SM42 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 TOPS says there are 15 DBS 66s in Poznan. Not seen any there yet though, but I suspect that Poznan Glowny is not the place to see them (Poznan Franowo may be a better bet) and maybe Poznan is only a location of computing convenience and they are in fact all over the place. Sean, have ago at compressing your pictures. I for one would like to see them. I use my own PCs picture editor which gives a range of pre-selected sizes to choose from. (800x600 is about right) Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted January 21, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2014 Lovely stuff. I've done Wolsztyn in 2003 and 4 and loved it. I then went to Ukraine in 2005 and it was a bit of a waste of money as the authorities wouldn't give our depot any good coal. Probably the best parts were the driving when you actually got a turn and riding in the tenders whilst coasting downgrade from the mountains (drinking Vodka as well). We had translators on the footplate which was helpful as I couldn't work out how to say hardly anything, unlike Poland where I could just about communicate to be polite. The two depots we visited at Kiev on the way home were amazing. No steam but reminiscent of (say) a big BR shed in the early 70s. Sadly I lost all my Ukraine pics from a hacking incident on one of my old PCs....really very annoying. I'm going to see if any of my few remaining Wolsztyn pics are OK for putting up on here. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Never actually done any driving but have been to couple of the parades at Wolsztyn. Sheer steamy madness. My favourite memory is the opening ceremony (At least I think that's what it was) that took place on the level crossing. Various local dignatries, officials and assorted others all stood in the middle of the crossing in front of two steam locos. Cue frantic tooting as the service train to Poznan approaches. Personages upon level crossing step back, train passes and then ceremony continues as if nothing had happened. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 5944 Posted January 21, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2014 EU07-096 east of Poznan... ...and then again a few hours later passing Zbąszyń a couple of hours later! Both taken 13th December 2013. Not my most successful trip to Poland. I went out there for the last two days of steam on the Wolsztyn - Poznan line. Unfortunately, Ol49-59 failed on the Thursday night, so the 'final' day of steam was a DMU! The day was therefore spent chasing modern traction. Well, modern as far as Poland goes. Whatever the problem with the Ol49, it was serious enough for it to be dragged to Leszno during the day where it stayed for nearly a month. 3E/1 no. 140 004-5 heads a rake of empty flat wagons between Zbaszynek and Zbąszyń The trip wasn't a complete waste of time, as despite the weather on the Thursday I managed one sunny shot of Ol49-59. Rest of the photos at And a few shots from January 2013 at Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Andy. I'll try and compress the pictures, but I'm even more ancient than an EU06 so may not have success. Bit of a dinosaur when it comes to anything more than simple uploading you see..... Cheers. Sean. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted January 21, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2014 Those Wolsztyn area pics are excellent. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 I'm even more ancient than an EU06 Ah the EU06. A rare beast indeed Such a creature at Chabowka museum in foul weather. Luckily, shortly after this shot was taken the museum staff rounded up a couple of chairs so we could sit in the warm in the middle of the small museum / ticket office to dry off. Polish hospitality at its best. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 ...and Polish weather at its worst! Good to see that at least one EU06 is being preserved - though I wonder whether in working order as I'd expect it to be based at Krakow-Prokociem if it was. I understand all have now been withdrawn from service. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I think this EU06 is in working order A couple of days later in the wee early hours of the morning (We had recently caught the 0359hrs ( ) service from Zakopane) it was sat out under the wires in Chabowka station with driver, a couple of coaches and a Ty42 (in steam) attached. No idea where it was off to though. Oh and I've seen Polish weather worse. At least there wasn't 3 inches of water where the road used to be. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted January 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2014 I have a few more of these from 2003 if anyone wants to see them. Not great quality but usually interesting if not artistic. Wolstzyn Shed Yard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Yes please Mallard To keep us going here are some shots from the 2010 steam parade at Wolsztyn And finally a bit of craziness from the Poles Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted January 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2014 That parade is just a huge circus and there are always thousands of people there. Anyway, a few more of the Shed area: P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 That parade is just a huge circus and there are always thousands of people there. You're right it is a circus and there are thousands (50,000 I believe attended in 2012, me included) All good fun though. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who turn up. I don't for a minute believe they are all enthusiasts. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Every so often the plinthed loco has come up in this topic, so here a few that I have found on my travels. I'm pretty sure I've got the locations right but if I haven't please let me know. Krakow Plaszow station Kalisz station ?? Zbaszynek (Tp3 36) Kluczbork (Ty45 149) Torun Glowny Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
teigrekty2 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Good evening gentlemen, my name is Maciek, I was born and raised in Poland but now live in the USA. I found this forum through polish forum I'm a member of and decided to join in. I especially like the older communist era pictures of polish trains as they remind me of what the railroad was like. Every year I travel to Poland as I have a lot of family there and of course for train chasing opportunities. I'm originally from Lower Silesia so most of my travels concentrate there, back when I grew up (grew up being used here very loosely) two main classes of steam locomotives that were working through my home town were TKt48 and Ty2 (kriegs locomotives). The TKt48 tank locomotives were used to pull short passenger trains and Ty2s pulled freight trains, in mid eighties unfortunately TKt48s were replaced by heavy SP45 (now SU45) and SU46 diesels completely unsuited for the line which went through my home town. Ty2s held on little longer gradually substituted by SM42 switchers, once I even saw an ST43 Romanian build diesel, again heavy for the line which was laid by Prussians before WW I. By the time the line was shut down in late 1996 or early 1997 the authorities figured out to put SP42 diesels (offshoot of SM42) on passenger trains. Anyway I enjoy your conversations and pictures and will post some of my own from my recent travels, Maciek Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Hi Maciek, and welcome to RmWeb. I for one am always interested to see photos and hear stories and snippets of information on the railways of Poland (and the USA, come to that), so please feel free to contribute what you have. Interesting comment about the TKt48s. Although designated as freight locomotives, they seem to have been used more frequently on passenger trains (and why they mostly carried green livery), yet seldom seem to have been used to their full capacity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Every so often the plinthed loco has come up in this topic, so here a few that I have found on my travels. I'm pretty sure I've got the locations right but if I haven't please let me know. Krakow Plaszow station Kalisz station ?? Zbaszynek (Tp3 36) Kluczbork (Ty45 149) Torun Glowny Andy Excellent photos, Andy. May I add a few details? Krakow Plasow: TKp-2239 0-8-0T. Industrial, ex-Huta Lenina HL-16, built Chranow 1950. I think the next one isTKi3-120 at Ostrow. (KPEV T9, built Union 1914) ... Torun Gl:, TKh49-5664 0-6-0T. Industrial, ex-Melno sugar factory, built Chrzanow 1960. (Falsely carries PKP eagle plates). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Thanks for that Eddie and welcome Maciek The reason I thought number 2 was at Kalisz is that it co-incided with other pics taken in the town of that name. I don't remember ever getting off at Ostrow but as I seem to spend more time on trains in Poland (safer than driving) than Britain nowadays and PKP seem to have many and varied routes between two towns I get easily confused, so you could be right. (edit you are, just checked on google maps) The loco at Plaszow didn't have any discernible identity and was disappearing behind an adjacent tree so it's nice to be able to put a number to the face Here's the front view Unfortunatley I didn't keep any records of where I've been and what photos I took and where. It's all done from memory and putting the pieces together after the event. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james37420 Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Just checking everyone interested knew that today was the last day Wolsztyn-Leszno services operated with steam. Pkp and the local government couldn't come to an agreement on the contract so no steam at the moment theres more details at. polishrail.wordpress.com for anyone interested and I would urge anyone who has a spare 5 minutes to write to the parties involved to urge them to reinstate steam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 That is very sad news. Sorry to hear that. Cheers. Sean. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bon Accord Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Hope springs eternal that a deal can still be done as it'd be a great loss to Wolsztyn and Polish tourism, the annual parade is something to behold in itself. I'm off to Wolsztyn a week on Friday and whilst a special is running on the Saturday, my planned Driving/Firing turns on the Sunday and Monday are off, although we await firm news. Still, the Saturday is a 270 mile round trip on the main line with steam, so I may well need Sunday for my back to recover! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 There's something of a campaign being run locally by Radio Merkury, comments invited on this webpage (English is ok, and there are some familiar names among the respondents): http://www.radiomerkury.pl/informacje/pozostale/leszno-wolsztyn-bez-parowozow.html (Thanks to Continental Railway Circle Yahoo Group for alerting me to it). Although Wolsztyn had become a preservation/tourist operation, it did have a seamless history of steam operation, some of the locomotives never being offially withdrawn by PKP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Jamieson Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Have just come across this thread. Visited Poland a number of times between 1989 and 1997, mainly for the Sroda and Gniezno narrow gauge lines, but I also photographed some standard gauge steam - Wolsztyn, of course, and the lines from Jarocin to Czempin and Leszno. I've already posted a dozen shots to the German Fotocommunity site and these can be found here :- http://www.fotocommunity.de/fotograf/bill-jamieson/fotos/pkp-schmalspur/781646 http://www.fotocommunity.de/fotograf/bill-jamieson/fotos/pkp-normalspur/781643 I notice that some time back Eddie mentioned Pikus, the shed dog at Sroda. Although he was an ever present feature of the depot during the early to mid '90s, I'm afraid I also failed to record him on film. However I'm sure his kennel does feature in a couple of pictures - must look them out! Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Just back from the motherland and whilst I was there the results of a meeting, on the future of steam operations from Wolsztyn, between the interested parties that was held on the 18th April were reported on the TV News. Using my bad Polish and a sketchy translation from Mrs SM42 (she wasn't really paying attention) , it appears that at the meeting, an agreement to reach and agreement was reached. There does seem to be some will to continue operatons and it was agreed that costs should be shared. I understand such details will be the subject of a further meeting on, I think, the 30th April. There does appear to be some hope unless my translator has let me down or things have moved on whilst I have been in, effectively, a news blackout for the last 8 days or so Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Yesterday morning, I noted an EWS liveried class 66 in the yard at Ligota on the outskirts of Katowice. Wasn't quick enough to get the number, sadly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.