Garry KeenorMay 25
So... it's that time of year again, I'm off on a Moderately Sized Adventure™. Train no.1 is from East Croydon to London Bridge. Why doesn't Thameslink run this early on a Sunday? (I travelled here last night as a positioning move.)
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Trains #2 and #3 are tube to get me to St Pancras.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
I should explain why this Adventure is only Moderately Sized... unlike previous years, I will be spending quite a lot of time broadly stationary, because Reasons. I'll be taking no further questions on this topic your honour 😎
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Train #4 and the trip gets started in anger... 0901 St Pancras International to Bruxelles ( I'll be getting off at Lille)... my first time bagging Seat 61!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
In France even the bins are stylish
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Train #5 is the 1205 Lille to Paris Gare du Nord InOui double decker TGV. Lovely ambience on first class upper deck
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
After a long, fantastic, boozy Parisian lunch, train #6 is another InOui double deck TGV on the 1553 Paris Gare de l'Est to Stuttgart.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Bit of tamping action outside of my window, should keep @GarethDennis happy
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Train #7 is the 2029 sleeper from Stuttgart to Zagreb. 15 hours of lovely comfort ahead!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Good morning from South East Austria! Slept well, train bang on time. Woke up to this - this is what the sleeper is all about
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Oh, the views
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Into Slovenia...
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Is your catenary stranding and at risk of failure? Why not just clamp another piece of catenary to it and get on with your day? What could possibly go wrong?
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
New cute engineering maintenance vehicle just dropped
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Zagreb! And only 10 late on a 15 hour journey. Fantastičan!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26

Trains #8, 9 and 10 are trams as I explore Zagreb. Frequent, clean, safe, cheap. As usual, navigating this small European city is super easy with a combination of Google maps and the local tram app. Why can't the UK do more of this?*

* This is a rhetorical question, I know why. And it's all so stupid

Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Trains #11 and #12 are more trams. Train #13 is this handsome, modern EMU from Zagreb to Volinja (and return to Sunja) pictured here at Volinja. I'd have liked to have gone further and crossed the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina, but guess what? There aren't any trains. No #crossborderrail for me @jon. The onward line across the river Una to Bosnia is on the left beyond the train.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Just time to jump out at Majur on the return leg and take this picture of the new Cutest Engineering Train™. Check out the My First Pantograph Gauge!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Train #14 is... a bus! 🤦 Not sure why, given we recently passed over the open railway, but this will take me from Sunja on to Sisak Caprag.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Actual train #14 is another new EMU for the journey back to Zagreb.
Show threadnameless Cat PöñíçkøvāMay 27
@25kV lol that caged footbridge
Show threadGarry Keenor
@pony I know, right? Crazy stuff
May 27 at 1:26pmWeb
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Garry KeenorMay 25
So... it's that time of year again, I'm off on a Moderately Sized Adventure™. Train no.1 is from East Croydon to London Bridge. Why doesn't Thameslink run this early on a Sunday? (I travelled here last night as a positioning move.)
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Trains #2 and #3 are tube to get me to St Pancras.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
I should explain why this Adventure is only Moderately Sized... unlike previous years, I will be spending quite a lot of time broadly stationary, because Reasons. I'll be taking no further questions on this topic your honour 😎
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Train #4 and the trip gets started in anger... 0901 St Pancras International to Bruxelles ( I'll be getting off at Lille)... my first time bagging Seat 61!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
In France even the bins are stylish
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Train #5 is the 1205 Lille to Paris Gare du Nord InOui double decker TGV. Lovely ambience on first class upper deck
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
After a long, fantastic, boozy Parisian lunch, train #6 is another InOui double deck TGV on the 1553 Paris Gare de l'Est to Stuttgart.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Bit of tamping action outside of my window, should keep @GarethDennis happy
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
Train #7 is the 2029 sleeper from Stuttgart to Zagreb. 15 hours of lovely comfort ahead!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Good morning from South East Austria! Slept well, train bang on time. Woke up to this - this is what the sleeper is all about
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Oh, the views
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Into Slovenia...
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Is your catenary stranding and at risk of failure? Why not just clamp another piece of catenary to it and get on with your day? What could possibly go wrong?
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
New cute engineering maintenance vehicle just dropped
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
Zagreb! And only 10 late on a 15 hour journey. Fantastičan!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26

Trains #8, 9 and 10 are trams as I explore Zagreb. Frequent, clean, safe, cheap. As usual, navigating this small European city is super easy with a combination of Google maps and the local tram app. Why can't the UK do more of this?*

* This is a rhetorical question, I know why. And it's all so stupid

Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Trains #11 and #12 are more trams. Train #13 is this handsome, modern EMU from Zagreb to Volinja (and return to Sunja) pictured here at Volinja. I'd have liked to have gone further and crossed the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina, but guess what? There aren't any trains. No #crossborderrail for me @jon. The onward line across the river Una to Bosnia is on the left beyond the train.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Just time to jump out at Majur on the return leg and take this picture of the new Cutest Engineering Train™. Check out the My First Pantograph Gauge!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Train #14 is... a bus! 🤦 Not sure why, given we recently passed over the open railway, but this will take me from Sunja on to Sisak Caprag.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Actual train #14 is another new EMU for the journey back to Zagreb.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
Train #15 is another EMU for the journey out to Harmica and back.
Show threadnameless Cat PöñíçkøvāMay 27
@25kV lol that caged footbridge
Show threadMartin GleadowMay 27
@25kV reminds me of the engineering tenders you used to get in UK bus fleets, repurposed from retired or damaged buses.
Show threadConor O'NeillMay 27
@25kV
Here's an electrical maintenance vehicle which I photographed just last week, in the railway museum in Riga, Latvia.
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
@tpuddle nice! With the platform on mounted on insulators for hot working 😱 saw a similar one last year in Chomutov
Show threadceridwen15May 28
@25kV i love it (trains with facial expressions and trains that look like bugs are the best trains)
Show threadJon WorthMay 27
@25kV Ah! I have only been the other side there. Might you give me permission to use that pic on the #CrossBorderRail website? Here's a nice drone pic of the bridge I took!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 27
@jon yes of course! Added another one you might like to use. Great pic
Show threadThe Penguin of EvilMay 26
@25kV Zagreb was the first place I got to see a tram-jam. The transport there is wonderful.
Show threadHugh 🚐 WHY 📞 4844May 26
@25kV Looking very stylish! Those long OBB sleeper services are awesome - jealous of your FIP 😉
Show threadHans Zelf 🇪🇺🌻May 26
@hugh @25kV This doesn't look like an ÖBB sleeper though 🤔
Show threadHugh 🚐 WHY 📞 4844May 26

@hans_zelf @25kV It's the EuroNight (specifically EN40237): https://www.nightjet.com/en/komfortkategorien/euronight

I always consider them part of OBB, who sell the tickets. They are operated by various European railway companies though.

EuroNight Trains

Additional night trains throughout Europe in cooperation with partner railways.

Nightjet
Show threadMike KnellMay 26
@25kV I’m sorry but nothing is cuter than the SBB class 922 tinyshunter.
Show threadsimonbpMay 27
@m @25kV Yes
Show threadEmma DavidsonMay 27
@25kV @m I have a new life goal:
become a tinyshunter. I don’t even know what they do, but that’s what I want to be when I grow up.
Show threadRob van KanMay 27
@m @25kV why do they hunt tinies?
Show threadJos DingjanMay 27
@m @25kV The Buddy of locomotives.
Show threadWill DeakinMay 26

@25kV this has strong "More Cowbell" vibes but for 25kV*

* other voltages may apply

Show threadRémi CardonaMay 26

@25kV it's like fixing potholes, but above your head.

In all seriousness, is it *that* bad? Or just indicative of poor preventative maintenance?

Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
@remi in the time they took to install this they could have spliced in a new section. It's not great
Show threadLionelBMay 26

@25kV

Switzerland 2.0. Don't jaywalk.

Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
@lionelb thanks for the tip!
Show threadAndrew LovickMay 26
@25kV Simply gorgeous.
Show threadTwobiscuits🚴‍♂️ May 26
@25kV you're here in Graz?
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 26
@twobiscuits no, continuing to Zagreb. Then back to Ljubljana in a few days.
Show thread🇨🇦️Dracula🍁May 25
@25kV That looks like a high-speed train. I'll have to take a trip to Europe and check out those trains.
Show threadHans Zelf 🇪🇺🌻May 25
@countdracula @25kV The sleeper is not a hst, the previous ones are (300km/h)
Show threadRaphaelMay 25
@25kV Really enjoy the first class in TGVs the times I got an opportunity to take it. Real comfortable
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
@raphael the seat c'est magnifique! Like an armchair
Show threadRémi CardonaMay 25
@25kV @raphael Agreed, pre-Océane Duplex has probably the best 1st class seats of all currently operating TGVs. Plushness is now a lost art.
Even 2nd class seats are really comfy (they are a bit battered on unmodernized stock, definitely not as comfortable as when brand new).
Show threadJames JefferiesMay 25
@25kV Did you do the Lille switchover for a particular reason rather than getting a Paris Eurostar?
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
@jamesjefferies I couldn't get a staff discounted ticket on a direct service by the time I booked, so had to get on a Bruxelles service instead
Show threadJames JefferiesMay 25
@25kV Fair enough!
Show threadJon WorthMay 26
@25kV Actually an anti-terrorism design. Were someone to put a bomb in there the explosive force goes out of the middle and you don’t get flying metal. It’s quite clever (if you think bombs in bins is still a risk).
Show threadSupermoosieMay 26

@jon
Not so great for lit cigarette butts .

@25kV

Show threadJon WorthMay 26
@SuperMoosie @25kV The stations are all officially no smoking. But the extent to which it's respected... well...
Show threadsimonbpMay 25
@25kV I was a few tracks over 1.5 hours earlier on the truncated Thameslink running out of the EMR platform because of track vandalism, apparently.
Show threadHugh 🚐 WHY 📞 4844May 25
@25kV 🤔 How curious! Enjoy your trip 👍
Show threadNikkileah 🎮🚄🏳️‍⚧️🇬🇧May 25
@25kV safe travels!!
Show threadGarry KeenorMay 25
@Nikkileah thanks!