In October 2003 I spent a week in the Czech Republic, touring the Czech rail network, and sampling the odd local beer or four.

Railbus 810 055-4 was part of the stock of the 12.36 from Marianske Lazne to Karlovy Vary dolni, where it is seen shortly after arriving at around 14.14 on 2003-10-05.

Electric multiple-unit 451 068-1 stands at Praha hlavni with service Os 9143, the 11.23 to Benesov u Prahy, on 2003-10-06. Despite the impressive front end the train was a bit grotty inside.

The 120th anniversary of the Krupa – Kolesovice line was celebrated on 4th and 5th October 2003. Steam loco 434.2186 hauled a Praha Masarykovo – Kladno – Luzna train, which connected with a Luzna – Krupa – Kolesovice special pulled by 434.1100, seen above running round the train at Kolesovice. Preserved railcar M131.1130 was also in operation.
Details from Rinbad.

A very dead kettle in the railway museum at Luzna.

Preserved loco in the Luzna museum. Only the front of it has been restored – inside the shed, some of the wheels are missing!

A train for Tabor leaves Bechyne, over the impressive concrete viaduct which is shared with road traffic.

A Bechyne-bound train passing our train for Tabor. There are some more photos of this rather nice line on a 100th anniversary website.

Diesel loco leaving at Jindrichuv Hradec on the 760 mm gauge JHMD line to Obratan.

Links

• The official Czech Railways website includes a useful journey planner in English.
• Some excellent on-line maps of the rail network in various countries, including the Czech Republic.
• A national atlas, handy for tracking down exactly where your hotel is meant to be.