And now for something completely different- 24/08/18
It’s been a while- and I’ve struggled to keep up with reports- but i’ve spent the past week and a half abroad (with mixed results, all I’ll say is that 3hrs in Poland was enough to last a lifetime, while a day in Czechia was simply not enough, as you’ll read here).
The alarm had originally been set earlier in order to catch the 04:59 to Bad Schandau from Dresden Hbf, but I decided against this as I’d had a rotten previous day (bad weather, disruption, replacement buses running off without the train and vile vile staff in Thuringia) and opted for the more social 05:59 departure, having weighed up my options, and decided on a route via Most and Plzen to Prague where I’d meet up with a friend for some cheap drinks before my eyes headed for the prize in the form of some beastly diesel haulage. I was up and out for 05:25 and headed for the tram, and being so tired, boarded the wrong one
I ended up running like the clappers across the main shopping area to meet my intended service and thankfully made it into the Hbf for 05:45, seeing the irritating ‘Wenige minuten später’ scrolling across my intended service’s slot on the screen. This seems to be a new DB invention- and most of the time it means a barely worth mentioning delay.
I picked up some supplies in the Spar Express before heading to the platform, to find my train pulling in on time anyway
Dud
146017 was hauling the service this morning, and it was a healthy load to around Pirna where we gradually emptied out to the point of just two of us walking towards the cross-border service when we arrived at Bad Schandau, the conductor waiting for us to board
642037 before giving the RA with those coloured circles Czech staff seem to use. This seemed to be a properly designated unit for the U28 service, which runs from Rumburk, over the border into Sebnitz, through Bad Schandau, then back into the Czech Republic to terminate at Děčín hlavní nádraží. As such, it was a little posher than other units of its type, with USB ports under the seats.
146017, Bad Schandau by
Richard Green, on Flickr
The conductor waited until we got over the border before doing tickets, with large amounts of people boarding at the unstaffed halts. I was pondering which language to address her in (as my tickets held- a VVO pass and Ceske Drahy All Liner- technically required a ticket to plug the gap between the borders) and settled on German in the end- not wanting to go into Little Englander mode
Happily, she told me that she wouldn’t charge me anything extra and let me travel to Děčín on the combination I had. I think she was more bothered about chatting to the regulars over anything else, to be honest. On arrival, she yelled connection information down the carriage and came over to me and repeated the same in German which was helpful, though in actual fact, wrong, as she’d gotten the platforms the wrong way around!
642037, Děčín hlavní nádraží by
Richard Green, on Flickr
My train to Most, the 07:30 service, was already sat there, but I noted a rather splendid looking green and cream
150209 shunting a motley rake of compartment stock on the 07:26 fast service to Prague, so I took that down to Usti nad Labem hlavní nádraží, which had a rather nice view of the castle on the hill, just as the heavens opened and we were subjected to a morning storm. Soon enough though,
162036 came in to take me to Most, complete with ancient stock that had brown leather seats and a partially collapsed floor
It was however a fun journey through a variety of landscapes, although my heart sank a little as we approach Most and I noticed a load of GWTrain 628s sat in the yard. Surely not? Surely my onward train wasn’t one of those that has gone over to private? My fears were confirmed as the Plzen service was a GWTrain Regio one, and I quickly googled the fare (Ceske Drahy has no ticket arrangements with them), and while it was only around £4, I couldn’t find the conductor. Turns out it was a casually dressed lass who’d been chatting to the driver, but because my track coverage in Czechia is minimal I ended up picking a different route.
150209, Děčín hlavní nádraží by
Richard Green, on Flickr
162036, Děčín hlavní nádraží by
Richard Green, on Flickr
The late running service to Rakovnik came in, so I hopped aboard
814152 for a bouncy run into the countryside, which sharply came to a halt about 30 minutes in. ‘Autobuzu’ was uttered by the conductor, and following my experience in Slovakia, I knew the drill. I hopped off at Jesenice with everyone else, conductor included, and jumped onto a waiting SOR12 type bus for the short (only two stops) bus trip to Louny, where
814159 was waiting to take everyone along to Rakovnik. We were already 8L at Jesenice and remarkably were only 12L off Louny, and while that left me with a -2 for the train to Beroun, I wasn’t bothered as I knew it would wait. Instead I enjoyed the rolling scenery before we pulled into the station and I jogged down the platform/track/whatever onto
814122 and sat myself in the front compartment with the conductor.
Station, Louny by
Richard Green, on Flickr
814159, Louny by
Richard Green, on Flickr
It was a nice run, and amusingly, following the ticket check, the conductor pulled out some fruit and a pocket knife, munching away while he asked if I had change for a 200CZK note. Unfortunately I didn’t- and this was followed by asking where I was going. Yep, sure enough, bus once more. This time, it was between Roztoky and Nizbor. The former was a beautifully set little station in what I assume is a National Park, and we headed non-stop on a Setra coach to Nizbor, where
814023 was waiting for us. Again, remarkable efficiency as we all jumped on and headed off again with very little delay (although we had ended up 9L from a variety of factors, such as waiting at Rakovnik for me
). We were so keen to depart that we took off without a bus that had been running between the intermediate stations, cue an old bloke banging on the bus door as we sailed off. Considering the 1tp2h frequency, it’s a fair assumption that the bus would have probably had time to nip down to Beroun and return to Nizbor to pick up the next service.
Station, Roztoky by
Richard Green, on Flickr
814023, Beroun by
Richard Green, on Flickr
At Beroun, we all jumped off the platform and across the tracks and onto a waiting pair of
471022/471041, double deck CityElefant Skoda EMUs. As haulage goes, these are probably the dullest things you can get, but I didn’t have a choice (unless I wanted to wait for the ex-Plzen in 70 minutes), so I hopped on and it was an uneventful journey to Praha hlavní nádraží. From here, it was a series of Metro moves to Andel where I snapped a few trams before meeting up with a friend and having a pint for a whole £1.08. Action resumed at 15:54 from where I left off at Prague’s main station.
471041, Praha hl.n by
Richard Green, on Flickr
3301, Metro Praha by
Richard Green, on Flickr
Line 15 Tram, Praha by
Richard Green, on Flickr
A little Class 810 DMU was waiting in the side platform,
810449, for the journey to Hostivice. This is one of the most fascinating little lines around Prague, the 1 car train stopping at Praha-Smíchov severní nástupiště, which is a side platform of the main Smichov station in the middle of a freight yard and carriage sidings, before snaking up the hill with some very pleasant views. I was however mindful of my connection as we were running late following some slow running (police were by the tracks so assume someone had gone for a wander that they were keen on talking to). As a result, I was resigned to rejigging my plans and using up the 60 minute contingency I had in place for getting back to Dresden (local services are sparse in the evenings- 20:41 then 22:55). However, I was surprised to see that the service to Kladno Ostrovec was still there and was waiting- so I dived in at the back door of the rake of red and cream carriages, and on arrival at the aforementioned rather quaint Ostrovec-ian Kladno station, it was confirmed to me that the rather exotic looking
714202 was on the front. The 714 locomotives date from 1995, having been rebuilt from the 735 class (they do indeed look rather ancient) and I stood in the pounding rain watching the loco uncouple and run around the stock, before drenching myself further watching it get coupled up again at the other end.
810449, Praha hl.n. by
Richard Green, on Flickr
810224, Praha-Smíchov severní nástupiště by
Richard Green, on Flickr
714202, Kladno Ostravec by
Richard Green, on Flickr
These locomotives see very little passenger action, with the easiest diagram to get one in being the 16:05 from Praha-Bubny Vltavska to Kladno Ostrovec and return. It’s possible to get further locos in by doing short hops around Prague starting with this service- and so I do intend to try and visit again to up my numbers in an area otherwise dominated by wee railcars. I bailed on the return run at Kladno itself, which is a rather charming station with row upon row of tracks, with everyone waiting under the canopy before wandering over the tracks to their train. My next move was the service to Kralupy nad Vltavou, which had
814171 at the helm for the rural bounce as I headed back to the border. On arrival at Kralupy, I was weighing up various moves as I still had a +70 as it stood at Děčín, so some time wasting moves were welcome. However, all of them meant banking on a +9 onto the cross-border service, and with the ex-Prague fast being 15L, I didn’t fancy my chances on a similar fate with the next train.
714202, Kladno by
Richard Green, on Flickr
814171, Kladno by
Richard Green, on Flickr
I instead waited for the ex-Prague fast train, perhaps as far as Usti nad Labem. It was booked 151+stock, so imagine my face when a single
471064 rocked up full and standing! I boarded anyway- as the sky looked heavy, and took it through to Usti where I had a choice, waiting for the ex-Most stopper, or getting on the Liberec fast service. The Liberec was another train in original colours, and was formed of
843017 hauling a single piece of coaching stock (so basically a DMU+LHCS) which I hadn’t had yet today- so I jumped on board. Just as well, as the ex-Most was a 441 (new, plastic EMU) so I enjoyed some noisy DMU action back to Děčín, where I had around 50 minutes until the stopper. Or so I thought.
843017, Usti nad Labem hlavní nádraží by
Richard Green, on Flickr
The EuroCity service to Leipzig was late- and while I’d have to pay, it was due at 20:15, and would see me connecting with the S-Bahn at Bad Schandau 30 minutes earlier, and of course it would see me getting locos all the way back to Dresden. I went online and paid the 5EUR or thereabouts for the 20 minute hop, downloaded the E-Ticket, and headed to the platform to see a nice shiny Vectron in the form of
193295 coming in. I located a compartment in the front carriage for myself, which had the lights knocked off. As a result, I had the most sedate and beautiful journey along the Elbe Valley as the daylight had one last hurrah in complete silence, aside for the muffled clickety clack of the stock. It was a quick ‘guten abend’ to the conductor, who scanned my ticket and went on her way without fuss, before I headed for the doors and hopped off at Bad Schandau. Definitely worth the extra ching.
193295, Děčín hlavní nádraží by
Richard Green, on Flickr
Now, here’s where my luck peaked. I arrived at around 20:30, to connect with the 20:45 S-Bahn back to Dresden, which was proudly sat on the display across on the other platform island. The 21:15, my original intended service which would have left from the bay, was showing as ‘21:00- Pirna. Ersatzbus.’ With my train from Děčín being due in at 21:09, I’d have missed that and been resigned to the 21:45. Seems engineering works on the Elbe Valley had restricted the line to single line working, resulting in a reduction to 1tph in the off-peak. Hence, my little loco hauled move saved me quite a bit of time! It was down to
146013 to take me back to Dresden, with it being a peaceful journey in the Dostos stock to the Hbf. I’m glad to see the Dresden S-Bahn remaining a loco hauled stronghold, with 143s and 146s plying the routes all day long. However, the sight of a 442 Talent EMU, a dull piece of plastic which seems to be wrecking a lot of loco hauled opportunities on even longer distance routes (like the RE50 Saxonia from Leipzig to Dresden), on the S2 the following day leaves me fearful that DB might eventually pull the plug.
146013, Dresden Hbf by
Richard Green, on Flickr
Back to the present, and I was off at Dresden Hbf and heading to the Ibis Budget via tram (correctly this time), ready for a nifty day bashing the S-Bahn before a trip north to Hannover and Hamburg. Report on that might make an appearance in time.
An excellent day out east.