2012

Here's a shot of the mostly empty platforms in Ostbahnhof in the wee hours of the morning.

This was early in the morning in Koln Hbf, where we arrived. As far as I know, this wasn't our train, as this PKP sleeper is on it, and the train didn't go through Poland. I really don't remember. I took this photo just because I don't have too many photos of PKP sleepers, or for that matter Polish equipment generally.

This was one of my next shots, giving a view of the trainshed and platforms in Koln Hbf very early in the morning. It was still dark, as you can see. The 401 Class ICE in the next platform wasn't my next train, but I would take an ICE next, to Bruxelles-Midi.

I didn't get a picture of the ICE that took me to Brussels, as indeed the novelty of high speed trains has partly been wearing off lately. However, it occurred to me that the last time I had taken the Eurostar, one of the greatest high-speed trains ever, I hadn't taken any photographs. I made a point this time of at least taking a few.

The Eurostar doesn't really pick up speed until it's well out of Brussels, although I don't know off hand if this was before or after crossing into France and taking the CTRL at Lille. I've just said "France," for the sake of convenience. The Eurostar is, at least, a French train. That we were at full cruising speed was and is, however, obvious.

Here it's easier to tell we're in France. The large number of tracks is the giveaway, as well as the land even flatter than Belgium. Other than on the Shinkansen system, there aren't any other networks that I can think of as well suited to highballing as the post-1990 SNCF LGV system.

This was my second breakfast of the day, actually, as I had also had breakfast on the Phoenix. When I travel, I don't usually turn down food, though. That's real wine on the left, as this was, after all, France.

Even today, a station is maintained at Calais. The last time I had ridden the Eurostar, I had noted a large amount of graffitti on the CTRL, which seemed completely unacceptable to me. It isn't just ugly, but on a high speed line, in the post-9/11, post-Madrid world (not to mention earlier attacks specifically on the LGV system), it indicates an unacceptably low level of security. I'm nowhere close to a security fanatic, but a high speed line, like an airport, must be secure. Apparently, the French government had noticed, too, and put soldiers on the ends of the platforms, complete with bullpup rifles of some kind (probably FAMAS rifles). It's surprising how much vandalism happens completely out in the open, with little sophistication. Often vandals damage stations right under the CCTV cameras, and get onto the lines not with wire cutters or any such commando-like tools or tactics, but simply walk off the ends of the platforms or through gaps in the sound walls. Speaking of that, I've never understood the point of building a wall or a fence if you're going to put gaps in it or make it low enough to step over. It seems like a tremendous waste of money. Ultimately, vandalism is much easier to deal with than we were lead to believe back in the 1980's. It just takes a will, as evidenced by the drastic cleanup of the New York City subway system in the 1990's.

This is yet another shot of the spectacularly restored, and originally spectacular, London Saint Pancras Station, now St. Pancras International. That trainshed must have been one of the bigger jobs, as I remember when it was caked in soot back in the 1990's.