Czech Republic

I don't know very much about this church, but the clock tower is interesting. It's actually somewhat difficult to photograph because the cramped space that the church now sits in makes it hard to get back far enough. In spite of this problem, though, this photo is one of the only ones on this roll that I haven't had to edit very much.

After my walking tour of Jindrichuv Hradec, I took the JHMD to its opposite end at Nova Bystrice, over Linka 229, which is actually older than Linka 228, having been built in 1898 instead of 1906. This is the station at Nova Bystrice, which still retains its steam-era black and white CSD signage. Unlike Obratan, however, Nova Bystrice lacks a CD standard-gauge connection, so it is purely a JHMD station nowadays, and JHMD offers the only rail connection to Nova Bystrice.

This was my train, pulled by #T47.018.

This is the village centre of Nova Bystrice, which is far smaller than Jindrichuv Hradec. I tried to get better photos than this with both my Nikon and my cameraphone, but it was getting dark and I was running out of film anyway. Given the darkness, I've had to edit even this photo, as the darkness at dusk was actually worse than at night, as the streetlights hadn't been switched on yet.

I can't remember exactly where I took this shot, whether in Prague, Podebrady, or someplace in between, but mostly it was just an attempt at getting an arty shot of a CD mainline in the fog.

Here's a shot of Podebrady from the station. The pink building is the operahouse.

It was my understanding until recently that most of the Class 730 fleet had been retired, but lately I've seen a lot of them still running. This units was sitting in one of the sidings at Podebrady with some autoracks.

Jaromer is a bit of a tourist town in its own right, if you like the out-of-the-way ones, but this is the first photo that I have ever taken of the station. I was just passing through on my way to Nachod, another relatively unknown town that is home to the Primator brewery.

This is Nadrazi Ceske Skalice, that with its unrestored looks and black and white signs, looks like something from the steam era. The only modern thing in this photo, really, is that white portacabin. I've often wondered since taking this whether Ceska Skalice would be an interesting place to visit.

This is the station at Nachod, which is surprisingly large for the town. In the background on the hill you can see the zamek.

The current Zamek Nachod dates to 1544, although its built on an earlier castle from the 13th Century, so it can be considered a rebuild. The tower was rebuilt in 1721 in response to storm damage. I'm not aware of the current owners, but the castle is open to the public for tours. It was closed for the winter when I was there, though, so I had to settle for photographs of the exterior.

This factory has signs on it saying "Tepla," which suggests that it was a heating plant of some kind, which seems odd for a town as small as Nachod. I've been looking for further information, and haven't had much luck. One thing I was wondering is whether the factory produced heaters, but the buildings are basically ruins now, so it's hard to tell.

Here's a few of the front entrance and sign on "Tepla."

This bay was interesting. It looks like it was meant for a rail vehicle, yet there isn't any rail connection on the street or across the street, nor any room to turn a typical rail vehicle. Can anybody explain this? Also, there doesn't seem to be any provision for unloading, or any room for a rail vehicle of practical size.

Here's another attempt at getting an interior shot into Tepla. I was using my cameraphone because my film speed that day wasn't fast enough, but still I'm not more enlightened. It just looks like ruins, puddles, and a general mess. Only the shell of the building, and some windows and signage, seem to have survived.

This is the church in the old town square in Nachod. I'm still looking for info on it, but it looks like it could have medieval origins.

Here's the radnice, or town hall, of Nachod. This is the "Nove Radnice," or "New Town Hall." Annoyingly, like the church I can't get much information on it beyond the fact that it's the new one, and that it's a registered historic site.

This is a generic photo taken from the old town square, but the center point is the zamek. As with the other landmarks mentioned earlier, I wouldn't mind knowing what building that is on the right, with the clock tower.