worldwide – a works running number, by contrast, is not, because it was often issued more than once.
Why do my field railway photos look like model railway pictures?
Because the camera position is too high. From eye level you look down on a 600mm vehicle, and the brain reads the perspective as a model. The fix is simple and uncomfortable: get down to vehicle height. How strong the effect is becomes clear the first time you compare the two – the technique behind it is covered in Which focal length for train photography.
Is the site suitable for children?
Very much so. The vehicles are small, the speeds are low, and the operation is manageable enough to explain. Tips for family visits are gathered in Trainspotting for kids and families. Even so: a field railway track is an operational railway site, not a playground.
Are there other field railway museums in Germany?
Yes, several, and with very different focuses. The Frankfurt Field Railway Museum maintains a large collection, the Historic Field Railway Dresden operates in Saxony, and the Muskau Forest Railway runs a line railway in the same gauge.
How do I get there?
The site lies in the Gütersloh district and has no connection to the standard-gauge network – so you get close by train and bus and cover the rest another way. Anyone wanting to round out the day will find locations in regular service in the Gütersloh district spotting guide.
Who keeps the operation running?
A society, entirely on a volunteer basis. At a self-built site, that means more than it does elsewhere: track building, construction, workshop and running operations all lie in the same hands. How this scene is organised and how to get involved is described in the article on railway societies.
Log vehicles from Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth e.V.
Company, vehicle, location and date logged in seconds – and visible to the community.
The operational level in the railway operator database
Who actually runs the trains, with keeper markings and identifying features on the vehicle.
Museumseisenbahn Hamm
More people work on a heritage train than on a regional service – and every role has a job. This page explains the on-board crew of the Museumseisenbahn Hamm.
HeritageMuseums-Eisenbahn Rahden-Uchte
The Museums-Eisenbahn Rahden-Uchte carries its line in its name. This page shows how to identify its vehicles and what a workshop day reveals about the operation.
Typical vehicles
DIEMA DVL 150
The DIEMA DVL 150 is a small diesel locomotive from Diepholz of the kind that works on industrial and private sidings. Identifying it comes down chiefly to the builder's plate.
ClassO&K MV 4 a
The O&K MV 4 a is a small diesel locomotive from Orenstein & Koppel. With this family of vehicles, gauge is the first question to ask – and not always the easiest one.
ClassLKM Ns 2
The LKM Ns 2 is a narrow-gauge small diesel locomotive from Babelsberg. Its most fascinating feature is power transmission – and you can actually see it on the vehicle.
ClassSchöma CFL-40 DR
The Schöma CFL-40 DR is a small locomotive built in Diepholz – with no DB class number. Here's how to read the works plate, UIC number and markings correctly.
ClassGmeinder D 25 B
The Gmeinder D 25 B is a two-axle small locomotive from Mosbach. Its type code reveals the drive and wheel arrangement – the rest is on the builder's plate.
Where you will find Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth e.V.
Spotting locations where you will regularly come across vehicles from this organisation – with viewpoints, the best light and coordinates.
More companies
Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum e.V.
The Frankfurt Light Railway Museum preserves a class of vehicle almost nobody knows any more: the 600-millimetre light railway from brickworks, peat cuttings and building sites. On running days these machines run again on the museum grounds – steam included.
Heritage railwayHistorische Feldbahn Dresden e.V.
The Historische Feldbahn Dresden preserves a world of vehicles that would otherwise have vanished entirely: 600-millimetre locomotives, tubs and equipment from quarries and industrial works. It's shown at the former Herrenleite quarry near Pirna – with trains running on selected days.
Heritage railwayWaldeisenbahn Muskau
The Waldeisenbahn Muskau isn't a reconstructed park railway but the surviving remnant of a genuine industrial railway network on 600 mm gauge. Its branches run through the Muskau Heath to destinations that would be worth visiting even without the railway – and it's still worked with steam and diesel today.
Heritage railwayMPSB
The Mecklenburg-Pomeranian Narrow Gauge Railway was a rarity: a public light railway on a gauge of 600 millimetres, in other words field-railway size. In Schwichtenberg a society has rebuilt this operation from scratch – with steam, diesel, and a line unlike any other.
Related guides from the blog
- Trainspotter in the Gütersloh District: The Ultimate Guide to Hotspots, Trains and Photo Tips
- How Do You Photograph Steam Trains? The Ultimate Guide to Steam Train Photography (Equipment, Settings, Light, Spots)
- Railway Clubs in Germany, Austria & Switzerland: Types, Membership, Costs, Tips
- Safety Distance at the Track: The Rules That Save Lives
- Which Focal Length Is Best for Train Photography? The Ultimate Guide
- Trainspotting with Kids: How to Turn a Day at the Station into an Adventure
