Cactus' UK & European rail travels

[cactustwirly]

How long does Ljubljana to Villach take? Is it a doable return trip in a day? I am going to be in Ljubljana later in the year. Any advice on prices much appreciated to.

It takes roughly 1hr 40 minutes, so definately doable in a day!
Your best bet on prices, is to try and book a Sparpries with OeBB (9 euros each way)

 

[fowler9]

It takes roughly 1hr 40 minutes, so definately doable in a day!
Your best bet on prices, is to try and book a Sparpries with OeBB (9 euros each way)

Cheers mate, is it a nice trip scenery wise, just so I can sell it to the people I am travelling with.

 

[Techniquest]

I'm certainly interested in that trip myself, I'm expecting to fly over that way later in 2019. I have WAY too many different ideas though!

 

[cactustwirly]

Mini Trip to Southern Europe 07/04 - 10/04

The trip started at Gatwick Airport's North Terminal, where I boarded G-UZME a brand new A321 neo, operating for easyJet.
The flights were great value, and easyJet's new interior was very nice complete with leather seats!


IMG_20190407_060602 by litecactus, on Flickr



After landing in Salzburg, we caught a trolleybus to the city centre, for a day of sightseeing.

IMG_20190408_125430 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0097 by litecactus, on Flickr
DSC_0153 by litecactus, on Flickr

The next day was also spent sightseeing, including visiting the Hohensalzburg Castle, Salzburg is a very pretty city and well worth visiting!

We then travelled to Ljubljana on the 1012 RailJet to Villach, changing for a Slovenian LHCS service to Ljubljana.

DSC_0162 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20190409_120314 by litecactus, on Flickr

The Journey along the Tauern Pass was spectacular!

DSC_0166 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0169 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20190409_143416 by litecactus, on Flickr

The journey Slovenia was very nice as well, on some traditiional coaching stock, complete with slam doors and compartments, and it was hauled by a SZ 541, which are amazing locos!

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing, before flying home to Stansted on G-EZAX the following evening!

DSC_0223 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20190410_175135 by litecactus, on Flickr

 

[87electric]

That looked very enjoyable. Easy Jet soldier on.
I'm reluctant to plan too far ahead with trips as airlines are experiencing difficulties now. I'd be more at ease booking quick mini trips right now.

 

[xotGD]

Slovenia is a beautiful country. Lake Bohinj is a stunning spot. Lakes, waterfalls, mountains, caves - its got the lot!

 

[rg177]

Ljubljana to Villach is indeed a lovely run. I did an early morning run (well about 8am-ish) in the opposite direction which had come from Belgrade overnight (although all the Serbian carriages were detached there with Slovenian carriages from Dobova continuing on).

A gorgeous journey and Villach is lovely as well!

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh that has me wanting to do a trip to Slovenia! Everything I've seen of it so far looks good, one day it'll get done.

Just the one photo in the trip report though for Slovenia? I had hoped for more...

 

[cactustwirly]

Ooh that has me wanting to do a trip to Slovenia! Everything I've seen of it so far looks good, one day it'll get done.

Just the one photo in the trip report though for Slovenia? I had hoped for more...

It is a very nice country!
I have a bucket load of photos, haven't got round to sorting them out yet

 

[Techniquest]

It is a very nice country!
I have a bucket load of photos, haven't got round to sorting them out yet

Fair enough, I still haven't shared my photos from the epic March adventure online yet so I can't say much eh? I still need to put together my XPT video too...

 

[cactustwirly]

An emotional farewell; 20/04/19

I thought I'd had my last GWR HST, but I was in Reading for Easter, so I decided to have one last journey on a GWR HST.
Unfortuately I'm unable to make the 18th May, so this WILL be my last proper HST on the GWML.

The day started at 1248, where I took 43063 & 43088 into London Paddington.

DSC_0238 by litecactus, on Flickr

Soon to be gone by litecactus, on Flickr

This service was 10 minutes late into Paddingotn, due to earlier pathing difficulties in the Chippenham area.

Close up... by litecactus, on Flickr

After a quick turnaround I was back onboard for a run to Swindon

However one powercar appeared to be out, so the train lost about 20 minutes on the run to Swindon

DSC_0254 by litecactus, on Flickr

Lunch was grabbed from the station, then a pair of 800s were taken back to Reading, where 43172 & 43162 were taken to London Paddington

DSC_0266 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0267 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0270 by litecactus, on Flickr

After a quick break, we were back on them, for a fast run back to Reading

DSC_0271 by litecactus, on Flickr

 

[fowler9]

Lovely photos. When do they stop running down there?

 

[cactustwirly]

Lovely photos. When do they stop running down there?

Thanks!
18th May is the last date for regular services.

 

[Techniquest]

A shame you can't do 18th May, I plan to do the 1822 PAD-HFD that day, even if just between Shrub Hill and The Ford. Will effectively be a repeat of my official farewell a while back!

 

[cactustwirly]

A shame you can't do 18th May, I plan to do the 1822 PAD-HFD that day, even if just between Shrub Hill and The Ford. Will effectively be a repeat of my official farewell a while back!

Yeah, it's the middle of exam season for Uni, so I'm the wrong side of the Midlands to get anything.
Although I can still get some 43/0 haulage!

 

[Techniquest]

Yeah, it's the middle of exam season for Uni, so I'm the wrong side of the Midlands to get anything.
Although I can still get some 43/0 haulage!

That's quite a handy positive fair play. Been way too long since I last enjoyed some VP185 action. Good excuse to pop over that way...

 

[fowler9]

Thanks!
18th May is the last date for regular services.

Blimey, didn't realise operation of the Hitachi units was so advanced.

 

[cactustwirly]

Blimey, didn't realise operation of the Hitachi units was so advanced.

Yeah, has been for a while now.
There were 5 HSTs out of about 50 ish diagrams

 

[fowler9]

Yeah, has been for a while now.
There were 5 HSTs out of about 50 ish diagrams

Blimey. Not been to that neck of the woods for quite some time and had no clue. Cheers Cactus.

 

[cactustwirly]

Some more Euro Traction 26/06/2019

I was on holiday near Trento, and with the temperatures soaring to near 40 degrees, I thought I'd cool down with a ride on a nice Air conditioned train.

I picked up my tickets from the TVM, but my god are they massive, basically the size of the boarding passes you get at Airports!

I headed to platform 3, to pick up the 1159 service to Munich Hbf, via Innsbruck and Brennero, this was hauled by none other than the fastest locomotive in the world! (1216-025)
Siemens set a world record of 357kmh before the loco was delivered to OBB, and it has a special livery to commemorate the occasion.

DSC_0705 by litecactus, on Flickr

I didn't realise when I booked the train, that this service was reservation compulsory, and I wasn't asked for seating preferences when I booked, so I got a backwards facing aisle seat, which wasn't brilliant, however I couldn't move seats as the train was fully reserved.
Luckily the adjacent window seat was unoccupied.

OBB Eurofima coaches are brilliant btw, they have amazingly comfortable seats, and have a silky smooth ride, basilcally a MK3 but better.

The first part of the journey was a fast run to Bolzano, passing many stations at speed, through very pleasant Italian scenery, with vineyards in the foreground, and the Dolomite mountains in the background.

At Bolzano/Bozen the train fills up. The train goes through a very long tunnel, before emerging into Alpine scenery, the train climbs through Bressanone/Brixen and Fortezza/Franzensfeste, it then twists and turns through a mountain valley, before ending up at Brenner, the highest station in Austria and Italyand the highest mainline station in the Alps. Brenner, being the border station is major hub for freight services.

DSC_0712 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0714 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0711 by litecactus, on Flickr

Here I alight, board another Eurocity service back down the pass, towards Venice-St Lucia (1216-012)

DSC_0718 by litecactus, on Flickr

Here I wasn't so lucky with the seating, I had an Aisle seat until Bolzano, but I had the window for the last half hour or so to Trento.

 

[fowler9]

Some more Euro Traction 26/06/2019

I was on holiday near Trento, and with the temperatures soaring to near 40 degrees, I thought I'd cool down with a ride on a nice Air conditioned train.

I picked up my tickets from the TVM, but my god are they massive, basically the size of the boarding passes you get at Airports!

I headed to platform 3, to pick up the 1159 service to Munich Hbf, via Innsbruck and Brennero, this was hauled by none other than the fastest locomotive in the world! (1216-025)
Siemens set a world record of 357kmh before the loco was delivered to OBB, and it has a special livery to commemorate the occasion.

DSC_0705 by litecactus, on Flickr

I didn't realise when I booked the train, that this service was reservation compulsory, and I wasn't asked for seating preferences when I booked, so I got a backwards facing aisle seat, which wasn't brilliant, however I couldn't move seats as the train was fully reserved.
Luckily the adjacent window seat was unoccupied.

OBB Eurofima coaches are brilliant btw, they have amazingly comfortable seats, and have a silky smooth ride, basilcally a MK3 but better.

The first part of the journey was a fast run to Bolzano, passing many stations at speed, through very pleasant Italian scenery, with vineyards in the foreground, and the Dolomite mountains in the background.

At Bolzano/Bozen the train fills up. The train goes through a very long tunnel, before emerging into Alpine scenery, the train climbs through Bressanone/Brixen and Fortezza/Franzensfeste, it then twists and turns through a mountain valley, before ending up at Brenner, the highest station in Austria and Italyand the highest mainline station in the Alps. Brenner, being the border station is major hub for freight services.

DSC_0712 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0714 by litecactus, on Flickr

DSC_0711 by litecactus, on Flickr

Here I alight, board another Eurocity service back down the pass, towards Venice-St Lucia (1216-012)

DSC_0718 by litecactus, on Flickr

Here I wasn't so lucky with the seating, I had an Aisle seat until Bolzano, but I had the window for the last half hour or so to Trento.

Brilliant mate. Have been over the Brenner Pass on a coach and it is stunning. Very jealous of your rail journey, will have to do it myself.

 

[cactustwirly]

Brilliant mate. Have been over the Brenner Pass on a coach and it is stunning. Very jealous of your rail journey, will have to do it myself.

Thanks mate, it was brilliant, I'm hoping to do the other side of the pass to Innsbruck at some point in the near future.

The Arlberg Pass (Innsbruck - Bludenz) and Tauern Pass (Salzburg - Villach) are pretty spectacular as well.

 

[rg177]

Sounds like a scenic wee trip.

It's been March since I had myself some Taurus haulage from Prague to Brno, and should have some next month from Munich to Vienna!

Yet to go via Brenner, perhaps a one for 2020 by the looks of your pictures! Absolutely agreed on the Arlberg Pass though, one hell of a route and one I'd heartily recommend to anyone.

 

[cactustwirly]

Sounds like a scenic wee trip.

It's been March since I had myself some Taurus haulage from Prague to Brno, and should have some next month from Munich to Vienna!

Yet to go via Brenner, perhaps a one for 2020 by the looks of your pictures! Absolutely agreed on the Arlberg Pass though, one hell of a route and one I'd heartily recommend to anyone.

Cheers mate.
Yes it was very scenic.
Enjoy your Munich - Vienna trip, not the most scenic, but very fun on the high speed section near Vienna, plus nothing beats a bit of Taurus haulage!