Category Archives: Trains

How do trains change to daylight savings time?

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Marcus Wong

Timekeeping is something that railways take seriously – but what happens to trains when the clocks changes from ‘normal’ time to daylight savings, and an hour is either lost or gained? Germany Deutsche Bahn cancel trains due to run in […]

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Moscow’s deepest metro station at Park Pobedy

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Marcus Wong

The Moscow Metro is known for deep stations, but Парк Победы (Park Pobedy) is the winner – at 73 metres underground it is the deepest station in the city, and third deepest in the world by mean depth. Underground there […]

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Russian level crossings bite back!

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Marcus Wong

As I travelled across Russia by train there was an interesting feature at every level crossing we passed through – massive steel plates that lifted out of the roadway, preventing cars from driving around the boom gates. Some level crossings […]

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How the TGV has shrunk France

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Marcus Wong

Here is an interesting find – graphs comparing the reductions in travel time to cities across France, thanks to the introduction of the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) high-speed rail network. Photo by Didier Duforest, via Wikimedia Commons Travel times […]

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ОПЭ1 electro-diesel locomotives of the former USSR

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Marcus Wong

An electro-diesel locomotive is a unit that can operate from either an external electric power source, or standalone with an onboard diesel engine, and on the railways of the former USSR is an interesting example – the ОПЭ1 and subsequent […] Continue reading →

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A whistle stop tour of Sinaia railway station, Romania

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Marcus Wong

As I travelled across Romania by train, the railway station at the mountain resort of Sinaia in Prahova County caught my eye. Photo by Andrei Stroe, via Wikimedia Commons Căile Ferate Române 4-6-0 steam locomotive 230-039 was plinthed outside the […]

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German railfans exploring the world of rail

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Marcus Wong

For many railfans their interest in railways ends at the border of their own country, with little interest in the trains found elsewhere in the world. But it seems that German railfans are an exception to this, being happy to […]

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Rubbing the dog’s nose for good luck

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Marcus Wong

The stations of the Moscow Metro are known for their ornate architecture, but Площадь Революции (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) station on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line has another form of artwork to offer. A series of bronze sculptures. For some reason the dog sculpture […]

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Barbed wire and guard towers protecting the bridges and tunnels of the Russian Railways

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Marcus Wong

On my journey across Russia by train I passed through many tunnels and over many bridges, and noticed something strange at each one.

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Construction fail at the railway station

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Marcus Wong

Recently I came across a viral photo on Facebook that showed a railway track dropping over the edge of a cliff, then continuing on below. So where was the photo taken, and why is the track layout so ridiculous? I […]

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