Shreds European Trips, Volume 2.

[shredder1]

Czech Republic and Slovakia, Day 9. Sunday 19th June 2022.

The purpose of this trip was mainly to concentrate on traversing a few of the narrow-gauge lines which were still on my bucket list, plus a few more branch lines and the obligatory shed bashing. I was essentially playing it by ear and did spend a lot of time traveling around Slovakia and spreading a few more of my mate Rob`s ashes around on my travels.
I was up early in the Garni Hotel, Slovakia, and since I had to practically walk past Zilina sheds on the way to the station, I called in for a few quick snaps in morning sunshine. I then caught the 07.24 from Zilina to Bohumin and paid a visit to the depot, which was nice and quiet on a Sunday morning, and I got around without issue.

My next move was a train down to Ostrava Hl n for a shed visit, which was essentially what I was doing on this day, shed bashing. After a great visit I next caught a train down to Brno with a change for Breclav and another shed visit. Breclav was the busiest Id seen it for some time, which was probably due to the engineering work taking place between Breclav and Prerov.

From Breclav I boarded a train to Prerov and later onto Olomouc. I decided to go into the town for a meal and was surprised just how far the town centre was away from the railway station, normally a tram takes you from the station to the town centre, but the main tram line was being renovated and at the time I wasn’t sure which tram I could catch, or indeed how far the town centre was away, so I walked.

The town centre was lovely and well worth the walk, and I took an excellent meal in one of the restaurants, a prime steak with all the trimmings. After tea I found out that you could get a tram from the centre to the railway station on another route, so I made my way to the tram stop, talk about a small world, I bumped into fellow Mancunian and crank, Peter Heppenstall, what a small world we indeed live in. The trams are free for our age group in Olomouc, so we took advantage, Peter was staying at an hotel near the station and that’s were we left each other. I caught a late Railjet back to Ostrava Hl n, as I was catching an early morning train into Prague. It had been a busy day shed bashing and I was feeling the strain and had a few hours to wait until my train was due, so nodded off in the station waiting room for an hour or so. It had been a great day.

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[shredder1]

Czech Republic and Slovakia, Day 10, Monday 20th June 2022.

The purpose of this trip was mainly to concentrate on traversing a few of the narrow-gauge lines which were still on my bucket list, plus a few more branch lines and the obligatory shed bashing. I was essentially playing it by ear and did spend a lot of time traveling around Slovakia and spreading a few more of my mate Rob`s ashes around on my travels.

I think I managed about 3 hours sleep on the early train from Ostrava Hl n at 04.08 to Prague, arriving around 07.32 and on the platform, opposite was a train down to Ceske Budejovice, so partly to catch up with some more sleep and also to try to make my way down towards the Austrian border and the Gmund No railway, I boarded her. I had the usual change to a rail replacement bus half way down the line, we arrived into Ceske Budejovice late at 10.15, to torrential rain, the first rain Id seen since I’d been there.

I then needed to catch the next train down to Ceske Velenice, but had missed the 10.10 and the next one was at 12.10 and by the time I got down to Ceske Velenice it was nearly 13.00 and I still needed to cross the border and the weather wasn’t very good anyway, so I decided to abort the trip on the Gmund No railway and save it for another day, probably best to stay in Ceske Budejovice and tackle it was an early morning start. I’d been to Ceske Velenice on a Grumpy rail tour in the past, so it was a change to get a local service down there, but maybe I could have planned my day better, but never mind.

I returned on the same train to Ceske Budejovice, and then caught another train back to Prague Hl n, after an hour or so on the platforms, I walked across the gardens to Prague Masarykovo nádraží for a few photographs and then caught the number 26 tram to Divoka Sarka, and then to its other terminus, Prague Hostivar, thus completing another Prague tram route, I keep chipping away at them. From Prague Hostivar I caught a train back into Prague Hl n and later retired to my hostel for the night.

The prices have increased in Prague and I was unable to find an hotel for less that £50 for the night, so instead I booked a 4-dorm room in a hostel for £27 for my last night, and it was just across the gardens from the main railway station. It was certainly different, and named “Meetme 23”, it had these life sized blue blocky shaped men all over the hostel, climbing up the outside and even in the lift, it was very quirky, you were greeted by a smoke figure on the main desk, that formed the shape of a person and welcomed you, yet you could put your hands through the smoke and it would reform, it also had strange laser lights and images that kept appearing on the walls. The room was large, with a full wet room, and very modern. I slept well that night, but not sure anyone else did with my snoring.

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[shredder1]

Czech Republic and Slovakia, Day 11, Tuesday 21st June 2022.

The purpose of this trip was mainly to concentrate on traversing a few of the narrow-gauge lines which were still on my bucket list, plus a few more branch lines and the obligatory shed bashing. I was essentially playing it by ear and did spend a lot of time traveling around Slovakia and spreading a few more of my mate Rob`s ashes around on my travels.
An early start for my last day in Prague, I was booked on a late afternoon flight back to Manchester. I was soon down at Prague Hlavní nádraží and through the tunnel to Prague Vrsovice, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning for photography, I grabbed some breakfast on the fly.

Prague Vrsovice, has been rebuilt since Covid and they have done a good job of it, especially since a subway now goes right underneath the station allowing you to enter and leave the station in both directions, and new buildings now occupy the sidings to the side of the station. I spent an hour or so on the platforms before returning to Hlavní nádraží for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

I took fully advantage of my free Prague travel, by catching the metro to Nadrazi Veleslavine and then the local bus to the airport, I still have to pay on the Airport Express bus, (AE). My flight was on time, good old Ryanair, and it had been a great holiday again, with the narrow-gauge lines being new territory for me. Many thanks for reading.

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[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 1), Wednesday 17th August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10, 252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

I’m not the best one for planning and didn’t realise what I was actually in for travelling in what are essentially cashless countries. I flew from Manchester into Gothenburg, and realised these were expensive countries of course, the bus from the airport to the centre of Gothenburg cost me £11 both ways, so I knew I had to go careful in these countries spending on food and accommodation.

My original plan was to catch a train into Stockholm, one of the X2000`s and then take the 20 hour night train up to Narvik in Northern Norway, but Gothenburg station doesn’t have a ticket office, not many stations do in Sweden and Norway and everything is done on line, the trouble is the Swedish Railways App is rubbish to try to book a ticket reservation with an Interrail pass and the Interrail website link and SJ websites don’t work much better, and with no one to ask at the station I had to try and work out how to catch a train to Stockholm.

The first two X2000`s were sold out, once all the seats have gone, they stop taking bookings and that’s it, the night train to Narvik from Stockholm was also showing as sold out, but I could get a day seat in 2 days’ time, but the ones coming back were also sold out, so that was my plans, or lack of them, out of the window.

I found a friendly guard on Gothenburg station who told me I could catch a stopper to Stockholm without making a reservation, it was a 5-hour journey but I had no choice and it was a pleasant enough train. On the train I found a night train from Stockholm to Malmo in the south of the country, so booked a reservation on the cushions and managed 7 hours sleep on my first night, but I had mistakenly paid £42 on top of my Interrail pass, which should have only cost me £12, so a very tight learning curve trying to book reservations and I certainly didn’t make that mistake again, but had no idea of the price, no one to ask and the app hadn’t recognised my Interrail pass, despite saying it had.

Stockholm Central was quite a busy and large station, and this kept me busy until my night train arrived, in fact I caught up with the Narvik train, which had a 12-coach stock and was hauled by two locomotives, it looked amazing, so it’s a trip I’ll have to put on hold until next year now. I found a Coop on the station and bought a large salad bar for £7 which was amazing, and I used these most of the week, to help me lose weight and also keep healthy. The major stations also have showers, so I made full use of these after my all-night trains. A great first day though all the same with lots of new locos and units to phot, it’s so exciting to arrive into a new country for the first time.

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[Techniquest]

It sounds like it's been a right hassle, and an expensive time so far, but worth it. From what I've seen of the northern parts of Norway on TV programmes, it looks incredible and I want to do that sleeper train too.

 

[shredder1]

It sounds like it's been a right hassle, and an expensive time so far, but worth it. From what I've seen of the northern parts of Norway on TV programmes, it looks incredible and I want to do that sleeper train too.

Yes not a great system, even the locals didnt like it, but yes I must get it next year, Stockholm, to Narvik, then a bus to Bodo I think, and at the Bodo railhead you can get back down to Oslo

 

[Techniquest]

Yes not a great system, even the locals didnt like it, but yes I must get it next year, Stockholm, to Narvik, then a bus to Bodo I think, and at the Bodo railhead you can get back down to Oslo

That sounds like a monster of an adventure! Even I fancy doing that!

 

[Zerothebrake!]

Yes not a great system, even the locals didnt like it, but yes I must get it next year, Stockholm, to Narvik, then a bus to Bodo I think, and at the Bodo railhead you can get back down to Oslo

Shredder1, I can recommend staying a night in Boden as there's a good and reasonably priced hostel right across the street from the station and it's pretty good for freight.

Also have a night (or two) in Abisko as it's one of the best places in the world to catch the Northern Lights and the Kiruna to Narvik iron ore trains.

I stay in the Abisko.net hostel there ( private rooms or bunk beds) they are the cheapest place in town and the railway runs past the window!

If you need any more info drop me a line as I know the area fairly well.

Cheers,
Zero..

 

[shredder1]

Shredder1, I can recommend staying a night in Boden as there's a good and reasonably priced hostel right across the street from the station and it's pretty good for freight.

Also have a night (or two) in Abisko as it's one of the best places in the world to catch the Northern Lights and the Kiruna to Narvik iron ore trains.

I stay in the Abisko.net hostel there ( private rooms or bunk beds) they are the cheapest place in town and the railway runs past the window!

If you need any more info drop me a line as I know the area fairly well.

Cheers,
Zero..

Oh Id love to, thank you so much friend, Im hoping to get up there next year now, thank you that sounds amazing.

 

[shredder1]

That sounds like a monster of an adventure! Even I fancy doing that!

Ill keep in touch with that one Tech and give you a shout next year if you are still in the same mood.

 

[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 2), Thursday 18th August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

The loco hauled night train from Stockholm Central was great and I slept well on the cushions, on arrival at Malmo I took a shower followed by breakfast, another healthy one as they had a Co-op on the station, so I couldn’t resist a salad bar brekkie. After a few photographs around the beautiful station building, I was off down to the underground platforms and on one of the Danish Oresundstags units, those things always look like worms to be honest, that have been cut off at both ends), I was bound for Copenhagen, Denmark.

It was the first time Id travelled from Sweden to Denmark and I went over and under I suppose, the Oresund Bridge, which is an amazing piece of engineering, half bridge and half tunnel, a must on everyone’s to do list.

It was nice to get back onto Copenhagen railway station again after a few years away, sadly the old Danish diesels the DSB ME class, have now been replaced with the new Vectron’s, Copenhagen shed had about 20 on as I passed. On arrival into Copenhagen, I experienced the first signs of light rain, but it wasn’t too last, in fact most of the week was very high temperatures and bright sun, similar to Central Europe.

After some time on the platforms, I boarded a train out to Odense, home of the National Railway Museum of Denmark. Although not on par with the NRM in the UK. The line to Odense from Copenhagen crosses the Great Belt Bridge, which joins the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen, another magnificent piece of engineering.

The Danish Railway Museum at Odense, is certainly worth a visit and does have a nice collection of locomotives and artifacts, I had a very interesting and enjoyable visit and I was glad to make the effort to get out to it.

Returning to Copenhagen, my train continued through to Osterport, with a change for a train up to Helsinger terminus, and the ferry port over to Helsingborg, Sweden. A train tram continues to Tisvildeleje and other areas in the region.

I returned to Copenhagen with a change onto a train back in to Malmo Sweden, but carried on to the trains last call at Helsingborg, before returning to Malmo and later catching an evening train back up to Gothenburg. Another excellent day, I had a few hours to spend on Gothenburg station, so spent them in Burger King which closed at 01.00, not really worth getting an hotel for the night as my next train was out at 05.00, so I just spent a few hours chilling out around the station.

Part 2,

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Part 1,

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[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 3), Friday 19th August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

The hours before my 05.00 train to Hallsberg passed quickly, I’m not sure what it is, but I have an unnatural fetish for hanging around railway stations after dark, which I can only put down to the eccentricities in me. I managed a few hours sleep on the train and was deposited in the town of Hallsberg at 08.00 on a Friday morning, Hallsberg has a loco shed and its only a 5 minutes’ walk away from the railway station.

I initially headed out to the depot which had around 50 or so locos on it, the depot however was all gated up, as they are in this part of the world, so no chance of a visit either officially or unofficially, but you can gain a few good photographs of the depot from various locations, including an overbridge which conveniently passes over the bottom of the depot yard, so I did manage to obtain a good selection of photographs showing the locos on shed, so had a good visit.

I walked back to the railway station for a wash and brush up, but despite having a large station building, it had no ticket office, a small shop and a toilet that I couldn’t use, because the only way in was by a contactless card, which I didn’t have.

I had to walk into the town, and was fortunate in finding a café for breakfast who had a toilet that allowed me to have a wash, shave and brush up ready for a few hours on the railway station in the glorious sunshine.

It was an active morning with plenty of workings through the station and a good sprinkling of both freight and passenger services, so I had a very enjoyable day. Late afternoon I caught a slow train back into Stockholm Central. I took a shower at the station and had something to eat. Amazingly the ticket office was open, so I booked a reservation on the train to Oslo, Norway, on loco hauled stock.

The journey into Norway was an interesting one and we arrived at Oslo for around 19.00. Oslo was another large and amazing station, which had been largely modernised, but with part of the original station tastefully built into the modern design.

After a few hours around Oslo railway station, I boarded a loco hauled train behind a Norwegian Swiss built Adtranz class EL18 bound for Stavanger. The lovely lady guard allowed me on the train without a reservation, so I was on the cushions for another night and a nice ride across Norway to the Norwegian Ocean. Hence another enjoyable full day.

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[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 4), Saturday 20th August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

I arrived into Stavanger behind the Adtranz class EL18, just before 08.00, Id slept well as my train crossed the southern coast of Norway in the night. The railway station at Stavanger is small and modern and sits at the end of a tunnel that passes under the town, The town proper appears quiet. My train arrived into the terminus and then backed out to a stabling area, which also hosted some of the local units.

I walked over the top of the tunnel and followed the alignment through a graveyard and onto the stabling area, but it was impossible to get anywhere near. I returned to the railway station, took some breakfast in the station café and had a wash and shave in the men’s room. Only having a chip and pin card, I had to wait for someone coming out of the toilet before I could get in, (note to self, get a contactless card before you visit the Scandinavian countries again).

The ticket office was open at Stavanger, so I managed to obtain reservations on the return train to Oslo and also trains on Sunday to Bergen and back to Oslo. I still had no set plans, so was planning things as I went along. The return train was a NSB BM 73, a nice unit and it gave me an excellent ride back into Oslo, with a reverse into the terminus of Kristiansand.

I arrived back into Oslo Central around teatime, which gave me the opportunity of some phots on the station before the light went, I also took a trip on one of the suburban units out to the branch line at Spikkestad and back to Oslo Central. I was intime to see the Bergen train arrive, another Swiss built, Adtranz class EL18 with a rake of green liveried coaches specially for the Bergen line.

The train to Bergen didn’t run overnight on Saturday, but instead did a day run on Sunday morning, leaving Oslo at 06.00, so I spent the night on the station. The station building is locked up for cleaning around midnight, but opened up again at 03.30, the platforms however were still accessible and the odd freight train did pass through in the small hours, I also contended myself with a few tram photographs in the night time hours, the city however was alive and many of the bars stayed open until the early hours. The shops in the station opened early for breakfast also and the time soon passed before my train was in the platforms.

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[Techniquest]

All that waiting around on stations reminds me of years gone by, when I'd have long waits at stations for early morning trains, or indeed of journeys through the night on Transpennine 185s (once it was a rail replacement bus, not much fun waiting for that!) to various destinations in the North East. I don't know how I ever did it, you wouldn't find me doing that now, my creature comforts are too important

I do have fond memories of Stockholm Central, lovely place that was when I went there and the Metro was great too. I really should go back one day for a fuller visit, back then I was not terribly interested in walking so now I'd have a great time exploring the city! Hmm this gives me an idea for a future adventure, entirely in fantasy land that one is right now but it will be good fun!

Ahem, sorry yes we were discussing your trip! That route to Stavenger, I've always wondered if it's any good in terms of scenery, it looks hugely remote but it could be worth doing. No doubt it's a fairly slow journey, but if the scenery is anything like that between Dombas and Andalsnes, I'm in!

 

[shredder1]

All that waiting around on stations reminds me of years gone by, when I'd have long waits at stations for early morning trains, or indeed of journeys through the night on Transpennine 185s (once it was a rail replacement bus, not much fun waiting for that!) to various destinations in the North East. I don't know how I ever did it, you wouldn't find me doing that now, my creature comforts are too important

I do have fond memories of Stockholm Central, lovely place that was when I went there and the Metro was great too. I really should go back one day for a fuller visit, back then I was not terribly interested in walking so now I'd have a great time exploring the city! Hmm this gives me an idea for a future adventure, entirely in fantasy land that one is right now but it will be good fun!

Ahem, sorry yes we were discussing your trip! That route to Stavenger, I've always wondered if it's any good in terms of scenery, it looks hugely remote but it could be worth doing. No doubt it's a fairly slow journey, but if the scenery is anything like that between Dombas and Andalsnes, I'm in!

Thanks very much, Im pretty much still hanging around stations like I did sixty odd years ago, it must be in my genes by now lol, Stavengers not as good as the Bergen line, its largely flat country, worth it for the line though and its a nice chilled out run across the bottom of Norway of course.

 

[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 5), Sunday 21st August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

The Swiss built, Adtranz class EL18 bound for Bergen arrived into the platforms at Oslo Central station, right on time for its 06.00 departure and I had an exciting journey over the Hardangervidda Plateau to the Norwegian Sea. The coaches were liveried for the Bergen line and was full of walkers and cyclists traveling to different parts of the line, quite a large number alighted at Hallingskeid where the train passed some snow filled glaciers. The station at Hallingskeid is in an avalanche tunnel, of quite a unique design, for the testing and rugged environment.

It was an interesting journey throughout, passing through Sykkel, a location where a number of cyclists alighted, and later Finse, the highest part of the line at 1237 metres, (4058 feet), a variety of snow blowers and ploughs are stabled there to help keep the line clear in more severe weather. At Myrdal, more passengers disembarked, this is where the trains cross for the Flam line, which climbs up to another 20 kilometres to the town and is one of the steepest standard gauge lines in the world, with 80% of the journey running on a gradient of 5.5%. There are no less than 20 tunnels, 18 of which were built by hand. The line is operated by top and tailed EL 18 locomotives to help cope with the gradients. One of the tunnels even takes a 180 degree turn inside the mountain. One for me to do on another trip though.

The journey continued down into the town of Bergen, where I had a few hours to spare and have a look around before my train back to Oslo at 17.45.

The ticket office was open at Oslo with a young girl in charge, I explained that I was catching an early train from Oslo on Monday morning at 05.10 and needed to book a reservation as I was having trouble with the website, but she told me they only did reservations on Mondays and I would have to come back then?? What!! She gave me a phone number to phone, but it was a dead number, she then phoned a different number for me, but had given me someone else who couldn’t deal with reservations, by this time I was becoming, let’s say annoyed, when eventually she said she would try to override the system, and amazingly she managed to book a reservation for me.

The loco sheds were off the ends of the platforms so I had a walk around the roads to see if I could get near them, but I couldn’t, it only appeared to have units in anyway, except for a large shunter on station pilot duties and a Green Cargo loco half parked inside a tunnel. I had a walk around Bergen and took a few photographs of the trams, took lunch and waited for my train back to Oslo. I must confess to becoming addicted to Scandinavian hot dogs, and noticed that the buffet car announced after the train reached the summit, that hotdogs now had 50% off so as not to waste food, needless to say I was the first in the queue and bought two of them. On the way back to Oslo, I was on my marks for the announcement after the summit and managed to get in pole position again and bought two more, yummy.

The train arrived late into Oslo Central, so again I spent a few hours chilling our around the station, and chatting to some students from various parts of the world, who were also Interrailing, until my early morning train back to Stockholm arrived.

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[Techniquest]

Thanks for the tip on Stavenger! Flam has been on my list to do for far too long, I hope to do it one day as I've seen a cab ride video of the line and it would be an incredible journey.

Also thanks for the nostalgia caused by the 50% off hot dogs, as that triggered memories of similar happening years ago on FGW HSTs. Half price bacon rolls/baguettes or whatever, always welcome on a long travel day!

 

[shredder1]

Thanks for the tip on Stavenger! Flam has been on my list to do for far too long, I hope to do it one day as I've seen a cab ride video of the line and it would be an incredible journey.

Also thanks for the nostalgia caused by the 50% off hot dogs, as that triggered memories of similar happening years ago on FGW HSTs. Half price bacon rolls/baguettes or whatever, always welcome on a long travel day!

Yes Im hoping to do Flam next year and Narvik, I have a better idea now in those countries.

 

[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 6), Monday 22nd August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

I was back on loco hauled stock from Oslo, with a Swedish SJ Rc6 class at the helm. It was a good trip back into Sweden and I alighted at Hallsberg, the junction of the line up to Borlange.

Borlange has a locomotive depot that I wanted to check out and it also has a large marshalling yard, a busy area for freight, I walked the full length of the yard with my 10 kg rucksack on in very high and sunny temperatures and found the depot at the end of the yard, but it appeared impossible to get anywhere near it, or indeed obtain any decent photographs because of the geography of the land. The line passed the yard was however very busy and I wished I could have spent more time there, but I needed to move on.

I returned to Stockholm on a direct line from Borlange, behind another loco hauled SJ Rc6 class electric loco. My first stop at Stockholm Central was to get a shower, as the stations in Norway didn’t have any and something to eat, another excellent Co-op salad bar.

I later went down to the underground station Stockholm City, and caught a train a few stops out to Solna, which is the station for Stockholm`s largest locomotive and maintenance depot, Hagalund (Tapiola). Although security is very tight, you can take photographs from a number of vantage points around the roads and over-bridges that surround the depot and yard, and also by poking your camera lens through any holes in the perimeter fencing.

I later returned from Solna to Stockholm City on the underground, a modern underground system with platform end doors installed. The ticket office at Stockholm Central was open when I arrived at Stockholm, so I managed to book a reservation on the 23.15 down to Helsingborg Central. I was on another loco hauled service behind Sweden`s mainstay locomotives, the SJ Rc6 class, and I slept well on the cushions.

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[shredder1]

Scandinavia, (Day 7), Tuesday 23rd August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

I travelled overnight from Stockholm to Helsingborg behind a SJ Rc6, to enable me to traverse a new section of track. Helsingborg has an interesting underground station with a bus interchange connected above ground. From Helsingborg I was heading east to do the branch and minor lines, so boarding Oresundstag units at 05.50 I travelled from Helsingborg via Lund, Hassleholm and along the coast to Kristianstad and the to the terminus at Karlskrona arriving for 09.12, an interesting terminal, with a large station building, but it looked like the platforms had been remodelled.

A change of train to a two-car private operator Class X11 3111, at took me to Kalmar via Emmaboda. Kalmar is another interesting terminus station with what looks like an original building, but remodelled platforms again. You can take a direct loco hauled service from there to Gothenburg via Alvesta and Boras, but I had to leave those lines for another visit.

After some lunch at Kalmar in the station cafe, I caught a two hourly service to Hultsfred in a modern two car DMU class Y31 1423 at 12.35, on this non electrified line. At Hultsfred the 891mm narrow gauge railway the Smalsparsjarnvagen between Haltsfred and Vastervik, which was operating at the time of my visit, but the train didn’t arrive into Hultsfred until after my train departed, so one for another day. The narrow gauge line also use to go to Aseda, which is presently mothballed.

At Hultsfred, the old quarter roundhouse was still standing and used for track maintenance, I had two hours to kill at Hultsfred, so took a walk into the village and had some tea in a local café. I later caught the 16.05 from Hultsfred to Linkoping, this was a class Y2R 2-car dmu of a similar design to the Oresundstag and then with a change to the 18.11 to Katrineholm, on a 4-car Alstom class X61, 028, with another change for the 19.22 from Katrineholm back to Gothenburg. This was on an X2000, so I was again begging the guard to let me on because I couldn’t book a reservation on line, despite having spent another two hours trying to do so before I arrived. The guard however was sympathetic and said its not your fault, it’s the system. They are all aware of the issues, but nothing seems to be being done about it.

I arrived back in Gothenburg for 21.35 and I was flying back to Manchester at noon the following day. I spent a lot of the night photographing the station, stabling point and the trams at the front of the station, then a late-night coffee at the Burger King before closing time at 01.30 when the station was locked up, I still had access to the platforms though and the night passed quickly. There’s something very exciting about spending the night on a railway station, or maybe its just me being a bit weird. Anyway, Id unintentionally completed the 8 days without paying out for any accommodation and spent most of my nights sleeping on trains, it had been great fun and enabled me to cover more track miles than if Id have booked into hotels, and I still had a morning on Gothenburg to look forward too, so I made full use of it.

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[Techniquest]

You sure got about a fair bit there, an impressive amount of coverage I certainly have an appetite to go to Stockholm for a revisit and to try out some of those X2000s!

 

[shredder1]

You sure got about a fair bit there, an impressive amount of coverage I certainly have an appetite to go to Stockholm for a revisit and to try out some of those X2000s!

Yes I didnt do badly, but was travelling day and night of course, Stockholm is a great rail centre, I cant wait to get back.

 

[shredder1]

Scandinavia (Day 8) Wednesday 24th August 2022.

A week traveling around the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Although I’ve visited Demark before, Sweden and Norway were new countries for me, and I had a really enjoyable time visiting cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo and Oslo to sample the railways. I was using a mobile Interrail Global pass and according to its stats I covered 10,252 kilometres travelling on 31 different trains over the 7 days.

I enjoyed my last night in Gothenburg, Sweden and had a look around the yard, taking photographs around the stabling point through the fencing, at 07.00 the station showered opened, so I took a nice hot shower, and then breakfast in a station café, before going back on the platforms for one last time, and I was rewarded with a pair of SJ Rc6 locos that had shunted a single coach into the platforms and stayed there waiting for me to take their photograph. The sun was climbing high in the sky again, it had been a fantastic week, with only a few hours of very light rain on two mornings, but bright sunshine and high temperatures for most of the week, not really the sort of weather I was expecting in Scandinavia. I purchased my one way ticket back to the airport, £11 on the bus, and my flight was on time, arriving back into Manchester for around 16.00, and that was it, the end of another holiday and back to reality until I can escape again, many thanks for reading.

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[Cowley]

@shredder1 - I saw your message Nick. All open for you sir.

 

[shredder1]

Cheers mate your a star, and Happy New Year by the way Nick.

 

[shredder1]

Northern Spain, (Day 1). Sunday 5th February 2023.

I had been meaning to traverse the FEVE lines in Northern Spain for some years, back in the 1980`s, I had many family holidays in Majorca and travelled on the old FEVE network on the island and always said I would one day visit the mainland version. I was out for 8 days and booked a couple of cheap flights through good old Ryanair, direct to Santander. Northern Spain is referred to as green Spain, because it is sheltered by the Basque Threshold which is partly the Cantabrian mountains to the west and the Pyrenees to the east, Northern Spain faces towards the Atlantic Ocean, thus creating a far different climate to other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

My flights were both afternoon ones, so no getting up at crazy hours. I left Manchester in bright sunshine and arrived in Santander to light rain, but this had largely gone by the time I`d caught the airport bus and arrived in Santander centre. My first night was in one of the hostals, which is a sort of cross between a hostel and a small hotel, and this one was a across from the railway stations. Santander has two railway stations, which are only a few yards apart, one for the metre gauge RENFE FEVE and the other station serves the RENFE ADIF broad gauge lines.

After dropping my rucksack off at the room, I was soon out checking the stations and planning for the following day. Photographs done, I visited my first Tapas bar for some years, and had a Tortilla Española and you really can’t beat some grilled octopus. I went to bed reading “Tom Chesshyres” excellent book, “Slow Trains Around Spain”, my next adventure had begun and I slept well that night.

Renfe Feve - Wikipedia

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[shredder1]

Northern Spain (Day 2). Monday 6th February 2023,

I had been meaning to traverse the FEVE lines in Northern Spain for some years, back in the 1980`s, I had many family holidays in Majorca and travelled on the old FEVE network on the island and always said I would one day visit the mainland version.

I was out for 8 days and booked a couple of cheap flights through good old Ryanair, direct to Santander. Northern Spain is referred to as green Spain, because it is sheltered by the Basque Threshold which is partly the Cantabrian mountains to the west and the Pyrenees to the east, Northern Spain faces towards the Atlantic Ocean, thus creating a far different climate to other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

My first full day exploring Northern Spain, and my first venture was to travel east towards the French border at Irun. It had been some 20 odd years since I was last in Irun, having arrived on a TGV from Paris early one morning, I was pulled by the police for photography.

I was on the first FEVE train out of Santander to Bilbao, only 3 trains a day operate the full length of the line, but my train only got as far as Carranza where we had to disembarked and wait 30 minutes for another train to take us into Bilbao La Concordia RENFE FEVE station. WE did however arrive on time

I walked up the steps to Bilbao Abando station, at the side of the FEVE station, to see if I could catch a train to Irun, but I was directed across the river to another station, run by Euskotren, on former FEVE lines. Euskotren operates a 112 mile local and inter-city passenger services in the provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country and also across the border into Hendaye France.

Boarding my train at Bilbao Zazoikaleak Casco Viejo via Amara Donostia, San Sabastian to Irun Euskotren station. It was only a short walk up the main street to Irun RENFE railway station, which still appeared to have a large freight hub, crossing the border from France. A few locomotives and units were stabled in the platforms so I had a walk around, took some photographs and was pulled by security on the way out. Funny enough I was also pulled by security in Santander RENFE station for taking photographs the night before, but according to the RENFE website you are allowed as a railway enthusiast, to take photographs on railway stations, so it appears it was just a few jobsworths that had pulled me up.

Returning to Irun Euskotren station I caught the next train back to Bilbao Zazoikaleak Casco Viejo and we did pass a depot with some of the metre gauge locomotives on shed which was located at a place called Trana.

I was hoping to catch the last train back to Santander, as I now wanted to travel west towards A Coruna, but the last FEVE train out to Santander was at 19.30 and I`d missed it by the time my train arrived back into Bilbao, so I booked an hotel for the night, which was around 10 minutes from the railway stations. Id had a good first day, covered a lot of mileage and dropped in a Tapas bar for tea. The hotel was great and only 27 EU for the night. I slept well.

Renfe Feve - Wikipedia

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Euskotren Trena - Wikipedia

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[shredder1]

Northern Spain (Day 3). Tuesday 7th February 2023.

I had been meaning to traverse the FEVE lines in Northern Spain for some years, back in the 1980`s, I had many family holidays in Majorca and travelled on the old FEVE network on the island and always said I would one day visit the mainland version.

I was out for 8 days and booked a couple of cheap flights through good old Ryanair, direct to Santander. Northern Spain is referred to as green Spain, because it is sheltered by the Basque Threshold which is partly the Cantabrian mountains to the west and the Pyrenees to the east, Northern Spain faces towards the Atlantic Ocean, thus creating a far different climate to other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

Another early start and my first stop was at Bilbao Abando for breakfast and a few early photographs and then I was on the first FEVE train back to Santander. I was at last traveling west. The ride back into Santander went without event, a lovely line and we were soon back where I had started the day before, some 3 hours plus later, to do the 46 miles on a slow train through Spain.

My train from Santander to Oviedo was not due to depart until 15.28, there are only two trains a day which go right through for a journey time of 5 hours 33 minutes to do the 103 miles. While waiting for my afternoon train I took lunch in Santander and walked out to a bridge overlooking the locomotive depot and yard.

Returning to Santander FEVE station the 15.28 to Oviedo left on time. After sometime into the journey however, and on reaching Cabezon de la sal, we were transferred to a rail replacement bus, which took us through to Llanes, where we picked up another train that took us through to Oviedo arriving just after 21.00 hours. I was booked in at another hostal which was only a 5-minute walk away from the railway station, another nice accommodation with all the facilities, and another great day with plenty more track mileage.

Renfe Feve - Wikipedia

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[shredder1]

Northern Spain (Day 4). Wednesday 8th February 2023.

I had been meaning to traverse the FEVE lines in Northern Spain for some years, back in the 1980`s, I had many family holidays in Majorca and travelled on the old FEVE network on the island and always said I would one day visit the mainland version.

I was out for 8 days and booked a couple of cheap flights through good old Ryanair, direct to Santander. Northern Spain is referred to as green Spain, because it is sheltered by the Basque Threshold which is partly the Cantabrian mountains to the west and the Pyrenees to the east, Northern Spain faces towards the Atlantic Ocean, thus creating a far different climate to other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

I was up again with the larks, well probably before them actually, and I walked across the road for some breakfast at Oviedo station, but nothing was open. I couldn’t even buy a ticket for the day or get a coffee; I think they like to lay in, in Oviedo.

I was travelling to Ferrol on the FEVE network, one of the longer lines, and a pretty one too, that follows the coast line, a seven-and-a-half-hour narrow gauge train ride, I was really looking forward to this. The station café opened at 06.30 and after breakfast I bought a few supplies for the train, I couldn’t work out how to buy a ticket from the machines though, they wouldn’t take my cash and only had a contactless option for paying, I’m still on chip and pin.

However, the ticket office opened at 07.00, so I was able to buy my ticket and full of excitement, wait for the little train to arrive. She was on time, and we departed into the morning darkness. The train only got as far as Navia though and we were informed that a rail replacement bus would take us further along the line, I was so disappointed again, but it appears to happen a lot on those lines so I’m told. It however got much worst, the rail-bus replacement took us as far as Ribadeo, we walked onto the platform, only to be told that another larger bus would be taking us all the way through to Ferrol, so I finished up with most of the line being missed. I was as sick as a parrot, and guess I will have to revisit again someday. The bus was very slow and called in at all the stations along the line, it certainly was magnificent and probably the most scenic on the FEVE network.

The bus eventually dropped us off outside Ferrol railway station and I was just in time for a train to A Coruna, and was treated to a RENFE Talgo Duck, I do like those trains. After a quick walk around the station areas at A Coruna. I caught the next train down to Santiago de Compostela, where I had booked a bed for the night, a 5-minute walk from the station. Outside the station on a plinth was a large REFNFE ALCO locomotive, 316-008-0 1808, so that was a nice treat.

I walked over to my Hostal, but it was one of those which have no one on site, I do hate those. They send you a text to get in the place and then another code to open a combination lock at the side of the door to get a key to get in the room, a tricky bit of manoeuvrer-ing in the dark, when you have eyes like mine, the room was alright though. Once in the room, the rucksack was off and I was out on the town for tea, a very trying day and I never want to see another rail replacement bus as long as I live.

Renfe Feve - Wikipedia

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[shredder1]

Northern Spain (Day 6). Friday 10th February 2023.

I had been meaning to traverse the FEVE lines in Northern Spain for some years, back in the 1980`s, I had many family holidays in Majorca and travelled on the old FEVE network on the island and always said I would one day visit the mainland version.

I was out for 8 days and booked a couple of cheap flights through good old Ryanair, direct to Santander. Northern Spain is referred to as green Spain, because it is sheltered by the Basque Threshold which is partly the Cantabrian mountains to the west and the Pyrenees to the east, Northern Spain faces towards the Atlantic Ocean, thus creating a far different climate to other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

I was up and out of the hostel and down on the station at Gijon for 06.15, the station café opened at 06.30 in time for breakfast and I was on the first train to Leon at 07.10. Although I had slept well at the hostal, I was still a little tired, so I closed my eyes for a little to catch up on some more sleep. I must have nodded off though for the next thing that I remember was the train had stopped at a station and people were getting on, I checked by watch and it was 10.00, I jumped up and asked is this Leon, and I was told it was, so I grabbed my camera and rucksack and headed for the door, panicking I pressed the door button continuously, but the train started pulling out, with me still on it, and I was being taken to the next stop, where-ever that was. I checked the timetable and it was Palencia, a good 30 minutes down the line.

One of the buffet staff saw my predicament and had a word with the guard, the guard confirmed, the next stop was Palencia and that there would be a train back in two hours time that would take me back to Leon, but it wouldn’t have arrived until 13.30, and my one train a day from Leon on the FEVE line left at 13.45, so a fine margin to run across the city, and I didn’t want to miss it, as it would be the only chance I would have to travel the line. So, I had little choice but to take a taxi. It took an hour and ten minutes and cost me 180 EU, but at least I made my train, and with a little time spare to buy some supplies for the journey.

I purchased my ticket from Leon FEVE station ticket office, yes they have a ticket office for the one train a day each way, but trains were not travelling into the station, instead they were starting at another station on the edge of the town, “Ventas San Mames”. A bus left Leon FEVE station, with the bus stop being around the corner from the station, the guy in the ticket office couldn’t speak English, so he locked the ticket office up and took me to the bus stop. After a five-minute bus ride, I was at last boarding the little FEVE train and settling back for a long train ride to Bilbao, over seven hours to be precise.

I’m so glad I didn’t miss the opportunity to traverse line, it really was magnificent, weaving in and out of valleys, though tunnels, crossing viaducts and passing isolated villages and crossing snow covered mountains, it was quite a ride.

The first major station we called at was Mataporquera, this has a separate station for the Adif RENFE lines from Santander to Palencia, but the trains don’t appear to meet up, besides running parallel, it would make a good interchange if more thought was put into the timetables, both FEVE and Adif are RENFE anyway, but don’t seem to coordinate anything.

Travelling on from Mataporquera, the guard approached me and told me that the train was only going as far as Balmaseda, (not another dam bus I thought), but he then said another train would be waiting to takes us on to Bilbao. We arrived into Balmaseda after dark and I could just make out a depot near the station, as we passed, which had at lease 6 of the FEVE diesel locomotives on, so a note for a future visit, as it is only an hour out of Bilbao on a regular FEVE local service train.

I arrived into Bilbao La Concordia just after 22.00 and made my way to my hostal for the night, although it was only £18, it was the worst Id had on the trip, plugs hanging out of the wall, no curtains on the windows, no television, no lift, and a shared bathroom, quite a bland room really, but I slept well all the same and it came with a free breakfast, which was fresh and quite good.

A special thanks to Paul Steane for all the invaluable help he has given me while travelling on the FEVE network.

Renfe Feve - Wikipedia

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