OVERSEAS VISIT REPORTS

ARGENTINA

News. Ross Middleton reporting. The Argentina Government and the consortium which won the concession to build the Cordoba to Buenos Aires high speed line have finally thrown in the towel and admitted that they have been unable to raise the funding to build the line. Meanwhile the Government continues with the revival of the existing network. The latest Plan is to electrify the General Belgrano suburban systems in Buenos Aires.

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

Howard Forster July 2009
Wednesday,29/07/09. Wien Handelskai. CFF 482.045 was noted on a southbound freight heading for Kledering Yard. 52.7102 was plinthed in good condition.
Wien Donauuferbahnhof is a small yard adjacent to Handelskai where Wien Lokalbahn stand their locos. MRCE ES64U2.067, Wien LAG ES64U2.022/3/64/8 were present.
Thursday, 30/07/09. Strasshof. 52.7593 looking very good was on its plinth.

OSEK Museum, Some small industrial diesels could not be identified, the following locos were present: LICAON,106,153.7114,33.102,55.5708,372,97.208,97.73,1665,30.33, 69.02,54.14,30.109der,Schneepflug976.0.200(ex30.104), 88.01,92.2234der,15.13,310.23,109.13, Lagerhaus1,197.301,258.902,175.817der,77.66,35.233der,’2229.222’, 156.3423, 58.744,Zfbk OZ 1,3071.07,12.10,JZ 33-240,52.100,52.7594,Gilli-Werklok Lenzing,42.2708,OMV Lok1,ET10.003,ET10.106,1010.002,1010.011,1110.023, 1020.038,1040.01/008,1041.001,1141.028,1044.501,1046.005,1062.07,1072.01,
1189.05,1245.001,1570.01,2060.xxx (004?),2060.005/74,2062.33/055,2067.004,Ko 5159,Ko 4w?,-?4w blue,Vosslauer Kfbk O&K Ko 4w,WDW 1 4w,Jenbach 4w green,
D200 Nestle Stadlau 4w Jen 3.512.055/64,MARTH Mobil Oil Kagran 4w 21696/-?,
Wien West Bhf. A massive redevelopment incorporating the station buildings is making it difficult to access, and not helped by the lack of information on the hoardings surrounding the site. Wien West Depot. In and around the depot were 18 electric locos including GySEV 1047.503 and MAV 1047.008. Plinthed in the park near the Technical Museum was EWA 21 ILSE 0-4-0WT.

Wien Technical Museum.
Back where they belong were: AJAX,STEINBRUCK,254 and 1060.001.

Wien Sudbahnhof Depot. 23 electric locos were present, 1145.02 was inside the carriage shed. The large number of 1014s present on a weekday, confirmed that many are surplus to requirement. Wien Ostbahnhof. Most of the platforms appeared to be in use, but dust from the adjacent excavations appeared to be a problem at times.

Wien Donauuferbahnhof. There had only been one change from the previous evening, ES64U2.019 had replaced ES64U2.023.

Austria Wien Donauuferbahnhof. WLB ES 64 U2-019 was pictured on the standage by the Donau. 29/07/09 Photo by Howard Forster

Ausrtia Wien Donauuferbahnhof. MRCE BOSPORUS SPRINTER ES 64 U2-067, had been renumbered from 045, on being fitted to work into Eastern Europe. Photo by Howard Forster

BELGIUM

Jon Burdett Oct 2009
Saturday 3/10/09. Gent Merelbeke. Trackwork is taking place next to the station so the boarded foot crossing has been taken up. Picked our way over the track to walk up to the office where permission was declined. Most items recorded, very quiet for this location with just 35 locos noted; also about 15 DMU and EMU sets scattered about.

There is a scrap road at the back behind the wheel lathe building which contains 5x5100, 3x6200 and 5x7300's which can be seen from the public road round the side of the depot. Road access from the north side to the station at the former yard end of the site is also not possible at the moment due to the road bridge having been demolished, so best access is to come into Merelbeke from the south now. (There ought to be another dump beyond the bridge towards Brussels - Ed).

Gent St Pieters 3x2100 and 2x2300 stabled in the carriage sidings amongst the various units. New Vossloh diesels 5701/5 double headed a container train past while we were there working from Antwerp to Zeebrugge.

Antwerpen Noord. 160 locos recorded between the shed and the loco holding sidings plus rubber ring unit 468 - not sure why that was there, perhaps tyre turning. No problem visiting the holding sidings, foreman fine with that and as we were coming out another British party were going in!

Bits of interest were 5186 in the shed being prepared. 5170 and 5185 in the holding sidings in a blue/white livery freshly overhauled and awaiting export to Ventura/Italy. New Vossloh G2000 5001551 on delivery. New SNCB Vossloh's 5702/4 and a dozen of the TRAXX electric locos stabled.

The line of stored 77's with axle problems is still here awaiting decision - 11 locos in all plus a large collection of stored or withdrawn electrics, diesels and shunters all dumped out of use - 42 locos in total. The preserved locos, 5910, 5166, 6041, 5404 and 7209 are also in the middle of the holding area.

Friday 9/10/09. Back into Belgium and we looked in at the deserted yard at Montzen - now no longer required since the line has been electrified from here to Aachen. Two freights passed each way, an SNCB TRAXX going each way and a DLC 66 working each way. The only working loco stabled at the east end of the complex was Class 66 PB15. However in the middle of the once sprawling yard is a line of dumped SNCB diesels consisting of 2x6200 and 19x5100.

Angleur. We finally found the PW yard which contained 4xworking 6200's including my last one 6329. Also here were two working shunters 7351 and 8252, unusual in that nearly all the remaining SNCB shunters are now out of service.

Liège Kinkempois. A Friday lunchtime visit proved no problem by asking in the foreman's office, 61 items were noted plus EMU sets. Interesting bits were two of the new Siemens 1800 class electrics - 5 and 12, and 5538 being prepared for export to Gabon and already in Gabon Railways livery. It looked as if a central coupler was being added to it. A large number of shunters and diesels are now stored around the depot; the diesels without much future however, I expect SNCB are hoping to sell some of the shunters.

Leuven. Passing through the station were six electrics during our visit whilst out by the carriage sidings were 6227 and 6324 stabled - they are high speed line rescue locos.

The main reason for our visit was to check out the museum store. This only has very limited opening dates and today was closed as expected. We had a bit more success this time in identifying the items inside by peering through the cracks in the shed door and looking in the windows at the back. In the overhaul part at the rear diesel 211 006 could clearly be seen together with Prussian P8 64 045. We could see a further what appeared to be semi streamlined steam loco which is not 1.002 but I couldn't tell what the wheel arrangement was so don't know whether it was 7.039 or 10.018, perhaps somebody could confirm this for me. (Semi-Streamlined? Sounds like the Atlantic cl. 12 - Ed. )

The single section of the former 3 car DEMU 654.02 was dumped outside rotting away and I did notice that access to some of the shed roads has now been removed rendering the items inside isolated.

And so concluding the trip we looked in at Gent Merelbeke where an hour and a half session turned up another 25 locomotives. Vossloh G2000 5703 was noted just going off shed having fuelled while the depot pilot 7794 kept shuffling locos in and out of the depot for us!! Access to the depot was not possible as work on the tack was taking place between the station and the shed so we read off what we could, but generally it was as expected. Trip then complete - 1411 miles in all from home to home.

Much as expected, it's noticeable how the NS electrics have lost work and a good number of these are now just sitting about, we saw 68% of the fleet of 139 during the trip so utilisation is not very high at the moment. Rotterdam port is full of independent operators but I was not very impressed by and not a little surprised by locos being allowed out with no external identification numbers - I would have thought that this was a problem from the staff point of view not just for spotters!

In Belgium depot visits still seem to be fairly easy and apart from Merelbeke we were allowed free unsupervised access - even on a weekday.

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CZECH REPUBLIC

Mike Turner Oct 2009
15/10. Cl 471 double-deckers, branded 'City Elephant' in two different red, white and blue livery schemes, now monopolising suburban services from Praha Masarykovo. Upstairs 1st class very comfortable, lots of leg room. Prague suburban services recently integrated into S bahn type structure under the name 'Esko'.

Only variety at Masarykovo on this and succeeding days was Cl 163 every two hours to Decin and the trains to Kladno with Cl 814 and Rakovnik with Cl 854. All electric freight seen on the cross country main line through Lysa nad Labem, Nymburk to/from Hradec Kralove were Cl 122 with occasional Cl 121. Only exceptions were a Cl 122 piloting Cl 163 in new Cargo livery and a Cl 163 piloting Cl 122. All hauled .passengers were Cl 163. After a long delay due to late finish of daytime engineering, arrived at Kolin for EC to Pardubice and back to Praha with. Cl 150 and OBB Cl 1216 respectively.

Interesting that two different types of modern CD open first, while very spacious and comfortable, did not ride as well as or were as well soundproofed as 1975 vintage ex BR mark 3 or Cl 442.

16/10. To Plzen for Cl 754 in blue white and yellow to Domazlice and Furth im Wald. However Arriva Cl 223 have already taken over many of the workings into Germany including my 9.06 Praha Hln - Munchen and the morning working ex Munchen, the latter with immaculate ex DB stock in Arriva livery. Domazlice had Cl 810 and Cl 814 on branches plus 4 Cl 742. In an attempt to get haulage with Cl 754, returned as far as Stankov where Cl 754 materialised on next train from Plzen. In view of likely Cl 223 on next train from Germany at Furth, returned to Plzen with next Cl 754, followed an hour later by, you've guessed it, Cl 754 from Furth - Murphy's law in action.

Late afternoon at Plzen had all electric services except to Praha with elderly Cl 242. Major upgrade work on Praha - Plzen mainly between Beroun and Horovice encompassing brand new alignments, complete track formation replacement and new overhead in different places. Seemed to be allowed for in schedules as timekeeping was fine despite single line working and speed restrictions.

17/10. The main objective - the superb 477 043 from Masarykovo to Luzna for the museum's end of season event, 6 bogies plus T478 3101 in tow. The only Brits on board appeared to be fellow Club member, Mike Grieves, myself and a retired BTP Officer. Fare was Kc 120, approx £4.75 each way, plus Kc75 for museum entrance, a lot cheaper than a UK gala event! Driving technique once clear of Praha area was to thrash up to line speed as quickly as possible, no doubt helped by the mechanical stoker, and then trundle along.

At Luzna , after visiting the museum where Cl 555 also in steam with demo freight, took 434 1100 top and tailed with steam railcar M124.001 to Krupa where the loco ran round and the railcar detached providing a double departure to Kolesovice and back to Luzna respectively. This very quiet junction in the middle of nowhere has two manned signalboxes and the obligatory red- capped official for a Cl 814 every two hours between Luzna and Chomutov plus a few extras - the losses must be horrendous.

18/10. To Luzna again by the other steam special. Cl 749 with 3 x DD for Cercany from Vrsovice to join up at Branik with 498.022 plus old 4 car DD set flanked by 2 and 3 x 4 wheelers, price Kc 200 - less than £8. After confidently negotiating a semi-circle around part of Praha, a lively run down the main line from Praha Smichov to Beroun ensued followed by a runround and trundle to Krivoklat and Rakovnik. Over 80% of passengers alighted at the former for the castle, the train being, in fact, the regular 'Krivoklat Express' extended to Rakovnik and Luzna for the end of season event.

Service trains seen on this line were all Cl 810. A long pause and runround with time for lunch at Rakovnik, where all service trains except Cl 854 to Praha and Cl 814 to Kladno were Cl 810, preceded a noisy and smoky departure to Luzna. This allowed about 80 minutes before both steam returned to Praha after 434 1100 arrived back from Kolesovice. With 434 1100 and its 4 wheelers as a backdrop, the sight and sound of the weekend was 477 043 with a couple of heavy slips as it left the sidings with its ECS followed by a rousing, roaring departure. Return to Praha by Cl 854 was comfortable but sedate by comparison.

Before that, however T679 1600 emerged from the museum towing T669 0001,(are these numbers correct?) T444 030 and an old railcar trailer down the Chomutov line, perhaps a test run to Krupa and back?

19/10. Cl 714 on Cl810 trailers from Masarykovo in rush hour seen from departing Trutnov train from new flyover A diesel day - to the Hradec Kralove - Trutnov line, where the 'expresses', really semi-fasts or Eilzugs, were in the hands of Cl 750 and Cl 754 with the stoppers covered by Cl 854.

This fairly scenic line has now largely been resignalled apart from the last few miles into Trutnov so the photo-opportunity with loads of semaphores as shown on www.railography.com now gone. The resignalling seems rather OTT for the hourly passenger each way and evidence very little of freight. The junction at Starkov, where the twice hourly shuttle to Vaclavice had Cl 814, has 5 colour lights at each end, two of the five tracks seeing little if any use. The east end of Trutnov Hln was, by contrast, protected by one signal for all tracks. Staffing on the Praha trains was also excessive with 2 grippers and guard for 5 coaches.

The hourly Trutnov - Svoboda nad Upou was Viamont yellow and black single Cl 810 with CD logo as well. Reasonable loadings and Trutnov depot, to which the mainline diesels return between turns for tlc after 69 whole kms, seemed fairly busy with a few Cl 742 also around the depot and station. On the return, I dropped off at Starkov for the Cl 814 to Vaclavice then on to Tyniste nad Orlici by Cl 854, apparently the staple power on this line. 750 285, last seen earlier on the Trutnov line appeared at Tyniste on the next Letohad - Praha train to Hradec Kralove. At the latter the locos from Trutnov go out on the next Letohad working and vice versa, the two services providing between them an hourly Praha train.

Interesting that no two diesels seen this day were in anything approaching the same livery! Cl 451, now on the way out, from Vrsocany to Hln, the most disgusting train I've been on since the last days of the Connex South Central VEPs.

20/10. My intention had been to see the diesels on Brno - Jihlava but having done well already on diesels, the old electrics at Plzen beckoned. PKP EU07 446 in dark blue noted at Praha Hln for last two days. Again the Plzen line engineering caused no problem. Cl 242 was sampled on the 3 routes out of Plzen. Those to Klatovy and Ceske Budejovice were single track and, I suspect little changed for years with the Cl 242 working expresses and stoppers. However, the Cheb line has new deep ballast, new suburban stations with high platforms, unstaffed, cctv. Is IC, perhaps, coming to Praha - Plzen - Cheb and Sbahn to Plzen? Cl 242 on stoppers and some expresses changing loco at Plzen, others with Cl 363 working through from Praha to Cheb. The latest Cl 242 livery is white and blue alongside the two older schemes.

New Skoda prototype 380 001 seen being parked in a loop by a Cl 751 at the very tatty, totally graffitied and crumbling Plzen Jizni predmesti. It won't stay pristine if left there for very long! Finished with CL 749 plus 2 from Beroun , ex Ceske Budejovice, to Hln. Tickets and impressions. Travel was with a 7 day runabout ticket called Sitovy Jizdenky Klassik. Cost was Kc 1498, about £59 in 1st class, only £10 more than 2nd class. Obtained at Praha Hln from small 'CD Travel' office to the side of the main booking counters who hadn't heard of it. No photo or ID needed. While the main reason for the trip was Czech steam, it was a good chance to see the system.

As an enthusiast, it was good to see traditional trains with engines and coaches, operated traditionally, generally pretty punctually, trains clean but rather outdated. However, as a member of the travelling public, it was on the slow side, with poor standards of comfort and amenity by modern standards. Modernity has only reached the EC/IC/SC trains running east from Praha, the Cl 471 on Esko services in Praha and, to an extent, Cl 854. The ONLY modern station amenities were at Praha Hln and, to an extent Hradec Kralove, the only other station building that was smart on the outside was Trutnov.

The rest were very scruffy but years of neglect can't be corrected overnight. At many stations the only modern equipment was the electronic departure board. Open, cinder platforms were the norm and at Podebrady, near Nymburk, portions of loo-paper were laid out for punters at the pay desk - no doubt a throwback to communist days! Nevertheless, an enjoyable trip.

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FRANCE

Howard Forster May 2009.
Monday 11/05/09, Nice St-Roch. Very conveniently, the recently introduced low floor trams run close to Nice Ville Gare, through the town centre and up to St-Roch depot, before terminating at the north end of the yard. Travel costs a flat fare of one euro, tickets must be purchased from machines at tram stops before travelling, this has resulted in a shortage of one euro coins in Nice, even the money exchange shops did not have any. This depot has also become a fortress with keypad entry, 22232,25621 and a couple of unidentified Ys, were only the locomotives that appeared to be present.
Nice Ville Gare. 22239 and 22311 had worked in on passenger stock, 22347 and 26154 were stabled in the east end bay platform.

France Nice Ville. SNCF 22239/311 were standing on empty stock. 11/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster

France Nice Ville. SNCF 22311 awaiting departure on empty stock. 11/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster

GERMANY

HUNGARY

Howard Forster July 2009.
Friday, 31/07/09. Budapest Keleti. Now that so many trains in the European Union are multiple units, it was like stepping back in time to see a station dominated by loco hauled trains. In a 90 minute period, 24 trains were hauled by electric locos while 3 electric and 2 diesel station pilots scurried to and fro.

Saturday, 01/08/09, Budapest Keleti. In an hour, a further 20 locomotive hauled trains were recorded. Fusti Locomotive Park. The only working steam loco on site was 424.247, which was having a washout; presumably the other working steam locomotives were in Istvantelek Works. Additional locos since our last visit were: 303.002,424.365,VF 032 (ex V42.001) and snowplough 703.753 (ex OBB 380.122).
There was no trace of 375.1032 and V60.003, both had been reported as being destined for the park. Budapest Childrens Railway. A pleasant tram trip up the hill took us to Huvosvolgy, which is where the shed is located. Inside the shed were 490.056 and MK49.2006. Dumped outside were C50.3788 De495.5004 (M4) and MK45.2009. Observed in service were: 490.039 and MK45.2001-5. On descending by tram from Huvosvolgy, a stop was made at Varosmajor in order to travel on the BKV-SFV to Szechenyi-hegy. Although the rack cars have panoramic windows, the view was totally obscured by trees and at the terminus it was a walk to a viewpoint, which made it a little disappointing when compared with other rack railways. Advantage was taken of the free travel offered to all members of the EU over the age of 65. On production of a passport, it is now possible to travel on internal MAV trains, by underground, by tram and by bus. Many checks were made, but only a cursory glance at the passport sufficed, this was particularly useful for going through the barriers at Keleti.

Hungary Budapest Childrens Railway. In the shed at Huvosvolgy was 490.056 0-8-0T Bp 5848/1950. 01/08/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Hungary Vychodne. '331.037' 2-6-2T Bp 5884/48 was brought from MAV and is now in working order. 02/08/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Hungary Vychodne. ZSR Museum, 310.097 0-6-0T PCM 67/01 has been beautifully restored. 02/08/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Hungary Vychodne. ZSSK 240.078 was recently ex works. 02/08/09 Photo by Howard Forster

Authentic, traditional, narrow gauge railways that provide a regular daily service carrying children, workers and shoppers between country villages and towns and cities are now extremely rare. Many survived in Eastern Europe but political changes over the last twenty years spelled the end for some and those that remain are primarily dedicated to leisure and tourism, with train services often restricted to a few hours each day or even weekends. In Hungary two 760 mm gauge lines continue to operate in the traditional way but, because they were modernised with diesel traction and new all-steel rolling stock around 1960, they had less appeal than those countries where steam traction and older equipment remained dominant. In recent years, however, freight traffic has disappeared and passenger numbers declined so their future is now uncertain. Several 760 mm gauge former forestry railways still operate trains carrying tourists into the hills but these are expected to continue. Our experience of business travel in Hungary extends back more than 25 years so its attractions were well known, especially the transport museums, food and wine that always set the country apart from others in eastern Europe so a visit seemed essential before this traditional scene was gone for ever.

Planning a tour to include as many lines as possible presented a logistical dilemma, particularly as many tourist railways run just a few trains at weekends, but a twelve day programme finally evolved and followed a circular route to visit Kecskemét, Gyöngyös, Eger, Miskolc, Nyíregyháza, Debrecen and Budapest. Travel by public transport in Hungary is now free to EU residents over the age of 65: just show your passport to ride anywhere on buses, trams, Budapest metro and second class on trains, in first class by paying the additional cost above second class and in InterCity trains by paying the seat reservation supplement. This is a significant saving but an even greater benefit in terms of convenience when travel plans change. Train schedules were sourced from Cook’s European Timetable, the MÁV-START website, and a number of specialist websites, especially kisvasut.hu which includes a wealth of current and historical detail on narrow gauge railways. Hotel staff willingly provided connecting bus schedules, usually by reference to local websites, with an alacrity that would be unthinkable in Britain.

We met up at Budapest’s Ferihegy Airport, where seat reservations were purchased at the tourist information desk, before walking a few minutes to the station, a very basic structure of two platforms, shelter and overbridge with lifts. IC 766 HIRÖS rolled in behind BoBo electric loco V43.1001, the prototype of a class that handles most trains in Hungary, and we climbed on board the front coach to discover our reserved seats were seven coaches away at the rear! Deciding to stay put I was treated to a friendly discussion with a Transylvanian exile, while Ken helped a young man prepare the English portion of his CV. Arriving at Kecskemét we found the Hotel Háry just a few minutes walk from the station and, beyond the adjacent bus station, the Bavaria Restaurant made us very welcome and served a fantastic Hungarian/German dinner.

MÁV, Kecskemét to Kiskunmajsa and Kisköros
This 760 mm gauge line in the rural plain south of Kecskemét divides into two branches, each served by three trains daily, but timed so that a trip over both lines necessitates an 07:10 departure and 20:42 return, so we opted to ride only the 13:10 to Kiskunmajsa. A morning stroll to the Tourist Office in the town centre confirmed the location of the station and preceded a walk of several hundred yards to the ring road, then forward to a road bridge over the main line and, beyond it, Kecskemét KK station at Halasi ut. 19. This is an imposing two-storey building with “K G V” (Kecskeméti Gazdasági Vasút) in filigree ironwork on the roof ridge. A plaque commemorates 75 years of operation from 1928 to 2003, but flaking paint and tattered curtains signified neglect and decay. The waiting room was open, with its wooden benches chained together in the centre of the floor but the ticket office was long disused, though as if to encourage potential passengers an excellent town map and current timetables were prominently displayed.

Outside, beyond a row of shady trees in the sand-covered area that serves as platforms, stood two sets of five coaches, one in blue (overhauled 13.07.09) and one in green, marked for the 23rd Bugaci Nostalgia train, on 9th August 2008. Both were immaculate but receiving careful attention, both inside and out, from two cleaners. An adjacent siding incorporates newly constructed oil traps alongside a container housing fuel tanks and pumps to supply the locomotives. Beyond the station is the shed where 0-8-0T 490,053 (Budapest 5274/1942), and three BBDH, Mk48 2030, Mk48 2036 and Mk48 2022 were found, the latter on jacks in the workshop. Two inspection cars, MÁEV S.Ò5-207 and a Ford car conversion also resided in the yard.

Class Mk48 2000 locos operate many of 760 mm gauge lines in Hungary. Wilhelm Pieck Vagon- és Gépgyár, Gyor built 39 in 1961, originally with 100 kW (133 h.p.) RÁBA diesel engines but upgraded in the 1970s with RÁBA-MAN 147 kW (196 h.p.) engines. They are well maintained and regularly overhauled and repainted, those on MÁV lines in red with grey frames, those on forestry railways generally green with black frames though some are finished in shades of red or yellow. (Details of these seen are listed in Appendix 2).

A sign by the station marks the Keskeny Nyomközu Vasúti Jármúskansen (Narrow Gauge Railway Park), two grass-grown tracks holding a derelict 4wDM GV 3719, a vandalised bogie coach, ten freight vehicles and a transporter wagon, partly overgrown and in poor condition.

At mid-day a period of activity began: the 12:45 arrival from Kiskunmajsa rolled in behind Mk48 2013, ex-works just three weeks earlier and spotless in bright red with yellow ends and trim. Four passengers descended from the single coach while the loco cut off to take on fuel, its value alone no doubt far exceeding any income from fares. Then, at 13:08 Mk48 2008 arrived with one coach from Kisköros carrying a few passengers. Mk48 2030, its paintwork shabby and faded, emerged from the shed yard and, after reversing its coach into the yard to switch tracks, prepared to depart with the 13:10 to Kiskunmajsa. These movements were controlled by the station mistress, whose hand and whistle signals were executed in a style that signified her authority, until – satisfied that all was in order – a final whistle and raising of the green baton confirmed that our journey could commence, seven minutes late.

Our coach was an all-steel bogie vehicle built by the MÁV workshops at Debrecen in 1961. A vestibule at one end opened into the passenger saloon, containing 25 slatted wooden seats and a cast iron stove. Next was a lobby with the toilet on one side and a padded bench seat over the coal box on the other, then the conductor’s compartment with a bench seat and table, and finally the large baggage compartment with double doors on either side. Seven passengers were on board - an old lady with her grandson, a middle aged man, a younger, dark skinned man who stowed his bicycle in the baggage area and three visitors just along for the ride. Ahead stretched 52 km of narrow gauge track, and 2½ hours to enjoy it.

The line swerved on to the roadside immediately on leaving the station and continued along or close to the wide verge for the first 16km to Jakabszallas. The rails are nominally 20 kg/m, jointed and mostly on concrete sleepers laid in sand or, in a few places stone ballast, giving a reasonable ride at the line speed of 40-50 k.p.h. It traversed a flat plain and in consequence had long straight stretches with occasional easy curves. Once out of the suburbs it passed fruit groves and small farms that were gradually left behind to enter a prairie like landscape extending to woodland, sometimes distant, sometimes close enough to brush the coach sides. Though some stations served villages others were simply a nameboard by the lineside with no sign of habitation to justify the title. After 8 km. we reached Törökfai, junction of the branch to Kisköros which peeled off westwards into the trees. Here the conductor unlocked the disused station building to report our position, the old lady and her grandson alighted and a man came aboard. Jakabszallas also sported a fine station building, no longer staffed, and here we gained a girl passenger before hurrying over an unprotected crossing of the main road, horn blaring, and headed into the countryside between well-stocked gardens.

We stopped at Koksistanya, a nameboard beside a sandy track just as a farmer’s car and trailer bumped past in a cloud of dust, where the dark man unloaded his bike, and rode off to some unseen destination. A derelict brick goods shed, loading dock and crane base denoted former freight traffic at Bugacpuszta, while horse pastures and showgrounds around Bugac marked it as a destination for tourist trains to events and the adjacent national park. A man left the train here but a schoolgirl joined us for the 30 minute run to Nagybugac, here to be met by a pick-up truck that drove off down a sandy track, pausing to allow our train precedence at a crossing. The isolated nature of much of this route, far from roads and centres of population, has perhaps ensured its survival. By now we were the only passengers and, perhaps anticipating there would be no others the conductor fell asleep in his compartment and the train left each successive station before time until at Szank we were 12 minutes early and waited for an on time departure. The main station at Kiskunmajsa KK was derelict and overgrown, the engine shed disused, turntable pit filled with rubbish and sidings choked with rotting wagons; so we ran straight through to a dead-end siding in the former tranship yard beside the main line, arriving two minutes early at 15:45. Here we dropped off, allowing the train to scuttle back to the station, where the loco could run round and return to Kecskemét at 16:11. We elected to return by the main line and six minutes later were rushed away in a lightweight, two-coach train behind V43 1226 to reach Kecskemét just 52 minutes later.

Kecskemet to Gyöngyös
We had two options for this journey: via Budapest (though this involved changing stations in the capital), or a cross-country route involving four changes and a 45-minute layover at Szolnok, an important junction. The latter seemed more interesting so at 08:47 we boarded IC 707, nine coaches headed by a pair of V43 electric locos, for the 24-minute run to Cegléd. Here we had just eight minutes to photograph 2-4-2T 275,118 plinthed on the platform before joining an express destined for Záhony. By 09:45 we were at Szolnok, a monumental station building with a vast subway leading to 15 platforms. Plaques on the station wall recorded 125 years of the Pest - Szolnokí railway opened 1st Sept. 1847, the line north to Hatvan opened in 1873 and 100 years of the Szolnok – Kiskunfélégyhaza line opened in 1897. Preserved in the garden by the offices was 4-8-0 424,320 built at Budapest in 1955.

There was time to observe activity in the station and yard before taking the 10:33 to Hatvan, a V43 hauling three smart coaches built in 2009. The track became single after leaving the direct line to Budapest and headed straight through vast fields stretching to the horizon, dropping passengers at stations serving small villages or sometimes just a cluster of houses. At the majority a stationmaster signalled our departure, then stood to attention as we left. At Jászberény we crossed Lugansk CoCoDE M62 230 on a train of large bogie vans, and reached Hatvan a few minutes before our 12-noon departure to Vámosgyörk, where V43 1361 and two coaches provided the push-pull shuttle service to Gyöngyös.

Állami Erdei Vasutek (ÁEV), Mátravasút, Gyöngyös
Located by a park a few minutes walk from the main line station, this wooden station had a distinctive peaked roof and housed a booking office and the Kisvasút Bufé, a very basic facility offering drinks. The 760 mm gauge track layout was simple: a platform road and run-round extending across the adjacent road crossing to frustrate car drivers. On the opposite side of the road were the carriage shed and loco shed housing 0-8-0T 490,2005, (a Romanian refugee - Resita 1682/1954), BBDH Mk48-410 and Mk48-409, the latter being fitted with replacement bogies. The depot and offices were shared with forest service staff.

Trains leave for Mátrafüred every two hours from 10:00 to 16:00, the return fare for the 3.2 km journey being HUF 780. Mk48-412 with one closed and one open coach formed the 14:00 departure, which left with nine passengers. The line runs either alongside or close to the main road, flanked on one side first by huge apartment blocks and shops, later by vineyards. It served five intermediate stations, that at Farkasmály-Borpincék having a passing loop, and approached the terminus through a broad avenue of trees to halt at an elaborate wooden building beside the run-round loop, whose powered points were operated from a panel in the station. The round trip, including a 23-minute layover at the terminus, took just over an hour.

Gyöngyös to Eger
Our careful travel plans were frustrated at Vámosgyörk when we boarded a packed train bound, we thought, for Eger but, when it continued along the main line at Füzesabony we realised it must be a “Friday extra” to Miskolc. Alighting at Mezökövesd, we had 45 minutes to study 2-6-2T 376,531 preserved just off the platform and noted that at least one other passenger had made the same mistake! Our return to Füzesabony was on the 14:57 from Košice in Slovakia, an opportunity to travel in an elderly, but extremely comfortable Slovenian Railways compartment coach, well off its regular route. Our connection to Eger was a pair of Bzmot 4wDH railbuses and trailers, that rode far smoother than British class 142s. At Eger station a plaque commemorated 125 years of the railway on 20th October 1997. A taxi took us to the Hotel Senator-Ház, a fine old building in the cobbled square, where a warm welcome, an excellent dinner and splendid local wine soothed our earlier frustration.

Egererdö Erdészeti Zrt., ÁEV Felsotárkány - Stimeczház
This former forestry railway is now truncated to Felsotárkány, a village a few kilometers from Eger, but our hotel confirmed bus connections at 08:50 and 10:05. We walked through the old town to the brutalist concrete bus station to take bus 11 to the long, straggling village where the bus driver obligingly dropped us at the station, a single platform beside the road. Here 4wDM C-04-406 waited with one semi-open, end-balcony coach forming the 09:30 departure, one of two daily trains, on which our 15 jovial fellow passengers were arrayed along the bench seats, destined for a day of walking, eating and drinking. We departed to run through the shed yard, before being flagged across the main road to follow the bends and varying gradients of a minor road for 2 km. to the station of Egersvolgy-Varroház, where the line veered into a narrow side valley clothed in beech trees. It climbed steeply, through sharp curves where flanges squealed in protest, to reach a small clearing with a run round loop, then continued a short distance round a curve to Stimeczház, where a grass platform, nameboard and fence mark the “station”. Two large awnings and barbecue pits completed the facilities, which we now had 1 hour 40 minutes to examine. A post on the platform stated 11.8 km, obviously from the original terminus in Eger before the line was cut back to its present 5 km.

The train crew sold drinks from a cooler on the coach, then gravitated to the run-round before propelling the coach back into the station for a long wait in the sun. Most of the return journey was made by gravity, the conductor controlling our speed by a handbrake on the coach until about 1.5 km from home the engine was started and we completed the journey under its power. We were invited into the depot yard to examine the spare train: 4wDM C-04-404 and two closed coaches with stoves for winter operation, one of which carries an Orenstein & Koppel, Budapest plate. In the shed was 4wDM C-04-403 and their prized “speeder” S-04-001. This four-seat semi-open vehicle, powered by a Trabant two-stroke petrol engine and fitted with a retractable turntable, was started up and demonstrated with great pride before everyone went off for lunch. We strolled across the road to a rustic shelter to join the 12:38 bus to Felnémet, where we had half an hour to enjoy coffee before boarding the 13:27 bus for the 30 minute ride up the winding, forested road to Szilvásvárad.

ÁEV, Szilvásvárad, Szalajka-Fatelep to Szalajka-Fátyolvízesés
The avenue leading from the main road to Szalajka-Fatelep station is lined with restaurants and stalls, and on a Saturday afternoon was thronged with visitors. A fence separated the station forecourt from the platform and run-round loop, the access gates being opened only when a train had arrived and discharged its passengers. Although the timetable showed seven trains a day it appears that extras are run as required. Beyond the station the former timber yard is now a car park, and on a loading dock beside the remains of standard gauge sidings is a display of narrow gauge rolling stock under the trees.

We boarded a relief to the 14:20 train formed of Mk48 404 and four open bogie coaches filled to capacity. Though the line is only 3.2 km long it was a scenic journey as the train climbed through the forest to gain a rocky shelf high above the valley, curved round a passing loop in a clearing and arrived at Szalajka-Fátyolvízesés terminus which overlooked a large play area and picnic site. Mk48 403 stood on the adjacent track ready to depart with a three-coach train, on which we returned.

Behind the car park at Fatelep a modern, three road loco shed and workshop housed BBDH Mk48 411 and 0-6-0DM D04-602 (LKM Babelsburg 1953). Outside, being prepared to work a private charter, stood 0-6-0WT 394,057 SZILVI (Budapest 5785/1949), restored to working order in 1999 and finished in a smart green livery lined out in red. It burns split logs, exuding that distinctive aroma inseparable from wood-firing, and left for the station propelling a single closed coach to collect 11 passengers to run up the line and back. It then returned to the shed a little over an hour after it emerged in steam.

Deciding to return to Eger by train we had a 15 minute walk to the MÁV station at Szilvásvárad-Szalajkavölgy, where we contemplated the uneven track before railcars Bzmot 202 + 176 flanking two trailers arrived for the 50 minute run to Egervár, a few minutes easy walk from the town centre. Another relaxed evening of dining al fresco was another rare treat for visitors from Yorkshire.

Északerdó Zrt., Lillafúredi Allami Erdei Vasut (LÁEV), Miskolc - Garadna
Our return from Eger was on 5341.016 & 035, a modern 4-car EMU built by Stadler in 2003, as far as the junction, where we had 50 minutes to wait for a 12-coach train bound for the Slovakian border station of Sátoraljaújhely. We reached Miskolc at 12:26 and took a taxi to the Hotel Lévay Villa, a fine building dating from 1917 which, though some distance from the town centre, had a bus service from the door to the station every ten minutes.

The LÁEV station is at Dorotta ut., at right angles to the main road and tram route 1 about 5 km from the main line station. A booking office and restaurant occupy the station building, which opened on to a single platform road and run-round. A large billboard faced the road and featured 0-8-0 447,401 LILLA, our view of which was limited to a glimpse of the smokebox as we passed the partly open door of its shed at Diósgyör. Five trains travel the 14km to Garadna on weekdays and a flat return fare of HUF 1500 is charged. We joined the 14:00 departure, formed of BBDH D02-510 and three semi-open coaches dating from 1955. After leaving the station the line curved round to run through a residential area to Majláth, where it ran between sidings full of decaying freight stock before reaching the extensive depot and workshops. Here it crossed the road and began the climb to Papírgyár, junction of the line to Mahóca that sees trains only in high summer. The track now entered a forest that extends all the way to the terminus, climbing very steeply along a shelf overlooking houses in the valley below and, at one point, crossed a high viaduct.

At Puskaporos our train paused to cross D02-541 descending with four old-style coaches, before passing through a short tunnel and entering the station at Lillafüred, an ornate building with a large platform, turning triangle and long headshunt with a platform to accommodate terminating trains clear of the main line. A park, stalls and cafes surround the station, which overlooks the splendidly ornate Hotel Palota. Immediately after leaving the station the line crossed a road and plunged into an unlined rock tunnel to emerge on a ledge overlooking a narrow lake. Beyond this is a trout farm, and a little further along a large, stone-built iron furnace and ironworks museum, followed by the remains of a large timber-loading yard, its sidings now almost obscured by undergrowth. The valley narrowed to accommodate just the railway, river and road and soon reached Garadna station, a simple gravel platform and run-round beside the forestry and railway museum where nicely restored items of rolling stock were displayed on short lengths of track in the yard. We returned to Miskolc after a few minutes to ride the tram back to the station and, that evening, strolled to a Belgian Beer Cafe for another substantial meal and hear about a visiting Hungarian restaurant manager’s experience of working in England.

MÁV Nyíregyháza – Balsa and Dombrád
We left Miskolc on IC 655, one of the six daily trains that follow a circular route from Budapest to Miskolc, returning via Debrecen to arrive in Budapest six hours later. A HUF 900 supplement enabled us to occupy the restaurant car and enjoy coffee and pancakes as we sped towards Nyíregyháza, interrupted only by the sight of 4-8-0 424,353 displayed on the station platform at Tokaj. Once checked into the Hotel Korona, an elaborate 1895 building with stylish period features including a huge contemporary mural in the restaurant, we took the bus back to the station and followed the 760 mm gauge track to the depot some 400 yards distant. Here BBDH Mk48 2024 stood in the yard, which sports a turntable in front of the shed, together with a variety of stock including a decrepit four-wheeled coach (carrying the initials N V D K V -Nyírvidéki Kisvasut - on the axleboxes) that appeared to be set aside for future restoration.

Nyíregyháza station is a new, stylish concrete, glass and stainless steel building with a broad awning over the entrance, under which passes the narrow gauge track from the depot to a new single platform at one side. After a long wait the 16:36 arrival from Balsa, Mk48 2012 and one coach, finally appeared 30 minutes late, dropped its passengers and disappeared to the depot. The loco soon returned with two coaches to form the 17:06 departure and was ready to depart at 17:17, with 15 passengers in the front coach and a gypsy family apparently living in the rear coach. We decided to take a 20 minute run to Sóstófürdö, much of which is alongside the standard gauge (where a V43 overtook us on an eastbound train) before we veered off into the woods and crossed high over the main line to follow the main road into the village. The large station building is now a four star hotel and spa, but under the trees beyond the platform 2-4-2T 275,064 is displayed and, across the road, the incongruous “424 Irish Pub” named after the MÁV class of 4-8-0. Rather than wait an hour for the return train, and unsure if it would arrive on time, we returned on the next bus.

The following morning an early bus took us to the station in good time to catch the 08:26 train to Balsa, anticipated by quite a crowd on the platform, almost all of them elderly and many carrying large bundles or huge plastic carrier bags. Mk48 2025 arrived with two coaches, everyone piled on and we left eight minutes late on what the timetable promised to be a two-hour journey to cover the 38km to Balsa. Ten minutes later we reached Vásártér, a large open market where about 25 passengers alighted with their bundles. There were now just seven passengers in our coach, built at Debrecen in 1961, which had slatted wood seats for 54, enclosed vestibules at either end, one leading into the tiny toilet and, in the centre, two cast iron stoves testifying to extreme winter cold. Several shifty looking characters occupied the rear coach and were ignored by the conductor, suggesting they may have been permitted to travel free provided they did not mix with regular travellers. You really do meet a different class of people on the narrow gauge!

After Sóstófürdö the neat houses and gardens of the outer suburbs gave way to a flat agricultural landscape, its monotony broken only by villages every few kilometres. At Kótaj the line ran down the edge of the street, past gardens where elderly people tended flowers or dug vegetables, and at the station five passengers left the rear coach with their large bags. The loco sounded its horn briefly but often lest a careless driver should get in our way and from here to Újkótaj we crawled along at such a slow pace that a cyclist overtook us and conversed with the conductor as he passed. At Nagytanya we were 25 minutes late, but took on one patient passenger, and seemed to speed up – but only for a short distance before the loco again began to lurch and roll over the uneven track and we were back to walking pace again. The rails are about 20 kg/m on wood or concrete sleepers laid in sand or gravel ballast. Many showed kinks, burns or excessive wear and at least one was broken through 3 inches from a joint – but we bumped over it. Speed restriction signs of 20 and 15 k.p.h were posted at frequent intervals but the only track maintenance men we saw were in a pick-up truck loaded with similar signs for distribution along the line. Colour light signals guarded the loops at some stations but we could not determine whether these were actually in use or simply a relic of more prosperous times. At Buj an old man left the train in front of a disused station building that faced on to a grass covered loop and siding, while two photographers recorded our departure.

We arrived at Herminatanya, junction of the lines to Balsa and Dombrád, 33 minutes late. The station consists of a through track for each branch, a central run-round and a long siding holding rail flats and ballast wagons. Beyond the station a direct connection between the lines from Balsa and Dombrád forms the third side of a triangle. A red-capped stationmaster emerged from his office to preside over the flurry of activity involving Mk48 2016 and Mk48 2024, which had arrived from Balsa and Dombrád, each with one coach, the former coupling both together to return to Nyíregyhaza. Our loco dropped the rear coach for Mk48 2024 to take on to Dombrád, then left for Balsa with one coach and five passengers. The entire operation took only a few minutes, the stationmaster using his bicycle to reach the furthest set of points, after which silence returned to the junction for another two hours.

A smart new white block shelter with a tiled roof graced the halt at Gilyani, a marked contrast to Tiszabercel where the station was boarded up and neglected. Here the line again ran along the village street, past brightly coloured cottages with fenced gardens and wooden privies. The halt at Tisza-Vasater sported a new sign but no other facilities, and here the conductor helped an elderly lady with a stick and two large shopping bags to leave the train – she had accompanied us all the way from Nyíregyháza. The last ordinary passenger left at Gávavenscellö, where the line followed the bank of a large irrigation canal kept in trim by a flock of sheep tended by a shepherd, whose charges seemed unconcerned at our passage. In the final two kilometres the track crossed the road for the last time, passed a line of bungalows and a large restaurant overlooking a lake. We finally reached Balsa 53 minutes late, where the cream stucco and red tiled station building faced a gravel platform and run-round and a metal plaque on the wall recorded “Nyírvidéki Kisvasút 1911 – 2007”. The line continued beyond the station for 1 km to the Tisza river, a popular recreation area served in 2009 by trains between 24th April and 30th August. Our plan to examine this during the hour layover was curtailed when the train crew emerged from the station to announce our departure fifteen minutes after arriving.

A passenger joined us for the 6 km. run from Gávavenscellö alsó and Tiszabercel-Vásártér, but otherwise we had the train to ourselves for a leisurely journey to Herminatanya, where our loco dropped its coach and parked in the centre track. A couple from Vienna appeared to photograph the arrival of Mk48 2016 and one coach from Dombrád, which ran through the station and reversed to couple on to the coach at the platform. The station simmered in the noonday heat, there was no sign of the train due from Nyíregyháza, so we strolled to a roadside stall for a cool beer until a distant horn heralded its arrival. After a few minutes activity all three trains departed, we being the sole passengers in the coach to Dombrád behind Mk48 2024. More roadside running ensued through the village of Ibrány where the smart station building was again disused, then out into an expanse of fields growing maize and sunflowers, the flat landscape broken only by a line of telegraph poles, bereft of wires and leaning away from the track. As we approached Nagyhalász Mk48 2026, in green livery, was noted on a plinth beside the road, which we followed through the village. Out in the country again our loco accelerated to almost 30 k.p.h. past a farm where a pair of scruffy dogs rushed out to chase the train and two chickens were almost mangled as they flapped across the track.

This brief sprint was not sustained however, and we arrived at Dombrád 75 minutes late. The station building and gravelled yard were neat and well cared for with a small loco shed, turning triangle and sidings, some displaying preserved rolling stock including BBDH Mk48 2020. Three semi-open tourist coaches are also kept here. A metal plaque records the centenary of the railway in 2005 but we had no time to examine the small museum as, seven minutes after our arrival, we were returning to Herminatanya. We picked up four passengers on the way, despite being 40 minutes late and, by adhering to the many speed restrictions, were an hour late at the junction. The now familiar ballet as three locos exchanged coaches, choreographed by the stationmaster with whistle and baton, took just four minutes before we settled down for the journey to Nyíregyhaza behind Mk48 2025. A gypsy woman in our coach removed her shoes but fortunately it was warm enough to have the windows open. As we passed down the village street at Újkotáj a radar speed indicator showed 13 k.p.h, this slow progress ensuring a 77 minutes late arrival back at Nyíregyháza. A solitary passenger detrained but we remained on board for the short journey to the depot, where we were informed that the return working that should have left 35 minutes earlier had been cancelled.

Still, we had enjoyed more that nine hours riding a truly authentic rural narrow gauge railway that, two days later from 17th September, was truncated when the Herminatanya to Balsa and Dombrad services were replaced by buses, hopefully to allow track repairs, but perhaps permanently.

Nyíregyháza to Debrecen
At the station the following morning we found 2-6-2T 375,694 plinthed in front of the offices, before boarding a Zahony – Budapest express loaded to ten rather tired compartment coaches, to arrive in Debrecen at 10:28. In the tram turning circle outside the station stood a decorated car celebrating 125 years of the system. A taxi took us to the Zsuzsi Erdei Kisvasút station on the outskirts of the town where we discovered that from September 1st to October 25th three trains make the 17km run to Hármashegyalja on Saturday and Sunday, but on weekdays only on Wednesday at 10:30 and 14:00. The morning train was not due to return until 13:45 so we had ample time to look round, encouraged by the lady in charge who brought out brochures and posed beside a neat pile of rail screws. The layout is very simple: a loop in the station and two sidings in the yard, where five bogie coaches and a few freight wagons were parked, one loaded with the body of an Mk48 BBDH. The track extends a few hundred metres through the station into the former timber yard, where a train of smart, green coaches was parked, and terminates at the loco shed where BBDH Mk48 2006 and one other (assumed to be 2009) and 0-6-0T 394,023 (Bp 4859/1924) could be glimpsed inside. On a standard gauge siding in the adjacent works of Hajdúfa Kft., stood a disused 4wDM track maintenance vehicle perhaps once used as a shunter in the timber yard.

Mk48 2002 returned from the forest with two coaches carrying about a dozen passengers, just before we took a bus and trolley bus back to the station, where we decided to invest HUF 1480 (£4.85) in 1st class seats, and boarded IC 655 KAMILLA for the 221 km. journey to Budapest. At Puspökladány station we noted 2-6-2T 376,578 on its plinth, before relaxing into our red plush seats to complete the remainder of the journey in peaceful, air conditioned comfort, a complete contrast to the previous day on the narrow gauge.
Ipoly Erdö Rt., Királyréti Erdei Vasút, Kismaros.
Of the two 760 mm gauge railways north of Budapest only this former forestry line from Kismaros is easily accessible by hourly express train from Nyugati station to Szob. The journey took 40 minutes, passing Vác, terminus of the more frequent suburban service, where 2-6-2T 375,1029 is plinthed at the station.

At the roadside below the main line station stands Kismaros narrow gauge station, from where a disused track extends under the railway bridge towards Veröce. On the platform stands 600 mm gauge 0-6-0WT 356,301 (Krauss 4713/1901), a survivor from the original line converted to its present gauge in 1978-81, but we had little time to examine it before departure. Mk48 2031, unusually in bright yellow livery, and one end balcony bogie coach rebuilt from a log wagon formed the 11:50 train for the 12 km journey to Királyrét at a return fare of HUF 1000. Two housewives returning home with shopping were the only other passengers as we left to run alongside the road, sometimes dodging behind a hedge for a short distance. The track is laid with timber sleepers on grass-grown stone ballast but a little uneven in places, and a short distance out we slowed to pass a seven-man track repair gang replacing sleepers and a kinked rail. It soon crossed the road and started to climb away from the valley into the upper part of Szokolya village where it runs alongside the street. We called at two halts to drop off the shoppers before reaching Paphegy station and the depot, where Mk48 2014 was stabled and Mk48 2018 dumped outside. Former CFF Romania 0-8-0T 490,2004 was reported to be here but not seen during a brief halt to collect tools for the track gang. The final stretch runs through fields and woods to terminate in front of a big shelter close to a restaurant and picnic site where a large oval of 760 mm gauge track is provided with rail cycles to amuse visiting children. A 20-minute layover gave barely enough time for a quick look round before we were ready to return and invited to join the young driver in the cab, who told of his work as a volunteer driver on the nearby Kemence Forestry Museum Railway.

MÁV Széchenyi Hill Children’s Railway, Budapest
This 760 mm gauge line has been a favourite attraction since our first visit more than 25 years ago. Now, for the first time we had the opportunity to ride behind steam, but discovered the schedule just two minutes before the train left Huvösvölgy! It was extremely crowded, despite the single fare of HUF 700 and a HUF 200 supplement, but 0-8-0T 490,039 (Bp 5260/1942) handled the two closed bogie coaches with ease, despite fearsome gradients on some sections of the 12 km route. A basic 45-minute interval service operates at weekends, diesel locos and two coaches taking 44 minutes for the journey with seven intermediate stops. Two trains on Saturday and Sunday, at 11:10 and 13:40, are steam worked and allowed an hour with four intermediate stops although in practice we stopped at most stations to cross other trains hauled by BBDH Mk45 2002, 2005 or 2006, all built in Romania by U23A in 1972.

The line winds and climbs through woodland for most of the route, with views limited to a few gaps in the trees. Children are still involved in its operation and are smart and efficient, the 12-year old assistant conductress coping admirably with issuing tickets in a crowded coach and ensuring that the doors were closed for safety. At stations the stationmaster and his young assistants stood to attention and saluted as we left, with all the style and ceremony appropriate to an international express. On arrival at Széchenyi passengers crowded round the loco to observe the ritual of taking water from a hose at the platform, while another crowd formed in the booking hall under a fine mural of “Young Pioneers” marching to work on the railway. On the return journey a group of children crowded the vestibule next to the loco, fascinated by the gyration of polished valve motion, lurch of the smokebox and swing of hoses as we rounded sharp curves, and the hiss and cough of the air pump as it kept up pressure in the braking system. A leaflet extolling the benefits of serving on the railway is published but we could not find a similar one containing timetables, though these are displayed at stations.

The rack railway to Széchenyi Hill, which terminates close to the railway, is now showing signs of age and the Swiss-built motor cars are rough and noisy when climbing the rack. A faulty sliding door delayed our departure and a fitter had to ride with us to manually operate the mechanism.

Budapest Transport Museums
On a cool, wet day – in total contrast to the warm, sunny weather during most of our stay in Hungary – we decided to visit museums and discovered that some permit free entry to visitors over 70. Travel within the city is simple to plan with the aid of a BKV map, though surprisingly we discovered this was not available at their head office! The HÉV suburban line train took an hour to reach Szentendre, where the BKV Urban Public Transport Museum (Városi Tömegközlekedési Múzeum) occupies the former depot and workshops, and is devoted to tramways and local railways not only in present day Hungary but also in other cities of the former Austro Hungarian empire. Photographic displays and information panels are, in consequence, comprehensive and very informative.

The main depot building houses a large collection of restored electric trams and trailers and a few locomotives including BHEV 4, HARASZTI, a 0-4-0Tram built at the StEG works in 1887 and restored by MÁV in 1987. Electric locos are BLVV 1, a steeple-cab BoWE (Ganz 1900); BLVV V25 001 BoWE (Gyór 1912) and BHEV L21 BoWE (Kistarcsa 1918). Outside in the yard are 0-6-0T 28 (Bp 1688/1902), BHEV BoDE locos DL41 and DL42 (Kistarcsa 1912 and 1917); 32 BoBoWE (Ganz 1929) and 734 BoBoDE (Ganz 1963), together with 400, a prototype Budapest Metro car built by Ganz-Hunslet about 1991.

A fine, soaking drizzle deterred us from visiting the nearby Hungarian Open Air Museum to ride the new railway opened in April, so we returned to the city and, at Deák Tér station, found the Underground Railway Museum (Földalatti Vasúti Múzeum) after some confusion exacerbated by our expectation that the station staff would know its locaton. Here also the descriptive panels are well presented and informative and the beautifully restored 1896 metro cars 1, 19 and 81 appear convincingly authentic.

By contrast many of the railway exhibits in the National Transport Museum (Közlekedési Múzeum) were tired and dusty and poorly illuminated, detracting from their appeal, in particular the collection of superbly detailed large-scale models. In the main hall were 760 mm gauge 0-6-0T G.V.I. 399,068 (Karlsruhe 586/1870) and a four-wheeled coach from the Szeged light railway and standard gauge 0-6-0 GKB 674 (StEG 507/1860) coupled to a four wheeled Royal saloon of 1884. Outside in the open air were 0-6-0T 3366 (KrM 1048/1883), 4-8-0 424,001 (Bp 4763/1924) and the front end of Nohab/GM CoCoDE M61.004.

MÁV Istvántelek Works, Budapest
We were permitted a brief visit to this facility, which is responsible for storage, restoration and maintenance of equipment used by MÁV Nostalgia train services and museum exhibits. The workshop once employed thousands but now has a staff of around 30, mostly older men of wide experience, and though two younger men have joined the team they would like to train others. The main building extends over ten bays to cover 19 tracks served by two traversers, and is used primarily for storage, most work being carried out in the smaller adjacent machine shop and boiler shop, where 2-6-2T 375,1032 was receiving extensive repairs to the cab and bunker, two boilers were being repaired whilst 760 mm gauge 4wDM GV 3757 was waiting attention
Stored inside were:

269 0-6-0 [Sigl 1144/1870]
324,799 2-6-2 [Bp 4554/1921]
375,953 2-6-2T [Bp 2339/1911]
375, ? 2-6-2T (393 in chalk)
242,001 4-4-4T [Bp 5140/1937]
424,009 4-8-0 [Bp 4733/1924]
424,262 4-8-0 [Bp 7361/1955]
OKU 5 0-6-0T Rack [SLM 1834/1907]
A24 003 0-4-0DH
A28 016 6wDH
A28 018 6wDH
A29 032 BBDH
BCmot 463 2-ADMR [RABA 27875/1934]
M31 2007 0-6-0DH [Ganz 242/1959]
M31 2035 0-6-0DH [Ganz 270/1959]
M40 112 BoBoDE [GanzM 1191/1967]
M43 1007 BBDH [U23A ]
M47 1001 BBDH [U23A 22276/1974]
V55 004 CoCoWE [Bp 53/1954]
Stored outside were:
204 4-4-0 [Bp 1480/1900]
301,016 4-6-2 [Bp 3481/1914]
and plinthed:
424,284 4-8-0 [Bp 7443/1956]
324,540 2-6-2 [Bp 3827/1915]

9th Central European Steam Engine Grand Prix and 5th International Dining Car Convention
This annual two-day event at the Vasúttörténeti Park, Fusti, Budapest is justifiably popular and attracts visitors from Europe and beyond. Some travelled in grand style, the German contingent arriving in the “Grand Prix Express”, a 9-coach train including three Mitropa dining cars owned by the Rennsteigbahn. This left Berlin on 15th September and was hauled by DR 4-6-2 03 204 through Halle to Gera, from where a DB class 213 worked the train to Passau for stabling overnight. The following morning 03 204 again took charge for the onward journey through Linz, Vienna and Györ to Budapest. The crew were justifiably elated with the success of this journey and looking forward to their return. Other visitors were PKP 2-8-2 Pt47 65 from Wolstyn and CSD 0-8-0T 422 0108 brought by road transport from Zvolen in Slovakia, where it had featured in a similar event the previous weekend. These joined more than thirty resident steam, diesel and electric locomotives and railcars displayed in the open or in front of the roundhouse. (Listed in Appendix 1)

Locos and crews had to complete a series of challenges under the eyes of a panel of judges. The layout of the site, with four, widely spaced parallel tracks extending from the roundhouse turntable enabled two teams to simultaneously demonstrate their agility and skill, which made for a thrilling spectacle. Tests included driving locomotives as fast as possible without dislodging a beer can balanced on the side rods; picking up a mail bag then accelerating to drop it into a box at the trackside; driving to and extinguishing a lineside fire by means of the footplate hose; an acceleration test to stop at a ribbon across the track – at which the British crew on MÁV 2-4-2T 22,034 excelled by bringing the loco to a stand just touching the tape – and finally driving to release a long-skirted “Damsel in distress” beside the track, running with her to board a hand-operated trolley, and pumping this speedily back to the start. This was particularly trying for firemen who had to do most of the work!
While this frantic activity was in progress on one side of the site the dining car crews were competing elsewhere, and their creations were later served to visitors. A MÁV Wagon Lits dining car became a peaceful haven to enjoy coffee and apple cake in classical surroundings before joining the crowd to see the winners receive their prizes. Most participants seemed to win an award and the British team returned with another batch to add to their collection from previous years.

Budapest is significant in the “Orient Express” itinerary and this connection is emphasised by a fine exhibition of photographs, posters and artefacts marking the 125th anniversary of the service.

The museum is now served by a few “Desiro” diesel railcar services between Nyugati and Esztergom, which call at a new, but basic station behind the site. The vintage diesel railcar that formerly operated between Nyugati and a siding in the museum grounds has, in consequence, been transferred to the new railway at the Szentendre Skanzen open air museum.

Conclusion
The effort put into planning this tour was amply repaid. We achieved all we set out to and more, thanks largely to the help and advice from many people. The warm and friendly welcome we received from railway staff, hoteliers, restaurateurs and ordinary people we encountered on our travels impressed us so much that we plan to return in 2010 to visit some of the lines we had to omit this year.

APPENDIX 1: Resident stock at Vasúttörténeti Park
(Works numbers shown [ ] not confirmed by observation)
On 22 tracks around open turntable:
520,034 2-10-0 [Kren 1165/1943]
411,118 2-8-0 BLW 70497/1944
303.002 4-6-4 [Bp 6001/1951]
328,054 4-6-0 Bp 4664/1922
376,615 2-6-2T [Bp 2781/1911]
442,013 2-8-2T [Bp 4871/1921]
377,493 0-6-0T [Bp 3089/1912]
342,006 2-6-2T Bp 4174/1916
91,001 0-4-0F KrL 7037/1914
2 0-8-0T StEG 3931/1913
480 0-6-0T StEG 1765/1883
765 0-6-0T Bp 184/1886
7111 0-6-0 Bp 1628/1902
2459 0-6-0 Bp 277/1899
17 0-6-0 WrN 3060/1885
1026 0-6-0 Wohlert 739/1882
IgE 11,908 4wDM R
OVG 653 4wDM R Warsawa 1967
A21 064 0-4-0DH

In roundhouse and on 34 tracks leading to turntable:
27 0-6-0T [Bp 1687/1902]
22,034 2-4-2T Bp 5016/1929
109 109 4-6-0 WLF 2435/1917
424,247 4-8-0 [Bp 7286/1955]
M61 001 CoCoDE [Nohab 2546/1963]
M61 019 CoCoDE [Nohab 2594/1964]
M61 020 CoCoDE [Nohab 2595/1964]
M32 2040 6wDH [GanzM ]
ARPAD Amot 23 B-2 DMR [Ganz 80143/1935]
ABbmot 610 Co-2 DER [Ganz 1956]
Bdmot 640 1Bo-2DER [GanzM 1959]
Bamot 701 A1-1A DHR [RABA 45143/1960]
M28 1001 0-4-0DM [RABA 008/1956]
(Yard shunter)
Bp Ig 902 2-2-0PMR Car conversion
In rolling stock display area:
Mecski Szenbanyak II BoBoE [Ganz 1914]
V40 016 1D1E [Bp 33/1934]
V41 523 BoBoE [GanzM 88/1962]
V42 527 BoBoE GanzM 111/1965
M44 209 BoBoDH [GanzM ]
M47 1001 BBDH [U23A 22276/1974]
46 A1A-2DER [Ganz 83942/1944]
47 A1A-2DER [Ganz 83943/1944]
GySEV 5146.02 B-2DMR [SGP 78009/1961]
MDC (ŽSSK) T466-0253 BoBoDE [ZTS Martin 4423-0256/1979] (Visitor from Slovakia)

APPENDIX 2: Class Mk48 2000 Locos observed and works numbers checked 09.2009.

Works plates are fixed in the centre of the front buffer beam, and carry the factory title:
Wilhelm Pieck Vagon- és Gépgyár, Gyor, and the date, and a hand-stamped works number. Not all are legible.

The factory was founded by 1904 as Gyori Vagongyár, when a local football team carried that name. By 1960 it had become Magyar Wilhelm Pieck Vagon- és Gépgyár, Gyor, and by 1965 was renamed Rába, Gyor, a title it retained until 1994, except for 1985-92 when it was named Gyori.

(Wilhelm Pieck was a German communist elected President of the newly-established German Democratic Republic in 1949 and served as its only President until his death in 1960)
MÁV number Works number Location ÁEV number Works number Location
Mk48 2001 Mk48 401
Mk48 2002 013/1960 Debrecen Mk48 402
Mk48 2003 Mk48 403 2067/1960 XX Szilvásvárad
Mk48 2004 Mk48 404 060/1961 Szilvásvárad
Mk48 2005 Mk48 405
Mk48 2006 ? Debrecen Mk48 406
Mk48 2007 Mk48 407
Mk48 2008 ? Kecskemét Mk48 408
Mk48 2009 ? Debrecen Mk48 409 057/1961 Gyöngyös
Mk48 2010 Mk48 410 058/1961 Gyöngyös
Mk48 2011 Mk48 411 ? Szilvásvárad
Mk48 2012 ? Nyíregyháza Mk48 412 055/1961 Gyöngyös
Mk48 2013 ? Kecskemét Mk48 413
Mk48 2014 ? Kismaros Mk48 414
Mk48 2015
Mk48 2016 ? Nyíregyhaza.
Mk48 2017 Mk48 D02-510 003/196x Lillafúred
Mk48 2018 ? Kismaros 3)
Mk48 2019 Mk48 D02-541 050/1961 Lillafúred
Mk48 2020 ? Dombrad 4)
Mk48 2021
Mk48 2022 ? Kecskemét
Mk48 2023
Mk48 2024 ? Nyíregyháza
Mk48 2025 ? Nyíregyháza
Mk48 2026 ? Nagyhalász 5)
Mk48 2027
Mk48 2028
Mk48 2029 3) Dumped out of use
Mk48 2030 ? Kecskemét 4) Preserved in station yard
Mk48 2031 054/1961 Kismaros 5) Preserved at roadside near station
Mk48 2032
Mk48 2033
Mk48 2034
Mk48 2035
Mk48 2036 ? Kecskemét
Mk48 2037
Mk48 2038
Mk48 2039

ICELAND

Howard Forster July 2009.
Thursday, 02/07/09. Reykjavik Harbour. Plinthed in very good external condition was Minor 0-4-0WT Jung 129/92. Its sister Pioner 0-4-0WT Jung 130/92, was in a wooden building at the Arbaer Museum at the west end of Reykjavik. It too was in good condition, but its works plate had been re-stamped 1591/1910, the date that it had received a new boiler.
Friday, 03/07/09. Isafjordur. Between 1880 and c1920, a considerable number of Norwegian fishermen were based at the port as fish stocks were in abundance. To convey the large quantities of fish from the quayside to the drying sheds, a wagonway was constructed. It would appear that the 4w wagons were manually propelled along the level track. At the Maritime Museum, a section of 600mm track and some wagons are all that remain today.

Iceland Isafjordur. Some 600mm trackwork and a 4w wagon were pictured at the Maritime Museum. 03/07/09 Photo by Howard Forster

Iceland Reykjavik. PIONER 0-4-0WT Jung 130/92, has been preserved in the Arbaer Museum on the west side of the city. 02/07/09 Photo by Howard Forster

ITALY

Howard Forster May 2009.
Friday 08/05/09, Messina. Permission was granted to photograph on the shed, 30 electrics and 12 diesels were noted, some of which were out of use, amongst the usual suspects were E633.103 and E655.054. Trams now serve the station, which is an excellent place to photograph them. Only one diesel loco was working, perhaps this is another example of the downturn in traffic.
Saturday 09/05/09, Naples. Although EMUs have been taking over an increasing number of services, there were still a considerable number of locomotive hauled trains to be seen, with E464 xxx on about a third of them. According to the Internet, Pietrarsa Museum is open on a Saturday, it is not. According to the notice on the locked gate, the opening hours were Monday – Friday 8:30 – 13:30.
Sunday 10/05/09, Rome. A quick visit to Termini found the loco hauled trains dominated by E464 xxxs.

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JORDAN

News. Ross Middleton reporting. The Jordanian Hijaz railway restarted passenger services between Amman and Darraa in Syria. The train takes 2.5 hours each way and will run every Saturday until the end of the year. It leaves Amman at 7:30am and returns from Darraa at 6:00pm. The price for the return trip is JD20 first class and JD15 second class and the ticket price includes a meal at a location adjacent to the lake in Darraa. Back to Index

NETHERLANDS

Jon Burdett Oct 2009
Access to depots in Holland is extremely limited with all depots surrounded by security fencing and gates to try to keep the graffiti sprayers out.

Saturday 3/10/09. Thermphos, Vlissingen. A run down to here found the Sik 317 at the side of the factory which could be seen from the public road. This loco has been in industrial service for some years and is used for shunting tank wagons into the loading area. It is now painted overall yellow, fitted with a flashing light on the cab roof and carries a very small number of T702 on the cab side.

Rotterdam Lombardijen. An hour or so on the station just to round off the day as it was near our hotel produced two SNCB TRAXX electrics on Benelux trains whilst ITL103 (Ex DB 202 777) headed past light engine bound for Kijfhoek yard.

Sunday 4/10/09. Today saw a look around the Rotterdam area out as far as Tilburg where we could view from the public places only, the originally planned works Open Day for this weekend having been cancelled a few weeks before - allegedly due to swine flu! My monies on the fact that the works is closing at the end of this year and I would guess that resources are being more usefully used to organise the relocation, but that's only speculation on my part! Havenmuseum. Sik 347 looking smart under the dockside cranes amongst the sea going vessels.

Surprised I hadn't been here before because it's no more than a 10 minute walk from Rotterdam CS.

Rotterdam Centraal. New NS unit 2602 was parked at the back of the station.

Feijenoord. 19 items seen from round the perimeter fence, the entrance gates being shut and padlocked. There must have been staff on though as the doors to the shed were open. Unusually shunter 702 was outside - first time I have seen a member of this class here. 6415 and 6514 were both wrecked and sheeted over having been involved in the head on crash at Barendrecht. A line of 8x6400s at the back looked as if they were out of use.

Pernis SNCF 6603 still in ERS livery was coupled to a container train together with an unmarked Vossloh G2000 and ACTS 7108. The unmarked machine was later seen at Maasvlakte and carries no owner details either. Fortunately on the Monday morning when we looked at Waalhaven again it was shunting container flats and we managed to get close enough to read its works plate - 1001043. Rotterdam RSC 5001601 in Mitsui black was the terminal shunter.

Waalhaven. 39 items. A lot of Railion 6400s again - 17 of them - although some I think are stored. Otherwise the hotch potch of private operators locos that now work the port complex. The biggest surprise was that there were no ERS 66s in attendance and in fact we didn't see any over the three days. Last time I was here they were 8 of them so I have no idea what's happened to them now. (Off-lease - Ed). The 66's that were here were either working for Veolia or ACTS.

Botlek: Another 6, mainly Railion but Mitsui black livered Vossloh G1206 numbered as 1206-L032 was shunting around. Got a nice shot of RRF shunter number 5. Not sure how much longer these will last as they now seem to have at least 8 ex SNCB 7300 class shunters.

Maasvlakte: A further 11 items spread around the large site. HGK DH753 - a Vossloh G2000 - was amongst them. Kijfhoek. Looking from the public road that runs along the east side of the yard we identified 13 items. Other locos were boxed in by wagons parked up for the weekend. ACTS electric 1251 still appeared to be in use - over 55 years old now.

Dordrecht: We looked for the plinthed Sik outside the Volker Stevin HQ only to find the plinth empty. Subsequently I have been told it has been removed to have its engine taken out but will be going back on its plinth. A look at the station to see the new Arriva Spurts (Stadler EMUs to you and me) turned up two stabled and three arrivals in just over an hour - netting 5 out of 7. An unmarked 66 came through northbound on a container train but with no external markings again it was a lost cause.

Cronifer Moerdijk. We looked here to get ex NS 633 which has been in Industrial use for many years. A look from the main road gate gave us a view of the loco and recently arrived 691 as well, but photos were not possible.

I thought 633 was the black painted loco and 691 was the loco still in NS grey/yellow, but a contact has advised me it's the other way round. Neither of the locos looked to be in use and scrap has not been delivered by rail for some considerable time judging by the access tracks. If you want either of these, look at them soon as it won't be a very long journey into the crusher!

Tilburg. The usual look from the station platforms and from the public roads round the back of the works showed that a lot of items that have been dumped here for years had been cleared already from the site - no doubt a prelude to closure.

Round the back were NS 1605/20/25 all heavily robbed of parts and badly graffited together with 686. This loco is the loco that used to work near Teurneuzen and still appears intact even though it's still in the same place as three years ago when I last visited. At the front, the works was full of ECR 77s with seven identified (highest numbered one being 77042) and at least another 10 that couldn't be. Additionally DE6310/2/3 were out the front - 12 now carries Crossrail branding. Not sure who thought of the livery for the ECR machines - but I would have thought off white was a poor choice for a freight loco. You can only imagine what these will look like after six months in service!

Boxtel. We carried on to this location to note that the once extensive yards had been taken up but they had at least been given a modern station. Rotterdam Centraal. Rounding off the day we had a ride on a Dognose EMU from Lombardijen into Centraal and back for a couple of hours at the station. This was much as expected but did turn up our first Hispeed 186, 120 in this case. Is it my imagination or are they actually in DB red! Two SNCB class 1100s were seen though so they are still covering some of the Benelux services despite reliability problems.

Monday 5/10/09. Kijfhoek. A Monday morning view found that most of the obscuring wagons from the day before had been moved and we were able to record 40 items. The two Sik's 303 - in DB red - and 324 are still here. Amongst the freight locos were a line of DB 189's - only two of which could be identified (77 and 88) - and a new SNCB TRAXX 2810.

Waalhaven. A second look here gave 23 items. DB 189 067 was in the stabling roads whilst 189 097 was being shunted over the public road by a road/rail vehicle into the Shunter depot. The unmarked 66 we had missed the day before at Dordrecht was now here. It turned out to be 6615 - a sheet of paper was sellotaped to one of the cab windows at one end only!

Pernis. RRF19 was shunting about. Den Haag Binckhorst. A look in the carriage sidings turned up a pair of electrics whilst new EMU sets 2405 and 2607 were stabled. Additionally 2404 went past heading into Den Haag CS - I thought there were members of the public on this set but I am not completely sure. If that was the case, it was the only one seen as such as the rest that have been delivered so far apart from at Amersfoort (see later) were parked in various sidings.

Den Haag CS. A short while here turned up another 8 locos mainly working between here and Venlo. Den Haag West Zuiderpark. We had to buy a map from the station kiosk at Den Haag CS to find this as the instructions I had before the trip were woefully inadequate. Eventually we found the plinthed Sik 366 in the local model engineers area on the south side of the park. The park itself being to the west of the centre, a good way out. The easiest access by car appears to be to take junction 11 off the A4 motorway and then head in towards town. This road goes right up to the park where you turn left at the corner then right into the park. The loco is then on the right hand side as you enter the park.

Leidschendam. Lots of HTM units stabled in the sidings and a further 5 NS locos. New EMU 2603 and one of the Arriva Spurts - 504 this time - that we hadn't seen at Dordrecht the day before. Presumably this is where Arriva send them when they need work doing.

Valkenburg Meer. Sik 366 is still on its plinth.

Alphen an de Rijn. Four of the HTM trams were working the Gouda service out of the six available. Two sets on each train with two trains in service, the third a spare and presumably at the Gouda end as there is nothing stabled at Alphen and the station is undergoing rebuilding. These are due to finish operation in December when normal NS Sprinter EMU's will take over the whole service.

Haarlem. A look at the preservation area turned up Siks 232, 246, 288 and 346. 288 has only just recently completed a major rebuilding which was done at the Corus workshops at Ijmuiden. Also here is Dognose 916 in a sort of all over green scheme whilst in the carriage sidings opposite was a further Sik in NS yellow/grey and an unidentified Plan U DEMU in original red scheme. A look at the workshops on the edge of town as we were leaving showed Dognose 466 and four Bison double deck EMU's to be in for work amongst the various EMU carriages.

Amsterdam Westhaven. A quick look in here turned up another 8 locos - a pair of Railion 6400's, a pair of HGK 66's, a pair of DB 189's, V203 of Rurtalbahn (a Vossloh G2000) and Volker Stevin 203-1. Then up to the hotel in Zaandam for a couple of nights.

Tuesday 6/10/09: Most of the day was spent on Amsterdam CS with a run out by train to Weesp in the afternoon so that we could pass by Watergrafsmeer to see what was stabled thereabouts. 55 individual locos were noted passing through Amsterdam CS during the day.

Bits of interest were 302282 of Strukton that was carrying out video surveillance work of the track passing through most platforms, 5x186's on test specials on the new high speed line, 4x SNCB TRAXX locos on the normal Benelux services, a pair of ITL former DB 202's on a container train and 7107 of ACTS on a rubbish train. A good number of the latest batch of Bison units appeared during the course of the day, this seems to be one of the main places for them but no internal NS loco hauled trains were noted. Stabled at the east end of the station was new unit 2603 that didn't move all day.

We had 1717 on our train out as far as Diemen where we got off to go back to Muiderport on a Sprinter EMU, changing again to another Sprinter out to Weesp, that way we managed to get four passes of Watergrafsmeer to read the stuff off. Outside there was new Ansaldo high speed train set numbered as 4806 001. Behind that were a number of stored Dognose EMU's - mainly the four car sets. NS 706 and 710 didn't appear to be doing much whilst Sik 254 and another unidentified one were parked. DB 363 712 was being used to shunt night stock whilst 186 115/8 were spare. Just outside Amsterdam CS are some carriage sidings, and in these were at least four stored 1800 electrics - two of which were 1823 and 27.

However in the furthest two lines from the mainline were surprisingly two rows of Wadloper DMU's - none of these were identified.

An hour or so at Weesp had 10 NS locos pass us before we went back into Amsterdam for the evening peak, finally rounding the day off at 10 for the bus back to the hotel.

Wednesday 7/10/09. Leaving Amsterdam this morning, we had a quick look in at Westhaven where ITL 186 148 had turned up, A pair of Railion 6400's and two of Volker Stevin's locos made up the rest. A look round the perimeter fence at Zaanstraat revealed preserved 1315 plus a pair of 1700 electrics, together with some more stored Dognoses.

Amersfoort was next to see the new Connexxion Protos EMU's - the only ones built. They work out to Barneveld Centrum and Ede every 15 minutes. Four out of five of the sets were in service - the missing one being 5033. It looks as if normally all five sets are required for service as leased Dognose 867 was covering the other diagram.

While we were here new NS EMU's 2605+2408+2608 went through eastbound with a test special. At the Strukton depot we found four locos with their two shunters in a small shed next to the old wagon works. This part of the site was partially accessible on this weekday and at one end of the site was the preservation set up. Outside they had Sik's 243 and 276 together with an unmarked Plan U 3 car DEMU painted in traditional red livery. Both outside and inside the other former building were the majority of the Wadloper DMU's that used to work at Groningen. These have now been sold to Poland and a small number have been dispatched there already, however the bulk of them are still here at Amersfoort.

A walk round the perimeter of the compound identified a dozen sets but there were quite a few more obscured by each other. The long term stored single car 3101 was one of those identified which was the only one I wanted fortunately. Also in here are a number of Plan U DEMU's - those that were previously at Heerlen and Blerick I think together with one car from EMU 852. Down at the carriage sidings at the west end of the area was Protos EMU demonstrator FTD01 - not sure whether this is actually in use or whether it has just been left here by the builders, they having been unsuccessful in selling any other sets.

Utrecht Zuilen. Sik 335 was plinthed on the old Werkspoor factory site next to this station, while further new NS EMU's 2601/6 and 2402 were in the nearby carriage sidings. Utrecht CS. The rest of the day was spent here which was much as expected. 23 locos were noted during an afternoon and evening session, perhaps the most surprising was SNCB TRAXX 2829 heading eastbound on containers.

Otherwise a pair of coal trains triple headed by Railion 6400's passed by together with another double headed by R4C 2004/6 and a final one lead by HGK 66 DE674. This is still a major stronghold for Dognose EMU's with a large number of the 400 and 800 series 2 car sets covering the local stopping services out of here.

Thursday 8/10/09. Final day in Holland so heading down to Eindhoven gave us NS 705 and 712 at the small depot. Passing by were three electrics 1828/9 and 37 which were heading west. 1837 was towing the other two but I understood all three of these to be stored locos so no idea where they were heading. Maybe from Blerick to Roosendaal as I now understand that there are a number of these stored at the old wagon repair shed there. Five other passing electrics and three Railion 6400s worked past. Again a good number of Dognose EMU's working out of here on the local services, at one stage there were eight sets lined up in the carriage sidings.

Roermond. An hour here to see a few Veolia Stadler DMU's working the service to Nijmegen produced 2 car sets 202 and 206 on the first working, followed by 3 car set 352 then 357 on the next two workings. 6412 of Railion headed north on chemical tanks followed by 1602 on limestone hoppers whilst coming south were light engines 1737 and 68.

DSM Sittard. We had a look from the public road at this large factory locating the shed on which were two Railion 6400's and DB 363 825 were stabled. The internal shunting operations are now handled by Railion as well and former DSM loco 3 and 5 had Railion branding on them, a small Deutz 0-4-0 shunter named Pucki and a pair of slave shunters were also identified but another three locos could not be read off.

Sittard station. Our one and only seen ERS 66 was stabled - 6605.

Maastricht. Sik 264 is now plinthed at the depot. The pilot was required 703. Six other locos were noted however, a line of seven electrics were parked at the station including my last one 1752. Victims of the lack of hauled passenger work now that the third batch of Bison units have been delivered. These seven were not stored as such and I expect they still get used as others come in for servicing as maintenance exams are due. Also parked behind them was Railion 1606 which later worked out on the northbound rubbish containers. In the back road and definitely stored, heavily graffited were 1607/8/10/17.

Local services were shared between NS with 2 car Dognoses and Veolia with their new Stadler EMU's - both 2 and 3 car versions. Additionally NS shunter 711 appeared from somewhere and then proceeded to move 1730 out of the wheel lathe and into the depot. ZLSM

Simpelveld. We just mangaed to squeeze an after hours visit into this preservation site. Newly acquired former NS shunter 677 was outside together with the frames of two 0-6-0T's - one of which was thought to be the ex NS 8826. Inside the left hand building were ex SJ 1289 B class 4-6-0 in full working order, plus a couple of diesel shunters and a steam loco boiler being worked on. Peering through the cracks of the right hand building we could see the two ex DB railbuses and the rear of one of the other ex SJ steam locos but couldn't id which one it was.

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NORWAY

Howard Forster July 2009.
Tuesday, 07/07/09. Flam. A permanent museum has now been erected near to the station. In it are housed a collection of artefacts relating to the Flam Railway and a shop. On display in the main exhibition area were a considerable collection of rail mounted pedal vehicles as well as EL9.2063 and a 4w battery loco Anker BatFBk AS T2840/061. At the shed EL17.2228 was spare loco, also present was 224.214. The trains were very popular, with travel by reservation only. In service topping and tailing the sets were EL17.2227/9 and EL17.2230/1. At Myrdal, EL18.2257/61 were noted on trains to and from Bergen.
Wednesday, 08/07/09. Bergen. Access to the line, except at the station, is now severely restricted, as a container depot has been built opposite the shed. On inspection from the outside, there appeared to be only railcar sets at the depot. At the station were noted EL18.2254/7, 69051/83 and 73007.

Norway Berekvam. At the crossing point on the Flam Railway, EL17.2230 on the 11:00 from Flam, waits for EL17.2229/7, topping and tailing the 10:55 train descending from Myrdal, to pass. 07/07/09 Photo by Howard Forster

Norway Bergen, Awaiting departure was 18.2257 on the 16:10 to Oslo. 08/07/09 Photo by Howard Forster

SLOVAKIA

Howard Forster August 2009.
Sunday, 02/08/09. Bratislava Transport Museum. It was was hot this day with the temperature at 42 C (107F). In this neat little museum the railway exhibits were:310.0107,434.128,534.0471, Ind 3679, 0-6-0F and T678.016. Vychodne. Plinthed at the entrance was 310.442. In service were 4x210,4x240,5xdiesels. Awaiting restoration/slowly deteriorating were:310.0123,310.507,331.019, 387.017/9, 399.005,486.008,555.3284 and being restored, 555.3008. Opposite the derelict locos, between the shed tracks and the main running lines, a ZSR museum has been established, with small exhibits in a building and rolling stock in the open. On show were: 310.097,310.433,331.037,T211.0823,T444.080 and T769.019. 781.312 although not restored presumably belongs to the museum also. Bratislava Hlavne. 18 electrics, 5 diesels and 2 BE locos were present as well as 498.104 being painted. A day ticket used on the excellent tram and bus services, enabled travel between the various locations to be easily organised.

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SPAIN

Howard Forster May 2009.
Barcelona container terminal and Can Tunis Depot, an examination of the container terminal found no locos stabled. On passing the terminal on Tuesday, 12/05/09, the majority of the locos noted there on trains and at the depot were 269.0xx,7xx,9xx; two new TRAXX 253s were also on the depot.

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SWEDEN

Howard Forster July 2009.

Sweden 015 Nynas Store, Gavle. SWB Jvg 0-2-2 Railmotor /1892. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Nynas Store, Gavle. ELFKARLEO BRUK 1 0-4-0WT HH /1872. 04/04/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Sweden Nynas Store, Gavle. SJ W 1229 0-4-4T NH 1045/14. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Gavle Museum. SJ A 1001 4-4-2 Mot 378/07. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Sweden Borlange Depot. GC Rc1 1007 the oldest member of the class dating from 1967, awaits its next duty on the hump. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Borlange. Rc1 1007 dating from 1967, propels wagons over the hump. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Sweden Kristinehamn. SJ Ra 847 Bo-Bo, was parked for the weekend with some other interesting locos. 05/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Hagalund Depot. SJ F 701 1Do1 which had been used on summer excursions, was stabled with its set of preserved coaches. 06/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster

SWITZERLAND

Alan Baxter reporting on his journeys in September 2009.

Friday 18 September: 08.34 Eurostar London to Brussels. The Paris train leaves at 08.32 and was called at 08.06, with the Brussels 2 minutes later, so there were two sets of passengers on the ramps for platforms 7-8 at the same time. I don’t ever recall trains leaving from adjacent platforms so close together at Waterloo.
Transit of tunnel and on to Brussels uneventful with 3 min early arrival. A loco numbered 2802 was in the carriage sidings at Brussels, this is the second loco to have carried this number, the original being one of 3 locos built in 1949 and spent much of its time on station pilot duties at Brussels Midi before withdrawal in 1997 (and is preserved somewhere, I believe?). Then on to Namur in Break unit 406, much less opulent than the AM96 sets which work the services on the opposite half-hour. Single line working between La Hulpe and Ottignies. Arrival at Namur on time and then one night’s stay at the Grande Hotel de Flandres opposite the station. Afterwards I viewed the passing traffic from Platforms 4/5. Platforms 10/11 were operating as bays accessible from the east end only, while the starter at Platform 5 has been relocated on the platform but the track still veers away from the platform 100 yards from the end. It was fairly busy with some freight on the Athus-Meuse line, the interesting workings occurring during the peak period when we get loco-hauled workings to Arlon, Jemelle etc. One train for Dinant was 2750 with 6 DD coaches which had 2755 coupled behind with 5 more DD coaches going to Liers,and so were split off at Namur. There were only 2 freight workings seen coming from Line 162.

Saturday 19 September: “One of our locos is missing”. EC91 has become a through train to Chur this year and duly turned up behind 2004 departing 08.41. Stockem Yard had 4xClass 55 in the main bit and a line of Nohabs adjacent to the depot. Arlon station did not have the usual collection of freight locos, there were 3x23, 2x77, 2x20 and 2x13. There was two-way working over the Luxembourg-bound track from Arlon to the border, while the other track is being re-electrified. At Luxembourg there was no sign of the SNCF loco meant to take over – normally EC91 gets the loco off EC296 but that had not been seen either. A delay ensued until they found an engine for us and eventually 26165 appeared and coupled up before leaving 52 down. Thionville was stacked out with 27000/37000, as it was a Saturday, including a Veolia example 37515. Slow running on right-hand pair of tracks from Thionville as far as the entrance to Woippy yard before crossing to fast tracks. No time was gained on the remainder of the French leg and at Mulhouse it was announced that we were terminating at Basel. No freight locos at Mulhouse Ville, and the loco-hauled 16500 sets have been replaced by some of the later examples of Z27500.
So I had to get out at Basel 50 late, but I could now sample the new accelerated service to Chur. At the last timetable change two through services were introduced to Chur, one leaving Basel at XX.33 and running fast to Zürich then stopping only at Sargans and Landquart to take 139 minutes to cover the 129 miles from Basel. The other service is a semifast leaving at XX.47 making 4 stops before Zürich and 7 afterwards, 176 minutes to Chur. Timings from Zürich are as last year. There are two exceptions to this, EC7 runs as per the previous timetable, non-stop Basel-Zürich and then semi-fast beyond, and EC100 is the same in the opposite direction. 460 115 did the honours with a mixture of SD & DD and a surprise was the amount of noise barriers which have been erected in the last year, not as tall as some of the DB examples. Arrival into Chur was at 1752, which was only 9 minutes later than if EC91 had run on time throughout! Then it was 4 nights at the Hotel Freieck in Chur’s Old Town.

Sunday 20 September: Still on the lookout for border crossings, I had discovered another one across the Rhein between Koblenz and Waldshut in the north of the country. To get there I had to take a Chur-St. Gallen train which was hauled by 11198, one of the six examples which had an ÖBB pantograph fitted many years ago to allow it access to Lindau. Buchs has become a weekend gathering point for motive power and there were several SBB and ÖBB locos sitting in the yard. At St. Gallen I changed to a Genève train hauled by 460 051 as far as Winterthur. Winterthur-Bülach is Zürich S-Bahn service S41, alternate trains being extended to Waldshut. This service is Thurbo-operated and another of this company’s tentacles extends north of Schaffhausen to Thayngen. 526 761 formed the 12.36 to Waldshut, which runs initially parallel to Winterthur-Zürich on the 3rd track which was laid a few years ago, before bearing off to the right, passing some suburban back gardens and some industrial premises before running into hilly country. It passes through the mile-long Dettenberg Tunnel before swinging round to enter Bülach, on the Zürich-Schaffhausen line. Bülach is another stabling point and a good collection of Re4/4 and Re6/6 were sitting idle waiting for Monday’s traffic – used to be Ae6/6 stabled here! From Bülach the Waldshut train continues towards Schaffhausen for two stops to Eglisau, where it bears left while the main line singles to cross the most impressive viaduct. Now also on single line we trundle along with the Rhein on the right and eventually enter Koblenz. As far as I can see the only thing it has in common with its much larger German namesake is that both are beside the Rhein. Once upon a time it was possible to continue on to Stein-Sackingen but this line is freight-only as far as Laufenburg, which is the terminus of Basel S-Bahn S1. To access Waldshut involves a reverse and swing to the right over a line which was electrified only about 10 years ago, then curving to the left through a tunnel, passing over the Eglisau-Koblenz line and then the Rhein, before rising to run alongside the non-electrified Schaffhausen-Basel Bad line terminating at a buffer-stop at the end of Platform 5, an extension of Platform 1. Customs were not operating and so I was free to wander about. Services are mostly DB class 641 single car dmus, helped out by Class 628 two car sets, all based at Haltingen. There is also a 2-hourly IRE service Basel Bad-Ulm which is operated by Class 611 tilting sets. These gave no end of trouble when introduced on Basel-Lindau in 1998, replacing a class 218+stock service, and from time to time emergency timetables had to be introduced to cater for tilt failure. From 2005 the service has run to Ulm instead of Lindau with passengers for the latter place having to change at Friedrichshafen. From Waldshut I returned to civilisation on 526 720, which goes back to Koblenz and then on to Baden. It joins the Baden-Brugg line at Turgi before running into Baden and an S12 service got me back to Zürich HB low level. Upstairs platforms 6-7 are currently out of use. A refurbished 560 set numbered 560 202, which is one of the Glarus line sets, was seen before EC101 arrived to take me back to Chur. A former RM set, 526 262, now under BLS management, was an unusual sight at Wadenswil.

Monday 21 September: To Tirano today, by ordinary train rather than the Bernina Express which as usual was fully booked. The train to St. Moritz was headed by RhB 641. At Thusis there was an Engineering train double-headed by701 and 243 the latter a shy beast which has escaped my notice until now. The Landwasser Viaduct is undergoing repairs to its structure and is shrouded in red material until the works are complete (end 2009 I believe). Similar work is going on at one of the Albula viaducts between the Tuoa and Zuondra Tunnels, this time the covering is white rather than red. Bergun/Bravuogn station is wearing its alternative name of Madruns again, which it was given for the film The Directrix which was shot about 10 years ago centred on the village. Could we be getting The Directrix 2? At Samedan I caught the connection to Pontresina (RhB622) where there was a train bound for Tirano, but with only one motorcoach(RhB55) and consequently a reduced loading which led to overcrowding, at least as far as Poschiavo. The trip was as wonderful as ever and was blessed with fine weather and I noted that the Bernina motive power was six pairs and two singles. No sign of 52, 54 or 801. At Tirano E633 208 was at the head of a freight train in the platforms in the FS station. The platforms form a kind of headshunt for incoming freight and they have to start from there in order to get out.
Return journey was in one of the motorcoaches (51) of the St. Moritz version of the Bernina express which acts more like a local train than either the Chur or Davos trains. 622 was again the Samedan shuttle and 619 completed the run back to Chur. Considerable tree felling has taken place at the bottom of the spirals and approaching the top portal of the Rugnux Tunnel it was possible to see away down beyond Muot loop on the other side of the valley, and a train approaching the loop from Bergun. We were still at the loop before it and sat quietly for 30sec while 705 passed on its way uphill. There was a new track machine numbered RhB92020 (is this the new numbering system) in the sidings at Reichenau-Tamins and back at Chur one of the SOB Re4/4IV sat at the head of a train of postal containers. The nearest point of the SOB to Chur is at Pfaffikon, 54 miles distant!

Tuesday 22 September: It was off to Weil-am-Rhein, near Basel, today, to see whether there had been any changes in workings since this time last year. 460 014 plus DD stock formed the 08.09 to Basel. At Basel I got an S6 (Class 521) round to Basel Bad, these services now run half-hourly before going off to Lorrach etc. Then it was a short hop in DD stock pushed by 146 110 to Weil. There appears to be less going into the yard nowadays and more passing by on the main line, much of this through traffic was SBB Class 482 and Crossrail’s fleet of Class 185. In the middle of this year, Class 145 was put on Rhein Valley freight, and several examples of this class, previously unknown in Basel, were noted. Other classes seen were Class 152 and DBs own 185s, mostly from the batch approved for Switzerland, and a 189 Dispolok, 189 998, also appeared. Curiously DB Class 189 has not been noted here although the Dispolok version is a regular visitor. No diesels were seen on containers, but it may have been the wrong time of day for these as they were certainly seen later on (see Konigswinter notes). Passenger traffic was ICE1 and ICE3, with the occasional Class 101, with Class 146.1 on the hourly Offenburgs and Class 111 on the occasional RB to Freiburg.
Return to Chur was in EC101 which I got on at Basel Bad, 101 121 as far as the SBB station and Re4/4II beyond.

Wednesday 23 September. Change of base today, using first of all the Glacier Express at 11.38 off Chur. 648 was in charge of the first leg, taking 12 well-filled vehicles non-stop to Disentis, where the train divided and MGN1, one of the former BVZ locos but identical to 101-108 which normally work this route, backed onto the front portion which then stopped only at Andermatt to pick/up set down, although there were other stops too, for crossing purposes. Again the weather was wonderful (I seem to have been lucky with the weather on this trip in recent years) and arrival in Brig, over the new faster approach, was on time at 15.23. That left me 13 minutes to catch the train to Spiez via the pass (who would ever want to go through the base tunnel except someone in a hurry), which was formed of 2 of the new BLS Class 535 emu stock. The pass route is a favourite one for walkers and a large crowd of them squeezed on board at stations such as Ausserberg and Hohtenn, so that we were quite full by Goppenstein at the top of the hill.
At Spiez there was a wait of about 15min until 460 014 showed up with the Basel-Interlaken, regrettably running the wrong way round as some trains on this route are scheduled to do. I got out at Interlaken West as I was going up to Wilderswil and the No 5 postbus is more convenient for the village than the BOB. Then it was 4 nights at the wonderful Hotel Baren.

Thursday 24 September: Although Interlaken West has a crossing loop, most trains use Platform 1 going east and west. The crossing moves are between stopping trains each hour, and the IR trains cross at the three other loops between here and Spiez. It was off to Olten today to see some freight, and the first bit of activity was a few minutes after leaving Interlaken. 11502, with Tm9656 on the other end, was heading a short freight at Darlingen. 460 053 was the motive power with Mark IV stock to Olten. This major junction has plenty of traffic, passenger and freight, going through it plus movements on and off the depot. Part of the carriage works seem to have closed and the two tiny shunters which operated at the traverser are no more. Anybody expecting to see long trains with Ae6/6 power would have been disappointed. Only one such, with 11469 in front, came through and only eight examples of the class appeared in the 4 hours I was there. Many of the freights have gone over to Re4/4 or Re6/6 haulage and some of the new BLS 486s passed. A pair of DB class 185 passed as did two Crossrail machines of the same class and two of Crossrails Re4/4III, formerly RM, were at the head of another freight. The passenger side was mostly class 460, with Re4/4II on trains between Basel and Luzern. Class 522, which SNCF refused to accept because of crashworthiness aspects (do they still have their 25KV equipment?) are sharing Basel S-Bahn services with Class 521, and a class 523, which looks identical to 521/522 but is only configured for working within Switzerland, arrived with a stopper from Luzern. Return to Interlaken was again in Mark IV stock with 460 076 at the rear. 11502 was now in the sidings at Thun, where it remained for the next 2 days.

Friday 25 September: Pratteln was the intended viewing place today to see what was going over the Gotthard. 460 076 was in charge to Basel and 610 508 was on a freight at Thun. Basel now has platforms numbered up to 17, the highest-numbered being east-facing terminal platforms next to the through freight lines. There was a reminder of Great Britain as the SBB staff tried and failed to get 522 004 and 521 026 to couple together, and eventually I left them and went to Platform 1 to get to Pratteln within 521 025. It must have been a quiet period because activity was hardly what might be called constant. There was some interest in a pair of Crossrail 186s, 902/903, and there was also 185 595/7 which have Crossrail branding, and one SNCF 37000, but no Ae6/6 so eventually I shuffled off to Olten again to see if there were any more of these venerable machines about. No such luck, but something even more venerable in the form of a 2-10-0 52 8055 which ran in from the Upper Hauenstein direction with a 3-coach special. There were only 4 Ae6/6 seen this time with 11480 at Langenthal on the way back to Bern via the old main line. 460 064 was the motive power to Interlaken.

Saturday 26 September: To Langenthal to ride the branch line of the ASM to St. Urban, having done the main line from Solothurn via Niederbipp at this time last year. 460 064 to Bern, and then after a visit to the bear-pits (currently closed while the new bears are being quarantined) and a bowl of soup from the underground restaurant, 460 079 with DD stock to Langenthal. The ASM island platform is on the north side of the station, and one of their new twin-car articulated sets 110 was forming the branch shuttle. The branch is so short (about 4 miles) that two return trips can be done in an hour. It leaves the platform and runs past the depot, and a short distance further on it branches off to the right. It passes an industrial estate then crosses over the top of the line from Olten, and leaves the built-up area behind, but only briefly as we enter Roggwil and then St. Urban, where alternate trains terminate. My train ran on a couple of hundred yards further to the terminus at Ziegelei where there is a stabling point.
Back at Langenthal there were two Ae6/6, 11453 and 11507, sitting in the station area, and I got on another DD set with 460 083 as far as Olten, to circle back via the Pied de Jura line. Normally the stopping trains on this line are Class 560 but this was hauled stock with 11299 which was going as far as Biel. ASMs standard gauge shunter numbered 837 826 was working at Oensingen and then at Biel a line of Ae6/6, headed by 11510, occupied the road in the yard nearest to the main lines. However there were some SBB Cargo liveried examples among the red and green locos, and it was deduced that these were working locos and they would be gone on Monday. From Biel another stopping train (560 048) got me to Neuchatel and a pair of NINA sets BLS 525 031/014 took me back to Bern. A stop at Kerzers added a third NINA in front of the other two, there are now 38 of these sets, some of them 4-section, after the BLS bought the two sets previously with the TRN. From Bern it was 460 044 back to Interlaken.

Sunday 27 September: Time to move on, next destination Luzern. After 5 minutes in an ICE set, 101 967 was at the head of the Golden Pass stock. Alternate through services to Luzern have this branding. It is a pretty run along Lake Brienz and I noted BRB12 in steam at Brienz. 101 964 came onto what had been the rear of the train at Meiringen for the rack section up to Brunig-Hasliberg, and down the other side to Giswil, another bit great for scenery, before some faster running past the bottom of the Pilatusbahn, through the tunnel to Hergiswil and finally down into Luzern. Accommodation was 2 nights at the Waldstatterhof (an Alkohol-frei establishment!) adjacent to the station.
A wee circular trip was done afterward, firstly on 523 014, one of a new batch of these sets which operate stopping trains to Brunnen, and to Sursee on the line to Basel. We went via the lakeside line stopping at the new station on the Wurzenbach loop which serves the Transport Museum, and then on to Arth-Goldau. This is an interchange point for fast and semi-fast Gotthard services. On alternate hours an ICN set comes from Basel via Luzern and exchanges passengers with a hauled set which has come from Zürich. The former then goes on to Lugano stopping only at Bellinzona while the latter has Locarno as its terminus, calling at principal stations en route. On intermediate hours the provenance of the trains switches. A train to Zürich was taken with 11116, and then on to Basel with 460 009, via Brugg and Rheinfelden., and to complete the circuit a fast train back to Luzern was headed by 11247. This was a through train to Locarno, which gets to Luzern in 62 minutes stopping only at Olten. There is a second hourly service to Luzern, which is an extension of the previous service from Basel to Zofingen which was provided in 2004 when the NBS opened.

Monday 28 September: I decided to do a trip to Lugano today, where I had not been for a few years, to see what the freight situation was on the Gotthard. 11152 brought in the train from Basel, and a sister loco came on the other end. The Gotthard line services leave the Luzern area via Rotkreuz, as they have done since 1996, although this is about 5 miles longer than the lakeside line via Kussnacht. Two new stations have opened before Rotkreuz, one of them with the enigmatic name of Root D4, which serves a technology park. At Arth-Goldau there was a delay waiting for a FS ETR470 set forming a train to Milano, the ICN to Lugano was behind that, and the Locarno, which I decided to remain with as I was not in a hurry, followed third in the queue. Freight heading north was not excessive. There were 2 of the BLS class 486 on shed at Erstfeld – since when has Erstfeld become a BLS shed? The mountain section via Goschenen was wonderful as always and one wonders what services will operate this route from 2017 when the base tunnel opens. There will obviously have to be something to cater for the walkers and cyclists who abound on this route. At Biasca there was the unwelcome sight of approximately 25 Ae6/6 in a line, awaiting a call to the breakers. In no particular order, I noted 11458/505/490/504/515/432/497/431/465/454/511/441/515/444/445/476/443 which makes 17 but there were others. Does anybody have the full list?


The train was about 20 min late into Bellinzona where I got out and awaited a connection to Lugano which was formed of one of the ICN sets which has been drafted onto this route from Biel-Konstanz. Lugano was hot and there did not appear to be much freight about, perhaps it was all going via Luino. Return to Bellinzona was in one of the Class 524 TILO sets which look exactly like Classes 521-523 but are fitted with a 3000v DC pantograph for working into Italy. Back at Bellinzona the first item to appear was single railcar 1021, the Red Arrow, which was on an excursion to Locarno. Sharing some duties with Class 524 were some of the most recent examples of Class 523, and Class 560, and 484 018 passed with a freight. No 474s were noted. 11116 appeared with the service to Luzern and waiting in the loop north of the station was a container train double-headed by a loco numbered E484 902 and 185 572. Again southbound freight was at a premium until we got to the Brunnen area where 610 447 was waiting to proceed. There was also a train double-headed by DB 185 and Ae4/7 10997 was sitting in a siding. Other freights were at Arth-Goldau and Rotkreuz.

Tuesday 29 September: My last Swiss resort was Lausanne, which is easy enough to get to from Luzern as since 2004 there is a through service to Genève Aeroport operating via Zofingen and the NBS to Bern. 460 050 was providing power to Mark 4 stock from the rear. An Ae6/6, 11456, was shunting at Sursee. At Puidoux-Chexbres, at the top of the 1 in 55 down to Lausanne there is the sudden panorama of the lakeside villages and the lake with the mountains of France behind, another of these views of which Switzerland has so many. Accommodation was 2 nights at the Hotel Ala Gare, a short walk from the station.
I sampled the new Metro on my way up to have a look at the cathedral. It is a very smart operation where there are doors to the platform and access is denied until the train has arrived and come to a stand. Later I took the standard gauge TSOL round to Renens, the stock on this DC line is similar to that operating Genève-La Plaine. I watched the traffic at Renens for a while and noted that none of the newly refurbished Class 560 sets are yet in traffic, although there are odd vehicles sitting in the sidings at Lausanne (and at Olten!).
Though most of the local services are Class 560 there are some peak-hour extras with Re4/4II and 11203, 11158 and 11180 were performing such duties.

Thursday 1 October: It was time to leave Switzerland and make for Konigswinter in the Rheinland of Germany. The first part of the journey, Lausanne-Basel was in an ICN set at 0845 off Lausanne. At Yverdon there was a newly refurbished Kolibri set sitting in the yard. This had TRAVYS logos and I assume that this is one of the two sets sold to the PBr in 1989 and renumbered 568 384/5, which I note have been returned to CFF stock and have acquired the numbers 560 384/5. At Biel the line of Ae6/6 which had been there on the previous Saturday had gone. A Dispolok 182 600 passed the other way with a freight.
At Basel 11143 eventually arrived with EC101 and I joined the train as 101 084 coupled to the other end before making off into Germany.

Visit Report June 2010. Roger Sanders reporting.
DFB : The final stretch of the original line, Oberwald-Gletsch, is advertised to be reopened 20/08. For the remainder of the 2010 season there will be no through services over the entire route. Instead Realp-Gletsch will continue to operate with one round trip per day FSaSuO, while Oberwald-Gletsch will offer 3 round trips per day also FSaSuO. Over both sections the season last day is 03/10. The Oberwald-Gletsch shuttles may be steam or diesel operated.

On 25/06 Roger Sanders took the Postbus from Oberwald up to Gletsch (beware Zuschlag added to Swiss Pass) which climbs, complete with hairpin bends necessitating the bus driver blowing the posthorn, alongside the line for most of the journey. The relaid track appears to be rack throughout. Its most spectacular feature is the climb through a spiral tunnel. Down at Oberwald the main works in hand were installing the level crossing with inlaid Abt rack across the busy Furka Pass road, also a new turntable was partially complete. As yet there are no buildings to house any DFB stock. The new service will terminate alongside Oberwald MGB Bf on the south side but at the time of the visit, 8 weeks to opening, there appear to be no facilities for DFB passengers.

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TUNISIA

Howard Forster May 2009
Wednesday 06/05/09: A train was taken from La Goulette to Tunis Marine on the Tunis Goulette Marsa standard gauge light railway, which has a frequent service, and is electrified throughout. It was the first railway in Tunisia having been opened in 1872. Originally utilising horses, they were soon replaced by 2-4-0T locomotives, which in turn were replaced by electric units in1908, when the line was electrified at 600v DC by a 3rd rail supply, to form the first electrified railway in Africa. In 1989 conversion to 750v DC overhead supply took place. At present the service is operated by 36 Duwag – Man two car units. Tunis itself has a five line tram network served by 134 Duwag units and 39 Alstom Citadis units, with the possibility of a further 16 being supplied. The TGM depot and the two serving the tram network, are all located in the Tunis Marine area. At the SNCFT station the metre gauge platforms were on the east side and the standard gauge on the west. There were large notices proclaiming that Alstom was going to modernise the network, without any evidence of a start being made.

This may be due to the fact that it is a 15 year scheme costed at 15 million euros, which involves electrifying five suburban lines out of Tunis at 25kv, raising the platforms, renewing the signals and refurbishing the track. The first line to be modernised will be to Bord Cedra. In the platforms there were only narrow gauge locos present, 040-DK 89/98, 040-DM 265 and 040-GT 551. The main servicing facilities were about a mile south of the station. On walking to them, a new depot, presumably for EMUs, had been constructed at the northern end of the yard. Access to the depot was by a keypad gate, there was also a gatekeeper who kindly let us in.

Once inside we were able to see the Chef de Depot, who explained that as the depot was a working area, visits could only be made with written permission; however he did say that there was no restriction on photography by the lineside or on stations, including Tunis. 8 locos had been noted including 040-GE 405. On returning to the station, narrow gauge 040-DO 331 and 040-GT 563 had appeared together with standard gauge 040-DK 82.

Tunisia Tunis. GE built U6B, SNCFT 040-DM 265 had arrived on a local train. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Tunisia Tunis. A GM GT18, SNCFT 040-GT 551 had arrived on a long distance train. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Tunisia Tunis. A pair of MLW DL536Bs, SNCFT 040-DK 89/98 await departure on local trains. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Tunisia Tunis. Ganz-Mavag SNCFT 040-DO 331 pictured on arrival on a local train. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Tunisia Tunis. MLW DL536B SNCFT 040-DK 82, one of the standard gauge locos awaits departure. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Tunisia Le Bac. TGM Duwag-Man ERC A107 was pictured on a Marsa - Tunis Marine working. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster

TURKEY

USA

News. Ross Middleton reporting. The Federal Railway administration has released the first funds for High Speed Rail. Florida has received $66m which will enable design work and contract preparation for a design build and operate contract and land acquisition to commence.

The next biggest slice of funds is for California, but not for the high speed system, which remains bogged down in the planning process, but rather for improvements to the Oakland to Sacramento Capital Connection service. Most of the money is earmarked for Sacramento station to relieve congestion, but part of the money will also be spent on track improvements to reduce transit times.

Smaller sums of money have been released for planning the Madison to Milwaukee, Empire Corridor route in New York state and a rail plan in New Mexico. Meanwhile another plan has emerged to connect Vegas with Los Angeles. This is a rival high speed proposal to the current Desert Xpress proposal. Called Desert Lightning the proposal is for a line from Los Angeles to Phoenix with a branch to Las Vegas. The proposal also means that Palm Springs is served, which is an important source of wealthy customers for Vegas. However they are asking for federal funds to carry out a feasibility study, it is quite probable that Desert Xpress will have cleared the planning process and start construction before this happens, assuming of course that they are able to raise the required funds.