2010

I'm not sure why I opted to keep this shot. It's a bit too blurry to fully satisfy me, but I think the combination of the trainshed and the City Elefant, even if I can't read the number, combined with the passengers on the left, makes for a nice scene. This was as I was waiting for my train to Brno.

I also spotted the Pendolino, or rather #682003-9, one of several Pendolino tilt trains on Ceske Drahy, sitting in another platform.

This was a closeup I did to get the number. I guess it can be left up to the viewer to decide if this one is any good. I think the lightpost blocks the view of the nose too much, but I decided to include this one anyway.

This photo was meant to accompany a video I shot out the back of the train going something like 150-160 Km/h (90-100 m.p.h.), but unfortunately the camera malfunctioned (see my blog), so this is what I'm left with. Hopefully I'll have a chance to do another video soon.

This is Pardubice Hlavni Nadrazi, in Pardubice, regional capital (if that's the right word) for Pardubicky Kraj, on the border between Bohemia and Moravia.

And....this was a Class 151 that I caught in one of the platforms. I didn't change trains here, though, so I had to get it from inside my own train.

I've increasingly been noticing PKP (Polish Railways) electric locomotives venturing into the Czech Republic lately, although I don't know very much about them. I saw this one sitting in a siding in Pardubice, an unlikely location for a foreign locomotive to be parked since few international services originate or terminate in Pardubice.

There are actually several towns in the Czech Republic called Brandys. Yesterday I posted a photo of the town square in Brandys nad Labem, but this is the train station in Brandys nad Orlici, in Pardubicky Kraj.

Here you can just see the tower of the radnice, or town hall, in Brandys nad Orlici (or at least I think that's the radnice).

Following on the existing theme of towns with the same name in the Czech Republic, here's Usti nad Orlici, as opposed to the better-known Usti nad Labem. This station building looks quintessentially Central European to me, perhaps even Austrian, which makes some sense given that Bohemia and Moravia used to be part of the Austrian Empire.

One of the odd things about my Sony Ericsson Walkman W302 cameraphone is that when I take a shot of something passing by it quickly, not only does the subject blur, but it appears tilted diagonally, as here. I especially noticed this behaviour on the Brno trip, and I still haven't figured out exactly what causes it. This photo is of a ZSSK (Slovak Railways) Class 350 electric, which would have at one time been a CSD locomotive when the Czech Republic and Slovakia were united, along with their national railways. These locomotives were built by Skoda from 1974 until 1976, put out 4,000Kw (5,365 horsepower), and could operate (and still do) at speeds of up to 160Km/h (100 m.p.h.), meaning that they can be used on the fastest Eurocity and Intercity services in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

This was a less blurred and distorted shot of a Pendolino passing us, but I still didn't get the number because the coupler cover was open, and this is normally where the number is.

Like Brandys, Brezova is another town name. The Czech Wikipedia lists 13 towns and villages with this name, so the "nad....." is important whenever you say the town's name. This is the train station in Brezova nad Svitavou, right on the Bohemian-Moravian border. I'm assuming it's in Moravia for the sake of simplicity.

Zamek Letovice is of unknown origin, although the first written document confirming its existence dates to 1316. The current zamek was built in the late 17th Century. The building is currently unoccupied, and heavily vandalised, if the photos on the website are to be believed... http://www.letovice.eu/text/cz/zamek-letovice.aspx

Here's a rather odd class of electric locomotive, the Class 230. Built by Skoda from 1966-1967 for Ceskoslovenske Drahy, these streamlined, very retro-looking locomotives are still in service on Ceske Drahy today, although some were exported to Bulgaria in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They're rated at 3,080Kw, or 4,130 horsepower, which would still have been very impressive at the time, and they have a maximum service speed of 110Km/h (68 m.p.h.), meaning that they're already obsolete for express passenger services. This one is marked, however, for the CD Cargo business unit, so it's probably well-utilised.

This was, oddly, one of my first good photos of Brno Cathedral, in spite of my having had a much longer visit previously, and at this point in my second trip I had only just got off the train. Officially known as the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, it was built gradually during the 14th and 15th Centuries.

Here's another view of the Cathedral down Josefska.

And...finally, another view from Zelny Trh.