European Railroad Discussion > Marginal Grab Shot Monday: Slovakia & Czechia Edition

After Budapest it was time to move on to Prague in the Czech Republic. We traveled north out of Budapest, west to the border with the Slovak Republic, west to Bratislava, north to the Czech border, and northwest to Prague. We only passed through Slovakia and much of Czechia but I captured a few interesting things on the way, marginally.

1. The first town after crossing into the Slovak Republic is Štúrovo where I grabbed this shot of the attractive and well-maintained station. ŽSR is Railways of the Slovak Republic: Železnice Slovenskej republiky.

2. My one and only train shot from Slovakia at the large yard at Nána, near Štúrovo, is this vintage electric of Slovakia's freight railway, ZSSK Cargo. ZSSK is Železničná spoločnosť SK (for Slovakia). The 240-class was built in 1968 by Skoda. They were in use in Slovakia but being phased out. I did not see one operating in the Czech Republic.

3. The first town after crossing into Czechia is the railroad junction town of Breclav (I can't figure out how to put an accent on the 'r') and there were stored and active locomotives aplenty from across the region. This cute little diesel is owned by RTI: Railtrans International, based in Bratislava and is one of only two Series 742 models on their roster, built in 1970 by ČKD in what was then Czechoslovakia. In the background, nothing but stored, mostly CD Cargo 240-class electrics.

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4. This is one of the sharpest looking 240-class locomotives that I saw and evidence that someone still values an over 50-year-old locomotive. LokoTrain is primarily a locomotive lessor based in the Czech Republic although this locomotive is registered in Slovakia. To the left are two modern Vectron units in paint schemes that I have never seen before and it would take some research to identify them.

5. Six-axle electrics are generally rare in Europe in my limited experience but here is a beast of a locomotive of Polish freight operator PKP Cargo. This is an ET43-class Dragon2 built by the Polish manufacturer Newag in 2023. To the left is a German DB Vectron. A large roundhouse is in the background.

6. Very marginal but it shows more of the roundhouse, a CD Cargo shunter that reminds me of an RS-1, coupled to a more modern shunter, and yet more stored CD Cargo 240-class electrics.

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7. I think that is a chopnose Series 742 of CD Cargo coupled to a modern shunter. In the back is a likely 0-4-0 shunter of unknown model and paint scheme. In the background is another roundhouse and turntable.

8. A half decent shot of another Series 742 in an old paint scheme and just a small 'CD' on the cab. To the left is a beautiful 240-class electric but showing as an S489-class as it was known under the Czechoslovakian Railway era. We were traveling just a bit too fast to capture every locomotive as we passed. Should have been running a video! And just as I gave up, there was another dead line of CD Cargo locomotives. I would love to be able to spend some quality time in Breclav.

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I like your grab shots. Interesting variety.