European Railroad Discussion > Six days in Slovenia

Here are some SLR shots from my Slovenia adventure, starting on Sunday afternoon, March 9th. Arriving at Ljubljana around mid day from London I picked up the hire car and headed to the closest location I knew was accessible, the little village of Ivanje Selo on the main former Austrian Southern Railway mainline between Ljubljana and Postojna. Sunday afternoon was really nice, warm and sunny. Sadly it wouldn't last.

1: I didn't know what the level of traffic would be on a Sunday, but one train I knew I would see was the EC135 Emona from Trieste to Vienna, SŽ 342 022. Originally there were 40 of these four axle locomotives, built by Ansaldo in Italy in the late 1960s. Today, as SŽ has migrated to Flirt & Desiro EMUs for passenger service, many have either been withdrawn or sold to independent operators in Italy. Those that survive operate some of the few remaining loco hauled services, like the Emona. At Ljubljana the train will gain two SŽ cars and an SŽ restaurant car. The 342, being 3kV DC only, will be swapped for Austrian power at the border. 
2: The Emona was followed, 12 minutes later by 363 018 on a train of tanks and Rail Cargo Austria (RCA) Habbiins vans.
3: Round the corner in Rakek SŽ Flirt 510 021 on train no.483 15:20 Ljubljana to Rijeka (in Croatia).

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Monday started out wet and miserable. The forecast was for better weather closer to the coast and so I headed west. Of course the single track line to Koper, which leaves the Vienna - Trieste mainline at Divaca, is both busy and, in places, a scenic gem. 

4: Ascending the grade from Hrastovlje towards Zanigrad Railpool (a loco leasing company) 6193 094 on loaded iron ore / rock containers bound for steel company Voestalpine's plants in Austria.
5: Entering Dol tunnel a Metrans class 383 on Habbiins vans, the dust and smoke from the brakes is witness to the steepness of the gradient
6: Passing through Hrastovlje station 363 014 on an eastbound intermodal 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/25 09:43 by 86235.

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Tuesday, day 3. I went back to Zanigrad, a drive of about 90 minutes from my apartment in Ljubljana, the last couple of kms is on a steep, dirt road. Zanigrad itself consists of a couple of what look like holiday homes, an ancient church and a few ruins.

7: This is a location I had been trying to find on my previous two visits. An SŽ 541 exiting Podpeč tunnel on vans for Koper. That cloud advancing looks rather menacing. It was, fog and rain, by the time I got back to the car I was pretty wet.
8: Whilst sitting in the car in the gloom I was surprised by an uphill i.e. eastbound intermodal behine one of SŽ's 363s repainted in the new blue livery. Having missed it at Zanigrad I decided I'd see if I could overtake it for a picture. And so headed back to Ivanje Selo.
9: Returning west, this time following the railway through Pivka and Divaca to Rodik, one of the passing loops on the Koper line, where I found this ÖBB class 1293 exiting the passing siding on Mercedes cars for export



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/25 09:46 by 86235.

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Day 4, Wednesday. Today I headed east of Ljubljana, into, for me, virgin territory. Very different, scenically, to the rather desolate karst landscape of western Slovenia. My first stop was Zidani Most with its scenically attractive triangular junction.

10: Heading along the line to Dobova and the border with Croatia an Adria Transport class 193 in Tailwind advertising livery on what look like grain hoppers, presumably empty. The river is the Sava, the longest tributary of the Danube.
11: This is the village of Ostrožno, between Celje and Maribor. It's rolling hill country, predominantly agricultural but dotted with woodland. 363 008 is westbound on an intermodal.
12: Further east is the town of Poljcane, on the east side of town a new bridge over the railway has been built which affords some decent views. I can't get enough of the Alstom built 363s, which entered service in late 1975, so are now in their 50th year. 363 027 is on empty laeeks auto racks leased by Skoda Auto SA so are presumably returning to Mlada Boleslav for another load.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/25 09:49 by 86235.

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Day 5, Thursday. Another 'go east, young man' day weather wise. This time I started in Celje before retracing my steps from the previous day. I still didn't make it to Maribor!

13: In Celje some SŽ staff refuel one of their class 664 EMDs whilst a class 510 Flirt leaves for Zidani Most. Although the mainline through Celje is electrified there's some unelectrified industrial branches around town and a lengthy non electrified branch to Velenje. 
14: SŽ has a number of Italian built Pendolinos (class 310) which they deploy on the Ljubljana to Maribor mainline. This is just about to dive into Dolga Gora tunnel. 
15: Just outside Poljcane 363 027 westbound on an intermodal for Koper.

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Final day, or rather final morning / early afternoon, as I had to be back at Ljubljana airport by 15:15 for my flight home at 16:30. The weather was atrocious to start off with, as you will have seen in the video I posted a couple of days ago. But it got better.

16: Taken sitting in the car near Rakek station, 363 032 on empty Innofreight / Voestalpine ore / rock containers. ISO was well up for this. 
17: But by late morning the rain stopped and the cloud ceiling rose. A pair of InRail class 193s on German registered tanks heading west past Ivanje Selo
18: And finally, another 363, this time 363 012 and it's westbound on a train of loaded Hyundai SUVs from the Czech Republic.

The rest of my pictures from the week are to be found here if anyone's interested.
https://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2025/-Slovenia-2025/i-vtmtJfS

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Thanks for the show, Nick.  Gerry

Nice photos, especially Nos. 7 and 9. Definite IOTD candidates.

Really nice series of photos Nick.
Thank you for sharing them.

John B

Very nice stuff! Appreciate you sharing it with us.

86235 Wrote:
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> The rest of my pictures from the week are to be
> found here if anyone's interested.
> https://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2025/-Sloveni
> a-2025/i-vtmtJfS

I enjoyed seeing the full collection, which helped to put the locations into context. Beautiful country, either direction from Ljubljana. I thought the subdued, neutral lighting you experienced on the days east of Ljubljana worked well with the generally colourful trains.

I really like #17. The high visibility paint scheme really pops from the background. Nice!

Nick - great photos! #11 is a great location.

Posted from iPhone

The hidden gem of Europe. Highly recommended.

Next visit I would suggest you stake out the Jesenice to Nova Gorica to Sezana line parallel to the Julian Alps in the west of the country. A most scenic line but one with lighter traffic density. It is diesel operated with GM G22 and G26 models.

GN1969 Wrote:
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> Next visit I would suggest you stake out the
> Jesenice to Nova Gorica to Sezana line parallel to
> the Julian Alps in the west of the country. A most
> scenic line but one with lighter traffic density.
> It is diesel operated with GM G22 and G26 models.

Did that last year, as you say quite light traffic wise. Shot the car carrying service, the avtovlak, with a Macosa built EMD class 644.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/25 00:34 by 86235.

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Great selection of photos, Nick. Good to see somewhere different. Chris uk.

Outstanding series, Nick. All very interesting, but I especially enjoyed seeing the nez casse motors. Slovenia is truly a hidden gem. Thanks for showing it to us so well.

MC

Keep these coming!  This Yank spent a year as a kid living not too far away ( in what’s now Croatia) while my dad built power plants for the Yugoslav government. I’ve been back for a brief visit around Lake Bled, but even that was 40 years ago now. 

I love to see photos from this part of the world.