History & Biography Railway was founded in southeastern West Germany in 1977. The group began playing cover versions and rehearsed in the cellar of a train station hence the monicker. The band toiled for a decade before disbanding, reforming and staying on for another decade. The law stipulated that the group has to reform and they did in 2006 after two years of engaging former members.
The group participated in a battle of the bands courtesy of the local tabloid Abendzeitung in 1979. More than 200 bands competed and Railway came in at number two. Railway opened for The Specials in 1980. The first demo was out in 1981 and correctly asked the question ‘Do You Want To Rock’ and answered it with ‘No Saxophone.’ The Just Imagination vinyl came next.
Noise Records placed the band on the Rock From Hell – German Metal Attack compilation with S.A.D.O., Grave Digger and others. The band did not need Noise. It signed with the Dutch label Roadrunner Records for five albums. Out came the debut and self-titled album in late 1984. Railway got on the road and opened for Tokyo Blade. Railway II followed and the line-up had remained stable. Sales were up slightly and the band opened for everyone from Russ Ballard to Motörhead/Exciter/Manowar/Lääz Rockit and Bonfire. The band appeared behind the iron curtain and played the Kist festival in Hungary in 1985 and 1986. However, for Climax Armin was on vocals and Florian Allgayer had replaced Hermann Janowitz who would die of cancer in 1988. The band and label had a dispute over royalties and went their separate ways. The group split up for a couple of years before returning. Backstage All Access was a 1990 EP. To Be Continued was distributed by Intercord. Only the Haslingers had remained in the line-up and two new members were introduced here. To support this record the band appeared at Wacken. The band switched to Steamhammer for Welcome Tonite. This one had a Metallian Towers’ cover model. If fans thought the band could not spell here all they had to do was wait until the 1994 live EP. It was called I’m A Looser. The band flipped the bird to Sodom and called its final album Persecution Mania. Railway hit a dead-end.
The band returned in 2006 and issued a CD called Finally Back: The Very Best Of 20 Years. in 2007 Walter Wicha was on the mike. Werner was back on bass. Armin Köberl was on guitar.
The Haslingers are brothers.
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