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Category Archives: Trains
Setting sail on the Railklipper
What happens when you send a train out to sea? You get the Railklipper – a vessel built by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) in 2005 to celebrate the country’s maritime history. Photo by Edwtie, via Wikimedia Commons Dutch-language Wikipedia has … Continue reading
Posted in Trains
Tagged Dutch Railways, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Netherlands, on the water
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Sacrificial buffer stops at Munich Hauptbahnhof
Across Europe a common theme at major railway stations is dead end platform tracks ending at buffer stops, with the main passenger concourse behind. But there was one thing I didn’t realise – sometimes the buffer stops are designed to … Continue reading
Russia’s ‘robotic fire-fighting train’
As well as ‘conventional’ fire-fighting trains used to put out the flames anywhere conventional fire trucks can’t reach, the Russian Railways have also started rolling out a fleet of ‘robotic’ trains that can be used to fight fires in railway … Continue reading
Posted in Trains
Tagged emergency services, firefighting, rail operations, Russia, Russian Railways
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Track laying trains of Russia
My my journey across Russia by train I came across a curious looking piece of equipment parked in a siding – a track laying machine. Called a Путеукладчик in Russian, here is a similar machine at work laying track for … Continue reading
Posted in Trains
Tagged rail operations, railways, Russia, Russian Railways, track machines, trackwork
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Шаропоїзд – a Ukrainian monorail that ran in a trough
Monorails are a mode of rail transport that is yet to break into the mainstream, despite decades of research and development on a wide variety of track standards. Most monorail trains are suspended from a track, or run on top … Continue reading
Fire-fighting trains of the Russian Railways
Russia’s rail network stretches the length of the country, from cities to mountainous forests. Fires can happen anywhere – even in the middle of nowhere – so the Russian Railways have their own fleet of fire-fighting trains, to put out … Continue reading
Posted in Trains
Tagged emergency services, firefighting, rail operations, Russia, Russian Railways
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Interchange stations on Soviet metro systems
Interchange stations on Soviet designed metro systems are a little odd for anyone accustomed to urban rail networks elsewhere in the world – the platforms for each line are treated as their own station, with their own street entrance, and … Continue reading
Posted in Trains
Tagged Kiev, Kiev Metro, metros, Moscow, Moscow Metro, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg Metro, Ukraine
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Inspecting the overhead wires on the Ukrainian Railways
As I travelled across Ukraine by train I noticed a few complicated looking contraptions parked in sidings along the way. With a small platform at the end of a scissor lift, these railcars are used to inspect and repair the overhead wires that power electric trains.
Posted in Trains
Tagged maintenance, rail operations, railway electrification, Ukraine, Ukrainian Railways
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Animal themed trains of Europe
Trains named for cute animals – during my time in Europe, I found two rail operators who did just that.
Photo via the-village.ru Continue reading
Germany’s one woman freight railway
Across Germany there are many small rail freight operators, but there are none smaller than ‘Rail 4U’ – a one-woman operation founded by Barbara Pirch in 2001.
Photo by Rail 4U Continue reading