What’s the the weirdest, niftiest and cutest train journey you’ve ridden on

[gordonthemoron]

Budapest M1 or földalatti

 

[Mikey C]

From a London perspective, the GOBLIN back in the days when it was an infrequent service, operated by heritage diesels seemed really out of place to all the frequent electric services all around it. Like visiting a provincial branch line, but in the middle of London!

 

[Ianno87]

Cutest: Stourbridge

Weirdest: Krakow to Osweiçem (Poland). A line from another world. 2 hours plus to cover 40 miles!

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Dalat in Vietnam back in 1998. Discovered there was a preserved railway there on arrival at our hotel. A few of us wandered over to the station to find some derelict steam locos plus a railcar hooked up to a trailer. No apparent sign of activity but asked a local what time the next train was. Suddenly lots of shouting, ticket office opens to sell us the tickets, railcar is started up, the trailer shunted out of the way by hand and we all board the railcar. Inside it is more like a sitting room than train with a sofa and easy chairs. Off we set along the length of the line, arriving in a nondescript village in a tropical rainstorm. Railcar shut down, we decamp to a bar across the street, little more than a shack, sink a few beers whilst the crew wait for us to return. Suitably refreshed we head back to Dalat!

Later in the same tour we had an overnight train from a very dark single platform station leaving at 23:00. Guide tells us the train will only stop for a minute, regardless of if we are all on or not. And we all had to board through the same door as we are all booked in the same carriage. 20 people, each with luggage for a two week tour, duly boarded and the train left after 60 seconds.

 

[mark edwards]

Loads how about any of the early morning postal services in the UK - - 02:10 Manchester P to Cleethorpes. Shrewsbury services or Victoria London. Could also say this year the Summer Saturday London Waterloo To Corfe Castle via Salisbury to Yeovil (reverse) Yeovil Pen Mill (reverse) Weymouth (Reverse) Waerham (Reverse) Corfe Castle (Passengers confused especially at Yeovil)

 

[NorthWestRover]

I lived in the Saarland 1989-1990 on a small branch line from Blieskastel to Gersheim with this sort of thing...

 

[Skymonster]

I don't do weird. But cutest was probably the trip to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong - although I can't say I particularly enjoy very steep funicular / cable railways (I will use them but I'm always concerned about what would happen if the cable broke - irrational maybe, but that's where I am). I can't say I was overly enthused with Naples' similar but less ambitious funicular railway for similar reasons.

 

[Kristofferson]

Another vote for the Stourbridge shuttle and Aylesbury 121 from me! Both were memorable experiences.

 

[eastwestdivide]

From a London perspective, the GOBLIN back in the days when it was an infrequent service, operated by heritage diesels seemed really out of place to all the frequent electric services all around it. Like visiting a provincial branch line, but in the middle of London!

Ditto the Stratford-North Woolwich when it was 2-car Cravens DMUs, and London's docklands hadn't become the Docklands of today.

Also somewhere on the cute scale, in Switzerland, the single-car EMUs to Mürren, high above the valley, that can only be reached by cable car at each end.

Back to the Stourbridge 139 shuttle, there's an episode of All The Stations called "It's the cutest train I've ever seen".

 

[Welly]

Back in 2014, my Dad and I ended up going the long way round from Hillerod to Helsingor on one of those "bus-trains" just north of Copenhagen. It's a network of branch lines serving what I think are mainly summer houses and most of the stops are request stops, the passengers would press a button if their intended stop is next (always announced "Naested somewhere"!) and the stops have signals that lights when the intending passengers swipe their card/ticket. I cannot remember what that system is called and I couldn't find the right words to google it!

 

[Ianno87]

Niftiest: The start of my summer 2008 Interrailing. Ebbsfleet to Köln, via Eurostar and Thalys. Hopping across France and Belgium to be in Germany for lunchtime was quite the start! (As was timing ourselves at 298kph on HSL2 between Brussels and Liège using the kilometre posts)

 

[Calthrop]

Meeting all three criteria, I feel: in India, Rajasthan State, in the very last days of 1993 on the then abundantly steam-worked metre-gauge lines around Udaipur, of India's Western Railway. From Mavli Junction, on the "main line" not very far east of Udaipur, there was an appealing branch line running some fifty miles southward into the "back country", to the terminus of Bari Sadri. Branch served by one train in each direction daily, officially a "mixed"; but per all observed evidence, in the last decade of the twentieth century no freight on this route was still on rail -- the branch train appeared to be strictly passenger. Steam-hauled, by a class YP Pacific or class YG 2-8-2 -- which class, totally the luck of the draw.

If Indian passenger rail timetable-observance in the early 1990s had on the whole been good, I could comfortably have scheduled a (long) day's excursion Udaipur -- Mavli Jun. -- Bari Sadri -- Mavli Jun. -- Udaipur. Sadly, said observance there and then, was far from good: such a day-trip would have had more of a Russian-Roulette element, than I would have been comfortable with. Plan, thus, to take the outward working, 1040 ex Mavli Junction, the 7-odd miles to the branch's first station, Vallabhnagar; alighting there, and walking back to Mavli Junction, to be sure of getting my p.m. train back to Udaipur. This duly done: the 1040 that day was YG-hauled -- a "win": had by then travelled behind every Indian Railways steam class still in service except for this one -- the branch train's YG gave me a "full board". The 2-8-2 was hauling a self-contained three-coach unit, seemingly made from extruded plastic and highly reminiscent of an enlarged version of a seaside miniature railway's semi-open coach set; appearing rather thinly patronised, but not totally-hopelessly without any customers. Prompt departure took us to Vallabhnagar, about a twenty minutes' run; where, with some regret, I felt obliged to disembark and let the train go on its way. Long, hot walk back to Mavli through flat, dreary country: my impression from this only visit to India is that save for a few uncharacteristic parts, you don't go there for the scenery.

A feature of this journey was that though I tried my utmost to pay my fare Mavli Jun. -- Vallabhnagar: it proved totally impossible to find anyone who was interested in taking said fare. I don't hold with fare-dodging; but after utter failure of exhaustive attempts to pay (probably the equivalent of only a few pence), I concluded that if the Western Railway of India couldn't get their act together to make it possible for an earnestly-wishing-to-be-honest visitor, to pay them for their services; that was their problem.

A quarter of a century on, I would like to imagine that the Mavli Junction -- Bari Sadri branch is still offering its one-each-way-per-day passenger service (now diesel-powered, of course); but am not holding my breath.

 

[185143]

Not quite a train, but a late night ride on a San Francisco cable car, rumbling through deserted streets in the dark & with the car almost empty takes some beating

Seconded!

 

[Gathursty]

Another one for the Aylesbury 121 shuttle. I was lucky enough to use it in it's last days with an ex as we were driving back from Eastbourne.

As for niftiest, I have a soft spot for the Huddersfield service which curves through the Calder Valley to Halifax and the Cathcart Circle service which is an interesting way to see Glasgow.

 

[eastwestdivide]

A quarter of a century on, I would like to imagine that the Mavli Junction -- Bari Sadri branch is still offering its one-each-way-per-day passenger service (now diesel-powered, of course); but am not holding my breath.

News report at:
https://udaipurtimes.com/contractor...ine-delays-mavli-bari-sadri-gauge-conversion/
says it still exists and in 2017 there was trouble with the contractors over its conversion from metre gauge

The train info site at
https://indiarailinfo.com/train/-train-mavli-bari-sadri-mg-passenger-52072/7873/308/6829
says "Section closed for Gauge conversion from 1.11.2016"

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Has to be Le petit train jaune for me.

 

[CC 72100]

Krakow to Osveçim (Auchwitz).

Takes 2 hours to do about 40 miles, seldom breaching 30mph (apart from the random 75mph sprint for the last 2 miles).

Lady nonchalantly stepping across a freight yard carrying her shopping bags.

Unit has about a 75 minute turnround for return trip where it shunts to a siding and the *three* traincrew (for a 2 car EMU) sit leisurely chatting to each other the whole time.

A railway line from another world - truly bizarre. But for a couple of pounds or so each way fantastic value!

Good shout - I had similar thoughts when I did the line. Rather spartan 4-car EMU on my visit. Fantastic heating... and that was in January this year!

On the way back, I caught the (1 a day and new at that time) Prague - Krakow international train operated by Ceske Drahy; went via a different route and saw some scary speeds of averaging about 50/60!

 

[03_179]

The 121 between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough.

Volk’s Electric Railway, Brighton as well

Also the Salzburg castle funicular railway is a bit strange.

But the Liliputbahn im Wiener Prater is one of the nicest.