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Away from the main line – railway journeys , Away from the rush hour – railway stations , Transport in Glasgow 1950s-1970s , Railway books and maps .
For background information scroll down.
To whet the appetite: The photo above was taken at Bertsdorf in October 2016, on the Zittauer Schmalspurbahn in Saxony, Germany, near the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic. It is the only place we are aware of where you can regularly see two steam trains departing at the same time. Below is a FEVE railcar which makes the seven- hour joueney along the north coast of Spain from Ferrol to Oviedo.
If you have looked at the travel pages you will know that most of our journeys involve travelling by train. We prefer local trains to high speed trains, to see more of the country we are passing through at a reasonable pace. And travelling by public transport means we can have a beer or two along the way. This page focuses on travel by train and other public transport, with an emphasis on some of the more unusual journeys.
- Away from the mainline – railway journeys: This is a collection of journeys, by local train, city transport, tourist or heritage railway. Away from the main line – railway journeys
- Away from the rush hour – railway stations: A selection of the more unusual and out of the way stations which we have visited on our travels. Away from the rush hour – railway stations
- Transport in Glasgow: Steve grew up in Glasgow and it had its transport oddities (still has – ride the Subway) and we’ve included some of them here, together with photos of transport in the city from the 1950s to the 1970s. Transport in Glasgow 1950s-1970s .
- Railway books, maps and timetables: This is a small collection of information for those interested in finding out more about railway history, rail travel in Europe and the more arcane subjects of railway maps and timetables. Click on this link: Railway books and maps .
A couple of odds and ends
È pericoloso sporgersi!
Nae hingin’ oot. For many years after my first school trip abroad these were the only words of German and Italian that I knew. Pictured in Austria in 2017, it’s good to know they are still in use.
Old and new in 2019
The first photo is of the final time we travelled on a single coach class 153 deisel. We have seen people amazed at seeing them – as certain areas of the Uk never used them….but they did help to maintain services on rural lines in England and Wales. This train is in Southwest Wales, about to depart from Whitland for Pembroke Dock.
The second photo is Scarborough station on 24 August 2019, the first day of operation of new Transpennine Express trains, part of the company’s attempt to sort out chronic overcrowding. Known as Nova 3 these trains have a Class 68 locomotive plus several Mark 5A coaches. We only caught the train because it was running late at York. The locos did not last long – in early 2022 Transpennine announced they were looking for more environmentally-friendly traction and they were withdrawn at the end of 2023, never having lived up to the initial hype.
Links
Away from the main line – railway journeys
Away from the rush hour – railway stations
Go with Ted 