392 Thomas Quigley – in 1867 it took an average of 32 hours to make this train trip; following the same routing now, it takes about 14 hours. Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) calculates that taking the 1867 route by automobile is roughly 975 kms., taking about 10 hrs. to drive. Using the current Deutsche Bahn schedules/routings (not the same as the 1867 route) it takes between 9 ½ and 15 hrs. to make the trip by train.46 The distance driving the current routing by automobile, again calculated through Google Maps, is roughly 1167 kms., taking about 10 ½ hrs. to drive. (The distance may be longer, but the current routing has more autobahnen, so the amount of driving time needed is not in proportion to the longer distance.)– in 1867 the route went from Hamburg east to Berlin, and then south to Praha/Wien. The current routing now is Hamburg south to Nürnberg, and then in a gradual south-easterly routing to Wien, crossing the German/Austrian border at Passau. In Brahms’s time, the German States held responsibility for railways within their borders, and not all states moved forward on building rail lines at the same speed. The roundabout route in use from Northern Germany in 1867, may have been the result of the Kingdom of Bavaria’s delay in building railroad track, although the Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen (founded in 1844) finally connected Salzburg with Bavaria via the Maximilians-Bahn in 1860.47 Perhaps there were too many connections, making for too long a through train trip, to make it attractive to travellers coming from Austria through to central and northern Germany? For a Kingdom where the steam railway had such auspicious beginnings, indeed was the first steam line in Germany, this fitful expansion seems out of Ba-varian character. But in a Kingdom long known for its conservative nature, succeeding Wittelsbach monarchs after Ludwig I seemed to have had different priorities for their rule, sometimes hampered by ill health (Maximilian II), or at times preferring cultural and intellectual pursuits rather than industrial expansion and advancement (Maximilian II, Ludwig II, Prinzregent Luitpold von Bayern).48 – the price in 1867 for a one-way ticket in Second Class was 30 thaler. Not cheap!; in today’s currency (2010 rates) this ticket would have cost approxi-mately $414 USD. By comparison, a one-way Second Class ticket bought today from the Deutsche Bahn website would cost between $223—249 USD (2010 rates).49 46 Trip length is not relative to the number of connections, but to the type of train service. 47 History of Rail Transport in Germany, in: Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_ of_ rail_ transport_ in_ Germany>, 27.6.2011; Bavarian Maximilian’s Railway, in: Wikipedia <http://en.wikipe -dia.org/wiki/Bavarian_ Maximilian%27s_ Railway>, 27.6.2011.48 Kings of Bavaria, in: Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_ of_ Bavaria>, 27.6.2011; also entries for respective Kings in: Wikipedia, 27.6.2011; see also Steam Locomotive, in: Wikipedia (see Note 11). 49 In 1871, 1 thaler = .75 USD (from [Don Watson:] German Silver Coins and a Currency Discussion, <http://members.cox.net/hessen/thaler.htm>, 27.6.2011); 1 US dollar in 1871 is worth $18.40 USD in