European Railroad Discussion > Poland, part 4. Heavy rain

It was a good day for an all-day train ride, as it was pretty wet and stormy.  

A little south of Szczecin the train came to a quick stop.  There was a modest amount of commotion among the train crew, and maybe one of the crew departed out the automatic doors.  

By peering around a bit, or maybe someone had English skills enough to tell me, a tree had fallen across the tracks.  

I had sturdy leather gloves, so I showed these to the train staff, and pantomimed getting off the train to help move the tree.  They accepted the offer, opened the doors, and I hopped off.  Three other guys followed me.  

After about 5 minutes of chaotic wiggling and snapping, enough of the tree had been removed to clear the one track, and we climbed back aboard and proceeded on our way.  

This "can do" attitude is something I find very refreshing about Eastern Europe.  I don't know what the injury stats look like for "you're on your own" countries versus nanny states like the US, but I'm pretty sure that in many ways its safer elsewhere.  Though certainly not ni all ways!  

It occured to me afterwards that with the 7 people we had, we could have "rolled" the entire tree off the ROW, and freed up both tracks.  I was thinking, as we were all bouncing around on the tree, "there is probably a better way"...   But, as it was, got the one track open again in just a few minutes.  

Photos
1) Blurred image of a fallen tree
2) I took a few seconds for a selfie "Look what fun things we get to do riding trains in Poland"
3) Crew waving the train through.  Note that only one track is electrified.  Seems odd, as it's a pretty busy passenger line.  I guess maybe clearing the other track didn't matter so much, as it must just be for freight...  

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/20 11:33 by gobbl3gook.

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I've always liked taking “distortion” photos. Usually reflections in the dimpled paint in the blue or black sides of trains or cars. 

Like this
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1159436,1159749#1159749
and this
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,872230,872812#872812

Rolling through Poland I noticed how the drips on the window made for interesting distortions of the otherwise fairly homogeneous scenery.  Pretty pre-WWII stations, and people, and trains.  But not much in the way of landscapes, cities, or other singular features.  

4) - 6) Trackside photos

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7) - 9) more distortion shots of cute small stations through the rainy windows.  

Next up, Poznan Station

Photos from September, 2019.  

Comments, questions?  

Ted in UT

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Can you only imagine Amtrak allowing a passenger to help with something like that. But I did encounter a similar situation on VIA's Churchill train. CN had put a caboose on the ground just ahead of us. Only the rear wheels split the switch as the brakeman had thrown it by hand too quickly. While VIA headquarters wouldn't let any passengers on the ground to swap trains (the southbound was in sight on the other side of the derailment),  several of the stronger passengers with the gratitude of the crew helped get the offending van back on the rails with the assistance of a local farmer's front end loader. If only those "in charge" in Montreal knew what was going on. 

Another enthusiastic viewer of your posts, here!  Wish I did have something to contribute, but I have enjoyed yours, over the past few years.  Thanks again!