2010

This was the only tram in Munich that I was able to get the number of, confirming it as an R3_3 class. The numbers on the Munich trams are quite small, so that's why I've had trouble capturing them properly in a photo.

This bird doesn't look big enough to be a raven, but I'm leaning in the direction of saying that it is because of the beak, which is actually hard to see in this photo. The photo also creates the illusion, for whatever reason, that this bird was short and chubby, which wasn't actually the case. Can anybody identify the species for certain?

I know very little about the Old Botanical Gardens, and in fact I only identified them later, after I looked them up on a map.

This fountain is maybe halfway along the path on the right which I was following.

The Sendlinger Tor, constructed in about 1318, was surprisingly to guard the main trade route to Italy, which by medieval standards was quite far away from Munich. The current gate isn't really authentic, though, as there was a central tower until 1808, and the arch replacing it dates to 1906. The two pedestrian arches are of similar vintage.

Named for the architect Cosmas Damian Asam, and having actually little connection to anything Arabic, the Asamkirche was built in 1733-1746. It is also known as the Church of St. Johann (John) of Nepomuk. The priest's house next door (on the left in this photo), was constructed in 1771, and came to be known as the Asamhaus.

Here's a lower shot of the Asamkirche, showing the front door.

The Munchner Stadtmuseum, as the name suggests, is the city museum of Munich, with exhibits concentrating on art and history, but more history. Categories of exhibit include musical instruments and carnival games and puppetry, as well as a general collection of artifacts from each era of Munich's history.

I'm not sure which era these cannonballs were from, but they appeared to be stone (this may have been an optical illusion), which could mean either that they were very, very old, or simply that they were replicas. I did note that they were mortared together, although this might have been to prevent vandalism.

I have a few ICE photos scattered throughout my photo collection, but only a few on Flickr. I took this one in Munchen Hbf as I was about to get on my train (which wasn't an ICE). #401509-5 is one of the original 401 Class ICE sets from the early 1990's, meaning it can cruise as fast as 280 Km/h (173 m.p.h.) given a dedicated high-speed line rated for 280. That's impressive enough to American ears, but the newer 403 Class can reach 330 Km/h (205 m.p.h.), so it isn't like progress stopped with the first sets, either.

Here's another Class 111 that I found in Munchen Hbf as I prepared to head back to Prague.

DB's Class 115 electric locomotives, of which 115154-7 on the left is one, are actually Class 110 and 113 units which have been redesignated for local and autotrain services. Classes 110 and 113 are in turn variants of the original DB E10 Class electrics introduced in 1956, being produced until 1969, with all units being redesignated Classes 110 and 112 in 1968, with an additional Class 114 being created through reclassification of the last 112 Class units in 1988. In addition, in 1991 the older Class 112's were reclassified 113, eliminating Class 112 as a Class designation. These locomotives, while they obviously vary in specifications, hence the different classifications, put out 5,000 horsepower (impressive for 1956), and can run between 120 and 160 Km/h, depending on how they're equipped. Originally, they were only rated for 130 Km/h, but the higher-speed variants were introduced both from new production and requalification of older units. The prototypes had only been rated for 125, but this was raised so that they could be reclassified as express locomotives. The Class 440 EMU on the right is of an entirely different era, however. Marketed by Alstom as the Coradia Continental, and DB have operated these since 2008. However, they have a longer history in Britain, where they were used on First Great Western starting in the early 2000's, with later production units being classified as Class 180 Adelantes (The earlier Class 175 Units were just called Coradias or Coradia 1000's.). These are actually very fast trains by diesel standards, being capable of operating at 125 m.p.h. The 440's are EMU's, however, as Alsthom market the same carbody series as either. The diesel version is classified as Class 640 or 648 on DB.

MRCE, or Mitsui Rail Capital Europe, is the European division of Mitsui Rail Capital (MRC), one of the many companies in the past 15 years specialising in the leasing of rail equipment on an as-needed basis to railway companies. This was the first time that I had seen any leased locomotive in Germany, though, as rolling stock leasing companies more often lease out freight cars, with GATX being one of the oldest and most famous such companies (they also lease locomotives now, even if their freight car leasing business dates back to 1898). GATX got their start in the United States, where rolling stock leasing has generally been ahead of the rest of the world, and MRC, while Japanese-owned, was actually started officially in Illinois (in the U.S.A.) in 1996, riding the wave of locomotive leasing that changed the face of American railroading towards the end of that decade. In Germany, locomotive leasing is relatively new, with leased locomotives being called "dispoloks" following Swiss terminology (if I have my history right). In any case, getting to this locomotive, this is an older variant of the Seimens Eurosprinter, the ES 64 F4, intended mainly for freight service, with 8,583 horsepower and a 140 Km/h maximum operating speed. Nevertheless, as you can see, it can also be used in passenger services, as no freight trains use Munchen Hbf, and I have found many other photos of these units being used here.

Germany is almost as much of a beer-oriented country as the Czech Republic, but nevertheless my first Czech beer on the way back was before we crossed the border.

Here's Schwandorf Bahnhof, or station, with some other privately-operated trains visible. I don't know too much about them yet.

I'm unaware of whether this is still an interlocking signalbox, or something else (probably something else given that DB is one of the most modern railways in the world), but it's definitely occupied.

Domazlice was the first Czech rail station that I photographed, albeit with my cameraphone, just after crossing the border.

This taken at a new trainspotting position I discovered a few weeks ago while waiting at Nadrazi Hostivar (in the distance on the right). It's a pedestrian bridge over the north throat of the yard, which I had noticed before but never taken seriously as a spotting position. Now I know it's actually a nice spot. This Class 150 electric was running light, although where it was headed I don't know.