Czech Republic

I took this picture solely to be a locomotive picture. I'm not convinced that it has any other merits, but railfans on Flickr will probably appreciate it if they're not from the Czech Republic. To the best of my knowledge, these Class 749 diesels don't venture out of the country, as all of the Eurocity and other international services are electric. That means that the only way to see them is to come to the Czech Republic! Class 749s were originally built as 750 and 751 Class diesels in 1964-1976 by Ceskomoravska Kolben-Danek (CKD), and then were rebuilt (again by CKD) into Class 749s in 1992-1996. They put out 1478 horsepower, and can reach a maximum operating speed of 100Km/h, although they rarely achieve this because they are usually used on slow branchline passenger services and freights.

So...is it a landscape, or is it a "railway photo?" I have no idea. I like it, though, so I decided to post it even if it doesn't fit easily into any particular category.

Roztocky Zamek is in Roztoky U Prahy, 3 kilometers north of the Prague city line, and actually, it's more of a chataeu, as zamek does indeed mean chataeu in Czech. Most non-Czech tourists don't know about it, though, as it's out of the way compared to Prazky Hrad, Spilberk, and Krumlovsky Zamek, and it's smaller and less historically significant than Karlstejn. It was built in 1233, and the museum does in fact have a copy of the original deed. Like many such buildings, additions continued being added to the complex until the late 18th Century. A gradual restoration was done in 1955-1972, and another, less-extensive one was done in 2002. It originally had a moat, which you can just barely see the remains of here, and there are some old photos in the museum of when it was still full.

I took this because I liked the way the tower on the castle composed the shot.

I took this shot as a thunderhead (cumulonimbus cloud) was moving in on my hiking party rapidly. I was concerned, but our team leader considered it "quite exciting," telling us the story of when he was hit by lightening. I love the light in this picture, and the colors, particularly the yellowness of the sun behind us shining brightly on the green grass, contrasting with the dark background.

Hrad Karlstejn was built in 1348 on the orders of Karluv (a.k.a. Charles) IV, arguably the most-loved of all Czech kings, who also held the position of Holy Roman Emperor. In addition to being a vacation home for the royal family, Karlstejn was also used as a refuge from war, not only for Karluv's family but also for his collection of holy relics, as well as the crown jewels. The historical musical Noc na Karlstejn (about Karluv IV) is set in Karlstejn, and today, Hrad Karlstejn is the best-known castle in the Czech Republic after Prazky Hrad, and is a favorite tourist destination, even if the village of Karlstejn is otherwise insignificant (although the castle makes it a tourist trap anyway).

I initially put off posting this, as I figured other Flickrites had better photos, but then that's always the case, isn't it?

Here's another view from Rip, giving a better idea of the expansive view that you can get from it. In honesty, though, the summit isn't the best place. This is actually the side of the mountain, where there are fewer trees in the way, as even in the Fall, when I went, the summit's view is obscured by the trees that cover it.

This is a bridge over the Sazava River In Cercany, Bohemia, where the opportunities to shoot great train pictures seem ever-present. In reality, I've never got a good shot of a train here, in spite of frequently being there, the bridge having trains every 15-30 minutes, and it being perfectly legal to walk out on the bridge!! As they say on Monty Python "I got a slug," but actually this isn't a slug at all...even worse, it's a speeder!! :-) At least it's an interesting one with a built-in crane.

Krapcice is a small village not far from Rip, which is a mountain, in Central Bohemia. I took this from Rip with my Ikoflex.

I took this mainly for the Fall colors, although I waited until now to post it! I hope you like it. :-)

Ceske Drahy inherited a fleet of Russian bi-level coaches from Ceskoslovenske Drahy, and these are still in service, if old (see my picture of Tynec yard). They're cramped, dirty, somewhat rundown, and very hot in the summer, though, so they're far from ideal, even if the view from the upper deck is cool. Ceske Drahy must have been thinking of this, as well as the better passenger capacity in proportion to tare, when they ordered their fleet of bi-level EMUs, Classes 471 and 971, from a consortium of CKD and Skoda in the late 1990s. The oldest of these is already 10 years old, but surprisingly, they've been kept up enough so that they still seem relatively new. The upper deck is the best part, though. :-) I took this on the way to Karlstejn.

When I arrived in Karlstejn to visit the castle (which I have pictures of in my photostream), I was struck by what nice shape it was in. The underground walkways are dirty and rundown, but for the most part the station is in very good condition, and attractive to look at. It also wouldn't be a bad place to watch trains, as it's reasonably busy, although not the busiest I've seen.

Hrad Karlstejn enjoyed the added security of a dedicated, deep well for surviving seiges, seen here on the right. The flags on the left are those of the European Union (on the left), and the Czech Republic (on the right).

This is the next shot in my series on Karlstejn, such as it is. :-) I like the sky detail in this, and the compactness of it. I hope you like it too. :-)

During the 1960s and 1970s, when diesel hood units with conventional cabs and sometimes high noses dominated American railroading, Western Europe shunned them. Very few Western European railways used any diesels on the grand scale that American railroads did, with the exception, possibly, of Ireland and Britain, but Eastern Europe was another story. There, the scene could look quite American, especially since much of the Warsaw Pact network was neglected by the various Communist governments. In any case, most of the equipment of the Communist era was inherited by the post-Communist governments and railways, and much of it was sold to private owners. This included many of Ceskoslovenske Drahy's Class 740 hood units, built 1973-1989 by CKD, which largely went to maintenance contractors and heavy industries seeking to switch their own sidings. One of the maintenance (or possibly renewal-only) contractors is the vaguely named Doprava, which is Czech for transport. Given that these ones were working a ballast train, their 70Km/h top speed and 1183 horsepower output apiece probably didn't keep them from performing their duties. Given what they were doing, namely working on an upgrade to the Prague-Vienna mainline (Linka 221 and 220 by Ceske Drahy's line ID system) for 160Km/h operation, it's understandable why Ceske Drahy wanted to get rid of them, though.

I noticed the setting sun casting shadows on the old hotel in Josefuv Dul, so I figured it would make a decent photo. I hope you like it. :-)

This was a landscape that I attempted from one of the mountains (hills?) surrounding Josefuv Dul. The sun was setting, illuminating the church and village, although in this shot the church is of course dominant and center.