Railways
- Thread starter Gauthier
- Start date
This is a favourite of mine, taken during the 1940s. The driver takes the time to talk to a little girl who must have been in awe of this giant machine belching steam and making a deafening noise, I am sure that she remembered the moment for the rest of her life
I'd like to see the comments on your pictures. It is interesting to read where these photos were taken and what they depict.
...;Crazy Fast train...traveling at 603km
"Take the [bullet] train and see what you've been missing". The Gospel of Trains
- Thread starter
- #128
In Germany there are both the state railway, Deutsche Bahn, as well as privately owned railway companies. The all run on the same tracks. Some services are provided by the state owned trains, some by the private trains. If you are waiting for a train, the first train my be state-owned, the next train, to the same destination, private. I think it may have something to do with allowing competition.
I do know that in Great Britain the state owned railway company, British Rail, was dissolved and all railways privatized.
The very fast train - ICE (Intercity Express) - which the gentleman above photographed, is state owned.
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The best description I can give for who owns what on GB Rail is the word fluid
The network is owned by the state, the stations, tracks and systems, that makes sense.
The individual routes went out to tender many years ago and different companies bought certain, usually mainline, routes. Some have failed and have been taken back into state ownership. Service standards appear to have improved under state ownership.
- Thread starter
- #130
About thirty years ago I spent a great deal of time in Britain. I liked British Rail. The corporate identity - the graphic art - was very well conceived indeed, and uniformly applied. I was sorry to see it disappear. The trains were clean, the staff mostly friendly, and I enjoyed getting a tea and a danish from the buffet car.
In my city, all electric transport: metro, tram and trolleybus is municipal. And the bus routes are owned by private companies. If it is appropriate, I can post photos of trams running in Samara in this topic. The tram fleet is being updated very slowly. Wagons produced in socialist Czechoslovakia can still be found.
- Thread starter
- #132
Some years ago I photographed and rode on those when I visited Prague. They are fascinating. At least until recently they also ran in the cities of the former German Democratic Republic.
Cheers,
Gauthier
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- Thread starter
- #133
Two weeks ago, my girlfriend and I were on vacation in Northern Germany. We took a ferry from the city of Emden to the island Borkum. On Borkum, there is a narrow gauge railway to bring visitors from the ferry harbor into the town.
I should explain this link.
I know very little in the way of poetry other than Innisfree and a poem from a mother to an adopted child and also the Night Mail by WH Auden.
This is a very special poem to me and used by British Rail in a promotional film in 1988.
I know very little in the way of poetry other than Innisfree and a poem from a mother to an adopted child and also the Night Mail by WH Auden.
This is a very special poem to me and used by British Rail in a promotional film in 1988.
Unfortunately, I can't open your YouTube links. Even with a VPN, access to this service in Russia is becoming increasingly difficult. It may be completely blocked soon.
Great video!
- Thread starter
- #137
Here's a British Rail training film that cheers me up everytime I watch it:
- Thread starter
- #138
Here are some of my pictures from today's train trip. I have a senior citizen's railcard, and can ride around as much as I want for free with local trains. Theoretically, if I kept changing, I could ride from Tübingen, in the south, to Hamburg in the north. You will notice that one train still caries the older livery, in red, whereas the others have received the new one in yellow/white/grey. Furthermore, older rail vehicles here in Europe still have buffers and screw couplings, while the new rolling stock mostly has automatic couplings.
I have read that trains in Germany very often do not follow the timetable. And this is no longer like punctual Germans. Tell me, is it true?
I have heard this as well, in the British press. The Brits seem to have many problems with their rail systems.
In Portland Oregon the light (commuter) rail is quite punctual. It runs on dedicated trackage.
We have streetcars as well, but I have used them very little. The mainline passenger rail, Amtrak, is infrequent on the west coast and not noted for punctual service.
USA freight rail has improved immensely since I was a brakeman as a young man. Track maintenance remains an issue with large distances and small train crews contributing to slow identification of deteriorating track sections.
