Visiting Europe to Railfan?

I spent a few weeks in Scotland last year.  The steam engines are spectacular; the diesels are about as exciting as a bowl of cold porridge.  I would like to go back to Scotland sometime in the fall to shoot the steamers at night.  There are also a lot of very cool trestles and bridges in Scotland.  In fact, two of them are on their 10 & 20 pound bank notes.  Can't go wrong visiting a place that actually puts trains on their money. 

Another place I want to go is Bavaria.  They have some steam engines in regular service there, for excursions.  Finally, there is a train in Norge that goes under a waterfall.  Scenery there is quite fantastic.  A sleeper of a place to visit is Slovenia.  The costs there are a bit lower than the rest of Europe (we generally spend about $1, 200 per day with a family of 4 in Europe.)  The trains in the mountains of Slovenia are spectacular.  In one place you can drive your car onto a flat car and then ride the train.  All in all, Scotland is the one place I most want to go back to for foamer shots.  The steam engines are smaller but more plentiful, and they have a very "precise" sound to them.  I also found Scottish railroaders very foamer friendly.  How friendly?  We took the sleeper train from Glasgow to London one night.  While waiting for it to depart, I wandered up to the cab (electric) and the engineer (driver) invited me in.  We sat and swapped stories for about half an hour.  I probably could have ridden with him, but really needed some sleep.  No chance of that in the U.S.!  One other bonus with Scotland is they speak English (sort of.)

Also on my "to do" list for the next five years is the Tibetan train from China, and the steam trains in South America (Chili, Argentina.)  The scenery there is unmatched anywhere, and South America is relatively cheap to travel.  And, don't forget you can take a train from Winnipeg to Churchill if you are after something really dramatic closer to home.  There are few chances for photos though as it's almost all roadless wilderness........

Kent in SD

Just returned from Ireland, England and Scotland.

We saw several steamers in action and I am preparing a set of photos and video.

See my other thread.

Eliot

Lots of preserved lines over here in the UK so plenty to see at most times of the year.

 http://www.uksteam.info/tours/trs13.htm

Gives a unofficial list of mainline steam trips on the UK network.

As for the everyday stuff loco hauled trains are few and far between on passenger services. Multiple units and Intercity 125, 225, Virgin Pendolino now reign. 

Freight services usually have a Class 66 in charge.

Bit boring really as I remember seeing Class 55 Deltic's in full song at York as a child in the early '80s and that left a impression.

Regards

Nick 

I cant wait to see the photos.

Thanks everyone for the information.  It looks like somewhere to put on my bucket list to visit.

If you go to Germany the main train station in Munich is a must.  I was there in '93 ( a lifetime ago now) and it was amazing.  You had the end of what was then the transiberian express in the same station with two gleaming white sets of ICE equipment.  On the same trip I saw a small steam switcher in mainline service outside Berlin.

It was quite a show.  Nowadays I would want to ride the Chunnel and maybe something through the Swiss Alps.

I have to wonder if the fact England is an island with many ports has something to do with the lack of freight trains.  I also wonder what they would haul?  Where I live we have massive amounts of grain, coal, and goods from China travel by train because the cities are so far inland.  The other islands I'm familiar with, Hawaii and Iceland, have no trains now because of these factors.

Kent in SD

Hi Kent,

          It's not that there are not plenty of freight trains. It's the fact that mostly the same class of locomotive is pulling them.

As a kid in the 80's there were a large variety of different locomotive types on British Rail.

Regards

Nick

Did you say rail fan trip to Europe?  Please check out Germany if you enjoy steam.  Start from the South and work your way up North.  Put this place on your bucket list as a must do. (Harzquerbahn)  The  reason to visit the Harz mountains are many, among them certainly is a network of narrow gauge railways that, virtually unchanged for about 100 years.  I would plan on spending 2 days there.  Don't stay in a hotel, try a guest house.  Prices vary, but they may be had for under $80 and can fit a family of 4.  Here is the bonus, (MUST DO IN ADVANCE AT THE STATION) you may set up a cab ride for less then $50.Also bring very warm clothes, as I've seen the snow go sideways at the top of the mountain.  Learn about the rail pass system so you can travel all over Germany.  Good luck and enjoy, Bruce

I've always wanted to go see the great railway wonders of Europe myself.  There's a town in Poland called Wolsztyn that apparently still maintains regular-service steam locomotives.  I think they even have an engine-driving program.

There are also several other still-operational mainline steam and early electric locos on the Continent. Some of those I personally would like to see include:

(France):

-SNCF 231.G.558 4-6-2

-SNCF 231.K.8 4-6-2

(Germany):

-DB 18.478 (S 3/6) 4-6-2

(Switzerland):

-SBB 14253 (Ce 6/8 II "Crocodile" electric)

-DLM 52.8055 (Extensively rebuilt Class 52 "Kriegslok" 2-10-0)

-Ex-SNCF 241.A.65 4-8-2

(Austria)

-KKStB 310.23 2-6-4

And don't forget the Venice-Simplon Orient Express!

Aaron

I would like to see British steam in action, and am contempleting taking one of the steam powered trips there in the next couple of years.

I have been to Eastern Europe recently (not primarily for train watching) and noticed that the diesels are pretty good at emitting black exhaust.

From what I have seen on YouTube, British diesels of the '50's and '60's have a sound and a smoke output that might make one think of Alco.  That's if you can find one that's allowed to run at track speed.  I must admit to being attracted by that.