Train Ferries?

[shredder1]

I did the Hamburg to Copenhagen via Puttgarden and Rodby in February this year.

 

[AlexNL]

Last Saturday, I traveled from Copenhagen to Hamburg on the Eurocity which uses the ferry between Rødby and Puttgarden. It was a 6 coach train, comprised of two DSB IC3 units (which are really nice!).

Once on the boat all passengers had to leave the train as we were on the lower deck and for safety reasons, passengers aren't allowed there while crossing the waters. We were told that we could leave our luggage on the train as the doors would be locked. The crossing itself was very quick and a pleasant experience, 45 minutes later we were already rolling into Puttgarden.

The layout of the trains struck me as odd. An IC3 train (3 coaches) only has a vestibule in the first coach and in the last coach, the vestibules are located close to the intermediate coach which does not have any doors. As the vestibules are pretty wide I did not think boarding and alighting was particularly slow, but the train wasn't heavily loaded.

 

[StephenHunter]

Apart from the Night Ferry service from London to Paris & Brussels, were there ever any other through services from the UK to Europe where the train, with passengers on board, went across on the ferry?

There were some freight services where wagons were shipped across the North Sea, but other than that no.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I think you are mixing up two things.

until 1973 DB standard express coaches were dark blue (1st class) and dark green (2nd class)

The TEE livery (in all countries not just Germany) was red/cream.

From 1974, DB adopted the red/cream for all 1st class coaches, and 2nd class became turquoise/beige

In my picture the coach is a 1st class therefore red/cream. There would also have been turquoise/beige 2nd class coaches in the train.


.

Thank you for the clarification re liveries.

 

[Calthrop]

Is or was there... and another in across a lake in Peru?

Lake Titicaca, shared between Peru and Bolivia. Long-standing lake ferry service between the two countries; but per my understanding, it has never carried rail vehicles. Although -- as mentioned in this thread -- rail ferries functioning despite gauge differences, are not unknown: with the Southern Railway of Peru, serving the Peruvian lake port of Puno, being on the 4 ft. 8-and-a-half inches gauge; and the Bolivian rail system, serving its counterpart Guaqui, being metre-gauge -- this has always been reckoned prohibitive for "rail stock on board ship".

Hainan has had a railway system for many years and it was always possible to travel from Haikou to Sanya using that. Nowadays the islands railways have been completely modernised and electrified and there are numerous trains between Haikou and Sanya.
There are two trains which use the train ferry : Z201 from Beijing to Sanya and Z385 Changchun to Sanya ( and of course, their reverse workings) both of which, I believe still use the old Haikou - Sanya line rather than the new one.

Drifting off from the train-ferry topic; but Hainan Island was of note a couple of decades ago, as one of the later places on China's national railways, to be a concentrated steam stronghold. This included its being the last location on the state system, to have in service 2-8-2s of the once very numerous JF class.