TRIVIA: Things you saw travelling on mainland European railways that you don't see today

[duesselmartin]

Transportation of mail by train. Mail was sorted in the train in Germany. In the Netherlands there were 2 kinds of wagons for mail. German diesel locomotive in the Netherlands. Most of all it is the kurswagen where the train is split in several directions in Germany. Nighttrains from and to the Netherlands.

How did German locos inter act with the Dutch safety system?

 

[Groningen]

Mail was (and maybe still is) transported by train in the U.K.

The UK and Ireland are not mainland Europe.

How did German locos inter act with the Dutch safety system?

Normally. We had locomotive 218 to Groningen (even for freight) and Nijmegen. We had also class 624 from Groningen to and from Germany. See Google for pictures.

I forget that there are trains in the Netherlands without a toilet.

Ex BR electric loco at the head of the consist, that used to run over Woodhead. Sorry, I don't know the class.

Class 1500


Source: Wikipedia

 

[MarcVD]

How did German locos inter act with the Dutch safety system?

They didn't. It was usual practice, decades ago, to allow rolling stock not compatible with the domestic safety system to enter the first station after the border. It is still working like that in a few places. SNCB rolling stock assigned to the Antwerp-Roosendaal all stops train service (AM 800 usually) does not have ATB. Those doing the Verviers-Aachen (usually old AM doubles) do not have Indusi either. It must have been the same at the German-Netherlands border station.

Now, if they went further, then the foreign country safety system must be installed. SNCB HLE 15, 16, 18, 25.5, all had ATB. German 216 came once to Antwerp, they had the crocodile system installed (not a big deal...). Must have been the same for german locs in the Netherlands.

 

[AY1975]

Dutch "Mat '54" (a.k.a. Hondekop, or dog's head) and "Mat '64" (a.k.a. Plan T and Plan V) EMUs in all over yellow with dotted blue lines to denote first class, and diagonal blue panels carrying adverts.

 

[MisterT]

There are still a few DDAR sets (NS class 1700 loco + 3 DDAR double deck coaches) and a few DDM1 sets (NS class 1700 loco + 4 DDM1 coaches) running around like that, minus the advertisements. They will be replaced from the end of this year with the new Sprinter Next Generation (CAF Civity) EMUs, so if you still want to catch some trains in that livery, you'll have to be quick

 

[etr221]

How did German locos inter act with the Dutch safety system?

Standard practice was that there would be a 'railway' border station (which may have had both sets of 'national' border officers, or just one) - one side or the other (I think Brenner/Brennero is the only one actually on the border) where operating rules/signalling/electrification/crews changed - sometimes (thinking of Domodossola) a significant distance from the actual international border (and the railway ownership /maintenance border might be somewhere else - pre 1914 borders, pre nationalisation, railways were quite often into 'foreign' countries). For all borders, there would be inter-railway, inter-government agreements setting out details. Anything working further had to 'change system', and comply with the local requirements; and these days this is far more common, with in many cases there being no more than just a change 'point'.

One of those odd changes which has happened - perhaps only noticeable to the cognoscenti - was the closure of the OPW and EUROP wagon pools, which meant the number of 'foreign' wagons went down drastically (perhaps more noticeable in the east, as more wagonload traffic at the time)

 

[AY1975]

SNCF's old-style orange "composteurs" (ticket validating machines). They used to punch a hole (or rather half a hole) in the edge of your ticket and stamp it on the back (or on the front if you inserted your ticket face down) with a series of numbers containing some secret information about when and where it was stamped, including, I believe, the day of the year (e.g. 001 for 1st January, 365 for 31st December - so I don't know if they could be programmed to do 366 if it was a leap year) and the station reference number.

If you had a standard SNCF ticket, and you inserted it face up, you had to be careful not to insert it right by the magnetic strip on the back, or it would get stamped on the strip and the train conductor might think you hadn't validated it and fine you.

As well as standard SNCF tickets, you could also put any old piece of paper in them. When travelling in France using British Rail International tickets issued as booklets, my parents and I always used to validate the relevant coupon to be on the safe side, although we were never sure whether tickets issued by carriers other than SNCF still had to be validated.

There are still (or were until recently) a few of the old style validators in use at the Gare du Nord, but they are now pale grey rather than orange, and they have mostly been replaced with new style yellow validators which only take standard format SNCF tickets and stamp the actual date, time and station on it. Some of the new style machines work no matter which way up and which way round you insert your ticket, and some of them only work if you insert it at the left-hand end, face down.

 

[duesselmartin]

Never understood the point of the SNCF validators for Grande Ligne journeys.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Never understood the point of the SNCF validators for Grande Ligne journeys.

For compulsory reservation journeys I guess all they do is prevent you getting a refund on a used ticket. For non-compulsory, they allow a long validity on single and return tickets without any risk of them being used as pseudo-seasons. I'd be very much in support of such a concept for the UK which could allow all return tickets to be period returns and all singles to have, say, a week's validity - but once you "composter" you get one overnight BoJ only, say, which would work for the vast majority of people.

 

[AlexNL]

How did German locos inter act with the Dutch safety system?

12 locomotives belonging to Baureihe 232 were fitted with ATB so that they could operate services within the Netherlands.

Similarly, a couple of NS DM'90 DMUs have been fitted with Indusi so they could be used on services to Aachen.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Mail was (and maybe still is) transported by train in the U.K.
https://www.railmagazine.com/operations/franchises/mail-by-rail-still

Apart from the well known EMU mail trains , some lower priority bulk mail can be found on standard container trains between / to ports. I recall a panic one Saturday morning when a train from Stratford to Felixstowe detached a 5 set with overheating wheels at Gidea Park - a panicking ships agent told us that there was a box on there from the London Overseas Mail Office at West Ham for the 6 monthly ship to St Helena. Cue frantic messages to get this 5 set repaired PDQ and specialled to Felixstowe (which was done - using a class 31 from memory) .....would have been a miserable Xmas otherwise if this box had not made the ship.

 

[InterCity:125]

for the 6 monthly ship to St Helena.

They’ve got air travel now!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

They’ve got air travel now!

At some cost ...(this was 1983 or so) - we did our best .... .....

 

[Harbornite]

delete

 

[Groningen]

The DM 90 was also traveling to Bad Bentheim as grenslandexpress (not very successfull). Now we have a German train going from Hengelo to Bielefeld.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Berlin 1986, S-Bahns with wooden seats, no Ringbahn, and wasn't there a weird incline at Gleis Dreiecke for the U-Bahn (U1/2/3)?

 

[Giugiaro]

I still remember the days where you could simply bring your car on the train, rather than getting yourself involved on those pesky car rental companies.
Are there still any services that allow this kind of "luggage"?


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[rg177]

ÖBB still offer such a service, in fact Wien Hbf has an entire dedicated station for cars next door to the main one.

 

[InterCity:125]

I still remember the days where you could simply bring your car on the train, rather than getting yourself involved on those pesky car rental companies.
Are there still any services that allow this kind of "luggage"?

This should be useful:
https://www.seat61.com/Motorail.htm

 

[30907]

ÖBB still offer such a service, in fact Wien Hbf has an entire dedicated station for cars next door to the main one.

See also discussion upthread, ending at #36.

 

[JonasB]

Transportation of mail by train. Mail was sorted in the train in Germany. In the Netherlands there were 2 kinds of wagons for mail. German diesel locomotive in the Netherlands. Most of all it is the kurswagen where the train is split in several directions in Germany. Nighttrains from and to the Netherlands.

Still done in Sweden. No onboard sorting any more, but a lot of mail is transported by train.

 

[duesselmartin]

How many countries still transport sugar beet by rail?

 

[Clip]

Compostage at Athens Airport and mainline stations.

How many countries still transport sugar beet by rail?

Think they still do up in North East Australia - well they did when i were there

 

[Goldie]

I had two magical trips through France from Calais Maritime to Lourdes in the 1990s which were baically awash with SNCF awesomeness - Calais Maritime station itself, the hell raising double headed BB67000s that pulled the train on the first leg of the journey, switching to electric power at Amiens, the stylish and very French curvy catenary supports, the human Jenga of converting the couchette compartment from six seats to six beds and last but not least, the bottle openers incorporated into the bottom of the aluminium hand rail in the corridors. The trips were Catholic pilgrimages, with the whole train being chartered specially. There were (I think) two specially equipped carriages to carry the very ill people who travelled, and loads of pre Corail couchette equipped carriages, blue on the bottom half and grey on the top half. These were full of absolute chaos, as we all worked through our duty free booze with the special enthusiasm that comes from being in your mid teens. I might have some blurry photos somewhere - I'll try and dig them out.

 

[Goldie]

There are some really nice videos of hospital / pilgrimage trains to Lourdes from all over Europe on Youtube with, as you might expect, a fascinating selection of rolling stock:

 

[30907]

How many countries still transport sugar beet by rail?

Switzerland and Austria at the last count?

 

[43096]

SNCF awesomeness

If ever anyone wanted a definition of what an oxymoron is, then you have it right there.

 

[stut]

Are there any instances of border checks right on the border, where there is no station, still happening?

I remember using the old Vienna to Bratislava Hl St (not Petrzalka) service before Slovakia joined the EU, and it involved taking an Austrian railcar to the border, and being chucked out of the train. You just clambered down on to the tracks with everybody else. After about 10 minutes, some people in peaked caps appeared and waved you on to a rather less polished (but arguably far more interesting) railcar calling all shacks to Bratislava.

 

[rg177]

Are there any instances of border checks right on the border, where there is no station, still happening?

I remember using the old Vienna to Bratislava Hl St (not Petrzalka) service before Slovakia joined the EU, and it involved taking an Austrian railcar to the border, and being chucked out of the train. You just clambered down on to the tracks with everybody else. After about 10 minutes, some people in peaked caps appeared and waved you on to a rather less polished (but arguably far more interesting) railcar calling all shacks to Bratislava.

I'm sure that the shuttle from Çierna nad Tisou to Chop (Ukraine) involves multiple border checks en route, hence the long journey time!

 

[AY1975]

Mixed passenger and freight trains, conveying passenger coaches and freight wagons on the same train - not sure if they still operate anywhere today. They were quite common on rural lines in Germany and Switzerland in the 1970s and 80s.