Like the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald, the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw (see post above) centred on a large-scale reenactment. Part of this was a period train, bringing reenactors to the battlefield. Last night, the train (an anachronistic Ty2) returned from the battlefield to the railway museum at Chabówka, coming through W-wa Jeziorki. Ty2-911 is a loco I'd seen before - in Dobra - so the sight of it at my local station was worth snapping.Above: Is that it? Lights in the distance. The steam train will be hauled by an electric or diesel loco, so I'm not expecting steam whistles or plumes of steam. It comes. It's not the train I'm waiting for. Should I wait? I wait 70 minutes and go home. The train does pass. But half an hour later, by which time I'm fast asleep.
Still, it was an opportunity to photograph our local station at midnight - pictures tweaked to create an approximation of the atmosphere I felt.
I like your posts about Polish railways, especially since I don't know much about trains. I do ride the tram almost every day, and sometimes I wish that you would write a bit about the state of Warsaw's tram network and the trams that run the rails. I know there are three nearly brand new PESA trams running around the city, but I haven't had a ride on one yet.
ReplyDeleteI do periodically read the following pages, but one day if you feel inspired it would be a pleasure to hear what you have to say on the topic.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=220086
http://tramwar.republika.pl/
Continued thanks for your thought provoking blog and lovely photographs.
-KM
@ Kolin - many thanks for your comment. I'm not a regular tram user; once or twice a week, one stop from Metro Politechnika to Pl. Konstytucji (a 35). No PESAs there yet!
ReplyDeleteWarsaw's trams are, I believe, far better managed and funded than Koleje Mazowieckie. It would also be an idea to extend the tram network out further - to Piaseczno and beyond! There's no doubt that public transport on rails is more effective than buses at getting the wozidupkowie out of their cars.
There are as far as I can tell, 4 of the newest PESA trams in Warsaw now. Most of them I think are running on my usual route (9), but I saw one up near Metro Ratusz a few weeks ago. I'm sure they'll start appearing all over the city soon - I have read that there are 186 of them on the way, which seems like an astonishing number. They say 30 units are planned for delivery this year, which I find hard to believe. In any case, the air conditioning works!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.um.warszawa.pl/v_syrenka/new/index.php?dzial=aktualnosci&ak_id=22221&kat=3
Best,
KM