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  1. M

    Chasing loco haulage in Belgium - AI itineraries

    The problem with loco haulage in Belgium is the lack of variety. All what you get is HLE18/19. Only exception is Bruxelles Luxembourg, where HLE13 is used. I highly recommend any loco haulage fan to take that trip : not only you get a chance to have an HLE13, which will soon become an endangered...
  2. M

    Catch them before they're gone

    It is now confirmed that there will be a farewell trip organised for the SNCB I6 cars. 31 Octobre, start and return from Schaerbeek, 45 €, mandatory reservation on the Train World website. It's selling fast, so if you want to come, act quickly. Traction will be HLE13 and HLD55. 5 or 6 I6 cars...
  3. M

    Catch them before they're gone

    It has now been officially announced that SNCB will retire all remaining I6 cars for end of next month. I6 cars are UIC-Z type, financed by Eurofima, delivered end of the 70ies. 20 A and 60 B were initially delivered. 15 B cars were converted to couchettes, retired several years ago, and sold...
  4. M

    Main line balloon loops

    There on one on the light metro of Charleroi.
  5. M

    PCC-style trams remaining in service in (western) Europe.

    That's because those two lone historically always had lower patronage than the lines serving the city centre. That's changing, though. They now get 7900s and the underground terminus will be reworked to accept 3000 series trams soon.
  6. M

    European timetables 2027

    Basel SNCF will be gone in a few years when SBB starts remodeling the station. The 25 kV stub tracks will disappear, the limit between 15 and 25 kV will be pushed further north, and you will need a 15 kV capable loco to enter the station. But in a year or two, SNCB will have their new HLE17...
  7. M

    Catch them before they're gone

    Yes. All more recent stock is air conditioned so fixed windows. Might be a few non air-conditioning ones still on rush hour trains, still running until they are mile-expired. But I doubt it, and if it's still there, it won't last long. As far as I know those included in clockface services, like...
  8. M

    Catch them before they're gone

    They are mostly used around Antwerp, notably on the S service between Rosendaal and Puurs. And also most of the Turnhout - Brussels - Binche IC workings. That first car is an non air conditioned second class I10. There are 45 of them, along with 15 first class ones. I believe they are now all...
  9. M

    The joy of separate railway enterprises (complex fares in France)

    So, owning and operating a smartphone has become a mandatory prerequisite to purchase a train ticket nowadays ? I wonder how long that argument would hold in court...
  10. M

    The joy of separate railway enterprises (complex fares in France)

    Well, not really. I still Wonder what exactly I should have done before boarding the train at Orry la ville in order not to break the rules.
  11. M

    The joy of separate railway enterprises (complex fares in France)

    So last Sunday I find myself, with wife and another friend in tow, in the lovely little station of Orry la Ville, in the northern outskirts of Paris. The station is outside the limits of the Île de France region, and is served by Paris RER line D - organised by Île de France mobilités - and by...
  12. M

    Isolated, and Very Isolated, railways

    Then you can also mention the Deseret Power Railroad, which is still operational, uses the same 50 kV electrification scheme, and uses the same GE E60-C electric locomotives. 1785882520 And I think also métro line 5 in Tehran, which uses double deckers and electric locomotives powered by...
  13. M

    Serbian Railways electric locomotives

    Yes. Mostly ASEA Rb and Rc designs.
  14. M

    PCC-style trams remaining in service in (western) Europe.

    We also still have an original SNCV PCC tram in operating condition on the ASVI tram museum line in Thuin.
  15. M

    Trivia - reserved tram lines running at the nearside of the carriageway.

    All of that has been filmed in La Louvière. I spent all my childhood there and have ridden all those tracks and trams extensively until their end.
  16. M

    Steam revival in Russia?

    Yes, but those people engaged in steam preservation activities are nowhere near enought to provide a significant part of transportation needs for a country like Russia. And I haven't even touched other topics like maintenance people, supply of spare parts, and even special equipment like...
  17. M

    Steam revival in Russia?

    I doubt that very much. Where would the people capable of running them come from ? Steam traction in Russia is extinct since 1985... and has been used very scarcely during its last ten years. Railwaymen with steam traction experience are for most of them since long retired or already dead.
  18. M

    Standard gauge trains in Russian gauge land, and platform-train interface

    I took the train to Moscow in 2011 and 2016. There was no special trackwork or precaution taken when arriving in Belaruskaya station. You could indeed notice the loading gauge difference because the restaurant car in the consist is a russian gauge one - it was added to the train at Brest, and...
  19. M

    Trivia - reserved tram lines running at the nearside of the carriageway.

    You mean something like this ? That was Charleroi, a long time ago... pictures found on Internet, none of them belong to me, I was too young to take pictures when this still existed.
  20. M

    Turkey, Georgia and Armenia

    As far as I know, the border between Turkey and Armenia is closed. There used to be a railway line between the two countries but it has been lifted. There is a line betweenTurkey and Georgia, sadly only active for freight. But you can take a train to the last served station of the line and a bus...

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