European Railroad Discussion > Where are busiest freight lines from Austria/Hungary to Greece?

In the 1990s there was the “Harry Ladd Rail Traffic Atlas of North America.  It was really useful in planning road trips, you could try to follow main freight lines.  Before Harry Ladd, I would look at other atlases, and try to guess which lines were busiest.  Sometimes I’d find them, sometimes not . 

A couple years ago I was bicycling in Ukraine, and lucked out following a heavy freight line through the Carpathian Mountains south of Lviv.  I spent a couple days along the line, with trains every 20 to 30 minutes, about half freight, half passenger.  

Today I’m on a train headed south from Wroclaw, Poland, headed on a couple local trains to Brno, Czeck Republic.  From there I have about a month to go south, by bicycle and by train.  If the option avails, I’d like to follow freight lines where possible.  \\

I have the European Rail Timetable downloaded to my phone, so I can see where the passenger lines are.  And the heavier traffic lines are in a thicker line than the light traffic ones.  I see in thicker lines, for instance, 
* Budapest to Llubliana
* Budapest to Zagreb
* Budapest to Belgrade

I imagine Budapest to Belgrade will be a heavy freight corridor, since it follows the Danube River through the “Iron Gate” of the Carpathian/Balkan Mountains.  But I kinda prefer mountains to rivers. 

Any other thoughts on this?  Any good online reference maps?  Or recommendations for routes over mountain passes that will have heavy freight traffic?  

Also, a week ago I posted some videos (TO won’t let me post photos) from Wolsztyn, Poland.  It’s on the steam board, sandwiched between the Big Boy photo threads. 

Thanks in advance, 
Ted, on a train from Wroclaw to Lichkov



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/19 05:11 by gobbl3gook.

I know the line from Graz to Maribor, and on to Zagreb and Beograd sees a reasonable amount of freight traffic. Beyond there it looks like most of the freight goes via Sofia in Bulgaria, with traffic dividing there for Greece and Turkey.

To answer my own question -- 

https://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~yopopov/rrt/railroadmaps/