European Railroad Discussion > Week in the East - Part 2 - Poland

Never having been to Poland, I could not resist the opportunity to do a day trip from Berlin to Poland and do a little rail photography.  Several regional rail lines radiating from Berlin cross over into Poland, so it's possible to make the trip at relatively low cost, without the hassle of making reservations on the IC trains.  So I took a 1020 DB regional RB5831 train out of Berlin-Lichtenberg through Frankfurt-an-der-Oder to Rzepin (pronounced "Szhepin").  Spent a few hours there, had lunch at a local bar, then took a local Polish train to Kostrzyn (pronounced "Kostrin").  From there, I assumed I would take a regional NEB train all the way back to Berlin-Lichtenberg.  Alas - trackwork meant we only went a few stops into Germany before we were put on a bus from Gorgas to Muncheberg, where we boarded a second NEB train to complete the ride back to Berlin. 

Both Rzepin and Kostrzyn are really interesting junction towns.  At Rzepin, there are tons of locos and made-up trains scattered all over the yard, but while I was there few were moving.  Rzepin has a large carshop also, and there are dead lines of old EMU sets.  They appear to be rehabbing and updating the EMU sets - see my before and after photos below.  Kostrzyn has an interesting 2-level station, and a yard full of loaded coal cars.  Both towns also had steam engines tucked away back in the weeds - don't know the status of them. 

1.  DB Regional train from Berlin-Lichtenberg in Rzepin.  Note water plug still standing. 
2.  Polish electric locos - lettered for "DLA" and "Kolprem", which I assume are private freight operators. 
3.  Rzepin station - south side - this is the non-mainline side. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/16 16:14 by dwatry.

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4. Przewozy Regionalne (PR) EMU set terminating at Rzepin on the north side of the station  This is the Berlin-Warsaw mainline side of the station.  This is the BEFORE shot of one of the EMU sets.
5. PR EMU set repositioning for departure.
6. PKP Warsaw-Berlin IC train arriving Rzepin. 
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/16 16:30 by dwatry.

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7.  In case you missed the spelling of Rzepin - they have very clear signage.  Warsaw-Berlin IC train in background.
8.  Going-away shot of Warsaw-Berlin IC train.  Nice to see loco-hauled coaches. 
9.  Berlin-Warsaw IC train arriving Rzepin.

 

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10.  Berlin-Warsaw IC train.
11.  Eastbound tank train. 
12.  Przewozy Regionalne (PR) EMU set operating Zielona Gora - Szczecin service.  This is the AFTER photo.  These EMUs are rebuilt from the EMUs shown above. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/16 16:16 by dwatry.

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13.  Shot of typical station stop along the way from Rzepin to Kostrzyn.
14.  Kostrzyn station - PR EMU from Rzepin on lower level, and PR DMU on upper level. 
15.  PR DMU departing to the east  from upper level.  Semaphores and water towers!  If the semaphores look German, they should.  This part of Poland was Germany up to 1945. 
 

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16. DB/NEB DMU at Kostrzyn - about to take off for a whopping two stations into Germany! 
17. NEB DMU at Berlin-Lichtenberg - transferred to this DMU from the bus bridge in Muncheberg. 

 

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Thanks again! Interesting pics, especially the German-style semaphores. Is there any other kind in Eastern Europe?

Thanks for posting the interesting photos.
ALLEN

Thanks for both German and Poland photosl

More to come!

Those EU07 types in picture 3 are based on an English Electric design supplied to the PKP which was a DC version of BR's 25 KV class 83.

Nick - how is it that British designs seem to have proliferated throughout the Eastern Bloc in the early Cold War years?

Not entirely sure, mind you go to Bulgaria and Hungary today and you'll find 47s, 56s, 86s, 87s and 92s hard at work.