Germany vs Austria: Scenery, loco-hauled opportunities, cost

[59CosG95]

Hi all!
Thinking of taking a week's holiday in Europe; either Germany or Austria.
I'm probably going to get an interrailing ticket for the country in question, and I want to find out a little bit more about the best backdrops for a shot, the opportunities for loco-haulage, and how cheap tickets/food/everything else costs out in either. Any info about the best spots for each would be lovely.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[JonathanP]

Sorry, but completely generic questions like this are fairly pointless, and a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

It's no different to asking on a travel forum "I'm going to France. What should I visit?", and expecting it in return something more insightful that what you would get from reading a Lonely Planet guide.

Are you expecting "a railfan's guide (all of) to Germany and Austria" in this thread just for you? Germany is a large country which has more than 25000 miles of railways divided into hundreds of routes(which ones do you want to know the "best spots" for?). There are hundreds of different regional ticket offers and dozens of locomotive classes in operation.

I suggest you go away and do some basic research by yourself, then come back with some more detailed questions based on that.

If you have any questions about specific lines or parts of the country, or about the details of specific tickets, or where you can see or travel behind particular classes of loco I would be very happy to answer them.

Even a tiny amount of information would be helpful. Are you interested in seeing Freight or Passenger trains? Do you want to travel on a 300kph express train or do you prefer scenic branch lines? Interrail is quite possibly not the right ticket for you, but it's difficult to give any advice without knowing if you want to travel right across the country or explore the area around one city.

/rant over

 

[59CosG95]

Sorry, but completely generic questions like this are fairly pointless, and a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

It's no different to asking on a travel forum "I'm going to France. What should I visit?", and expecting it in return something more insightful that what you would get from reading a Lonely Planet guide.

Are you expecting "a railfan's guide (all of) to Germany and Austria" in this thread just for you? Germany is a large country which has more than 25000 miles of railways divided into hundreds of routes(which ones do you want to know the "best spots" for?). There are hundreds of different regional ticket offers and dozens of locomotive classes in operation.

I suggest you go away and do some basic research by yourself, then come back with some more detailed questions based on that.

If you have any questions about specific lines or parts of the country, or about the details of specific tickets, or where you can see or travel behind particular classes of loco I would be very happy to answer them.

Even a tiny amount of information would be helpful. Are you interested in seeing Freight or Passenger trains? Do you want to travel on a 300kph express train or do you prefer scenic branch lines? Interrail is quite possibly not the right ticket for you, but it's difficult to give any advice without knowing if you want to travel right across the country or explore the area around one city.

/rant over

OK. Right. So, regarding locos, I'm after the 2043/2143s more than the others. Obviously the Railjet network takes the Taurus locos (10/11/1216) country-wide, but if you know where they work a majority of services (e.g. on IC as well as EC and Railjet; a little freight as well) I would love to find out. Additionally, if there are for example some good walking locations in the more mountainous areas of the country, from which some decent "train + landscape" shots can be taken.

Since Austria's smaller than Germany, I think (and hope!) it'll be easier to cover more railway ground on a week's interrail ticket than Germany; but as you say, it may be cheaper still to get tickets locally. I know that reservations aren't compulsory on any OBB trains (bar the Nightjet), so I went for an interrail ticket to maximise bashing time.

 

[30907]

http://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/?&lang=en has a reasonable selection of Austrian passenger workings which you can sort by route or type of stock (which includes locos).

You could also try registering and posting here http://www.drehscheibe-online.de/startindex2.php. Alpenlandforum for Austria, Allgemeines (miscellaneous) for Germany.

If you post in English as a newcomer and make the request reasonably specific - where can I still see class 2043/2143? - you will get answers in (at least) reasonable English.
There is a useful convention there about beginning a question with a ?

As to living costs, IME there's not much to choose between Austria and Southern/Western Germany

 

[GusB]

Sorry, but completely generic questions like this are fairly pointless, and a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

It's no different to asking on a travel forum "I'm going to France. What should I visit?", and expecting it in return something more insightful that what you would get from reading a Lonely Planet guide.

Are you expecting "a railfan's guide (all of) to Germany and Austria" in this thread just for you? Germany is a large country which has more than 25000 miles of railways divided into hundreds of routes(which ones do you want to know the "best spots" for?). There are hundreds of different regional ticket offers and dozens of locomotive classes in operation.

I suggest you go away and do some basic research by yourself, then come back with some more detailed questions based on that.

If you have any questions about specific lines or parts of the country, or about the details of specific tickets, or where you can see or travel behind particular classes of loco I would be very happy to answer them.

Even a tiny amount of information would be helpful. Are you interested in seeing Freight or Passenger trains? Do you want to travel on a 300kph express train or do you prefer scenic branch lines? Interrail is quite possibly not the right ticket for you, but it's difficult to give any advice without knowing if you want to travel right across the country or explore the area around one city.

/rant over

There's no harm in asking for recommendations - surely this counts as research. I'm sure that a few people will come up with a few suggestions based on their own previous experiences, and the OP can use those to explore their options a little further.

Please try to be a little bit less snappy in your responses.

 

[Suraggu]

NOVOG run a 2043 in the summer between Emmersdorf and krems.
http://www.noevog.at/en/default.asp?tt=NOEVOG_E_R12

OBB have no booked passenger work for 2043/2143 but if a 2016 is unavailable you may get a substitute but very rare.
Obviously the Railjet network is 1116/1216 depending on the service. 1144 do appear on IC/EC occasionally but those services are being swallowed up by the Railjet brand.
Various cities you will still have the chance to travel on 1142/1144 on Regional workings.

 

[30907]

NOVOG run a 2043 in the summer between Emmersdorf and krems.
http://www.noevog.at/en/default.asp?tt=NOEVOG_E_R12

The detailed timetables on the German language pages confirm reports that the 2043 will be working the Retz-Drosendorf Reblaus Express, and the Emmersdorf train will be DMU.

 

[Groningen]

Keypoints are (in my eyes):
Wörgl - Innsbruck
Wels - Linz
Salzburg

 

[cactustwirly]

All IC/RJ services are 1016/1116 (Taurus) hauled.
The majority of Regional services are formed of 4024/23s (Talent, a bit like an Electrostar) but some services in the Vienna area might be a 4020. And some services are 1144 hauled.

Make sure you go on the zillertalbahn! (Jenbach - Mayrhofen)

 

[DaiGog]

OK - Austria! This is not exhaustive, but there is still plenty of loco hauled passenger to have a go at.

RailJet all Taurus hauled, some run in pairs with the second loco in the middle. Internal ICs are dying out, being replaced by RailJets, but they are there - for example there is one a day each way between Salzburg and Graz, with a portion from Linz, booked for 1144s. EC163/164 Zurich - Graz and v.v. has an SBB panorama car in the formation and a Taurus at the sharp end (actually a pair between Innsbruck and Buchs). EC150/151 see an 1144 on Slovenian stock between Wien Hbf, Graz and Ljubljana.

The oldest electrics, the 1142s, are on their way out in Vienna now so Linz is the place to guarantee seeing them on regional services.

There are plenty of 1144s on regional services in Vienna - mainly on the Westbahn (St Valentin - Amstetten - St Polten - Wien Westbahnhof), from Franz Josephs Bahnhof on services to Gmund, and from the underground platforms of the Hbf on services between Wiener Neustadt / Payerbach and Retz / Bernardsthal. Outside Vienna, they can be found on regional services out of Graz, Linz, Innsbruck (peak hours only), Bludenz (peak hours only), Villach/Klagenfurt, and Salzburg - Wörgl via Kitzbühel. You will also find Taurus working regional services, mostly in the central and eastern areas of the country.

Diesel-wise, the 2016s can be found on Wien - Bratislava services and other local bits around Wiener Neustadt, Simbach - Wels/Linz, and also in Graz and Klagenfurt.

There are also DB 101s on German IC/EC services, plus hired-in MAV 470 Taurus locos out of Wien Franz Josephs Bahnhof on certain diagrams.

For scenery, the best of it is in the central region and the west of the country, i.e. where the Alps are! The best bits (IMO) are Linz - Selzthal, Attnang Puchheim - Obertraun Dachsteinhöhlen - Stainach Irdning, Graz - Selzthal - Bischofshofen - Kitzbühel - Wörgl, Innsbruck - Brenner, Innsbruck - Bludenz, Salzburg - Villach, Villach - Leoben and the Semmering Pass (Payerbach - Leoben).

 

[D1009]

As to living costs, IME there's not much to choose between Austria and Southern/Western Germany

I've just come back from a very pleasant week in Austria, though I'm not the "basher" I used to be. Part of the week I based myself in Salzburg, and for 1 day I bought a Bavaria Ticket for €25. This is effectively a day rover valid on virtually all public transport in Bavaria, with the exception of EC, IC, ICE and Railjet services. It is valid from Salzburg via Freilassing, and can be bought from the DB ticket machines there. I found the cost of beer and bar meals in Bavaria rather less than in Austria.

 

[Groningen]

Villach has a huge freightyard at 46.567709, 13.823429. Most should travel through Villach Westbahnhof.

 

[03_179]

As an aside, I like the http://www.vagonweb.cz/seznamy/OeBB/ site. They only have some of the EMUs listed.

Anyone know if there is a site that has the other Multiple units and locos with depot allocation s at all ?


Got to Say Austrian Railways are great, been many times now and always enjoy travelling there.