Below: this is the RE8 przyspieszony service (R = regional, E = express, 8 = LK8, the Warsaw-Radom-Kielce-Kraków line) on its way south, stopping only at full stations and not at halts (przystanki osobowe) such as W-wa Jeziorki.
From W-wa Zachodnia, the only stops on the way to Chynów are W-wa Służewiec, Piaseczno, Zalesie Górne and Czachówek Południowy. Dashing through the snow, between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki.
Two days later, I catch a full coal train, hauled by a single modernised SM48. In years gone by, such a train would have needed two or even three engines to haul it...
Nostalgia corner - taken from the other side of the tracks, but at same point between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki, 31 January 2010. Three engines needed to haul the train. The modernised ST48 is based on the old Soviet TEM-2 (ST48 in Polish service). Here we see a pair of ST48s headed by an SM42. [Note Polish loco designation - first letter denotes power, so 'S' = spalinowy, or diesel, whereas ''E' = elektryczny. And long ago, 'P' = parowy, or steam. The second letter denotes use, so P = pasażerski, T = towarowy (freight), M = manewrowy (shunting), U = uniwersalny. Numbers denote type. So EU07 is the seventh type of electric loco for universal use.]
 |
| The way things were. Smell the fumes. |
Below: heading south to Siekierki power station, much coal. Contributing to Poland's image as the filthy man of Europe. So - progress needed in weaning Poland off fossil fuels.
BONUS SHOT: 13 February, a coal train bound for Siekierki and a passenger train bound for Góra Kalwaria both pass W-wa Jeziorki. Photo taken from the southern end of the 'up' platform at W-wa Jeziorki station.
BONUS BONUS SHOT: 18 February, a double-decker not servicing the semi-fast pospieszony to Radom, but the all-stations service to Góra Kalwaria.
This time last year:
"I wake up at five and queue for bread and soup"
"I wake up at five and queue for bread and soup"
This time two years ago:
Getting over this year's flu
This time three years ago:
War and the absence of war
This time five years ago:
Sensitivity to spiritual evolution
This time six years ago:
75th anniversary of Stalin's deportations of Poles
This time seven years ago:
Peak Car (in western Europe at least)
This time eight years ago:
Pavement for Karczunkowska NOW!
[I still have to walk through mud or snow dodge speeding drivers!]
This time nine years ago:
Until the Vistula freezes over
This time ten years ago:
Of sunshine, birdsong and wet socks
This time 13 years ago:
Dziadzio Tadeusz at 90
Getting over this year's flu
This time three years ago:
War and the absence of war
This time five years ago:
Sensitivity to spiritual evolution
This time six years ago:
75th anniversary of Stalin's deportations of Poles
This time seven years ago:
Peak Car (in western Europe at least)
This time eight years ago:
Pavement for Karczunkowska NOW!
[I still have to walk through mud or snow dodge speeding drivers!]
This time nine years ago:
Until the Vistula freezes over
This time ten years ago:
Of sunshine, birdsong and wet socks
This time 13 years ago:
Dziadzio Tadeusz at 90
Posts
2 comments:
It’s a tale of two parts. The so-called line 68, which I travel on weekly between Lublin and Kraśnik, and which runs on beyond, has been electrified and reopened after a 1.5 year delay. The locals rubbed their eyes when they saw pylons being erected as their country generally keeps pace with developments in Cody, Wyoming, or Deadwood, South Dakota, circa 1900. Hopes were raised that the single-track line, which was ripped up and relaid during the modernization, would be relaid as a double-track line. Alas, that was not to be. We now have an electrified single-track line with passing loops and journey times exactly the same as before. They could easily be longer but some wizards in Lublin and Rzeszów worked out that instead of running two trains all the way, with the embarrassment of having to wait in passing loops, the two trains meet in Kraśnik, swap passengers, and reverse to where they came from. I am usually the only passenger getting on in Kraśnik on Sunday mornings, so have the platform to myself, and can admire the choreography with which the procedure is accomplished. If the trains pull in at the same time, the respective doors open, and two lines of passengers emerge, whereupon they advance towards, pass each other and disappear in the wings, like in a grand ballroom dance. Then it’s only the train guards that swap the paperwork, and we are ready to depart. Oh, and I remember the steam locomotives serving these destinations in the 1970s. Journey times – unchanged!
@ Jacek Koba
Bizarre! Checked out the line on rozklad-pkp.pl (I love the ambiguity of the word rozkład - either 'distribution, schedule, disposition' or else - 'decay, decomposition, putrefaction'). It seems the new timetable has ironed out the need for choreography on Sunday mornings!
Post a Comment