European Railroad Discussion > Return to Slovenia

Taking advantage of a Ryanair seat sale I returned to Slovenia last week for four nights, to photograph trains on the single track mountain railway to the Adriatic port of Koper.

It's extraordinarily busy, trains come thick and fast 24 hours a day. Here's a sample of what I saw

1: a loaded coal train, probably for the Voestalpine steelworks in Linz or Leoben-Donawitz

2: about 20 minutes later, at a location suggested by fellow TO member dwatry (thanks Duncan) a Budapest bound intermodal behind one of Slovenian Railways (SŽ) class 363.

3: at Prešnica, near the junction with the line down the Istrian peninsula to Pula in Croatia, a Metrans class 383 (a Siemens Vectron) on a mixed eastbound consisting of tanks and empty car carriers. On the left is the remains of what I assume was a roadside shrine, Slovenia remains a Catholic country.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/24 10:28 by 86235.

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4: later another class 363 on empty car carriers approaches the junction with the Pula Line. Once of major strategic importance, today the line to Pula sees a single daily summer only passenger service between Divaca and Pula. From a Croatian point of view the line is isolated from the rest of the Croatian network.
5: at Crnotiče a Railpool (a loco leasing company) class 6193, another Siemens Vectron, on a westbound intermodal
6: Podpeč, train no.47911/44981 from
Žilina Teplička (Slovakia) to Koper Tovorna with Kia autos for export. Kia has a large rail connected assembly plant just outside Žilina. The loco is an earlier Siemens design, SŽ class 541.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/24 02:11 by 86235.

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7: this gives you an idea of the grades on this line. Lower right you can see Hrastovlje station, where the train of Kia's remains waiting. Climbing uphill past Zanigrad is 363 009 on train 44912/44982 an SŽ/Metrans intermodal from Koper to Dunajská Streda (Slovakia).
8: descending from Zanigrad towards Hrastovlje another 363 on yet another intermodal,no.42003 a Metrans service from Budapest Soroksári út Rendező to Koper.
9: possibly Slovenia's most famous railway viewpoint, overlooking the Rizana valley at Crnotiče and yet another 363 on an eastbound intermodal.

I've a few more photos if anyone's interested.
https://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2024/Slovenia-take-2-July-24th-to-26th

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Neat to see all the freight traffic. Thanks for sharing.

Great coverage and excellent photos from the interesting rail operations in Slovenia.

Rich

Interesting shots in a beautiful land.

Stunning toppography and great shots. No. 7 is intriguing!

Hi NIck - Great photos!  In #2 - assuming that's Road #623 on the bridge in the background - looks like you went west from 623, and the location I went to was east.  Your location is more dramatic!  

dwatry Wrote:
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> In #2 - assuming that's
> Road #623 on the bridge in the background - looks
> like you went west from 623, and the location I
> went to was east.  Your location is more
> dramatic!  

Yep, that's 623, and it is to the east of the road. I followed the track you told me about and found this place. Meant to go back in the afternoon, try next time.

Wow. Great coverage of an area I have wanted to visit for a long time. 

Interesting - looks like you were a lot closer to the cut than I was. I went further east into more open countryside that reminded me of the area around Allard in Tehachapi.

Posted from iPhone

really evocative operations. and the ROW is enviably well maintained. the trains are short for north america mainline standards, but there seems to be a connection in using DPU's? Or are they putting locos on each end for easy push-pull operation? the scenery kind of makes it pop too. great work

dragoon Wrote:
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> Or are they putting locos on each end for easy push-pull
> operation? the scenery kind of makes it pop too.
> great work

They are manned helpers pushing loaded trains up the grade between Koper and Divaca. Divaca is the junction of the Pula / Koper line with the mainline between Ljubljana and Trieste, the former Österreichische Südbahn (Austrian Southern Railway).

King_Coal Wrote:
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> Neat to see all the freight traffic. Thanks for
> sharing.

SŽ has capacity issues owing to upgrade work, which has resulted in some cancellations.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/24 01:59 by 86235.

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dwatry Wrote:
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> I went further east into
> more open countryside that reminded me of the area
> around Allard in Tehachapi.
>
> Posted from iPhone

I wasn't sure how far the track went, I stopped initially just to look at the eastbound signal. As it was green I thought I'd wait, and that shot was the result. It then went to yellow, green before dropping to red, which meant the operator was lining up a westbound, which turned out to be the Budapest - Maribor - Ljubljana - Koper passenger, running about an hour late. I didn't get any further down the track.

Nick, thanks for the show.  Gerry

Help is on the way.  A "second track" on a completely new alignment with significantly reduced grades is nearing completion -- at least I know all the tunnels are complete.  The new line is designed so that longer-term it can be double tracked and the current line converted to a hiking trail.  Slovenia is a really pretty country with several interesting rail routes.  Also don't miss the railway museum in Ljubljana.
Gordon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/24 05:47 by gbmott.

Great presentation.  'Haven't been there since 1967... would love to go back.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ