JAMIE'S RANDOM EUROPEAN AND REST OF THE WORLD RAILWAY PHOTOS.

[brushman47544]

9 minutes ago, Adam88 said:

Regarding graffiti, I once spent two days (2016) working in Rome immediately followed by two more in Madrid.  The difference in the amount of graffiti I saw, albeit from rather limited samples, on the two metro systems was quite amazing.  Rome's was at Parisian levels but I saw none in Madrid.  The worst I saw though was the following year in Romania where I actually had to travel on this disgusting object.

 

 

That’s a former SNCF unit.. I imagine they removed the French graffiti before entering service in Romania.

[roundhouse]

My recollection of many Italian trains isn't good. I have been on some smart high speed trains but even then I have seen doors taped up with Duct tape, toilet doors repaired using a bolt for the knob on fairly new trains, and graffiti which has been on he windows for so long that it is flaking off. I recall being on an modern  EMU in Sicily where the toilet seat couldnt be lifted as it was designed to rotate to clean it every use but he mechanism was all gunged up with toilet paper.

 

I took his photo at the Italian railways station in Tirano in 2002. A complete contrast to the Swiss  train that we came into the other station in town

 

 

[jamie92208]

Thanks for all the replies about the state of Italian Railways.  I have worse to come in due course.  Anyway the tardis is still in Ventiimiglia or Vintmille as the French call it in August 2000.  Here a train is arriving from the east.

Whilst an interloper was in the yard.  I believe that it's a former German loco  that was being used by a track maintenance company.

And another 656.

We have now moved on to 2001 and we had another holiday in Cannes La Bocca.  Not a bad place with a very active railway yard on the seafront. I was allowed my usual day out on the trains and took the local runabout ticket and headed off to Ventimiglia. Here a couple of locos are waiting to head east.

Another of those large shunters was in the yard. And I managed this shot showing an Italian loco with the roundhouse full of SNCF power in the background.

And  DMU was headed in from the Cuneo branch.

The line along the Cote D'Azur is all electrified at 25Kv so the SNCF locos are all dual voltage and change over to 1500DC at the border.

 

Jamie

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by jamie92208

[Johann Marsbar]

6 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 

Whilst an interloper was in the yard.  I believe that it's a former German loco  that was being used by a track maintenance company.

 

 

 

Surely a former SNCB Class 60/61 ?

[EddieB]

2 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

 

Surely a former SNCB Class 60/61 ?

Is it possible to read a "T-number", in which case it may be possible to establish its former identity?

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, EddieB said:

Is it possible to read a "T-number", in which case it may be possible to establish its former identity?

Hi Eddie, by enlarging the original it's T3008.

 

Jamie

[brushman47544]

9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Thanks for all the replies about the state of Italian Railways.  I have worse to come in due course.  Anyway the tardis is still in Ventiimiglia or Vintmille as the French call it in August 2000.  Here a train is arriving from the east.

We have now moved on to 2001 and we had another holiday in Cannes La Bocca.  Not a bad place with a very active railway yard on the seafront. I was allowed my usual day out on the trains and took the local runabout ticket and headed off to Ventimiglia. Here a couple of locos are waiting to head east.

Plenty of Caimano E656 locos. At that time most of the trains were hauled by them, except for some of the longer distance international trains that were hauled by E444 Tartaruga locos.

 

In the first photo the E656 is hauling an MDVC (medium distance vestibule central - i.e. more central doors) coach. In the bottom photo the train in the middle has an MDVE (… extremity) version (doors at the ends) leading. The E656 on that rake is in XPMR livery and is one of the last batch fitted for push-pull working with a “pilota” at the other end. You can tell by the socket just below the FS logo on the cab front and because the angle on the front is lower down when compared to E656.426 in original livery on the train on the right, formed of UIC X coaches. 

[EddieB]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Hi Eddie, by enlarging the original it's T3008.

 

Jamie

That'll teach me - that's not one I have listed!  (Though I did say  "may be possible" and haven't exhausted all sources).

[EddieB]

4 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

Plenty of Caimano E656 locos. At that time most of the trains were hauled by them, except for some of the longer distance international trains that were hauled by E444 Tartaruga locos.

Perhaps we should be calling for any of the Tigre classes (E632, E633 and E652) in honour of the Chinese New Year (or the Cincinnati Bengals reaching the Superbowl)?!

[jamie92208]

Good morning, still, from a bright and sunny Charente.  The tardis is still in Ventimiglia in 2001.

This sign on the wall of an office on the main platform caught my attention. The red lines are the electrified ones. 

This E656 was waiting to depart.

And a more modern looking loco arrived.

Then ran round.

We now skipon to 2002 and this loco was there.  Not sure about the class.

Then back to Cannes La Bocca in 2003 where the carriage sidings full of night stock always provided variety.

  This Slaapwagen from Belgium caught my eye.

The name and it'smassive construction set my imagination racing with thoughts of a Rosa Krebbs style lady welcoming patrons to some sort of S & M experience.

Fortunately such thoughts were easily dispelled by more pleasant sight on the beach behind me.

 

Jamie

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by jamie92208

[31A]

Looking at the French language legend on the map,  I think its purpose is to indicate safe walking routes, depending on the speeds of passing trains (or in some cases not to be used at all when trains are passing)?

 

[brushman47544]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good morning, still, from a bright and sunny Charente.  The tardis is still in Ventimiglia in 2001.

This sign on the wall of an office on the main platform caught my attention. The red lines are the electrified ones. 

This E656 was waiting to depart.

And a more modern looking loco arrived.

Then ran round.

We now skipon to 2002 and this loco was there.  Not sure about the class.

 

 

 

I agree with 31A, the different colour lines indicate safe walking routes under different conditions. You still now hear safety messages at larger stations referring to the "Linea Gialla", addressed to passengers.

 

The "more modern looking" loco is an E444R and is older than the E656. The E444s were FS's first high speed locos (200km/h) introduced from the 1960s. They were rebuilt in the 1990s with new cabs with extra safety features for the drivers. Its in the first version of the XMPR livery, the later standard version having white cab fronts and other minor differences.

 

The other unidentified loco is an E646 dating from the 1950s. This one E646.129 has reinforced cab windows, similar to those fitted as new to the earlier batches of E656. E656.522 in your first photo is from the penultimate batch and has black rubber seals round the cab windows instead of aluminium. The head/tail lights are also different on this batch.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a bright and looking to be sunny Charente.  The tardis has now moved on a couple of years and to a different continent.  It's January 2005 and my wife and i were having a short break on the banks of the Red Sea in Egypt near a town called Hurgarda.  My main memory of that is seeing a plinthed Mig at the airport. With all the very visible security i didn't get my camera out as the airport was a joint military/civilian establishment.  This was my first time in Africa.   We stayed in a resort about 12 miles north of the town and during the fortnight we went on a 2 day excursion to Luxor and the valley of the Kings.  Setting off at stupid o Clock, our bus was eventually formed, with others into a heavily guarded convoy to head across the eastern desert towards the Nile valley.  At one point we crossed a rather dusty looking railway line.1

As we approached the Nile there was a large railway yard of some kind on the horizon.

We  then turned south alongside a canal and I started to see railway wagons being loaded with sugar cane on tracks on the opposite bank.

There were tracks on both banks and every so often a bridge across.  This loco was waiting at one crossing.

A slightly better photo through the coach window as we passed.

More wagons being loaded.

Something rather different.

 

Jamie

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny Charente.   The tardis is still in the land of the pharaohs and it's January 2005.  We had a good 2 days in Luxor with the valley of the Kings  and also Carnac as well as Luxor itself.  I did manage to get the tour guide to let me go into the main station and saw a main line loco but didn't dare to take a photo

Coming out of the temple of Carnac I was quite surprised to see this. A tangle of narrow gauge equipment from Decauville and Robert Hudsons.  Hudson's foundry was in the village of Gildersome where we lived at the time.

There were rails and hopper wagon frames and bodies/  Obviously used for moving rubble in the excavations.

All too soon we were on the bas back and more sugar cane railways.

Including a train actually moving.

Typical building, many with the upper storey unfinished, allegedly as a tax dodge.

Then out into the desert and I spied with my little eyes a train approaching on the line that ran down to aport on the Red Sea.

There were a lot of coaches in our convoy that had machine gun mounting jeeps front and back.

 

Jamie 

Edited April 4, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a sunny Charente.  The tardis is still in sunny Egypt in January 2005. Here is a slightly better photo of the train in the eastern desert. I've no idea what the locos are.

Anyway we got back to our resort quite late at night.  The next day I got a dose of Rameses revenge and had to toddle to the pharmacy for antibiotics prescribed over the counter.  I had noticed something railway like on the driveway to the complex and when able to venture out safely took this picture.

Here is the 'power unit'.

And a makers plate which looks like Drewry to me.

The passenger accommodation was a little sparse.

And this plaque was there.   A Dr friend got it translated for me and it apparently  mentions the inauguration of some big railway project. Not a lot of evidence of progress visible.

Jamie

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by jamie92208

[Adam88]

I know little about the railways in this part of the world but much of what I do know came from this 2004 book:

 

 

The Desert Railway:The NZ Railway Group in North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War

Author(s): Brendon Judd

Non Fiction

This is the untold war story of the railwaymen who built and ran the desert railway in North Africa and the Middle East during World War II. In 1940 as the Second World War developed, the New Zealand government called for volunteers from the country's railwaymen to go to North Africa to build and operate a railway system in the Western Desert. Some 1300 Kiwi railwaymen answered the call. From the beginning they were unlikely military men. Although they were called 'sappers', they certainly weren't soldiers. They were also older than the usual young soldier - some had fought in the First World War, at least one at Gallipoli and several had sons serving as soldiers. In the desert, railway lines became the prime means of transporting men, equipment and supplies, sometimes to within a few thousand metres of the line of battle. Running the trains was just as dangerous as fighting on the front line as the Germans were determined to disable this strategic operation. Their adventure culminated in the Battle of Alamein. This is the untold story of railwaymen at war who made a significant contribution to the Allied victory in North Africa.

 

There are very many interesting stories and it was written at a time when many of the survivors were still alive.  The Kiwis were all volunteer railwaymen and their departure left the home railways in a bit of state.  They were split into a construction group and an operating group and of course had to work closely with the local Egyptian railwaymen who were trying to keep their own systems going.

 

I just looked this up again and found an interesting article on the same subject here:

 

CHAPTER 9 — The Western Desert Railway

Edited February 11, 2022 by Adam88

[Fat Controller]

On 08/02/2022 at 11:36, 31A said:

Looking at the French language legend on the map,  I think its purpose is to indicate safe walking routes, depending on the speeds of passing trains (or in some cases not to be used at all when trains are passing)?

 

You're correct: I've seen these in various places, but never one going into such detail. Walking routes are shown as permitted on one side of an occupied track , but forbidden on the other.

Calais (Frethun) Yard has some, in English and French, showing permitted cycling routes. I've never worked out where the bike is stowed on a Class 92...

[EddieB]

The derelict saloon is probably a Baguley-Drewry product - the nearest illustration I can find is of one built in 1935 for South Africa and fitted with Ford B-series petrol engine.

[PhilJ W]

6 hours ago, Adam88 said:

I know little about the railways in this part of the world but much of what I do know came from this 2004 book:

 

 

The Desert Railway:The NZ Railway Group in North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War

Author(s): Brendon Judd

Non Fiction

This is the untold war story of the railwaymen who built and ran the desert railway in North Africa and the Middle East during World War II. In 1940 as the Second World War developed, the New Zealand government called for volunteers from the country's railwaymen to go to North Africa to build and operate a railway system in the Western Desert. Some 1300 Kiwi railwaymen answered the call. From the beginning they were unlikely military men. Although they were called 'sappers', they certainly weren't soldiers. They were also older than the usual young soldier - some had fought in the First World War, at least one at Gallipoli and several had sons serving as soldiers. In the desert, railway lines became the prime means of transporting men, equipment and supplies, sometimes to within a few thousand metres of the line of battle. Running the trains was just as dangerous as fighting on the front line as the Germans were determined to disable this strategic operation. Their adventure culminated in the Battle of Alamein. This is the untold story of railwaymen at war who made a significant contribution to the Allied victory in North Africa.

 

There are very many interesting stories and it was written at a time when many of the survivors were still alive.  The Kiwis were all volunteer railwaymen and their departure left the home railways in a bit of state.  They were split into a construction group and an operating group and of course had to work closely with the local Egyptian railwaymen who were trying to keep their own systems going.

 

I just looked this up again and found an interesting article on the same subject here:

 

CHAPTER 9 — The Western Desert Railway

 

[jamie92208]

Good morning from the Charente.  A tad frosty here but getting brighter.  the tardis has now moved on to September 2005 and we are back in the south of France.  I atook Beth out for the day and we went to Tende on the branch from Nice.  Part way up this is joined by a branch from Ventigmilia that is operated by FS. Here at, IIRC Breil sur Roya we changed onto an FS unit for the trip down and very rocky gorge to Ventimiglia.

Just before joining the coastal line you pass a huge marshalling yard that is usually empty.  However as we got into Ventimiglia this loco was waiting to run back into the station.  

We now move on to September 2007 and we were back in Cannes La Bocca and I was allowed my statutory day out on the train and of course headed off along the coast to Ventimiglia. When I got there I was so busy looking out of the train window at the other stock in the station that I didn't notice that we were moving again.  Hauled by a diesel shunter into the yard at the east end of the station.  This loco was alongside us as we set off.

On the other side of the train was this pairing of an SNCF and an FS unit.

This was what hauled me into the yard.  I did wonder just how far we would go.

I climbed down and nobody paid me any attention so took this photo quickly as I walked south towards the road.

Jamie

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by jamie92208

[brushman47544]

13 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I climbed down and nobody paid me any attention so took this photo quickly as I walked south towards the road.

 

Jamie

 

This is one of the last batch of E656 Caimano locos which I referred to before. You can clearly see lower position of the angle on the cab front unique to this batch and the socket on the cab front for working push-pull with a pilota at the other end. The orange and black disc above the buffer is to indicate it is working in push-pull format and was presumably attached to one of the piano ribassato rakes that can be seen in the photo of the Class D145 shunter..

Edited February 12, 2022 by brushman47544
To correct autocorrect

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon from a nice and sunny Charente.  The tardis is still in Ventimiglia in September 2007.  From the yard I got onto the main road and walked back into town.  I had seen the trolleybus wires before but had never actually seen a bus.  As I walked back towards the main entrance to the station I was lucky enough to see this vehicle.  I believe that the route is the western extremity of the San Remo System.

Then into the station and this E444 had arrived from the east.

This Class 663 DMU was on the Cuneo service at Breil Sur Roya.

The E656 had moved to the other end of it's train.

We now jump forward to June 2008 and we were on out first trip to Portugal.  This is 14th June 2008 and we were in faro where an Alpha Pendular unit was waiting to head back towards Lisbon.  Faro was then the limit of the 25 kv electrification.   

This class 2600  Alstom built loco was also waiting to head a loco hauled train back to Lisbon.

Jamie

Edited April 2, 2022 by jamie92208

[brushman47544]

Nice to see some photos from Portugal. After 14 years I still haven’t caught the train from Lisbon down to Faro, though I’ve been along the line to Lagos. Electrification of the Algarve line is underway, though delayed, from Faro to Vila Real de Santo Antonio. When finished the Lisbon services will be extended, so Faro will presumably need more through lines rather than so many bay platforms. The line to Lagos will follow after that work has finished. I can’t see CP needing more stock though, utilisation is so poor. The unit to the right of the Alfa would have been working the once a day local train north that did not reach Lisbon. That diagram could have been easily covered by other stock on layover rather than the unit sitting idle for most of the day.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, brushman47544 said:

Nice to see some photos from Portugal. After 14 years I still haven’t caught the train from Lisbon down to Faro, though I’ve been along the line to Lagos. Electrification of the Algarve line is underway, though delayed, from Faro to Vila Real de Santo Antonio. When finished the Lisbon services will be extended, so Faro will presumably need more through lines rather than so many bay platforms. The line to Lagos will follow after that work has finished. I can’t see CP needing more stock though, utilisation is so poor. The unit to the right of the Alfa would have been working the once a day local train north that did not reach Lisbon. That diagram could have been easily covered by other stock on layover rather than the unit sitting idle for most of the day.

There are quite a lot of Portugese photos still to come.  I did try to get to Villa Real on a DMU but they had a strike that day and I only got as far as the next station beyond Faro.

 

Jamie

[pH]

On 26/01/2022 at 11:44, jamie92208 said:

 That morning I headed down to Charelois and this 0-6-0 no 41 196 was on display. Built in 1910.

 

I’m sorry that I’m a bit late to this, but I’ve not being keeping up with this topic. I’ve looked through the posts here, but can’t see any description of what this locomotive is - again, apologies if I’ve missed it.

 

This (actually 41.195) is a Belgian derivative of the Caledonian Railway ‘812’ class. The Belgian State Railways took details of the Caley ‘Dunalastair II’ 4-4-0 and the ‘812’ class 0-6-0 from St. Rollox. Copies of both classes were built in 1900-01. The Belgians developed the 0-6-0 design further, eventually building more than 800 of the modified designs. This was a superheated version.

 

(Edit - see the ‘Belgian derivatives’ section on this page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Railway_812_and_652_Classes    )

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by pH