Multi Trip to Germany – Croatia – Hungary – Switzerland – Germany May 2014

This trip was a week roaming Europe: Germany – Croatia – Hungary – Switzerland – Germany

Originally this trip was to include Slovenia but due to the ice storms they had over Winter that resulted in massive OHL damage and stopped the Citadella running from Ljubljana we had to rethink our plans and opted for Croatia instead and not a bad substitute it was.

A lot of hard work went into getting this trip right, especially in Croatia, so much so that a complete list of what worked what on the Zargeb – Varazdin line was compile for the two weeks prior to us going, from the HZ Mapper, just so we knew what was hauled regularly and what wasn’t.

Not only was HZ Mapper scrutinized, the very same was done with MAV Mapper to make sure certain trains were what they should be.

I almost came a cropper during the planning as my planned overnight EN499 from Munich to Zagreb was retimed almost 4 hours earlier due to engineering work in Austria; thankfully I had plenty of time from my flight to its rescheduled 1938 departure so it wasn’t a problem.

With the tools available nowadays for planning trips I’ve found that if you put the hard work in prior to the trip then you reap the rewards during; and are a lot more prepared should things start to go wrong.

Flights

Booked direct through the respective airline (Lufthansa or British Airways)

LH2473 1105 Heathrow – Munich (£115.54)

BA921 1920 Stuttgart – Heathrow (€35.04)

Hotels

Zagreb (Croatia) – Best Western Astoria (£78 for a twin room) – check-in was seamless. For the price we’d paid the place was a steal; it was spotless, the room very well kept, the staff friendly and the breakfast the following morning turned out to be cracking with a massive choice, including some hot stuff!

Celldomolk (Hungary) – Déjà vu Panzio (£66 for a twin room for two nights) – 10 minute walk from Celldomolk station, above a pizza restaurant that was bustling with people. One member of staff spoke a little English. As we were out early we managed to negotiate some sandwiches to take with us for breakfast, which were presented to us after we’d finished our pizzas. The food was cheap, the area quiet, the room clean and spacious and the staff helpful and accommodating and the place was a steal at £66 for two nights.

Kempten (Germany) – Green Living Inn (£50 for a single room) – a 5 minute walk from Kempten station. As the reception closed at 2100 I had been given a code for a locker at the hotel’s entrance. Said code opened the door and inside was my room key, room number, receipt and code for the WiFi. The place was quiet, clean, and spacious and for the price very well equipped with each room having its own fridge and microwave oven.

Train Tickets

Inter Rail

15 Day Global Pass – £314 (including a 15% discount being offered at the time)

Deutsche Bahn

Reservations for overnight trains all done by phone through DB’s London office

EN1199 1938 Munich HB – Zagreb (£27.50 for a berth in a twin cabin – reservation only)

EN466 1910 Budapest Keleti – Zurich HB (£41.58 for a berth in a twin cabin – reservation only)

Thursday 1^st May 2014 (Labour Day in Europe – Germany into Austria/Croatia)

A very early start on the 0536 ex Doncaster! Unlike the previous week the taxi was outside in good time and I was at the station by 0505 and the best of it was the guy only wanted a fiver; the fare usually being £5.50. The station was desolate and it was that early in the morning my train to London was the first on the screen and there was no announcement as it rolled into a silent, and slightly eerie, Doncaster.

The journey was ok, no delays and the same could be said about the tube to Heathrow; thankfully the previous two days’ worth of strikes hadn’t affected the Piccadilly Line service start-up. Although I’d got the potential of the next lot of strikes to bowl me out the day I got back!

Heathrow Terminal 1 was a doddle, no queues for security and no myther along the way; I was sat having breakfast by 0845; which wasn’t bad to say I’d only arrived into Kings Cross at 0729!

I was so glad to be boarding a plane where there was both decorum and common sense. Having been subjected to Ryanair the previous week Lufthansa seemed like the ultimate in luxury compared! The plan wasn’t full and the 1h20m flight literally flew by. From the moment we touched down it took me 13 minutes to get onto a train at the Airport station, and I had to wait 2 minutes for it to arrive.

We were booked to land at 1355 and I had a half cocked plan to get to Freising for Alex train 84113 1140 Hof – Munich into Munich but as the 1404 departure only arrived at 1405 and the 1411, which I only had a plus 4 off at Neufahrn, was showing 5 late then so I decided to just do the late running 1404 all the way to Munich HB and it was full and standing all the way!

I departed Munich HB on Alex 84150 1519 Munich – Lindau with 223062 but when I’d boarded what I thought was 84150 I was surprised to see people still boarding a load three set of coaches in an adjacent platform when the set of coaches I was on started moving. I hadn’t felt the engine back on and there was a good reason for it; not only was 223062 stuck behind the set of coaches I was sat on, the gronk that was currently shunting me out of the station must have already been attached to the front of the stock when I boarded. A few things were explained at that point, the fact that the stock I was on was empty, the fact that people were boarding the 1519 to Lindau in the adjacent platform and the fact that the set of stock I was on was indeed the Lindau portion being shunted over onto the Oberstdorf portion. Nobody said a word to me as I got out of the stock, while the shunted was bolting everything together, to go and spot the gronk that had just shunted me from platform 28 to 29! 362768 it was, it didn’t really mean a great deal to me at all but it was a bonus start to the day; even if it had come about through my own lack of due care and attention.

It was a decent afternoon, the sun was out and it was quite warm. I’d passed T&T 111’s 111023/177 and 218472 as we’d departed Munich HB; both sets looking like they were about to drop into the station. 218488 was soon rolling in with RE57411 1408 Memmingen – Munich HB and although it put me back in to cover the 1544 Nürnberg all K could do was watch it leave with 111177 leading to Nürnberg. I wouldn’t have had enough time to get to the blocks from the high numbered platforms anyway and was satisfied that new 218472 was sat waiting to depart with RE57512 1552 Munich – Füssen so just saved myself the walk and boarded it.

Thanks to the guard of RE57501 1406 Füssen – Munich, who was clearly more interested in her text message than getting her train away from Pasing, I made a dead at Pasing, straight across from platform 3 to 4; and it needed to be. The text message reading was over the moment my foot touched the steps of the train and the doors almost bit me on the arse as they slammed shut behind me! The third new 218 in a row, 218469, I was doing well…….

As suspected 218488 was sat waiting to depart with the 1620 Memmingen, which I did back out to Pasing for 223067 back in on the 1358 from Lindau. My plan was then to nip out to Munich Ost to get a couple of the Mühldorf 218’s in, a move that was sadly put straight in the bin the moment I’d walked the length and breadth of the station to find a pair of 628 DMU’s arriving on the 1655 arrival from Mühldorf! Bank Holiday or no bank holiday, there was no need for that! With no plan B at that point I went to investigate the 111’s that were currently in the station.

Lokvorshau had shown three 111’s to be out in the Munich area 111017, 111024 and 110039, the latter being on a Donauwörth turn and the other two on Nürnberg turns. As it happened brightly coloured 111017 was actually T&T with 111200 as they sat in, 111200 on the blocks, in the adjacent platform to 111221, which was already shown to work the 1743 Nürnberg. By the time I’d got back from my jaunt to the low numbered platforms the T&T set was shown to do RE4082 1723 Munich – Passau. I quickly worked out that I could do them to Freising for a plus 1 onto an inbound Nürnberg or a plus 22 onto RE4079 1626 Passau – Munich; the latter being shown in the 2013 diagrams as being booked for a pair of 111’s, just has 4082 had been. I couldn’t fail; well I did!

Confident that the 1626 from Passau would be 111’s I opted to photograph 111187 as it departed with RE4263 from Nürnberg and wait the 22 minutes for what turned out to be not only a single loco but 146246! Bowled! And bowled again back at Munich as I found a dud pair of 218’s, 218457/461 on the 1852 Munich – Kempten and then dud 120126 on IC2092 1845 Munich – Karlsruhe. The 218s I could understand but I’d only had two 120’s so the 218’s it was and not wanting to risk any potential dodgy plus onto my overnight, EN1199 1938 Munich – Zagreb, I did 101012 back in on IC1269 1606 Karlsruhe – Salzburg; which was just as well as dud 218492 was what followed.

With 20 minutes to spare I managed to get food from one of the many places to choose from at Munich HB before watching the stock for my overnight be gronked in by 362768, propelling, with ÖBB 1116146 already attached to the front inside the gronk. Not quite what I was expecting and I was assuming that the 1116 would work through to Villach as a result.

I’d booked a sleeper in a two berth compartment, the stock was clean and the attendant spoke English. From Munich I was the only person in my compartment. What I did find a little disconcerting though was that the attendant took both my sleeper reservation and my Inter Rail off me and wouldn’t take no for answer; telling me he’d return them in the morning with coffee……

Having arrived into Salzburg early I had plenty of time to check out and engine change that may occur. I needn’t have bothered though as 1116146 stayed bolted to the train and ultimately went forward to Villach. While at Salzburg I did notice MAV 470009 arrive with what I assumed was the booked MAV 470 turn.

Upon departure from Salzburg my compartment still only had me in it, which was a massive bonus, and with the next stop being Villach at 4am I was certain I’d have it to myself all the way to Zagreb; especially as there appeared to be at least two compartments with nobody in them at all. I should have booked a three berth compartment…….

The Moves

Gen for Thursday 1^st May 2014

(Other than in the moves above)

Alex

183002 84113 1140 Hof – Munich HB

183004 84115 1340 Hof – Munich HB

183005 84112 1604 Munich HB – Hof

223062 84150 1519 Munich HB – Lindau

223067 84151 1358 Lindau – Munich HB, 84152 1719 Munich HB – Lindau

DB

101012 IC1269 1606 Karlsruhe – Salzburg

101103 IC2264 1648 Munich HB – Basel Bad

111023/177 4260 1544 Munich HB – Nürnberg

111017/200 4075 1426 Passau – Munich HB, 4082 1723 Munich HB – Passau

111187 4263 1536 Nürnberg – Munich HB

111221 4264 1743 Munich HB – Nürnberg

120146 IC2092 1845 Munich HB – Karlsruhe

146246 4079 1626 Passau – Munich HB

218457/461 57588 1852 Munich HB – Kempten

218469 57501 1406 Füssen – Munich HB

218472 57512 1552 Munich HB – Füssen

218488 57411 1408 Memmingen – Munich HB, 57414 1620 Munich HB – Memmingen

218492 57593 1738 Kempten – Munich HB

The Photographs

Friday 2^nd May 2014 (Austria/Slovenia into Croatia)

I was up and about at Villach, while not really needing to be it I would have been rude not to check out if there was going to be any gronk action. Of course there wasn’t with 1116146 shunting the portion for Italy straight off the front and then SZ 541013 shunting an additional coach onto the front of the train before working it forward to Dobova. Back to sleep it was then…..

I was awake at Ljubljana, thanks to the noise being created by some brat in a compartment further up the coach. While scanning outside the window I noted the following: 363005 arrive with a train and terminate 342001, 014, 023 & 005, with 541003 & 004, all lined up by the station and 644016/012 & 664111 stabled in the sidings.

I didn’t sleep a great deal more from Ljubljana and spent some time admiring the scenery as we glided our way towards the Slovenian border. At which there was a passport check by Croatian officials; while SZ 541013 was being replaced by HZ 1142013. In the station waiting to depart was SZ 342025 with EC158 0722 Zagreb – Wien Meidling.

Passport grip over we were away from Dobova only 10 late and into Zagreb only a few minutes late. Thankfully the sleeper coach attendant had brought my Inter Rail and reservation back when he produced a complimentary coffee after Dobova, so all was well. 1142013, in its nice yellow livery, made for a nice photo upon arrival as the morning sun beamed down on it. It looked set to be a decent day weather wise; I was only hoping that the trains would hold up their end of the bargain.

1141302 was sat in the adjacent platform to that in which my overnight had arrived with 397 0918 Zagreb – Sarajevo. What I hadn’t released at the time was that some of the coaches off my overnight were shunted off and onto the rear of IC201 1002 Zargreb – Budapest; the labels in the coaches being a bit of a giveaway that this might happen. I spotted this 48 hours later just as a gronk was backing said stock onto IC201, that we were about to do forward from Zagreb! Doh!

The first thing I noticed about Zagreb Glavni Kolodvor was that the platform numbering seemed a bit random. The arrival/departure screens had two columns, one that gave a platform and the second that gave a place on the platform. This was ok, in a fashion, for the through platforms but I was having a hard time figuring out where the 0930 Zagreb – Varazdin should depart from. I eventually found it in platform 4, place 2; in a bay platform. There are 4 bay platforms at the end of the station, all of which are platform 4 with each then having the secondary number to represent it. I was struggling to understand at that point why each platform hadn’t either been numbered separately or given a letter prefix; the later would have been perfectly acceptable. I found later that some did actually have letter prefixes after their secondary number; farce! I will say though that once I’d got used to it finding the platforms was straight forward enough.

2044024 headed the 0930 Zagreb – Varazdin and departed bang on time, depositing me round the corner at Zagreb Zapadni Kolodvor 5 minutes later; where 2044016 could be seen approaching in the distance before ‘024 had even departed. Neither were really given any thrash on the short journeys I did on them so I couldn’t comment on whether they were any good or not at that point.

As I’d not quite got used to the platform numbering scenario I’d spent some time studying the departure posters on the platforms before I’d left on 2044024; this at least then had me prepared to make the cross platform leap from 2044016 to 1141307 as the 0539 Kotoriba – Zagreb arrived back into platform 4 bays again.

1141307 was working 4052 0950 Zagreb – Ogulin. I’d seen it work in just after I’d arrived on my overnight and it had been shunt released by a gronk to allow it to work straight back. The train wasn’t wedged and was spot on time as it trundled out of town. Little did I realise that Mavracici would be in the middle of nowhere, with a single line platform and about three buildings anywhere near it. Still, off I got and waited it out and 1141380 soon arrived with 4057 0800 Moravice – Zagreb.

My next move was out to Dugo Selo, where I would have originally had a choice of two trains out for two trains back but just like my overnight, EN415 Zurich – Beograd was being diverted in Austria. This though hadn’t been retimed and was running approx. 4 hours late from Austria to Beograd; leaving me with only one option for a move to Dugo Selo, or so I thought.

Sat in platform 2 was a load three IC set and the screens had EN415 on them. Investigation revealed that the set was forming EN415 1115 Zagreb – Vinkovci only; basically running in the booked path within Croatia only. The disappointment on people’s faces when they were told that they had to wait over 4 hours for their train to Beograd was immediately evident. I wasn’t disappointed as I boarded whatever train it was running as, with 1142005 at its helm, as this meant I’d still have a choice of two trains back from Dugo Selo; not that it mattered to me as I needed everything anyway but it did give an option if one was late of course.

It was scorching as I stood on the platform at Dugo Selo, so much so that I had to hide in the shade with everyone else. The engineering works that have been buggering up services at weekends on the Zagreb – Dugo Selo line, were clearly visible. Part of the section had been completely relayed and there were debris from the old tracks (sleepers/rails etc) all along the route. Thankfully said engineering work wasn’t taking place the following day and we’d get away with a day’s bash unscathed; unlike the previous weekend where 2044001/2062xxx had been dragging trains over part of the section making a right mess of the timetable!

I thought Italy was bad for graffiti until EMU 6111022 rolled in with the 1131 Zagreb – Dugo Selo stopper; it was covered from top to bottom and end to end in graffiti, even on the front and rear ends! It did only seem to be the EMU’s that took the beating with regards graffiti as the locos and stock seemed fine.

1142001 was the first loco to roll in heading back to Zagreb, with EC210 0901 Vinkovci – Villach HB, and on board I got. Back in Zagreb I had a bit of time to kill so wondered round outside the station to get a few photos of the very well looked after buildings around the station area. It’s very open outside Zagreb Glavni Kolodvor and even the station building itself is well worth a photo. Old trams run by, right outside the station entrance, to take people into town and the atmosphere outside was just like one that would have you believe it was the middle of summer. People were sat around in the park, on the grass, in front of the picturesque Art Pavilion while others were taking shelter from the sun by the large King Tomislav statue that is directly between the station and Art Pavilion; also well worth a photo.

While sat minding my own business, moments from departure with 1141376 on 4054 1315 Zagreb – Ogulin, into the compartment came a very out of breath and sweaty Aidy. He’d landed into Zagreb and missed the bus that would have given him a comfortable walk from the bus station to railway station in Zagreb; thus had been forced to get a bit of a shift on, in the hot weather, to make the 1315 Ogulin; taking him until we got off at Desinec to almost recover!

Desinec, like Mavracici that I’d got off at in the morning, was nothing but a platform surrounded by open land. Despite its countryside feel the tranquility it offered was quite relaxing while we waited for what turned out to be 1141304 to return us to Zagreb on 4061 1200 Ogulin – Zagreb.

We used the 45 minute break we had to nip to the Best Western Hotel we’d pre-booked and check in. It was only a 5 minute walk from the station front and check-in was seamless. For the price we’d paid the place was a steal; it was spotless, the room very well kept, the staff friendly and the breakfast the following morning turned out to be cracking with a massive choice, including some hot stuff!

After another stroll around outside the station and a bite to eat from one of the bakery type places on the station concourse the afternoon bash came into play which would be solely on HZ 2044’s on the Varazdin line; there being no moves during the day at all out of Zagreb unless you do long distance down the line.

The whole afternoon’s bash was done, unwittingly, involving stations that started with a Z! It went like this Zagreb – Zapresic – Zeinci – Zapresic – Zabok – Zagreb; 5 different 2044’s, some better than others, and all on short rakes, I think 5 being the maximum. None of the trains were wedged despite the fact that we stood in the aisles on some. Timekeeping was ok and our planned bash was executed without an issue. Unfortunately the sunny weather turned into a downpour partway through the afternoon but thankfully had passed over by the time 2044023 deposited us into Zagreb a little late at 1833. Of the 5 2044’s we’d had ‘023 was by far the best and driven better than all the others too.

We’d planned to do the 1835 Zagreb – Koprivnica as part of our evening bash but as it was departing from platform 2 part Z, at the opposite end of the station to the platform 4 bays we’d just arrived into we didn’t have much chance of making it but went for a stroll towards it anyway. When we were overtaken on the platform by a few normal’s running for the train we realised that the guard, at the back door of the train, had clocked them running and was actually waiting for them so we got a bit of a jog on and hopped aboard before the normal’s; the job was a good ‘un; until I lost Aidy shortly afterwards……

Having stepped back at Sesvete for the 1851 Zagreb – Slavonksi Brod we weren’t paying as much attention as we probably should have been when we stopped at Sesvetski Kraljevec; where we were supposed to be getting off. The station sign on the platform was partially missing and it hadn’t registered with either of us that the part remaining was the last part of said station where we should have been getting off. By the time we did realize the guard was giving the tip to the driver, from the door we were stood at, I made it off the train as it set off but by the time Aidy had got from the opposite side of the coach 1141388 had accelerated its 3 coach set to a speed which wasn’t one worth risking jumping off at. Apart from that the guard was in the doorway, which I’ll give him his due, trying to get the attention of the driver to stop the train but he obviously wasn’t looking in his wing mirrors at the time; so off Aidy went into the distance, leaving me at a deserted Sesvete Kraljevec, with half a station sign!

Obviously a few text messages were exchanged in an attempt to figure out where to meet up as the train Aidy was disappearing into the distance on was a minus 4 onto the train I was waiting for at Dugo Selo. However the text messages were needless as the minus 4 made, not that Aidy actually realised until 1141308 rolled in at Dugo Selo. I was pretty confident he’d made it as well with not being able to see the train in the distance at departure time; the line being straight for miles. For a whole 20 minutes I’d lost Aidy but as 1141308 rolled into the station with only half a sign he was found again…..

As 1141308’s train, 2020 1452 Vinkovci – Zagreb, was about 10 late we couldn’t risk making Zagreb for 2107 1948 Zagreb – Novska so bailed out of a short fester at Maksimir; where we were greeted with 1141309 for the run out to Dugo Selo. At Dugo Selo we were dealt a bonus as the last train of the day rolled in with 1142012/006, both with pan’s up. The train was two trains in one B782 1620 Osijek – Zagreb & IC204 1445 Budapest Keleti – Zagreb; neither of us had realised it would be a pair until they arrived and they topped off a very good day indeed.

There weren’t any options for food nearby the station when we got back into Zagreb, other than bars so we ended up walking towards the city centre, past the Best Western and eventually came across the Gostionica Purger which had English speaking staff and served up some decent grub; all topped off by a Tomislav beer!

The Moves

Gen for Friday 2^nd May 2014  

(Other than in the moves above)

SZ

342025 EC158 0722 Zagreb GK – Wien Meidling (seen at Doboj)

HZ

1141302 397 0918 Zagreb GK – Sarajevo, EN1198 2120 Zagreb GK – Munich HB

1141307 4055 0610 Moravice – Zagreb GK

1141377 981 1256 Zagreb GK – Osijek

1142011 B744 0733 Vinkovci – Zagreb GK, B743 1307 Zagreb GK – Vinkovci

1142013 2015 1138 Zagreb GK – Vinkovci

1142015 EN414 1100 Beograd – Zurich HB (ex Zagreb GK)

2044007 3013 1109 Kotoriba – Zagreb GK

2044016 3006 1108 Zagreb GK – Kotoriba

The Photographs

Saturday 3^rd May 2014 (Croatia to Hungary)

Not a massively early start, leaving us plenty of time to sample, or should I say abuse, breakfast at the Best Western Astoria! The selection and variety of choice was by far the best I’d ever come across at a hotel breakfast. The food quality was good and the fact that it was plentiful hid the fact that we made up enough sandwiches for lunch later in the day, as well as the fruit that we also took the opportunity to take with us. We certainly weren’t in need of anything else to eat as we checked out at 0715.

With the loco-hauled trains being a little slim on the ground on a Saturday morning in Zagreb we only had one option and thanks to the hotel WiFi and HZ Mapper we already knew that the engine coming back in from Sesvete would be new. Luckily a new 1141386 was sat waiting with 2011 0745 Zagreb – Vinkovci, which we did out to Sesvete, where 1141305 promptly produced as HZ Mapper said it would, with 2010 0613 Novska – Zagreb.

The Saturday morning weather was nothing like the previous day’s excellent sunny climate, instead it had given way to a dull start and rain; as a result we didn’t venture anywhere that meant getting wet during our 90 minute fester for our train across the border into Hungary. There wasn’t a great deal going off at the station during that time either, other than some shunting in the yard and 1141302 departing with 397 0918 Zagreb – Sarajevo.

What neither of us had realised until it was literally seconds too late was that two coaches off EN1199 (Normally EN499) had been shunted off and were sat just over the points at the mid part of platform 2. These were poised to be shunted onto the rear of B703 0540 Rijeka – Osijek when it arrived, to then form the stock for IC201 1002 Zagreb – Budapest Deli, which would run to Koprivnica with B703. When we realised that there was actually a gronk attached to the two coaches yonder side of the points we braved the pouring rain and briskly walked down the platform to try and get on the stock. We were about 5m away when the shunter gave the tip and the coaches started moving and as there was a second shunter stood in the doorway we couldn’t even get on while they were moving; so all that resulted from our walk down the platform was we got wet and then had to watch 2132324 overtake us as we trudged back through the rain towards the station canopy! Some people were still sat on the stock as it rolled by, having obviously arrived on it from Slovenia or Austria; so a perfectly valid gronk move passed us by……..

We joined said stock once it had been coupled up, which wasn’t very full at all as 1141389 departed Zagreb with the two trains coupled. At Koprivnica the Osijek portion was detached, unfortunately we couldn’t see what the 2044 was that worked forward due to stock being in the way. 1141389 then worked IC201 forward to Gyekenyes in Hungary.

Between Koprivnica, Croatia & Gyekenyes, Hungary a Croatian customs officer travels with the train to check passports. Upon arrival in Gyekenyes Hungarian customs board the train in numbers and we weren’t allowed off until they’d checked our passports. They started from the rear of the train and as we were in the front coach it took about 5 minutes from arrival to us being on the platform; the train not being full at all. My suggestion would be to walk to the back on arrival if you’re doing any form of tight plus at Gyekenyes.

The weather hadn’t improved at all as we entered Hungary and rain persisted at Gyekenyes during the 90 minutes we had to wait for our first MAV train of the day. To add insult to the crappy weather the inbound of our train arrived with MAV 630029 piloting 433308, both with pan’s up. Of course 630029 was shunted off and went into the yard to work a freight and 433308 was later run round the 3 coach set to work back to Dombovar with 8215 at 1327. At least on board the stock it was dry and warm even if there was no freight engine on the front!

Shortly before departure M62 628311 arrived with a freight and MAV 418230 departed with 8907 1015 Pecs – Szombathely. As we were deposited in the middle of nowhere by 433308 my first impressions of Hungary were that it was a country with plenty of space, the small stations seemingly serving small communities situated in the middle of fields. This impression didn’t change much until we arrived into Szombathely that evening.

Having watched 433308 disappear off into the distance, as it left us at the single platform that formed Bolhas station, we were glad to see 433205 arriving from the opposite direction almost to time with 8234 1208 Dombovar – Nagykanizsa. We almost dropped a bullock when we chose to carry on from Gyekenyes to Murakeresztur, for our plus 8 at 4 late. The single line into Murakeresztur opens up into two leads way outside the station which can result in trains missing. While we had a good few minutes 433209 was already sat in with 8235 1427 Nagykanizsa – Dombovar and between us and it when we arrived into the platform was 630029 with a freight. We were glad we opted to run round the front of 630029 and board straight away, without getting a photo of 630029/433209 side by side, as no sooner had we boarded did the red cap give the crew the tip to depart; 2 minutes early!

As with most people’s trips to Hungary these days our plan was to incorporate the GySev 651’s and what better way to get towards civilization than on the Pecs 651 turn? So from Gyekenyes we headed out to yet another deserted station, this time Belavar, on 8904 1308 Szombathely – Pecs with MAV 418108; my first ever rattling Ganz and nothing to write home about at all, in fact quite rubbish really. Of course what was to pick us up at Belavar would be far better; or so I thought…….

GySev 651003 arrived promptly with 8905 1415 Pecs – Sopron and the front coach was empty and red hot. As the wind had got up the noise from the engine would be blown to one side of the train and I was poised with the window open as we departed Belavar; never before have I been so disappointed with thrash from an engine. I’d heard lots of people give the 651s a good report and yet 651003 was virtually noiseless, there was no meat to it at all and the only noise I could hear was from whining fans, which isn’t thrash at all. The complete lack of thrash continued all the way to Szombathely, where we were that disappointed with the lack of noise we flagged 651008 on IC911 1900 Szombathely – Budapest Keleti in favour of a walk into town to find something to eat and a move on electrics later.

Our food move turned into nothing more than a 15 minute walk towards town for a 15 minute walk back, during which we found nothing open at all. We were thinking that it may have been due to it having been a Bank Holiday on the Thursday and people taking an extended weekend? As luck didn’t have it the only bakery type place on the station concourse had closed by the time we returned so the only thing we could do was have a beer in the station bar; where I realised that the stories of beer being cheaper than water in these parts of the world were actually true! At least we were given a bit of entertainment by some drunk who didn’t want to leave the station while we sat drinking our beer. Thankfully we eventually managed to find a small shop tucked away in a corner of the station, which had sandwiches for sale, so we didn’t starve that evening.

Fester over we departed Szombathely on a very empty 9021 2005 Szombathely – Veszprem with GySev 430321 in GySev’s distinct yellow/green livery. We only did it to Porpac as a fill-in move for GySev 430327 back into Szombathely on 9206 1638 Budapest Keleti – Szombathely; the main event for the evening, and the sole reason for staying out a bit late, was 9041 2117 Szombathely – Celldomolk. On a Saturday it was booked a freight MAV 630 and we weren’t to be disappointed when we found 630027 already sat on the train waiting to depart when we arrived back into Szombathely.

Covering the MAV 630 turn had ultimately resulted in us deciding to stay in Celldomolk rather than Szombathely for two nights and upon arrival in Celldomolk, map in hand, it took about 10 minutes to walk to the Déjà vu Panzio. The wind had got up during the day and it wasn’t the nicest of walks but at least it hadn’t started to rain!

Everything we walked past in Celldomolk was closed, other than bars, as you might expect at 2200 on a Saturday night maybe? We were so glad to find that our lodging for the night was actually above a pizza restaurant that was bustling with people. One member of staff spoke a little English and we were soon checked in and shown to our room. As we were out early we managed to negotiate some sandwiches to take with us for breakfast, which were presented to us after we’d finished our pizzas. The food was cheap, the area quiet, the room clean and spacious and the staff helpful and accommodating and the place was a steal at £66 for two nights.

Sleep wasn’t hard to come by that night…….

The Moves (Croatia)

The Moves (Hungary)

Gen for Saturday 3^rd May 2014

(Other than in the moves above)

HZ

1141302 397 0918 Zagreb GK – Sarajevo

1141305 2013 0941 Zagreb GK – Vinkovci

1141308 4000 0750 Zagreb GK – Rijeka

1141385 4052 0950 Zagreb GK – Ogulin

1142009 2206 1118 Koprivnica – Zagreb GK

1142015 EN1199 1938 (P) Munich HB – Zagreb GK (into Zagreb GK)

2132324 shunt portion from EN1199 to IC201 at Zagreb GK

MAV

418320 8907 1015 Pecs – Szombathely, 8906 1708 Szombathely – Pecs

433187 844 1330 Budapest Deli – Nagykanizsa

433210 8244 1408 Dombovar – Nagykanizsa

480021 IC201 1002 Zagreb GK – Budapest Deli (from Gyekenyes with 433187 on rear), IC205 1434 Zagreb GK – Budapest (seen at Gyekenyes)

630029/433308 8212 1008 Dombovar – Gyekenyes (630029 leading both pans up on arrival)

GySev

651008 IC911 1900 Szombathely – Budapest Keleti (ex Szombathely)

The Photographs (Croatia)

The Photographs (Hungary)

Sunday 4^th May 2014 (Hungary)

We were up for the 0608 from Celldomolk to Gyor, the walk to the station not being dissimilar to the one in the opposite direction the previous night; the wind not having died down at all. Even though we’d completely dissed 651008 the previous night we’d planned to do a move on the GySev turns on the IC’s ex Gyor. Having replaced GySev 430327 on 9209 0522 Szombathely – Budapest Keleti MAV 418318 set us off in the right direction; rattling its way to Gyor.

We didn’t have long at Gyor but were treated to a passing Floyd Class 56 while we waited, 659002 (56115). The problem was that the 56 shouldn’t have been passing at all! I’d noticed it approaching in the distance and also noticed the red signal at the end of the platform that it had so figured I’d got plenty of time to get outside of the station canopy and into the sunlight for a photo while it was slowing down. Wrong! While I was faffing to get my camera out Aidy commented on the fact that it was moving a bit, not having actually realised it had a red at the platform end himself, I turned round to find it almost on top of me, snapped the shot and moments later 659002 was sailing past the red at the platform end, brakes screeching away, hard on!

It wasn’t just a run of the mill SPAD (signal passed at danger) it was a good one, the loco and the first half of the train were past it, a good 200m I’d say. During the braking we noticed a window open in the offices above the station, from which a woman appeared and looked on in disbelief and just stood there shaking her head until the train stopped then disappeared back inside again; I was guessing there was a driver on 659002 that wasn’t in the best of places at that time and was bracing himself for a good dressing down. From where we were stood it looked like his train was only about 100m from the crossover points outside the station; from where GySev 1116059 appeared shortly after he’d stopped with our train to Repcelak so we didn’t get to see the aftermath unfortunately.

IC trains in Hungary require a compulsory reservation and ours from Gyor to Repcelak cost HUF450 each. We bought our return ones at the same time, costing the same. We were hoping that the disappointing 651003, from the previous evening, wouldn’t produce at Csorna to work IC910 0610 Budapest Keleti – Szombathely forward and we weren’t disappointed in those stakes as 651008 was sat waiting to drop on the moment 1116059 was removed. However bellowing out of the toilet window when 651008 depart soon brought back memories of the previous evening as 651008 was just as shocking. No thrash, plenty of clag, plenty of fan noise; a big, big disappointment, especially after hearing so many good things about them. Not my cup of tea at all and something that I certainly won’t be going out of my way to get in again.

We had an hour fester at Repcelak which we spent working out a bash for when we got back to Gyor as we weren’t satisfied with the one we’d already planned. At least there was a drinks machine in the waiting room to provide refreshments; there was nothing else around outside the station at all.

Move sorted we waited patiently on the platform, in the wind, which was becoming bearable as the sun had now come out too. As we expected MAV 418204 came bowling in with IC917 0811 Szentgotthard – Budapest Keleti; the diagram it was working recently having transferred back to being a Szombathely 418 vice GySev 651 due to GySev having freight commitments for one of the 651s and needing 100% availability to cover all the turns!

418204 gave way to MAV Traxx loco 480003 at Csorna for the run to Budapest Keleti; we got off at Gyor where we were treated to another Floyd train passing through, this time it turned out to be a pair of 86’s, 450001 with 450004 dead in train, these clearly having the road straight through the station! There was no sign of 659002 and its train so the SPAD issue had obviously been cleared up and the train sent on its way.

Our replanned bash for the afternoon wouldn’t have us going far really and started with a return trip on OBB Railjet trains to a mouthful of a place, by the name of Mosonmagyarovar; easy to say once you know how. It wasn’t a massive plus there as it was and we were late going out from Gyor but it made.

Railjet trains don’t seem to be on time at all in the Gyor area and evidence of why became clear as we waited for people to walk down the platforms at Mosonmagyarovar to get into their booked coach. We were then further delayed as some guy dropped one of his bags between the train and platform edge; he didn’t even hesitate to get down onto the tracks and pick it back up and then return further up the platform to collect more bags. Bizarrely though the guard and security guard on the station seemed to think it had been either Me or Aidy that had gone down onto the tracks, or it certainly seemed that way when they boarded the train at our door and demanded our tickets. The language barrier didn’t help but once we’d departed the guard did actually apologise to us, we assumed having realised he’d picked on the wrong people? That Railjet escapade soon put pay to our plans that involved a second round trip to Mosonmagyarovar before we headed back towards Celldomolk that afternoon.

Our next fag packet plan move then became dud GySev 1116059 out to Acs for GySev 1116065 back to Gyor Gyarvaros on 9202 1038 Budapest Keleti – Szombathely where we spotted our third Floyd train of the day, another pair of 86’s this time 450005/004 in multi. From this point on our move went downhill and ultimately resulted in us returning towards Celldomolk a lot earlier than we’d planned.

Having done 418316 into Gyor on 9215 1124 Celddomolk – Gyor we soon realised that we should have waited at Gyor Gyarvaros for 418156 on 39515 1100 Veszprem – Gyor, which arrived shortly after we did; by which time we’d discovered the 1328 Gyor – Budapest to be a nice shiny new pair of Flirt EMUs! We’d seen 418156 at Gyor that morning and hadn’t been able to figure out what it had been on at the time, we then worked out it had been 39512 0724 Gyor – Veszprem; whether booked hauled or not I don’t know as it’s not listed in any diagram I could find?

The Flirt’s put pay to us doing any further moves ex Gyor and we spent the hour we had to fester working a rather nice bash out around Boba that would redeem the afternoon/evening. Meanwhile 418316 shunted its stock out and then brought it back in, still on the Gyor end of the train. MAV Traxx 480015, which we’d assume would work the 1328 to Budapest, was confirmed by the driver as being booked to work 9303 1428 Gyor – Budapest Deli instead. We did this to Gyor Gyarvaros and then boarded 9234 1456 Gyor – Celldomolk there, not actually realizing until halfway through the trip to Celldomolk that 418316 was on the rear of the train, which 418308 led, both powering all the way. Had we checked the diagrams more thoroughly we’d have figured out that the train was booked T&T; hence the reason we should have flagged 418316 going into Gyor in favour of 418156 coming in from Veszprem.

Our relaxing afternoon jaunt back to Celldomolk was going swimmingly until we got to Vinar and waited for 15 minutes for a late running 9203 1507 Szombathely – Budapest Keleti to run through. This put our third reworked plan into disarray for the afternoon, us being on a plus 8 at Celldomolk for 903 1607 Szombathely – Budapest Deli to Boba, yet as we rounded the curve into Celldomolk we spotted MAV 431180 sat in, seemingly waiting to depart with a train towards Boba. As we were crossing its path it couldn’t do so until we got to the platform end. The destination boards in the stock confirmed it was a train bound for Budapest Deli and thankfully it was a cross platform leap and we made it with ease.

From that point on our evening went smoothly enough, involving no less than 9 MAV 431’s and a MAV 418, with us arriving back into Celldomolk off 908 1830 Budapest Deli – Szombathely at 2113. Spending even 15 minutes at Boba, nothing more than a junction station in the middle of nowhere, is fascinating enough just to watch the stock shunts that occur every hour.

One set comes in on a Zalaegerszeg – Boba and is then shunted to the rear of the Budapest Deli bound train. A train then arrives from Budapest Deli and detaches a couple of coaches from the rear these then form the next Boba – Zalaegerszeg train with the same loco that came in from Zalaegerszeg; all done very efficiently even if the trains weren’t on time at all, all seemed to be about 5-10 late departing Boba.

The only issues we had that evening we when we were festering at Nemeskocs for 9523 1646 Zalaegerszeg – Celldomolk, which turned up a good 25 late with 431284 and 431145 dead in train. While we did have alternatives at that point we still opted to do 431284 to Celldomolk where we were pleasantly surprised to have not passed either 9526 1806 Celldomolk – Zalaegerszeg or 9023 1812 Celldomolk – Veszprem. 9023 was sat in the adjacent platform as we arrived with 431351 and the stock we arrived on actually formed 9526 with 431107 backing straight down from the head-shunt as we came to a stand. We couldn’t get from the guard of 9023 which train was going to depart first so we stood on the platform and the moment the road came off for 9023 first we clambered aboard and got off at Nemeskocs to wait for 431107 behind on 9526; much to the confusion of the guard! 431107 with 9526 wasn’t far behind so we didn’t have to wait long.

Before we departed Boba on 956 1909 Boba – Zalaegerszeg with 431179, 431284 turned up light from Celldomolk which gave us an extra bonus after we went to Janoshaza and back into Celldomolk with 431335 on 9511 1846 Zalaegerszeg – Celldomolk, in that 431145 that was dead in train last time we’d gone into Celldomolk then dropped onto the set to work 9518 2006 Celldomolk – Zalaegerszeg; as per diagram.

Our wait at Nemeskeresztur was a bleak one, it was still windy, there was nobody else about at all and not a building in sight! Thankfully MAV 418310 turned 10 late, having been announced so. Luckily 908 1830 Budapest Deli – Szombathely was also a little late and we made it at Boba. 431362 delivering us back to Celldomolk, topping off a very enjoyable evening in the Boba area.

While the Déjà vu Panzio wasn’t as full as it had been on the Saturday night it was still open for food and a pizza & beer were a very welcome sight! As we were checking out early the following morning the bill was paid while we waited for our food and sandwiches were again produced in lieu of us missing breakfast again the following morning.

The Moves

Gen for Sunday 4^th May 2014

(Other than in the moves above)

MAV

418156 39512 0724 Gyor – Veszprem, 39515 1100 Veszprem – Gyor

418305 9212 0634 Gyor – Celldomolk

418311 39514 1056 Gyor – Veszprem

418312 9292 0833 Budapest Keleti – Szombathely (from Celldomolk)

431107 9510 0606 Celldomolk – Zalaegerszeg

431179 9519 0440 Zalaegerszeg – Celldomolk

431284 9508 2109 Boba – Zalaegerszeg

470006 IC912 0810 Budapest Keleti – Csorna, IC942 1002 Csorna – Sopron

EMU xxxx 1328 Gyor – Budapest Deli

GySev

1116063 9934 1440 Gyor – Sopron

430321 9020 0422 Veszprem – Szombathely

430327 9209 0522 Szombathely – Budapest Keleti (to Celldomolk)

430335 9021 2005 Szombathely – Veszprem

470505 9915 1137 Sopron – Gyor (1116063 dead on rear)

The Photographs (Gyor Area)

The Photographs (Boba/Celldomolk Area)

Monday 5^th May 2014 (Hungary)

Having done our Boba bash the previous evening we’d worked out that the locos on our planned early start would in theory all be ones we’d had the previous night so we had a lay-in for a later than planned start at 0645 from Celldomolk!

Thankfully the wind had died down and even more thankfully shops, namely bakeries, were open as we walked to the station, which allowed us a more savory breakfast than sandwiches. All the shops at the station were also open for hot drinks so the morning was good.

GySev 430326 was at the helm of 909 0605 Szombathely – Budapest Deli and we got seats at the front of the train for our run to Szekesfehervar where we got off to do a couple of step-back moves towards Kelenfold; or not as the case turned out……

We planned to do 4527 0846 Szekesfehervar – Budapest Deli but it was immediately evident that we’d been bowled for that when we found a pair of shiny new Flirt EMUs in the platform waiting to depart with said train; bowled again, and it wouldn’t be the last time during the day’s bash either! All we could do was wait for 9067 0830 Veszprem – Budapest Deli behind and hope it wasn’t an EMU. Thankfully it wasn’t and we did 431143 to Kelenfold for an EMU round to Kobanya Kispest. There was engineering works hindering train movements in/out of Budapest Keleti so we decided not to even get involved in any form of Kelenfold leaps and headed straight for moves ex Budapest Nyugati.

We got off to a great start at Kobanya Kispest and with a hand written simplifier of the loco-hauled trains between Kobanya Kispest & Budapest Nyugati we had more of a problem trying to keep on top of the move writing than actually finding trains to do.

Unfortunately some of the locals on the Nyugati – Cegled/Monor services produced Flirt EMU’s. There was actually a notice on the hauled stock about Flirt EMUs, we were guessing it was announcing that they would be entering service, which they obviously had. Unfortunately what went out to both Cegled & Monor didn’t always come back on what you’d expect it to and this caught us out a couple of times. Still there were enough trains to go at and there was always something else along shortly afterwards.

Budapest Nyugati train shed platforms are something else; it was like stepping back into the 1970’s when we first got off there. 4 locos on the blocks, all in a similar colour to BR blue, the sun shining through the windows above and the whole ambiance of the place just giving a feel that it was in a different decade. I was suitably impressed. The hustle and bustle right outside the station doors gave a completely different perspective mind.

During the afternoon we spotted a ballast train at Kobanya Kispest with M61.020 a freight with DB 478001 and also MAV 431009 with 796 1605 Kobanya Kispest – Kelebia (usually starts Keleti but diverted due to engineering works at Keleti). 431009 was the oldest one we saw and at 1967 vintage and 47 years old it was a pleasure to see such locos still running around.

By 1600 in the afternoon the novelty had worn off and locos had started to come back out of Nyugati that we’d had in. Coupled with the fact that we couldn’t predict what would do what on the locals with the EMU’s being dotted about we decided to call it a day upon arrival into Nyugati with 431062 on IC615 1332 Nyireghhaza – Budapest Nyugati and headed across to Keleti to make sure the engineering works didn’t hinder our overnights that night.

We opted for the metro from Nyugati to Keleti, which isn’t signposted out of the station but it immediately out of the doors and turn right, and then down the stairs. A single ticket costs HUF350 per person to get to Keleti and the journey involves a change at Deak Ferenc ter en-route; the whole journey only taking 12 minutes, including the change.

We managed to confirm that our overnights, to Zurich for me & Munich for Aidy, weren’t affected by the engineering works. It then didn’t take us long to figure out from the arrival/departure screen what was running. Having no gen for the locals ex Keleti we soon realised that the Keleti – Sulsap/Hatvan trains were MAV 432s and thanks to a late runner inbound we managed to do two quick returns to Kobanya Felso before making time for food, which ended up being at McDonalds over the road from Keleti.

Food over Aidy and I parted company, he was off to do a few more spins before his Munich overnight, I headed over to platform 1 for my 1910 Euro Night to Zurich. When I got  there I found the 1910 Euro Night to Bucharest! Had I paid more attention to the screens before rushing off I’d have saved myself a lot of walking round Budapest Keleti station! My train was actually in platform 9, both EN trains departing for Bucharest & Zurich at the same time. Platform 9 had been about 20 yards to my right at the time I should have paid more attention!

MAV470009 was at the head of the train and I was in the back coach in a two berth sleeper compartment. I was joined at Kelenfold by the compartment’s other occupant who wanted the upper berth as opposed to his lower berth; I wasn’t going to complain and spent the evening relaxing and recharging both my electrical goods and myself as we headed to Vienna.

Upon arrival at Wein Westbahnhof 1116170 was attached to EN466 and the MAV day coaches detached nearest the blocks. We were then shunted onto the OBB day coaches in another platform to make up the set going forward to Zurich as EN466. Unfortunately there was no gronk action for me, unlike some of the other trains in the station which were being shunted about by an OBB diesel shunter. Engine spotted I didn’t need to remain awake for any other reason and was in bed before we departed Wein.

The Moves

Gen for Monday 5^th May 2014

(Other than in the moves above)

MAV

418159 9217 0650 Celldomolk – Gyor

418308 9220 0509 Gyor – Celldomolk

431009 796 1605 Kobanya Kispest – Kelebia (Start Kobanya Kispest vice Keleti due engineering work)

431107 9022 0645 Celldomolk – Szombathely

431296 18502 0805 Budapest Deli – Nagykanizsa

431351 9010 0527 Veszprem – Szombathely

480023 6103 1003 Zahony – Budapest Nyugati

EMU 4527 0846 Szekesfehervar – Budapest Deli (Vice 2xMAV431)

The Photographs (Budapest Nyugati Area)

The Photographs (Budapest Keleti Area)

Tuesday 6^th May 2014 (Switzerland and into Germany)

I stirred to open the blind after we’d departed Buchs and could see the booked SBB Cargo Re421 on the front as we twisted and turned following Lake Zurich as we headed towards Zurich HB. Breakfast was presented to me shortly after I got up; croissant, coffee & orange juice, along with my tickets returned.

We weren’t late into Zurich and as I rushed past the blocks I found 421379 at the head of my train. With a little time to kill before my plan to do 18045 0821 Altstetten – Einsiedeln I headed straight downstairs to doa  few Re450 moves on the morning commuters, finishing nicely with Lion Re420’s 207/218 on 19124 0701 Schaffhausen – Altstetten where I was presented with SBB Re420 11147 on 18045 to Einsiedeln. Having never done the track before I was impressed with the scenery and the gradients that the Re4/4 tackled with ease. As we were a few late into Einsiedeln I had to run round onto the EMU back to Bieberbrugg, where I would enter the unknown world of SOB and the Voralpen Expresses.

SBB Cargo 11313 was the cargo loco on hire to SOB at the time and I suspected it would be a waiting game trying to find it amongst the usual Re456’s and EMU sets; I was wrong and yet very pleased as it rolled in on the very first Voralpen Express I viewed, VAE2410 0805 St Gallen – Luzern, leading and with 446015 on the rear. Having got it in straight away I became a bit more relaxed about the moves on the Voralpen Express trains and figured out that I could actually do a move to Erstfeld and back from Arth Goldau while 11313/446015 went to Luzern and back; and what a move that turned out to be too…….

Having passed 456095/092 on VAE2417 0840 Luzern – St Gellen en-route to Arth Goldau all sorts of moves were passing through my head as I headed to Erstfeld on new Re420 11150. Upon arrival it seemed that Erstfeld would soon come to a standstill as once 11150 had set sail for Locarno a triple headed freight, headed by SBB Cargo Re4/4’s 11166/267/190 blocked the same platform while it had a crew change, the others already being blocked by another freight that was having a DB 185 attached to the rear as banker and a pair of BLS Re425’s. This resulted in SBB Re420 11158 working IR2268 0847 Locarno – Zurich HB being late away from Erstfeld; the plus looking a bit dodgy at Arth Goldau onto 11313/446015 on VAE2411 1040 Luzern – St Gallen but it made, thanks to the Voralpen Express being 5 late.

Move sorted I had already decided I was getting off at Pfaffikon for 456092/095 back and when I passed 456094/093 between Arth Goldau & Bieberbrugg I had a brainwave that had me doing 092/095 to Kussnacht am Rigi for the cross platform leap onto 093/094 back to Arth Goldau. Even though it was effectively a minus at Kussnacht am Rigi both trains were rolling in at the same time and it made without any flapping, 456093/094 dropping me nicely into SBB Re420 11156 at Arth Goldau which I did to Zurich HB on IR2272 1047 Locarno – Zurich.

Having had a great morning I was kind of short of a plan at Zurich really until the afternoon commuters started to produce yet 11156 hadn’t made it to the blocks when a move seemed to present itself to me, completely out of the blue.

I’d noticed a push-pull set a couple of platforms across from me as we arrived and went to investigate, only to find SBB Re420’s 11148/172 coupled to the rear, in multi, being prepared to depart with IR2206 1357 Zurich HB – Bern! Whilst on the Re4/4 diagrams I’m not sure what should actually happen with IR2206 as the loco is shown dead in train to Olten only, yet there were two locos and I was guessing that SBB were a set short so had used the whole rake to form the service, not just the loco? Whether one was detached or not at Olten I don’t know as no sooner had we stopped was I under the subway to find yet another new Re4/4, 11115, heading into Luzern on IR2177 14040 Basel – Locarno so was on board in a flash and Luzern bound.

Re460 460081 was sat waiting at Luzern with IR2350 1510 Luzern – Zurich Flughafen and conveyed me back to Zurich to see what the afternoon commuters could offer up. Unfortunately all the Re420’s on Lion sets that I saw were dud, as was Re420 11156 working RE3535 1641 Zurich HB – Luzern, it having been swapped off diagram as it should have done IR2279 1609 Zurich – Locarno by diagram, so my afternoon in Zurich was spent doing Re450s again. One thing to note was that ICE272 1700 Zurich HB  – Hamburg Altona was formed of Re420 11155 on a push-pull set!

Thoroughly pleased with my splash & dash day in Switzerland I walked down the platform at 1720 to find Re420’s 11125/11153 at the head of Re3831 1733 Zurich HB – St Gallen, which topped the day off nicely as I did them throughout for SBB Cargo Re421 421394 forward to Lindau HB on EC197 1816 Zurich HB – Munich HB, where DB 218’s 218464/444 worked the train forward to destination; but with me only on board to Kempten.

As I alighted at Kempten I found Alex 223065 on a load 2 set, which was clearly the Alex Oberstdorf portion set and engine for the morning; which already had me rethinking my plans for the following morning with no freight engine on the Oberstdorf portion. What had surprised me about the whole day was just how empty the trains I’d done in Switzerland had been, the Voralpen Express trains had given me almost a whole coach to myself on each one I’d done, the Locarno IR’s were far from full and even the EC to Munich was less than half full.

My lodging for the night was at the Green Living Inn, which was a 5 minute walk from Kempten station. As the reception closed at 2100 I had been given a code for a locker at the hotel’s entrance. Said code opened the door and inside was my room key, room number, receipt and code for the WiFi. The place was quiet, clean, and spacious and for the price very well equipped with each room having its own fridge and microwave oven. I got the impression that the whole building was used for student accommodation mostly; I could be wrong though?

Despite splitting up from Aidy the previous day the gen he provided me from his sightings in Munich helped me plan out a bash for the following day, especially now I wasn’t bothered about doing the Alex Oberstdorf portion with 223065. Once sorted I had that final night derance and bag packing correctly session before hitting the sack.

The Moves

Gen for Tuesday 6^th May 2014

(Other than in the moves above)

SBB

11140 EC187 1353 Stuttgart HB – Zurich HB (from Singen)

11155 ICE272 1700 Zurich HB – Hamburg Altona (Ex Zurich HB on push-pull set vice ICE!)

11156 RE3535 1641 Zurich HB – Luzern

11158 IR2275 1409 Zurich HB – Locarno

420216/203 19163 1600 Zurich Hardbrucke – Schaffhausen

420229/227 19167 1700 Zurich Hardbrucke – Schaffhausen

420221/224 19070 1740 Zurich HB – Muri

460098 IR2177 1404 Basel – Locarno (from Luzern)

SOB

456095/092 VAE2417 0840 Luzern – St Gallen

456094/093 VAE2414 1005 St Gallen – Luzern

EMU VAE2423 1140 Luzern – St Gallen, VAE24xx 1640 Luzern – St Gallen, VAE24 1905 St Gallen – Luzern

ZB

101963 3678 1510 Luzern – Engelberg

BLS

465004 RE3332 1557 Luzern – Bern

DB

223067 84182 1713 Munich HB – Lindau HB

The Photographs

Wednesday 7^th May 2014 (Germany)

An early start on RE57581 0548 Kempten – Munich HB, which was T&T 218493/489; as booked. I bailed off at Gunzach for RB57603 0601 Kempten – Augsburg behind but in doing so it allowed me to view the first Lindau bound Alex train; Aidy had spotted both hire locos 223007 & 223013 on Alex trains the day before and if either or both was out I was going to give myself every opportunity to get them in. Unfortunately 223067 was on 84140 0448 Munich – Lindau so 218457 on RB57603 to Buchloe it was. From that point on, until I needed to get to Kempten for IC2012 to Stuttgart, I spent the morning doing Buchloe – Kaufering return leaps, four in total, with the last one being a move straight back to Kempten. Every one of the 8 218’s Aidy had given me the gen on the previous day stuck to their next turn but only 223007 produced on Alex turns, 223013 was nowhere to be seen; judging by Aidy’s Alex gen from the previous day 223067 had replaced it as it wasn’t out the previous day.

I found 245007 at the Kempten end of a load 3 set when I first got to Buchloe, it had Kempten depot marked on its side. It was clearly driver training and I saw it run through Kaufering heading towards Munich; incidentally it was followed by 217007 coming out of the stone loading point just Kempten side of Kaufering station, with a loaded ballast train.

At one point I thought I was going to miss IC2012 when Alex 84144 0919 Munich – Lindau was announced as being late. I was only on a plus 8 at Kempten and the back-up moves at that point all involved untis at some stage to get me towards Stuttgart, unless I got off for IC2084 0940 Oberstdorf – Augsburg and did that to Augsburg instead. Having consulted with the guard he was adamant I would make the connection at Kempten onto IC2012 so I stayed on to Kempten, where upon arrival there was no sign of IC2012 at all; it being late itself!

A bonus new pair of 218’s 218464/326 rolled in with IC2012 in reverse formation with the 2^nd class at the front. The coach right behind the locos was completely empty when I got on and even by Stuttgart only had half a dozen folk in it. A very enjoyable journey it was and thankfully by Stuttgart the storms had given way to bright sunshine making the afternoon moves on the Stuttgart locals a bit more pleasant than the morning ones on the 218’s.

Since my last visit to Stuttgart all the platforms had been truncated back and all now finished at the same point making quick leaps across the blocks possible between Tubingen & Aalen trains. My aim for the afternoon was to get as many 111’s in as possible and a few 143’s to boot. I’d done a simplifier with times for Stuttgart – Plochingen and diagram numbers; while the timetable held up the diagrams seem to have changed quite a bit from the latest ones posted, which bowled me out at Stuttgart a couple of times as did a cancelled train. I managed to get 6 different 111’s in just over 3 hours, unfortunately 2 were dud from my previous visit to Stuttgart. I even dissed my planned move to the airport to get two in at the end of the bash; I couldn’t resist when I found 111047 & 111211 sat side by side with RE19925 1643 Stuttgart – Schwabisch Hall & RE19441 1649 Stuttgart – Aalen respectively. I did think I was going to miss RE19916 1436 Nurnberg – Stuttgart at Waiblingen when we stopped between Bad Cannstatt & Waiblingen but luckily it was a couple of minutes late, although unfortunately it was dud 111019. I did it to Bad Cannstatt anyway where the only move remaining was an EMU to the airport.

Having not used Stuttgart airport before I was suitably impressed with the efficiency at which people were processed through. My flight was from Terminal 1 but I was told to use Terminal 2 queue to get through immigration; both terminals being connected and the queue for Terminal 2 being a lot shorter than that for Terminal 1.

I’d already checked in using the British Airways app and the WiFi at the Green Living Inn the previous night and the flight was on time, until delayed on approached to Heathrow by air traffic control. As with all things when you don’t have a lot of time to spare there are always those things that delay you a little further; our being, on top of the slight late arrival, the fact that we didn’t go onto a stand and had to be bused to the terminal. I only had 2 hours from landing to departing Kings Cross and was relieved to be onto a tube with 90 minutes to get to my train. If I’d have missed the 2200 ex Kings Cross it would have been a long wait for the 2326, and a very late arrival back into Doncaster!

I was glad to be home when I got there but was equally as pleased with the trip I’d just done.

The Moves

Gen for Wednesday 7^th May 2014

(Other than in the moves above)

Alex

223065 Oberstdorf Portions

223067 84140 0448 Munich HB – Lindau HB

DB

Kempten 218’s

218489/493 Day 1 & 8 (don’t know which was which)

218435 Day 2

218457 Day 3

218469 Day 4

218488 Day 5

218472 Day 6

218467 Day 7

218458 Day 9

218462 Day 10

Stuttgart Locals (between 1345 & 1700)

111019, 029, 047, 165, 174, 211, 212

143017, 092, 106, 109, 201, 827, 881, 899, 900, 963, 965

146205, 215, 217, 218, 221, 224

Other

218463 EC196 0717 Munich HB – Zurich HB (on its own)

245007 Driver training with a load 3 set north from Buchloe in the morning

217007 through Kaufering with a ballast

The Photographs

Summary

Germany

A bit of a disappointment first time round due to the fact it was a bank holiday in Europe but ultimately it was only a stepping stone to get to Croatia and I hadn’t expected too much from the afternoon bash really; I was surprised at the Muhldorf trains all being DMU’s though!

Croatia

I hadn’t really figured out what to expect but what I was greeted with was way above the threshold of that I expected. The trains were clean, efficient enough and run well. The crews on board were a lot keener than most other countries but didn’t give me any hassle with my inter rail at all.

Hungary

Fascinating! For a country with so many loco-hauled trains still operating it’s hard to go wrong in Hungary. Away from Budapest I found it a bit hard going on the food stakes and learnt soon enough that food needed to be carried with you in the out of town areas. The two days we spent there really didn’t do the place justice and I will return again this year.

Switzerland

For a day trip this had to be one of the best days I’ve had in Switzerland with everything seemingly going my way, until the afternoon that was; but even then there was still something to do even if it was only Re450s on the S-bahn. For a first trip on the Voralpen Express trains I was surprised at how empty they were and the pair dropping out on the Zurich – Bern made the afternoon. 11155 working vice an ICE had to be the biggest working of the day though; topping that of the Zurich – Bern bonus! Looking forward to my next trip to Switzerland already.