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FlashBack 2013 Plandampf Eisenach! But what is a Plandampf in the first place? Plandampf (regular steam) refers to the traction of regular trains by steam locomotives, often in conjunction with rolling stock from the same era. The idea originated in Germany in the late 1980s. Initially, only the additional costs of the steam service were borne by the operator. The context was that there were still many working steam locomotives in the territory of the former German Democratic Republic, the infrastructure was still in place in many places (e.g. sheds, water cranes, coal handling systems, sandblasting systems) and the generally low maximum speed allowed the use of steam locomotives. Scheduled steam events are becoming increasingly rare as the infrastructure necessary for steam operation is lost in the course of route modernization. Steam was still relatively common in East Germany in the early 1990s. After modernization, train speeds increased and timetables were designed accordingly, so that steam locomotives could not meet the speed requirements. Another factor was stricter safety requirements, such as automatic door closing.