Trains in Poland in 2002

Posted on 17 October 2012 by Andrew Grantham

A few badly-scanned pictures of railways in Poland, taken when I was touring the country with a PKP Polrail pass in August 2002.

PKP emblem on a steam loco at Wolsztyn.

I’m taking an early holiday ‘cos I know summer comes soonest in Wolsztyn.

A real steam-hauled freight train leaves Wolsztyn on a wet morning. 2002-08-05.

The driver of SU45-205 on the Wolsztyn to Leszno train says says hello. Leszno, 2002-08-05.

A diesel-hauled train at Hel, waiting to depart for Gdynia. 2002-08-06.

A view from the window of the overnight Gdansk – Krakow train, morning of 2002-08-07. Standing in the corridor and leaning out of the window seems a popular way to travel by train in Poland.

A quadlingual sign at Oswiecim. 2002-08-07.

A tram in Krakow. 2002-08-08.

Once on board the train, we began to suspect that buying the cheapest ticket might have been a mistake… Chabowka, 2002-08-08.

Steam loco Ty51 182 in the railway museum at Chabowka. They’ve got quite a variety of standard and narrow gauge locos there. Entrance to the museum cost PLZ 3, and permission to take photos PLZ 10. 2002-08-08.

Our train from Krakow to Wroclaw, seen on arrival at Wroclaw. Electric locomotive EU06-17 was built in Britain.
2002-08-09.

A tram in Wroclaw. The city has an extensive tram network, and almost every street in the centre seemed to have tram tracks. 2002-08-10.

A tram in Poznan. Gdansk, Katowice and Wroclaw had very similar vehicles.

An EP08 at Poznan. Most electric locomotives we found seemed to be green, but this one wasn’t. 2002-08-10.

Trams and trains in Belgium

Posted on 17 October 2012 by Andrew Grantham

In September 2001 I went to Belgium (and Luxembourg) on holiday. Here are a few badly-scanned old photographs.

[Tram]
Tram 7066 near the center of Antwerpen. 2001-09-05.

[Tram]
A modern tram in Brussels.

[Tram]
Tram 7811 at the terminus near the Atomium in Brussels.

Another Brussels tram.

[Commonwealth military cemetery]
Ramparts military cemetery, on the city walls in Ieper. The town is called Ypres in French, but is perhaps better known in Britain as "Wipers".

[Tram]
De Lijn coastal tram at Oostende, 2001-09-03.

[Railcar at Dinant]
Railcar 4508 at Dinant in the Ardennes, forming the 12.47 departure to Beauraing on 6 September 2001. These noisy little things are probably as bad as British Pacer trains – though they do have bogies, and if the driver leaves the cab door open you can see out of the front. From Beauraing to Gedinne the train was replaced by a bus, owing to electrification work.

[Tram]
A tram in the streets of Gent, 2001-09-02

[Tram]
Tram 6304 seen from the castle walls, Gent 2001-09-02

[Tram]
Tram 53 at the terminus Gent 2001-09-02. Note the "park and ride" facilities.

[Train]
Loco 6313 at Gent Sint-Pieters station.

[Train]

SNCB locomotive number 2131 in the rain.

The SNCB/NMBS logo, on an overnight train

Waterloo station nameboard

One of my ancestors fell at Waterloo…

[People in Napoleonic costume heading for a bar]

My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender. 2001-09-08.

Steam locomotives in Iceland

Posted on 17 October 2012 by Andrew Grantham

There might not be any snakes in Iceland, but it did once have a railway, and two locomotives. Both are preserved, and Minör was on display in Reykjavik in August 2000.

[Steam locomotive in Reykjavik]
Picture by Paul Grantham.

The two sections of narrow-gauge railway totalling 12 km were built to transport building materials for a quay and breakwater between the mainland and Örfirisey Island. One section ran from Öskjuhlið, the other to Skólavörðuholt.

There were two locomotives, Pionér and Minör, bought from Denmark. Both were built in Germany in 1892 by Arnold Jung. They are 4·9 m long, 3 m high, and weigh 13 tons.

The locos made an average of 25 trips each day for between 1913 and 1917, and saw limited use until 1928. Pionér is now at Árbaer open-air museum, Minör is at the harbour museum in Reykjavik.

Links

Some background information by Peter Bowyer.
A modern railway in Iceland, including Iceland’s first railway collision in July 2004. Used to transport workers, equipment and supplies for the three TBM machines involved in the project, the diesel-powered light railway system used in the Kárahnjúkar scheme has given Iceland its first working railway since 1913-15, when a narrow-gauge steam line was used to carry rock from a hillside quarry during the construction of Reykjavík’s first harbour.

Back up again

Posted on 1 September 2012 by Andrew Grantham

Unlikely as it sounds, my website has proved so popular that a couple of weeks ago it got shut down by the hosting provider for exceeding its monthly data limit.

As of September 1 it has been relaunched with a new host, so hopefully the problem shouldn’t reoccur. It is possible that a few things might have got mangled during the transition, so let me know if anything is too badly broken.

Normal service is now resumed, hopefully.

Andrew

Splash boat in East Park, Hull

Posted on 27 June 2012 by Andrew Grantham

The Grade II listed splash boat in Kingston upon Hull’s East Park was supplied by Charles Wicksteed & Co in 1929 at a cost of £1400. The city engineer’s department built the tower for £474 2s 5d. The drop is 22 feet, in a run of around 100 feet.

The ride’s rail support structure was rebuilt around 1961.

The splash boat was closed for almost two years following an accident during maintenance on 6 August 2010. An inspection was undertaken by NPS Humber, and their condition report was presented to the city council in May 2011.

Happily the splash boat underwent a £35 000 restoration undertaken by Hull firm DB Engineering from November 2011, and it reopened on 2 June 2012. The video is from 5 June 2012.

Great fun, well worth the 80p for a ride. And yes, you do get wet.

The other surviving splash boats are the original 1926 waterchute at Wicksteed Park near Kettering, and a 1932 one to a different or rebuilt design in Scarborough. This was part of the Kinderland park until its closure, but in 2008 the waterchute reopened under the management of the North Bay Railway.