I took a lot of photos while in europe this year. I'll just start with some of the more interesting discoveries.
They do excursions. This one runs in Slovenia. But they had steam much longer over there. Some info on the loco: http://www.burger.si/MuzejiInGalerije/ZelezniskiMuzej/Lokomotive/ENGLokomotiva_33-037.htm Iteresting to think of a 2-10-0 as a passenger loco.
Dual-service, actually. But, yes, unusual to find a route so short and a passenger train so heavy that a Decapod would be even slightly tempting.
Ok, the steam engine has actually been posted on here years go by alan when he lived over in croatia. Spotted in Transalpina Station, Nova Goriza, SLO. More here: https://www.sloveniaholidays.com/eng/museum-train-transalpina-radovljica.html The D220 is basically a german V200 model, built in the 60's. It is now owned by a private railway Ferrovie Emilia Romagna. Spotted at Porto Vescovo station, Verona, IT. The rail car is a 1950's design, likely built in the 60's. Seems to still keep its original colors and is run by the Italian state railway company. Spotted in Porta nuova station, Verona IT. It was sort of a shock to see so many older things. I have a lot of photos of newer trains too. Their modern passenger service is actually really amazing, Since it was only a little bit more to ride 1st class I opted to go for that. You get snacks and drinks like in an airplane, and the seats are reserved.
Something a bit more modern. Siemens Train Division 190 class 302. Only two of these exist for this railway designated 301 and 302, so it's sort of a treat to have seen one of them. They are used by a private railway Ferrovie Udine Cividale, which is pronounced Fook. Sadly they did not consider how the acronym would translate to english speakers. So yes, this is the FUC train. You saw it first here. All these shots are in Gorizia CLE in Italy in sept 2017. The videos are shot there as well, but they are not my videos. All locos of this class are designated the same in Italy as 190, with the number designator being unique to each loco regardless of what company owns it. The major spotting feature on these is the dual, or quad pantographs. I managed to miss getting that shot. The train showed up as I was leaving and I ran back and only had a few minutes to get images. Each pair of pantographs are for running under the different voltages between the countries. These locos also see some passenger service into Hungary. The real thing on these is the sound. These are space ships. It's really mazing to hear them take off. The lower video is one of the 190's designated with the - World Record 357 Km/h - paint scheme. These are easily the coolest locos in europe right now.
I have to say I am addicted to seeing them too. It's the british influence on continental trains. They still do left hand running as well.
Time was, when I was a lot younger, I had no interest in European trains. Now, I love 'em. I think it all started when I traded one American Treble-O boxcar for a whole slew of Treble-O-Lectric English stuff from a friend over there. The boxcar is extremely rare and worth quite a bit of money but I didn't care. I was thrilled to get the British stuff. Doug
That's really cool. Over the years I've owned and sold quite a bit of that British brand. I think the only thing I have left is a switch tower.
D753 733 and 732 Spotted these pair in Verona Porta Vescovo station. The station is named after the gate in the city's outer wall that was built during the era of Napoleon. In fact both Stations are named after these outer wall gates. Porta Vescovo and Porta Nuova. As I came up the stairs I spootted this thing down the way. I knew instantly I wasn't looking at an Italian train at all. My immediate thought was Russian Design. I will post some detail shots and those can tell the rest f the story for you. The blue and white is a Private company. I expect they haul freight with these beasts. Knowing something about these kinds of diesels, I also expect that they were built in the 50's or 60's, but I could be wrong. I will do some research later. I even managed to cross paths with an Italian railfan. He took off before I could talk to him, but he kept eyeing me suspiciously. I must be violating his private hunting grounds. #732 was parked in the yard nearby. More to come in a few seconds...
A couple off shots from Venice station as I was leaving. If you like passenger trains, then these are worth checking out. NTV waiting to depart for Naples. A Freccia Rossa (red arrow) waiting to depart. There had been some kind of warning about possible terrorism, so they just stopped these trains and everyone boarding got the pat down. Italy takes these threats seriously. As a consequence of their attentiveness they have had very little trouble. They know who the bad guys, or possible bad guys are, and they make sure to visit them at home and say hi, what have you been up , etc. So the bad guys know they are being watched 247, and it gets nipped in the bud. As an idea of how much effort all this takes, the average surveillance crew is 20 officers. This is just a detail shot of some brail brick for blind passengers to use as a guide. A big pet peeve of mine is that a lot of rail fans only take pictures of train cars and locos. How many times have I wanted to get a shot of all the surroundings to see what the structures and track are? Ok, that does it for today.
They really do look like they are wearing goggles. ha ha The PRAHA sort of gave away the origin in the detail shot.
