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

The narrow gauge railway runs for about 23 miles through dense tropical forest and follows a river, over a considerable climb before dropping down into Strahan. The middle section is rack on the Abt system. It was originally built to carry timber to the coast for shipment overseas. It closed down in the 1970’s but with the help of a government grant (would you believe it) to promote tourism, it was completely rebuilt a few years ago and is a very popular tourist attraction. Well worth a visit if you go to the island. The story of the railway from its inception to resurrection would fill a book and does.

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

Visit Report. Alan Baxter reporting on his journey through these countries en to Switzerland Friday 17 September:
Train 9120 St. Pancras to Brussels at 08.27 arrival at Brussels Midi on time.
Then I took the 12.03 Liège/Dinant (sets 409/420) as far as Namur for one night's stay at the Grand Hotel de Flandres directly opposite the station. Afterwards I observed the action in the sunshine from Platforms 4/5. I hadn't been there 10 min when a freight appeared from the Liège direction double-headed by SNCF BB67563/529. I haven't seen this class at Namur previously and I assume it's a new working. As the day wore on it was noted that all freight was either using Athus-Meuse or going to/from Liège area and that nothing at all was using Line 162, which would seem to be as a result of Class 23 being taken off freight.

There were some interesting passenger workings in the peak, including a Liège/Dinant formed of two DD push-pull sets with 2757 in the middle and 2746 at the rear. EC295 showed up with one of the colourful Alsace TER200 sets, minus DVT, which normally work Strasbourg-Basel. Presumably by this time next year some of the new stock currently on order will be in traffic and we will see the last of these awful old AM62/63/65 sets.

Saturday 18 September: Today I was making for Chur on EC91 which is 07.33 ex-Brussels Midi and 08.41 off Namur. I noted that the previous Luxembourg service, due into Namur at 0738, was 40 minutes late. The Dinant at 0811 was 20 down and so, eventually, was EC91 which hove in sight headed by 2005 just before 0900.

There is only one IC each way and so one would suppose that the re-electrification work, due for completion in 2014, should proceed relatively unhindered. A sign of the times was at Stockem yard where the total cessation of Line 162 freight was reflected in an almost empty main yard, there being a solitary engineers' train with 5531/19. Likewise Arlon was almost deserted without its usual weekend gathering of Class 23.

The right hand line onwards to Luxembourg has now been re-electrified, and we passed a CFL push-pull set prior to entering Luxembourg which would suggest that we have one track for 3000V dc and one for 25kV ac.

At Luxembourg SNCF BB15021 was waiting to attach itself to what had been the rear of the train. Thionville has a large dump of BB 16500 in the yard north of the station, and 16770/754/715/752 were identifiable. Thionville also has a good allocation of BB 69000 which were mixing with the regular BB 27000/37000. Later on there was a line of 6xBB1 6500 in the loop at Saverne, ex-Strasbourg by the look of things and 16671/712/736 were noted.

Arrival in Basel was at 1440 and as I passed through Customs (empty!) I could hear the announcement of a 1447 to Chur, so that the resourceful SBB had a spare set (an Ersatzzug!) on standby to cover for a late running EC91. No doubt the stock of EC91 would be used for a Basel-Zurich service as the return EC90 goes from Zurich via Rheinfelden.

In the meantime I contented myself with the 1533 Basel-Chur with 460 055 in charge of the usual DD set. Since December 2008 the xx33 services have run fast to Zurich and then only Sargans and Landquart arriving in Chur in 139 minutes for 129 miles. The intermediate stops are taken care of by the xx47 departures from Basel which take 176 minutes with 12 stops. Arrival in Chur was on time at 1752 and I was staying for four nights at the Hotel Freieck, my regular haunt.

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

Visit Report. Alan Baxter reports on his travels in Ocober 2010
Friday 1 October:  Köln-West.   This is the first station going out of Köln towards Bonn on the West Bank.   It sees a lot of freight traffic heading to/from Gremberg yard and it was plenty busy during the couple of hours I was there in the afternoon.  There were several HGK Vossloh diesels and also the same company's DE13 but strangely enough no Class 66s and no class 185s belonging to the company.  Three SNCB Class 28s 2808/19/28 were seen and also 145 CL 204 (145 100) in among the standard DB motive power. 

Köln-West is served by trains making for the line towards Kall/Gerolstein, RB48 Bonn-Wuppertal and the Mittel Rheinbahn Class 460s on services to/from Mainz.  RE5 Koblenz-Emmerich does not stop here.  Königswinter later on was fairly steady with a good mix of DB and private motive power, including a pair of 143s numbered 110/112 and a new MRCE 189 104.

Saturday 2 October: A Rhein-Ruhr circular.   When I was in Köln in 1998, all the S-Bahn services serving the Hbf were Class 143 (except Gummersbach which was 218) and there were only 2 emus in the area (420 305/8).  Now only S6 Köln-Essen is still loco-hauled and this is due to convert to emu operation in December 2011.  

I took S6 from Köln Hbf, and this particular working had the 143 at the rear.  It was not the smoothest of rides, there being untidy starts and stops throughout.  This service runs alongside the main lines to Düsseldorf Hbf, and then turns right beyond Düsseldorf-Derendorf.   It runs via Ratigen Ost and passes through some surprisingly rural scenery as it runs round the south side of Essen before entering Essen Hbf at the east end.  

From here I took another S-Bahn service out to Wanne-Eickel, which is a gathering point for locos at the weekend.  The service goes from Platform 21 which is a long hike from the main station, and was formed of 422 070, one of the later examples of this class.  The stabling sidings adjacent to Wanne-Eickel Hbf held 140 024, the last example of this class to be in the old orientrot livery, 185 005, 151 155 and 155 073 plus four examples of Class 294.
From here I got an RE to Mönchengladbach with 146 007 at the rear of DD stock, which runs via Essen and Duisburg.  The yard at Krefeld works was full of various items of stock under repair, but I didn't notice any new-build.  

I continued to Aachen on another DD set headed by 111 016, passing 189 999 and 189 106 stabled at the south end of the station.  Further on, at Herzogenrath, there was a gathering of private stuff, 185 600, 189 290, 145 092 and 145 100 (CL204) being identified.   Aachen West yard was host to 185 617 and 145 099 (CL203), and SBB Cargo Re482 027/010.  It was then back to Köln on RE1, 146 009 with DD stock.  We passed 185 590, another Crossrail loco, shortly after leaving Aachen, and 182 525 also went past with westbound freight.   Later on back at Königswinter 185 524 in blue livery and MRCE 189 910 were among the items noted.

Monday 4 October: A Lahn Valley circular. 
The Rhein East Bank line was quiet, with it being a Monday, and only a couple of freights passed on the way to Koblenz (189 056 and 185 254).   At Koblenz a late-running IC to Stuttgart was first to appear at Platform 4 (101 133) and I took this as far as Mainz, then took a Frankfurt S-Bahn train (a 420 set) to Frankfurt Hbf.  Bischofsheim yard had only a single freight in it, double-headed by 185 381/346, and Railpool 185 674 was sitting at Russelheim.   Frankfurt Hbf was busy with intending passengers, and late-running trains featuring.  

I caught a DD to Limburg headed by 143 227, a pleasant run via Idstein through fairly hilly country. The Köln-Frankfurt NBS parallels this line a short distance to the west.   Limburg is the end of electric traction and the Lahn Valley line east and west and the line to Montabaur are all diesel operated.  The shorter workings, including those to Koblenz, have been worked by Vectus since the end of 2006, using their fleet of 2-car dmus which are numbered as Class 648.  There is also a 2-hourly RE service from Koblenz to Giessen which is Class 612 operated. 

I took one of the Lahn Valley stoppers, formed of Vectus 648 168, and recalled that the first time I had travelled this route, in 1999, it was in 628 674 which was so badly graffiti'd that there was no view through the right side of the train.  The Lahn Valley line back to Koblenz is another pretty run, largely single track down to the junction with the Rhein East Bank line at Niederlahnstein thence into Koblenz and finally back to Königswinter. 

Monday is not usually tremendously busy for freight yet that particular Monday evening was the busiest in my time there.  The traction included 4xClass 140 from the old order, and BB37517/9 of the Veolia batch of locos along with BB37002, there was a SBB Cargo combination of Re482 049 and 421 377, and privately-owned 185 and 189 mixing in with the DB examples of these classes.  Also appearing were two trains operated by 66s PB20 and ERS6611.  It is believed that ERS is intending to acquire some electric locos so that diesel workings from Rotterdam to Basel should eventually cease.  There was no sign of the NIAG diesels which had regular workings along the Rhein Valley last year.

Tuesday 5 October:
This was my last full day in Germany and so I decided to go to Würzburg to see what was happening since I was last there in April.   ICE623 was late leaving Köln because it was awaiting access to Platform 5 where ICE614 from München to Dortmund was also late.  This happens more often than it ought to. 

DB have decided that running all its NBS ICEs heading towards Würzburg via Frankfurt Hbf and thus incurring a 20 min time penalty, is better than having intending passengers struggling onto the S-Bahn to make their way to Frankfurt Süd.   Bankers at Laufach were 151 016/150, no sign of 1020 041 which is often to be found there.

Würzburg was wonderfully busy and in just under 3 hours 35 freights passed through. At one point there were 4 freights in the station area waiting to go north and one going south.
There was one southbound freight with two of MEG's 143s, 143 851 (MEG603) and 143 864 (MEG606), and then a 142 belonging to Westfalische Almetalbahn bearing numbers 142 126 and DP57, headed south. Another southbound freight was in charge of SBB Cargo Re421 395/376 and MWB's 212 247 coupled behind. 

New private locos included 185 676 (Railpool) and 189 280/112 (MRCE).  Most of the DB stuff was Classes 152/185 but other classes were represented.  The passenger side was also busy.  The inevitable 1016 008 turned up with IC2082/4 to Hamburg - the only IC to pass while I was there.  ICE586 München-Hamburg was formed of 2 ICE2s with the power cars together in the middle of the train.  I thought that this arrangement was not allowed!   The Class 440s have at last entered traffic on local workings and examples of the 3-car and 4-car versions were noted.  The MRCE locos which were working REs from Frankfurt to Würzburg have gone back to working freight and Class 111 has once again taken over this service together with Nürnberg-based Class 146.2 which work through from Frankfurt to Nürnberg via Bamberg.


Return to Köln was in ICE624 which, gratifyingly, was a pair of ICE3 sets, plenty of empty seats which saved me having to stand in the vestibule as happened last year!  This service uses the low-level platforms at Köln Messe/Deutz where the access to the main line platforms is by a steep staircase.
 
Wednesday 6 October: Back to Blighty.  Before going for my train at Köln I watched some freight firstly at Königswinter and then at Köln West.  The Classic Courier train with its preserved loco 1042 520 passed south through Königswinter, where we had 12 freights in 90 minutes.  At Köln West there were some more HGK diesels among the other motive power, plus 185 674 which I had seen several times at different locations during my holiday (it turned up again at Aachen Hbf later).

Eventually it was time to board ICE14 to Brussels (406 002) which was very busy in 1st class.  The journey to Brussels is now very quick since the NBS opened between Aachen and Liège.  Bankers at Liège were 2315/81/82.  At Schaarbeek depot I noted my first Class 18, 1809 which has been operating test trains all over Belgium and into Luxembourg.  Hopefully there will be more of these machines in traffic by the time of my next holiday but I'm not holding my breath! 
Eurostar 9153 was 3 min late in leaving Midi but otherwise the run back through the tunnel to St. Pancras was uneventful and we landed back there on time after another glorious holiday.

Visit Report. Alan Baxter reporting.
Friday 09 April 2010. Eurostar 9120 from St. Pancras, slow running past the site of February's crash at Buizingen, which extended all the way into Midi. ICE15 at 1225 was 406 001. No class 18 were sighted. I hear that 45 or so of these machines have been delivered but SNCB has not accepted any of them into traffic - miserable performers under dc catenary or something.

Köln: Before RB27 arrived at 1500 the previous departure from Platform 5 was a train of IC stock topped and tailed by two of the very rare Class 113, 267/309. RB27 was DD stock with 143 837 on the rear. Porz am Rhein now has its new station, an island just north of the previous old wooden structure which has been completely demolished.

Between Bonn-Oberkassel and Niederdollendorf some new track-work has been laid on the east side of the running lines, this is for the extension of the S-Bahn from Troisdorf to Linz am Rhein which is due for completion in 2014.

Konigswinter: the most interesting item to pass was the last of the Veolias, BB37531.

Köln West: the first station out of the Hbf on the line to Bonn Hbf and is a single island platform with freight lines on the east side. It is a good place to see HGK motive power and several of their diesels went past while I was there, including the inevitable Class 66, DE63. There was also a Vossloh G1206 numbered V2106 with MWB logos. A number of Class 189 were observed and an SNCB class 28 2808 headed north with a container train. The passenger side was also busy and 113 268 passed with IC stock heading towards Köln Hbf.

Saturday 10 April:
Köln: Saturday traffic in the Hbf at times there seemed to be too much traffic for the 9 platforms, particularly when there is late running and ICE3s are clogging up the middle of the station coupling and uncoupling and reversing. A motley selection of passenger stock came in topped by 115 154 and tailed by 110 329 in garish livery. ICE27 arrived on time formed of 411 061, this is one of the hourly services running down the Rhein Valley as far as Mainz. 186 181 with ITL logos was sitting at Köln-Eifeltor yard. Beyond Mainz the service heads for Frankfurt Hbf via the Flughafen. All trains from the Köln direction and making for Würzburg and beyond go in and out of the Hbf thus adding 25-30min to the journey time. Captrain's 186 149 was sitting at Aschaffenburg, and there was only one banker at Laufach which was 151 012.

Würzburg: The first interesting item was IC2082/4 Bertchesgaden/Oberstdorf-Hamburg which was OBB 1116 111 with DB stock. Presumably there is a service somewhere which uses OBB stock with a DB loco. The Frankfurt-Würzburg REs were hauled, in push-pull mode, by 185 552/4-7 in Mitsui black livery, the previous 111s having been borrowed to work in the München area. Some of the new stock in the form of Class 440 was sitting in Würzburg yard, this has not yet been accepted into traffic. Two 4-car sets, 440 038/041, were labelled Main-Franken Bahn and are identical to the Fuggers which were put into service around Augsburg last year. There was also a 3-car set 440 305 which had bicycle compartments in 2 of its coaches and doesn't look a particularly comfortable train to travel in. On the freight side 185 672 (EVB) went through southbound and two Vossloh types 271 020 and 275 846 with logos XR Gleislogistik were in the yard. A 218, 218 304 (D Bahn Gleisbau) ran through light engine north and there was even a 140, 140 353, in among the selection of 152s and 185s and Dispoloks which form the regular freight workings through this busy location. Another class which is rare in this area nowadays is class 155 and 155 016, which had been reinstated from the dump at Rostock, went past with a southbound freight.

Sunday 11 April: Würzburg Hbf 1100-1900.
Another busy day for traffic passing. The first item was 1116 111 returning with the train it had worked north the previous day. The next working of IC2082/4 at 1440 was 1016 005. ITL 189 200 worked north and three brand new 189s in Mitsui black, 189 153/2/5, went north light engines. A big Voith diesel with EVN 264 008 and logo Schienen Guter Logistik was pottering about in the yard. Later a Vossloh 2000 EVN 272 409, also carrying V204 and logo Rurtalbahn went north through Platform 5 with freight and a 66 with numbers DE6307 and 266 102 passed through Platform 1 in a southbound direction with a container train. Then another container train went south behind Cargoserv's 1216 930. Two of EBWs Class 221s then arrived in the yard. There was also a good mix of Dispolok 182 and 189 among the standard DB classes which even included 140 028 with southbound flats as a representative of the golden oldies. Local passenger traffic was mainly Class 111, with 146.2 and DD stock working Würzburg-Nurnberg via Bamberg, the occasional train going to/from Frankfurt. Class 143 was on the 2-hourly Stuttgart REs. There were also Class 612 formations on the even hour to Erfurt/Bad Kissingen, and at 36min past the even hour to Hof/Bayreuth. The other dmu working was a 628 to Lauda (on the line to Stuttgart) and then to Bad Mergentheim - this working was occasionally a 642. Long distance stuff was mainly ICE sets but there were two ICs for Hamburg/Flensburg which were hauled by 120 126 and 120 127.

Monday 12 April: A circular tour was planned outward to Hof then to Nürnberg and back to Würzburg. 612 064 formed the 0836 to Hof with 612 060 coupled behind which was for Bayreuth. The train left Würzburg on the left hand of three tracks as far as Rottendorf where the line towards Hof doubles and swings away from the line to Nurnberg. The first stop was at Schweinfurt where there was a connection available to Bad Kissingen/Erfurt, worked by the Erfurterbahn's single dmu sets of Class 650. The next junction is Bamberg where the train reversed before heading towards Lichtenfels.

Beyond this place we left the main line through the Frankenwald and made for the junction station of Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg where the portion for Bayreuth was detached. 50 3690 was on view in the DDM yard as well as some coaching stock. Following this there was a long stretch of single line through pleasant hilly country before joining the Saxon main line at Oberkotzau and running a short distance north to Hof. Hof is the last station before the old border, the Saxon main line remaining open during the Cold War, where the major IC service was Dresden-München worked by Class 218.

This continued until 2001 when DB introduced its new Class 605 to the route. These units were not successful, and DB next had the weird idea of painting 17 of its Class 612 in IC livery and putting those to work at the end of 2003. DB then had second thoughts about 612 as an IC unit and restored the Class 218 workings a year later but only until the end of 2006 when 612s returned, the service now downgraded to IR/IRE and cut back to Nürnberg.

We now have an hourly service alternately via Marktredwitz and via Bayreuth each taking around 4hr 15 min which is a long time to spend in a 612 without tilt! Hof then is mainly 612 with shorter services worked by 628 or by Arriva's single sets numbered as Class 650/654. A service to Regensburg is worked by Arriva's class 223 with hauled stock and 223 067 was in the yard with one such working. There was also 223 004 in Dispolok livery on freight. The electrification from Reichenbach, 44 miles north, is now in progress and will probably bring Class 143 to Hof as there are no emus in the old East. The 1437 to Nürnberg was a pair of 612s travelling a line which does not go under the wires until just outside Nürnberg Hbf. The precursor to the tilting 611 and 612, the class 610, is still working around Nürnberg. Return to Würzburg was in single deck stock with 111 226.

Tuesday 13 April: Today's outing was another circle, Würzburg to Passau then München and back to Würzburg. Before the train to Passau arrived at 09.31 another of the new 189s, 189 156 went south and a regular to the area, WLE 22 (EVN 223 056) headed north. The 09.31 to Wien was previously EC25 withÖBB stock topped and tailed by Class 1116, but has been a Class 411 since December 2007, in this case 411 059.

At Nurnberg a DB shunter with number 214 018 was sitting and I take this to be the previous 203 118. (No! 203s are ex DR 202 whilst 214s are ex DB 212- Ed) There were three Dispoloks 182 528/599/563 sitting coupled together at Regensburg, also two of the Arriva Class 183 002/005, and 223 067, another Arriva loco which had been seen the previous day, was arriving with a train from the Hof direction. Plattling contained another of the new class 440, this time 440 043 wearing the label Donau-Isar Bahn. Then a pleasant run beside the Donau before an on time arrival at Passau. This location was quiet and only 1044 036 and 1142 698 arrived and 628 578 left before I joined the train to München which was single deck stock with 111 107 at the rear. We passed the stabling point which is west of Passau Hbf, this contained 1044 017, 1016 008, 1116 279, 185 339 and RTS 2016 907, and continued back to Plattling before branching left on the single track to Landshut on the Regensburg-München line where 440 203, a five-car version of the new stock, was in the yard on a test run.

Landshut stabling point is south of the station and identifiable locos here were 185 294/359/136, 151 074/129 and 232 502. On the approach to München 1116 198 with historic stock was running in on a parallel track, and two more of the Arriva 183 001/003 were stabled outside the Hbf. München was busy with a great number of the early 111s, including 111 002, going about their business. I then joined 401 004 for the trip back to München. We stopped at Ingolstadt which has a busy yard, and two of the locos here were SBB Cargo Re482 038 and HGK DH704. Beyond Nürnberg another of the reinstated 155s, 155 040 was waiting to join the main line at Fürth.

This passed through Würzburg about half an hour after I got back, and its arrival coincided with the arrival of 143 922 from Stuttgart. The interest in this loco is that in its previous guise as 243 922 it was one of two locos hired to the Swiss SOB in 1990. The other was numbered 250 252 at the time and later became 155 252.

Howard Forster- Thursday 10/06/10
Prora Museum. It was only possible to see the exhibits in the main viewing areas. The P36 and all of the standard gauge steam & electric locos listed in the LCGB book were on view. In a side room was an exhibition of some of the Kofs from the collection. The only narrow gauge locos on display were three ex army diesels. Fire engines, cars, some of the trams and a MIG fighter were the other exhibits.

Mukran. 47 232s remained in store.
There appeared to be little work for the railway, as the shed was locked up and the offices deserted. In the shed area were six 347s, one 290 & two 291s. Locked up in the shed were two brand new, grey painted, unnumbered big diesels, presumably for export. Interestingly, on the walls of the shed are permanent notices stating that photography is forbidden.

Putbus It was not possible to gain access to the two road shed, but we were informed that it was empty. “99.4011” was being coaled between workings. 52/3 MH both in green livery were in the yard. 251.901 was shed pilot. Not previously listed 199.008 0-6-0 DH was also present.

(Photos Howard Forster) Along past the station, 99.4652 with a rake of stock was at the museum. Locked up in the small shed was a small black diesel which may have been “Kof 6001”. Storedalongside the line, opposite the museum were: 99.783, CFR 764.431, ”99.4603” & 99.594, all in reasonably good condition.


Friday 11/06/10, Pasewalk. On the assumption that one of the small diesels with no ID was LKM 252066/59, then the locos listed in the LCGB book were present. Also on site were ASF 1 ex Chemnitz, 312.253 & another 4w DH by Gmeinder.

Back to Index

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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