An unidentified ŽSSK 754 seen between Jazernica and Malý Čepčín Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:27 12:30:43 Tags: Jazernica Kiscsepcsény Malý čepèín 271 270 750 (ZSSK) 754 nyílt vonal napos hegyek köd Búvár dízelmozdony ŽSSK Szlovákia

We departed on a four-day-long trip to Slovakia and Southern Poland (visiting Poland for the first time to take photos of trains). We planned a full day of photographing both on the way out and back through Slovakia, and the first day was almost ruined by the fog, but finally the Sun took over and we could take this photo with the backdrop of mountains beautifully emphasized by the misty layer. I like mountains to improve open landscape shots and have taken similar ones at many places but this time I managed to capture something I have never before.

The ŽSSKC 756 008-9 seen between Jazernica and Kláštor pod Znievom Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:27 12:40:52 Tags: Znióváralja Kláštor pod Znievom Jazernica 271 270 757 756 008 Szlovákia dízelmozdony Búvár gépmenet nyílt vonal borult

We didn't expect the two freight Brejlovec, we were waiting for the passenger train which is also locomotive-hauled here most of the times.

The PKP EP07 412 seen at Katowice Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:27 20:46:40 Tags: Katowice 1001 1002 1006 1007 1018 EU07 EP07 412 EU07 Lengyelország PKP villanymozdony perontetö éjszakai wedgie

After occupying the room directly next to the station - which was sufficiently cheap but still of a satisfactory quality - we decided to take a few night photos at the main station to get a cross-section of the locomotive types running around here. We have immediatly stumbled upon a classic Polish locomotive, the first electric locomotive bought in big quantities after the second World War. To find the best locomotive suiting the needs of PKP many companies sent test locomotives, for example Czechoslovakian Škoda, but eventually English Electric won the contract for 20 EU06 locomotives. When they proved themselves successful Poland bought the license and Pafawag Wroclaw and Cegielski Poznan continued manufacturing them as a slightly more advanced class EU07. This locomotive is a rebuilt version of class EP07 but still it holds the same road number it held in the times of being an EU07 (the computer numbers are completely unrelated for most Polish vehicles to the classical numbering used by most people).

The PKP EN57 1178rb seen at Katowice Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:27 20:50:25 Tags: Katowice 1001 1002 1006 1007 1018 EU07 Lengyelország Kibel motorvonat wedgie

In Olland the regional trains are operated by regional railway companies funded by the voivodenship. This EN57AKS trainset is a reconstructed classical EN57 with power outlets, wifi and air conditioning as new features apart from the plastic driver's cab. The controlling technique is still the pre-war resistor-based.

The PKP ED160 001 b seen at Katowice Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:27 21:19:00 Tags: Katowice 1001 1002 1006 1007 1018 ED160 Lengyelország motorvonat Flirt wedgie

Katowice lies in the centre of Polish railway history - when the country was still cut in three by the Prussian, Habsburg and Russian empires, the first railway line in present-day Poland was built in1842, connecting Breslau (Wroclaw) and Brzeg, later to be extended to Gliwice and on to Austria. The second railway line of Russia was the standard-gauge Warszawa - Vienna Railway built between 1845-1848, originally reaching Bohumín through Prussia and only later got a connection completely through Austrian territories. The Krakau - Upper Silesian Railway was built to connect Krakow to Prussia and the Emperor Ferdinand North Railway to connect Vienna to Bohumín, reaching Krakow without using Prussian rails only in 1856.

The PKP Cargo ET41 001 seen at Bytom Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:28 10:05:29 Tags: Bytom 1019 ET41 ET41 001 Lengyelország felhos villanymozdony kétszekciós mozdony különleges festés állomás gépmenet

So far I have only photographed ET41s in the PKP Cargo livery and only in Slovakia:

The locomotives probably went towards Chorzów to take some coal train and haul it on the Coal Trunk Line to Gdansk or Gdynia.

Catching the 001 was a great thing for me as I have a great collection of 001 locomotives .

The PKP 370 127-5 seen between Kozlów and Tunel exactly at the tunnel Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:28 13:36:57 Tags: Tunel Kozlów 1003 1004 ED250 Lengyelország motorvonat Pendolino alagútkapu

Originally Kraków was not connected to Warszawa directly - the Kraków and Upper Silesian Railway offered connections towards Prussia and Warszawa could be reached through the Warszawa-Vienna Railway. This tunnel together with the railway that was visible in the previous photos (directly next to the broad-gauge freight train) ran from the Warszawa-Lublin line through Radom and Kielce to Olkusz, near the Prussian border and was opened in 1885. Radom was connected to Warszawa only after the creation of the new Polish state in 1934, the same year a branch line was built from Tunel to Kraków. The Centralna Magistrala Kolejowa now serves as the high-speed rail link to the south and Kozlów, at the Northern end of the tunnel can be reached from the CMK on a branch from Psary. Since its opening the Warszawa-Kraków trains has been running on this route.

The Przewozy Regionalne EN81 2003 seen between Kalwaria Zebrzydowska and Krakow Plaszow Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:29 11:13:30 Tags: EN81 Lengyelország wedgie

Since our photo the Linija Kolejowa 117 Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Lanckorona - Bielsko-Biala railway has been closed has been suspended for reconstruction and the tiny PESA railcar is without work. It wasn't a successful series: out of the eight units produced six are without work. It is understandable though - railways where this is the adequate size of vehicle are not worth to maintain anyway.

The Przewozy Regionalne EN57 2006 seen between Sucha Beskidzka and Maków Podhalanski Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:29 14:24:22 Tags: Maków Podhalanski Sucha Beskidzka Zamek 1021 EU07 Lengyelország Kibel motorvonat

As we travelled towards Zakopane the weather became worse and worse, luckily the track is in so bad condition we could easily catch up with the multiple unit. As most of the line runs among houses and close to the road there were not many great locations for taking photos. We will need better research and better weather next time.

The PKP SM42 677 seen at Zakopane railway station Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: unknown Tags: Zakopane 1021 SM42 Lengyelország

As we didn't get to Zakopane I will show you the atmosphere of the station in the Tatras with a few old photos on negatives I took 18 years ago. First, let's see the shunter waiting at one of the goods tracks. The locomotive still exists and, apart from a blue PKP Cargo livery, still in its original form.

The ČSD E499 047 seen between Sútovo and Krpel’any Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:30 09:22:08 Tags: Sutó Sútovo Kerpelény Krpel’any 380 Szlovák vasút

For the road home we planned only one subject, a historic train on a line I have known and liked for a long time, the Kral'ovany - Trstená railway running in the Orava valley.

The ČSD T478 2011 seen between Kralován and Kral'ovany zastávka Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:30 09:49:45 Tags: Kralován megálló Kral’ovany zastávka Kralován (régen Vágkirályháza) Kral’ovany 381 752 (ZSSK Cargo) T478 2011 Szlovákia dízelmozdony Bardotka árnyékos sziklák hegyek tél mellékvonal nosztalgia vonat határon túl ragadt vasútvonal

We barely managed to catch the train by the end of the Orava gorge. On my first-ever trip to Slovakia we have taken a number of photos here, and the gorge is still beautiful with the wide river and the rocky walls:

It is hard to imagine they were planning to start Ro-La trains here - they even had a test run with two Bardotka locomotives but the infrastructure is just not ready for something like that.

The ČSD T478 2011 seen between Trstená and Tvrdosin Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:30 12:13:42 Tags: Trsztená Trstená Turdossin Tvrdosin 381 752 (ZSSK Cargo) T478 2011 Szlovákia dízelmozdony Bardotka nosztalgia vonat napos nyílt vonal magaslatról táj hegyek mellékvonal tél barna és zöld határon túl ragadt vasútvonal

I am a huge fan of Bardotka locomotives and have a huge amount of photos in my collection of the various types used in different countries (the Bardotka tag lists them all in the search function of the site and many other types have collective tags disregarding the many different road numbers they run with).

The ČSD T478 2011 seen between Sedliacka Dubová and Horná Lehota with the Farský kostol sv. Michala Archanjela and the Kostol sv. Kozmu a Damiána in the background Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:30 13:01:39 Tags: Paraszt-Dubova Sedliacka Dubová Horná Lehota 381 752 (ZSSK Cargo) T478 2011 Szlovákia dízelmozdony Bardotka nosztalgia vonat napos nyílt vonal táj tél templom falu hegyek legjobb határon túl ragadt vasútvonal

Churches are always great in railway photos, especially, if you have two of them:

The ŽSSK 913 033-7 seen between Velicna and Istebne, with Vel'ká Lúčivná, Stoh and Šrámková peaks in the background Photographed by: Takács Bence Captured at: 2015:12:30 14:13:09 Tags: Árvanagyfalu Velicna Isztebné Istebne 381 813-913 (ZSSK) 913 033 motorkocsi Bézé Szlovákia mellékvonal ZSSK Blonski festésű mozdony

The tail-lights show the end of this journey. We could only compress this much into this short introductory trip to Poland with some new places also visited in Slovakia. Some more Polish photos are coming up soon - in the meantime, if you like mountain railways, would like to read or share articles or photos about them, join our Facebook group !

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