European Railroad Discussion > Some from Germany and England

I'm currently northwest of London in the town Swindon, about three quarters of the way through my European vacation. Since I have good WiFi, I figured I'd post a smattering of my photos from the past week on here, in case folks are interested in seeing more.

• A eastbound ICE-1 heads out of Hamburg HBF station across a canal on the southeast side of Hamburg, Germany.
• A few minutes later, a southbound Metronom class 146 hauls a double decker set across the same canal.
• In Harburg, Germany, a northbound DB container train passes a parked Eurosprinter and a switch job at the local yard.

There's more...

Zach
http://www.z-trains.com
 

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• The next morning, a northbound ICE-1 into Hamburg HBF heads underneath the bridge at the south end of the station.
• In York, England, a southbound GBRF coal train passes through the station, lead by an EMD class 66.
• In Whittlesea, a Class 170 passes by the Semaphore signals at the west end of town.

There's more...

Zach
http://www.z-trains.com

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• At Kings Cross Station, an eastbound EMU set exits the tunnel at the west end of the station on its way over to platform 11.
• A few minutes later, another EMU set exits the same tunnel as a Virgin Class 43 trainset exits the station.
• A modified class 43 track geometry train sits in the background as another EMU leaves the station.

There's more...

Zach
http://www.z-trains.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/17 13:04 by z-trains.

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These are EMUs not DMUS . They run on 25Kv overhead wires

• As another EMU comes out of the tunnel, a Virgin East Coast train heads out of the station.
• A few minutes later, a Class 43 HST heads into the station.
• This evening, an eastbound First Great Western Class 43 and its accompanying set heads east through Bourton, England, at sunset.

Cheers,

Zach
http://www.z-trains.com
Railfanjunction on YouTube



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/17 13:04 by z-trains.

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TheInstigator Wrote:
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> These are EMUs not DMUS . They run on 25Kv
> overhead wires

Noted, thanks for the correction.

Where next Zachary?

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Where next Zachary?

Cardiff tomorrow, Paris on Thursday, then back to Michigan on Sunday for the beginning of the semester on Monday.

Cheers,

Zach
http://www.z-trains.com

z-trains Wrote:
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> [*]In York, England, a southbound GBRF coal train
> passes through the station, lead by an EMD class
> 66.

You were lucky to see a coal train, a rare breed these days, I suspect this was from North Blyth to EDF Energy's Cottam generating station.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/17 13:54 by 86235.

Sounds good, depending on what time will you be at Cardiff Central you could see coal, oil and steel trains, some light engine moves also.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/17 14:40 by exhaustED.

z-trains Wrote:
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• In Harburg, Germany, a northbound DB container
  > train passes a parked Eurosprinter and a switch
  > job at the local yard.

Very nice set of photos. Minor correction, the locomotive powering the container train is the Eurosprinter, the parked locomotive is a Vectron, both are Siemens products with the Vectron line of locomotives replacing the Eurosprinters as the current production type. They are a more modular design where DC, AC, Multisystem, in both Passenger and Freight, variants share the same bodyshell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/17 15:32 by SOO6617.

Fascinating track work...  Thank you for the study...

Lovely pictures - many thanks. I agree the trackwork looks great. I don't know whether it's just me but German track always seems much neater, and more expansive than that in the UK, The entrance to King's Cross is of course notorious as it is very cramped, with 11 platforms leading to four running tracks in a very cramped space. This is partly because the railway immediately has to cross underneath the Regent's Canal - hence the tunnel. The pointwork does seem a bit rough and crooked, but perhaps that's just the effect of a telephoto lens. By the way it is probably fairer to say that the line from King's Cross heads north rather than west.

The Western shot is interesting for showing the very heavy design of masts for the soon-to-be-installed catenary. I understand that these were of a late modified design which requires deeper foundations than can be dug by the much-vaunted "high-output" train. Hence some of the major delays and cost overruns to the project. A good subject for "alternative facts"!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/17 08:14 by spflow.

> The Western shot is interesting for showing the
> very heavy design of masts for the
> soon-to-be-installed catenary. I understand that
> these were of a late modified design which
> requires deeper foundations than can be dug by the
> much-vaunted "high-output" train. Hence some of
> the major delays and cost overruns to the project.
> A good subject for "alternative facts"!

Voted by me to be the ugliest catenary design ever.......not photo freindly for sure.

Zach, outstanding photos, thank you.

spflow Wrote:
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> The Western shot is interesting for showing the
> very heavy design of masts for the
> soon-to-be-installed catenary. I understand that
> these were of a late modified design which
> requires deeper foundations than can be dug by the
> much-vaunted "high-output" train. Hence some of
> the major delays and cost overruns to the project.
> A good subject for "alternative facts"!

Bourton was always a nice location but I fear not for much longer, once Furrer & Frey do their worst, although I believe Network Rail is being forced to look at alternative designs for the Goring Gap, between Reading & Didcot. It's between two AONBs (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and the residents (many of who are influential and well heeled) have successfully objected to Network Rail not being required to submit their design to the local authority for planning permission. They could have saved a whole heap of trouble by simply laying a nice 750v DC third rail :-)

spflow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Western shot is interesting for showing the
> very heavy design of masts for the
> soon-to-be-installed catenary. I understand that
> these were of a late modified design which
> requires deeper foundations than can be dug by the
> much-vaunted "high-output" train. Hence some of
> the major delays and cost overruns to the project.
> A good subject for "alternative facts"!

Apparently: "heavier to allow Twin Pantograph operation at up to 140mph, or Triple Pantograph operation at up to 110mph. Force on Catenary is higher than ordinary installations at those speeds."

Upon further investigation it appears to me that the force is actually the extra tension required to limit caternary wobble from the first pantograph reducing the contact viability of the second (and subsequent) pantographs.