Best euro haulage?

[Zamracene749]

Hello folks,
I have got a couple of weeks annual holidays coming up soon and am considering flying to Europe to do a little bashing and broaden my rail horizons a little.

However i'm not sure where to go, so the questions are-

What would you consider the top 3 'hellfire' 'must do' locos(or even units!) to travel behind, and where/when is best to ride them?

What are the most beautiful rail journeys to make(I know there must be loads)?

Cheers!

 

[gordonthemoron]

Germany, ICE-3 or ICE-T trains, you can travel in the area just behind the driver, and see throught the windscreen. ICE-3 go up to about 300K, ICE-T to 230K. One end of the train is 1st class, the other 2nd. Nuremburg to Munich via Ingolstadt is v.good.

Also, try the Schweberbahn in Wuppertal, which is (as far as I know) the only public transport suspended railway

 

[CosherB]

Fly to europe? You're a rail enthusiast aren't you? Go on the train! Eurostar and TGV beat flying any time.

CS

 

[Zamracene749]

Fly to europe? You're a rail enthusiast aren't you? Go on the train! Eurostar and TGV beat flying any time.

CS

I agree mate, first trip to Germany earlier this year outbound was ferry/NS/Arriva/DB and the return was DBNachtzug/Eurostar combined ticket-travelled Hamburg to London for about 140 quid then MML to Leeds HST and voyager to Durham for another 40 or so-all 1st class

Trouble is, that was a bit of a treat. Normally from up here at this time of year rail is just too expensive- I can fly from Newcastle to many places in europe for less than a saver to London and of course thats before buying the eurostar tickets.

Plus have only recently started flying and once I got over the initial terror I rather enjoyed it!

 

[theblackwatch]

Another problem going by train is the journey time - if I have a week off and want to go to (say) Czech or Austria, I don't want to take nearly 2 days to get there and the same to come home! By flying, I can set off from home in the morning and be in Prague mid afternoon. Do the same by train, and I'd probably be somewhere between Waterloo and Ashford at the time. Then there's the cost element to take int account - I tend to get my flights for around £20-30 each way, if I were forced to use rail, I probably wouldn't go as it would make the holiday too expensive.

 

[CosherB]

I agree mate, first trip to Germany earlier this year outbound was ferry/NS/Arriva/DB and the return was DBNachtzug/Eurostar combined ticket-travelled Hamburg to London for about 140 quid then MML to Leeds HST and voyager to Durham for another 40 or so-all 1st class

Trouble is, that was a bit of a treat. Normally from up here at this time of year rail is just too expensive- I can fly from Newcastle to many places in europe for less than a saver to London and of course thats before buying the eurostar tickets.

Plus have only recently started flying and once I got over the initial terror I rather enjoyed it!

Your point about cost is very true, and it's sad that eco-friendly train travel is so much more expensive than eco-unfriendly plane travel.

As for enjoying flying - it used to be OK, but for me the security chaos and big resultant queues have made it horrid. That on top of having to turn up hours before the flight, then get herded around the airport like a bunch of sheep. I now actively dislike it (but I've doing lots of it for decades for work so the novelty's long worn off).

I've been flying aeroplanes for almost 30 years, so there's no terror for me. Just boredom when 'down the back' and annoyance at airport chaos and queues.

CS

 

[richa2002]

You must try out the Class 218 locos in Germany as demonstrated below:
http://rich.mjspencer.com/218406_Lindau.wmv
http://rich.mjspencer.com/218416_218421_Lindau.wmv

Richard

 

[Reini]

Hello folks,
What are the most beautiful rail journeys to make(I know there must be loads)?

If you come to Switzerland, you should travel via the Albula (Chur-St. Moritz) and Bernina (St. Moritz-Tirano) line.

In Austria you can visit the Semmering (Mürzzuschlag-Gloggnitz), Tauern (Spittal Millstättersee - Schwarzach St. Veit) or the Giselabahn (Schwarzach St. Veit - Wörgl).

For some interesting haulage, you can go to the Ybbstalbahn (narrow gauge, Waidhofen/Ybbs - Lunz am See) for the 2095s. The 9:35 and 14:35 Waidhofen - Lunz trains are normally hauled by a 2095.

In my oppinion, there aren't any more interesting/hellfire haulages in Austria. (maybe because I live there...)

 

[theblackwatch]

IIn my oppinion, there aren't any more interesting/hellfire haulages in Austria. (maybe because I live there...)

How about the 'Reblaus Express' - Retz-Drosendorf behind a Class 2143 diesel. Evene managed a cab ride between 2 stations on that last year!

One of my favourite trips in the past has been Portugal, although sadly the electrification and replacement of locos with units has reduced the number of diesel-hauled trains a lot. The 1931 Class locos, despite looking like modern French 'plastic' are one of the loudest locos I have come across (they are unsilenced) and the 1400 Class (BR Class 20 derivative) on the highly scenic Duoro Valley just has to be done - unfortunately, these don't work on a daily basis now but mainly weekends (a few years ago, there were several diagrams).