Recent content by Fenway

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    Operational Steam Motor Railcars in Europe

    The early 20th Century railway phenomenon of the steam-powered railcar is quite a rare and unusual survivor these days. While a handful around the world have been preserved, even less are operational. In Central Europe there are 2. One in the Czech Republic and one in Switzerland. Both of them...
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    Polish Tramway and Old 1930s Border Bunker

    Here's a slightly unusual trolley line in southern Poland. It passes what used to be between 1922 and 1939 the border between Poland and Germany, within the heavily populated and industrialized interurban conurbation of Upper Silesia. Chorzow was Polish and Beuthen (Bytom) was German, this...
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    Scenic Swiss Train Viaducts

    This half-mile, stone-arched viaduct leads straight through the heart of the city in Zurich. It also has some steel spans along the way. Compare the footage from the short film, with how the city and the train bridges looked in the early 20th century on this Wikipedia black and white, aerial...
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    ALCO Switchers in Poland

    The Polish 6-axle diesel locomotive SM48 is based on the ALCO RSD/RSC models from the 1940s. It can be seen in the following film from 0:36. The locos make a good deal of high pitch sound (even though they are officially silenced) and kick out a lot of clag. Interesting enough is that the SM48...
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    Street Running Trains in Switzerland

    Street-running trains in urban or suburban always create a fascinating scene, be they on narrow gauge or standard gauge metals. Here is a short film of street running in Switzerland, on the Bremgarten - Dietikon Railway, which started as an overland, interurban tramway in 1902 but developed...
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    Steam has restarted in Europe

    In late May, main line steam action and public excursion trains restarted in Central Europe, following the lifting of lockdown restrictions. Here are two short films showing some very impressive and archaic 0-10-0 tank engines, 0-8-0 tender locomotives and 4-6-2 tanks with double steam dome on...
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    Longest Railway Bridge in Europe Reopens

    Ok, this superlative needs a quick caveat, because the Negrelli Viaduct in Prague was the longest railway bridge in Europe when it first opened on 1 June 1850, with a length of 1110 m. It kept that status until the Tay Bridge in Scotland was built in two versions in the 1870s and 80s. The...
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    Freight trains and heavy haul in Czech Republic

    Vandalism in the form of graffiti tagging remains a problem around many European countries, although most places have a good game plan in place on how to deal with it and remove it quite promptly. Normally it happens during overnight stabling at off-center locations. Yeah, American design...
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    Freight trains and heavy haul in Czech Republic

    For anyone with a desire to make a quick virtual railway trip to Europe, here's a short film on rail freight in and around Prague, showing a large variety of motive power, including diesel and electric, with double and tripple-header formations in the film.
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    European steam locomotives

    Thanks for the feedback, yes the steam preservation scene is alive and well in places that were hard to visit until 1989. In countries like Hungary, it's mainly thanks to the state-owned railway company MAV, in Slovakia a combination of state railway and volunteers and in Austria and Switzerland...
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    European steam locomotives

    From travels around Western and Central Europe I have compiled a gallery of different steam locomotive photos, covering standard gauge and narrow gauge metals, including the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. Here the link...
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    Maine Eastern Railroad FL-9 Streamliners in 2012

    Back in September 2012, I had the chance to travel on the Maine Eastern Railroad, when the scenic tourist service still ran from Brunswick to Rockland in Midcoast Maine. As a subsidiary of the Morristown & Erie Railway of New Jersey, the Maine Eastern (MERR) was later replaced Central Maine &...
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    Mixed Freight and Passenger Trains in Germany

    Some current pictures and a report on the presently only commercial mixed freight/passenger services in Germany. http://www.newrailwayreport.blogspot.com
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