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California, USA – December, 2025

This was a work trip to the USA for a software release. 13 days were spent in the greater LA area, with most of that being locked-down in an office, getting software deployed, integrations piped and data flowing. When this wasn't happening, it was already dark'o'clock thanks to USA being in Winter and the sun setting around 4pm. Either way, I still managed to see a few trains and flea markets... even for a work trip!

San Clemente

Pronounced San Cle-me-nie, San Clemente is a cute little beach town is just south of the greater LA area. The southbound rail to San Diego runs right along the coast past a few restaurants with great train-watching capability. I made the team choose the San Clemente Pier a few times for dinner so I could see what was passing.

During the day you'll get Amtrak and Metrolink push-pull (both cab-control and actual double-ended-loco) sets stopping erratically or passing at speed. I do note that Amtrak only stops at the Pier and Metrolink only stops at San Clemente Station, so do be careful if you're actually wanting to catch a train and not just seen them.

I had a night free during the week I was there and dawdled down to San Clemente Station. There happens to be a 7-Eleven combini nearby, but don't try this:

It was awful... and I knew it would be after seeing the crust still in the packet... I still tried it anyway! They also have ridiculously oversized cans of beer... no one was around, so I enjoyed one at the station.

Excuse the random photos as I was just using my phone at this point... no need to lug the real camera out when it's dark and impossible to get a good shot.

Metrolink came and went, and so did I. There's a southbound freighter that passes somewhere between 8pm and 9pm in winter time, but it took a few days to be able to see it. I'd watch the San Juan Capistrano Station railcam on the odd night to see if I could see a freighter passing... in the vain attempt to then run from the hotel (way up near the highway) downhill to the station to see it. I tried it once and could already hear the level crossing active with wagons passing when I was still too far away... so that approach was never going to work.

On one of the last nights, I just loitered until a bloody train came... it happened to be at around 915pm and was the usual BNSF jumble of autorack and tanker/mixed.

I'd also caught a northbound amtrak on another night. Excuse the quality, but you can also see the double-ended locos here:

And actually, that last video above was taken after a random walk along the track beside the railway line from San Clemente towards the Pier. It's actually quite nice with ample level crossings to give you enough advance warning!

A final note about the Pier was that there's mutliple copies of this painting... and I love that it includes a ballast wagon? I assume the train was parked there during the work to rectify landslides?

San Juan Capistrano Station

Work had finally concluded and it was time to enjoy friday+saturday+sunday in LA, staying in Hollywood!? I hadn't chosen the hotel+location, but wasn't complaining as Loews Highland Bvd looked to be a nice spot! I had to get there first though... and it wasn't easy thanks to the train schedule through San Clemente favouring southbound passengers in the AM and northbound in the PM! So? I caught a bus, tapping on with my CommBank Travel Card. How bloody convenient!

This took me into San Juan Capistrano and, well, I felt guilty that it was still 8am and I was there to transit. The town looks adorable, with a lot of old-fashioned shops to check out. Nothing was open and I wanted the next northbound train.

Of course, two south-bounders would pass before a north-bound arrived to take me.

Note that you need to buy Amtrak tickets online, or via a shitty little kiosk that's hard to find at the station. Ask the friendly volunteers for help to find it, as there are no Amtrak staff to be seen and their office (contained in old louvre wagons!) is shut.

I jumped on the next northbound heading for Los Angeles Union Station.

LAX - Los Angeles Union Station

Not to be confused with the airport, this station shares the same code! Not much to mention except lots of walking! There's one long underpass with branching entrances to each platform via stairs and ramps. If you want to transfer to metro or buses then get ready to run!

I took the subway to the hotel on Highland in Hollywood and then ventured north to visit a model railway shop.

The Train Shack

Santa Fe on the outside? What a mural! Love it. The Train Shack is pretty easy to get to by public transport... just take the subway to North Hollywood and then any bus heading east along Magnolia Blvd.

Inside it was a perfect throw-back to what model railway shops used to be like in Canberra. I still miss Hobby World in Civic! Anyway, here? Lots of Lionel and a great mix of everything else...

Even Japanese N Scale! I only took mild offense to the Kiraras being called "trams".

I bought a junk 4-4-0 Bachmann Old Timer Steam loco... for display, for now.

It can be a challenge sometime in the distant future. Meanwhile as I unboxed the train from its tattered housing...

Check out those ads!

El Monte

Although the shots of the loco above were at night, I actually went on a mini train trip after visiting the The Train Shack. I caught the bus east from the model shop to Burbank MetroLink Station and then caught the next south-bound to Union.

I then took the next San Bernadino east-bound to check out El Monte Station. This station shares trackage with Union Pacific and I really wanted to see a freighter operating. The trip out to El Monte is pretty cool as the track also runs parallel to a highway where you get to race traffic.

Of course... no freighters... but a nice pass at the station loop thanks to it being single track either side. From here I went back to Hollywood, ate and slept.

Vineland Swapmeet

Something USA does different: flea markets (aka Swap Meets). These are seemingly more-permanent, operating every day of the week! Vineland Swapmeet is out east in City Of Industry (Yes, that's the actual suburb name) and was easy-enough to get to.

I wanted to get there early, so I took an express highway-bus (which also runs parallel to the MetroLink line!) to El Monte Bus Interchange (not to be confused with the MetroLink station) and then a bus south along Valley Boulevard. It was then a 15 minute walk up Vineland Ave to the outdoor drive-in cinema that hosts the swapmeet.

At the gate, proceed to the left and down the side to the ticket booth. There were many people waiting in the middle of the main gate, which was open, but they seemed to be waiting to be called to be allowed to open/pay-for their stalls? I watched for a bit but realised customers were just entering down the side.

Final note before the barrage of photos: bring cash! I didn't... cash-only for entry! But they let me go inside and use the (mildly dodgy) ATM ... I risked it because there was no other option in the vicinity and I used a travel-money card which I could easily limit if anyone were to try hack.

There was a nice amount of everything. Half of it dollar-shop-shite... and then the other half being absolute junk! WHoooo!

Also note that the MetroLink line runs along the northern fence... so do take note of the timetable so you can also take terrible videos like this!

Of course, it wouldn't be until the final corner where I find a stall with everything I could ever want. I ended up buying a sealed pack of sony floppies and two trackball mices for the grand sum of USD$10.

Fullerton Station

This was a blast. I took the express bus back to Union Station and then the next Oceanside-bound MetroLink. Amtrak is a lot harder with seats and ticketing! There's a great cafe at Fullerton Station and they served up a delicious chicken burger meal! I then realised an unusual amount of train-buffs hanging around and, upon speaking to a few, realised that I'd turned up on the same day as their annual christmas get together!

The fog/smog was thick, and it wasn't long before a freighter added to the pollution...

Of course, when you're looking in one direction... you miss what's coming in the other direction!

The UP I had wanted to see the day prior showed up in the middle of this consist?

Is that Bill Clinton? I had seen enough trains... it was time to find another model railway shop.

Norwalk Station

I took the next westbound to Norwalk Station. It's on a great curve... that actually lead me to think that the freighters through Fullerton may have looked nicer here?

I waaaalked to the bus connection, quite a ways from the station as I'd just missed the bus that departs the actual station. The connections weren't the best on a Saturday.

Railmaster Hobbies

Down middle-south in Bellflower is Railmaster Hobbies. Not as big as The Train Shack, but still a beautiful shop! Lots of G Scale in all conditions!

I bought up some Santa Fe boxcars, resisting the urge to buy O Scale stuff that would not have fit in my suitcase!

Bellflower ain't an easy place to get to... but you really just need to wait for buses to show up. I was starting to doubt Google but managed to get there after waiting a while past the bus' expected arrival time.

Rose Bowl Flea Market

This was just one of those holy-moly-it's-on-the-same-weekend-as-my-visit! The Rose Bowl Flea Market has been going for 50 years and is on every-so-often as the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena. After visiting the lower suburbs of LA, I was pleasantly surprised by the clean and tidiness of the northern suburbs.

Anyway, Metro was taken to Memorial Park Station and then the bus to the stadium. A very pleasant trip and I happened to be the only passenger on the bus? It seems LA is definitely a 'driving' city.

Not much to say but... it's huge! 50% vintage clothing... no dollar-shop shit... but also not much tech or model railways...

That stall in the final shot above had a total random selection of Lionel O and other G scale stuff... but nothing I wanted to lug around. It was great to go and check the place out!

You'll Never Find A More Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy

I made my way back to the hotel and realised I'd be 8 hours early to the airport if I left straight away. Instead I got off at the east end of Hollywood Bvd to check out something random. After Popeye's for lunch, it was across the road to the Scum And Villainy Cantina!

It's perfect and you should go and visit if you're on the dreadful strip!

Animaniacs

I nearly forgot something. During the first day of travelling to The Train Shack and then Burbank Station, something was faintly memorable about the name 'Burbank'... why did that ring a bell? I then remembered... Wakko Warner always used to mention it in Animaniacs with the WB studios being somewhere in 'Downtown Burbank California'? A quick google showed that it was due south of The Train Shack down North Hollywood Way! I'd gotten within a kilometre and hadn't visited.

I changed that mishap... I went back as I still had time... and I also went back to The Train Shack, because, why not... but the main reason to go was for this:

Haha... it's perfect. That's the Animaniacs house... right there in front of me!

See Ya, Los Angeles

There were other things that were hilarious. Scientology XMAS anyone? Goodwill stores with nothing but junk. The Nickelodeon HQ? That's a nostalgia hit as well... as with seeing a rugrat doll above at Rose Bowl.

Delivery robots? New fire-fighters being sworn in? Electric motorbikes?

Denny's? (Love that shit!) Hilarious Hyundai number plates? Cyber Trucks? Lots of Cyber Trucks!

A subway that ... well ... attracted the wrong people and had a constant thick unbreathable atmosphere of urine?

But that was it... I then loitered my way back to the hotel, got my luggage and took the FlyAway Bus from LAX...

Well, I nearly did. The bus I was scheduled on failed in front of us. The driver, as he opened the luggage door, had a bolt sheer clean from the chassis, causing the door arm to fail when he tried to close it. He forced it as-closed-as-above and actually made us board... with everyone expecting their luggage to end up on the highway. Forfunately, another bus came to save us before this could occur. Before long we were off.. on the highway... as there's no quick rail connection.

If you look closely at the middle building in the shot above, it turns out a building in the middle of downtown ran outta cash and the artists got involved! A great note to end a trip to LA on!

USA – October, 2013

Yes yes, you read that right. I recently installed a new NAS and, whilst copying files, found this stash that I'd totally forgotten about. After a quick browse through, I remember why I threw the bunch in cold storage: I had mould on the sensor in my A55 and all photos had artifacts.

Bound Brook

The first scene is from New Jersey. I'd been staying in New York and do not remember travelling to this station, but the photos prove that I must have! I assume I'd chosen the station as it was a junction between freight and passenger.

I wonder how long I stayed and waited for this Norfolk Southern consist to come through?

Long Island

Oh wait, it was an AirBNB on Long Island, just near the Long Island City railway station.

I vaguely remember doing laps around the Subway depots and freight ferry docks, but can't find any photos of that... because I'd done it the year before!

Hudson River

A few more memories flooding back... a trip up the Hudson! I picked Poughkeepsie for the target, and wanted to see freight on either riverbank.

It didn't take long... and I even got MNR to boot!

Before long I toook an MNR service back to town.

Or was it this spark? I can't remember.

NYC Subway on LI

At some point, maybe on the way to the airport?, I took shots of the NYC Subway in glorious afternoon sun.

I'm guessing it was towards the airport, as the next set of photos were a little further west.

Chicago

Sure, I gave it away... but if you only saw this pupper, would you know where the photo was taken?

I'd bought a book on Chicago-based railways and was on my way to Blue Island-Vermont Station. The goal was to wander to an interesting railway landmark. Before the wander though, a photo of the consist that brought me, and some freight in the yard...

And other angry-looking Metra services!

I then walked to the Blue Island Diamond Crossing

Lots of abandoned buildings along the way, and random other freight/passenger lines criss-crossing everywhere.

The walk was epic, or so it seems... I ended up at Robbins Station?

I assume I wanted a northbound service to take me home, but that southbound was next... and I watched it pass.

Wait, no, that is a northbound... did I miss getting onto the correct platform? Did I have drive-on-left brain active? Seems I then walked back to Blue Island-Vermont! But not without rewards:

Back at Blue Island-Vermont, there was a cute little switcher still in Conrail livery! Ok..ok... it's Metra. They even do freight?

The next stop was Kensington Station where the Southshore Line comes in from Illinois. It didn't dissapoint... love those EMUs.

Oh.. that's why...

During the wait there was even a UP-liveried GP38? running around on maintenance works!

And that was a wrap... Chicago was amazing!

San Francisco

Such an amazing place. I stalked the MUNI cars this time...

And then found a familiar suspect in a one of the depots...

Finally, I hired a bike and checked out the San Francisco Belt (Bay?) Railroad. Fortunately right at shunting time!

Germany – September, 2022

After mucking around in The Netherlands for the start of this trip, the return was via Germany. This started with an IC service through to Berlin from Amsterdam Centraal.

The service swaps locomotives at Bad Bentheim, and it's usually a short stop. Unfortunately, our operating locomotive (which hauls the opposing train) was late and so we had to wait quite a while for it to turn up (2 hours).

Finally it did...

And the rest of the trip was effortless.

Innotrans

Up early the next morning, we caught a new S-Bahn on the way to Innotrans 2022.

From here.. I'm just going to spew the photos of everything in the yard. It was pretty amazing to see fresh rollingstock!

Japan had quite a presence...

And the beer garden was empty... because it was still early and we had somewhere to be!

Meet the Coradia iLint. The first Hydrogen train in commercial service in Germany! Riding on it felt no different to an EMU, just with no pantographs.

And then back to the convention...

Finally the heavens opened... and we hid inside the nearest train.

And that was a wrap. As you leave the area on the train, above you can see the rail entrance to exhibition centre.

Other random sightings

The next day was spent railfanning. If it wasn't vintage diesel locomotives, then it was yards and Swedish night-train shunting.

Or beautiful DMUs...

Or subways...

Or new S-Bahns...

Or the trip train of the Coradia iLint on the second day of the exhibition...

Or evening freight! This was top-of-the-ring at Wedding S-Bahn Station.

Also, if you're after model railways... look no further than Modellbahnen am Mierendorffplatz near Mierendorffplatz Station. They had an amazing selection of second-hand Z Gauge... actually, second-hand every gauge!

And that was that. The next day was an ICE to Frankfurt and back to the same rail-side hotel (B&B Hotel). Same view, extra shunting!

And that was that. It was a quick trip back to the airport the next day and then a return flight home via Singapore. Don't fly Scoot.

The Netherlands – September, 2022

This post is, simply put, extremely late. It was a family trip to Europe after lockdown and it was great to be able to travel again. The tour would be Melbourne to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt and then back to Melbourne. During the flight home, I had splitting pain in my right inner-ear which still hasn't healed.... maybe that's why I've taken so long to recollect these memories.

Mainz

I know, I said I went to Frankfurt, and I did, but whilst google-map-planning the trip, I remembered that Frankfurt was a terminus station and that there wasn't much going on freight-wise. Instead, I found the closest station to the airport that was big enough for a variety of freight and passenger services. A rail-side hotel (B&B Hotel) was chosen and a special request for a "railway-out-the-window" room was acknowledged. It didn't disappoint!

The main signal box was directly across the tracks and, at night, you could watch the employees carry on with their business.

As you can see, it was a late arrival, so I headed straight into town for dinner. I do lie, I hardly went to the station and found the nearest Frittenwerk chain to have a healthy curry-overloaded snack. Delicious. To get to the station, you had to cross through a creepy underpass...

And then... trains!

Oh, and trams!

And finally, my only shot of the actual station?

The next morning, it was off to Frankfurt HBF for my express to Amsterdam. Of course, that was booked for just-before-midday, so I loitered in Mainz a little longer.

There was a mildly-interesting vintage carriage in one of the terminating tracks...

And then a final freight.

Next up, a quick stop-over at Mainz-Bischofsheim which had a freight yard that I'd seen activity in the night before when passing through.

But very little happening there. Frankfurt HBF was on another level though!

Those vintage diesels above were cool. One was even getting a charge.

Beautiful station... but it was time to go to The Netherlands.

Amsterdam Centraal

A quick stop through here to transfer to the Metro... but whilst here... nothing but twins!

Nice to see the Koplopers still in action!

Lage Zwaluwe

Where? It's somewhere in the south of The Netherlands and I had a morning free from family activities to go on a junket.

This is a desolate station in the middle of nowhere (just read the comments on google maps), but doesn't disappoint as the fast trains don't stop.

Every now and then, you'll have to bolt from the bridge to a platform to get a trundling freight on the standard lines.

But otherwise, it's just zooming trains down the high-speed corridor.

If anyone is bored. The first and second shot above: neither front or rear loco have their pantos up? Coasting? Crossing an electrical block? About to fail?

You may also be lucky enough to see freshly-painted EMUs.

Zwijndrecht

This was a quick stopover because the bridge looked awesome. Whilst on the platform the bridge actually lifted twice, thanks to all the water traffic in Holland.

Rotterdam

When heading south, I'd seen something hilarious parked at Rotterdam Station and I was happy it was still there on the return leg...

Poor thing.

Helmond 't Hout

This was a fun trip. A long way just to make an appearance on a railcam.

A freight came through... I took a photo...

But here's the captured video from the camera. You can see me on the far side of the road just before the gates come down.

I then did a victory lap! (I'm this side of the road at 1:00)

There wasn't much else going on... So I took the next service back to Amsterdam. From here it was more family days and a return trip via Berlin. I'll post that shortly.

Amsterdam + Koplopers – January, 2020

After being delayed on the return trip from Belgium, I'd chosen a hotel in Amsterdam that I'd always wanted to check out. The Ibis Amsterdam City Centre Hotel is located both adjacent and on-top-of Amsterdam Centraal Station.

In the shot above you can see the main building to the left and the above-the-rails building to the right. Just like the Wuppertal Schwebebahn, the building is suspended above the platforms by large 45-degree legs. Note that one of the floors in the annex, as the extra building is called, is being refurbished.

..but don't let that stop you as there was absolutely no noise during the stay. You'll find views from all windows of the building as you transfer between lifts to get to the 'upper' floors in the annex.

And then the view from the room. Don't forget to ask for a room with a north-facing view!!

Almere Poort

During the holiday, we'd gone to meet family in Groningen. The trip north consisted of a fast-paced ride through the country-side on a Koploper. As this was my most-favourite NS train, I'd made an effort along the way to determine the easiest station to take a few videos from, where I could capture these trains at full-tilt. I also wanted to make sure it wasn't too far from the city. I chose Almere Poort as it was the first station from Centraal that the service didn't stop at, whilst going at a good clip.

The weather was miserable, but it was the last day in the country and I was determined to check the place out. The station provided good visibility in both directions, but was a little 'urban' with lots of concrete and glass for framing.

Multiple services passed through with Sprinters, as above, stopping to pick up the college kids and residents. No one minded that I was there to take photos of trains. Actually... that's a good point: the NS staff even asked how my train photos were when they saw me with a camera. Anyway... here's the resulting video.

We'll declare it as historical, rather than a work of art. I REALLY love those 3-car consist Koplopers!

Brussels, Belgium – January, 2020

A quick stopover was made in Brussels, Belguim after visiting York, UK. The main goal was to visit breweries, but a few side-attractions were also entertained. We stayed in the ibis Brussels Centre Gare Midi Hotel, right next to the Brussels Midi Station and had a view of the trains and trams!

The first night was spent with a wander up into town. Dinner was had at KFK Hope where both delicious beer and stoemp were served! I'd nearly demanded McDonald's when I saw the varied menu, but it was then a perfect fluke to find this bar/restaurant with a delicious menu.

The next day involved a lot of walking. Firstly, uphill in search of breakfast. It turns out Belgian's really only drink coffee, so a croissant was purchased from a small convenience-ish store as it looked neat with its layer of icing sugar on top. It happened to be full of apple! So good. Anyway, the goal was to actually wander to a model railway store, but we ended up crossing via two really random tram intersections.

Firstly, up the top of a rise, the intersections of Rue Theodore Verhaegen, Avenue du Parc, Chausee de Waterloo, Rue de l'Hotel des Monnaies, Chaussee d'Alsemberg and Avenue Paul Dejaer create a round-a-bout that includes a tram line! Usually these aren't anything special, as we even have them in Melbourne, but here, the rails will cut straight through the round-a-bout... not also use it as a junction!

The lighting wasn't the best... actually, the rain wouldn't hold off, but we still managed to watch a few trams run the gauntlet and dodge traffic. Of course, they can't dodge at all and so cars new full-well to give way. Another good point was that all cars were giving way to the right and letting cars in front of them enter the round-a-bout. This was very unexpected as here in Australia we also give way to the right and it therefore lends that these guys should've been giving way to the left? A quick search shows that it's known as priority-to-the-right and Belgium actually wants to get rid of the law!

After a while, a tram came through and halted in the intersection before the exit points closest to me. It turns out they also have cab-controls fail and have to switch points manually at times.

From here it was a nice dawdle downhill to find the model railway store. We ended up passing a church that the trams had also been built around.

Further fluking led us to the Marolles Flea Market. Here I successfully acquired a Philips CDI console with broken controller and game for $5. The rain really didn't help the sellers, but most were convinced to just let the wares deal with the elements.

From here, a short wander was had to Cantillon Brewery. This is a living museum, still producing beer, whilst allowing tours of the entire factory. Infact, you're allowed to wander around by yourself after a quick introduction and disclaimer. For a nominal fee, you also get a tasting included at the end. The beer was very wine-like... and super delicious. For someone like me who just devours things, actually taking time to appreciate the 'depth' took a lot more effort than I was expecting!

From there, I finally had my Royal O'Fish at McDonald's, proceeded by an afternoon session at The Belgian Beer Project. This was nice and quiet as we arrived at 2pm as it opened. It quickly changed as a work christmas party arrived. Many tasting trays were created for the 40-odd new guests, but most of them weren't interested... and so we happily received their left-overs.

Finally, the 1757 Amsterdam-bound Thalys was cancelled. There was no mention of it at all on the departure board and I had to line up to find out what was going on. The advice provided was "to take the next train. Choose any free seat after everyone else was seated." We fluked forward-facing seats and got to Amsterdam without much further trouble!

York & The Mallard – January, 2020

After getting up-close-and-personal with an EF58 (my favourite Japanese electric locomotive), I realised I needed to tick another box: inappropriately touch 4468 The Mallard. I'd already seen one running, so this task was to be simple enough as the Mallard had been relegated to show-pony duties in the National Railway Museum in York.

The museum is a located to the north-west of York's main railway station. You can easily access it on foot, via the southern entrance of the station. Entry is free, but a donation is highly recommended! You'll find two large halls full of memorabilia, with the main hall being to the right as you enter the museum.

I happened to head staight-ahead as I entered and viewed the smaller hall first. Straight-up I was confronted with a life-size version of my first HO Scale model train. But then I realised it wasn't. My first loco was a 6201 Princess Elizabeth and this happened to be a LMS Hughes Crab... close, but no cigar.

Before long, I was in the main hall and staring at a Eurostar. Although a relatively new engine, it's of historical significance, being one of the first consists to cross the channel on rails. I was perfectly surprised to then see a 0-series Shinkansen cab car!

From there, a quick wander gets you to the back of the Mallard... where the lighting was better than from the front angle. Arghh!

There was something like an up-close-and-personal going on with the group at the back, but I wasn't interested... I just wanted to see the behemoth in person. It lived up to my expectations!

And that was that... the rest of the afternoon was spent checking out the town.

York Station

After a night of pub-hopping, it was an early start off to Belgium, via London. To get to the station, I took the extended walking path to the south first, over a railway bridge and back up the western side of the line. Unfortunately, for the entire path there was next-to-zero visibility of the rails. It was also just after 0830 and the sun hadn't even considered shining yet.

After picking up luggage and checking out, I bunkered down with a coffee on a bench at York Station. I was actually very happy to see quite a few cafes located throughout the station! Don't always go for the first Costa Coffee available (although it is located in the old signal box)!

The layout of the railway around the station seemed to indicate that there was a freight bypass to the south. Hence my earlier walk; I wanted to actually see freight through York prior to my departure. After the disappointing stroll, I'd sat at the station with the intent to just watch an Azuma pass through... but was pleasantly surprised when a coal train crawled past me!

After that, a myriad of passenger trains passed in every direction...

Interestingly, that purple metro above had a partner sitting next to it, as you'll see in shots further above. It departed as I was near it and the wheels sounded absolutely terrible! It wasn't quite the sound of flat-spots... or the sound of steel wheels turning a corner... it was a serious grinding sound! A quick look down at the rails showed what the actual cause was...

They've welded zig-zags on the rail-head! Woah... I assume that a train has come in at some point and slid on the DMU oil and hit the buffers. To prevent this, instead of sand or other cleaning, they've added friction-inducing rough-ness to the rail-head. Well played, but can't be good for passenger comfort or the wheel surfaces?

My non-Azuma London-bound LNER service arrived and that was it for York.

Wuppertal Schwebebahn – January, 2020

After a long overnight trip from Venice, I arrived at Wuppertal mid-afternoon. Before even reaching the town, the Wuppertal Schwebebahn was already visible from the ICE. This had always been in the must-do area of my to-do list and I was happy to finally be here. I wasn't happy about the weather, but beggars can't be choosers... it was winter.

The first thing to do was find a hotel, but before you even get to town you have to cross under the Schwebebahn.

The closest and most convenient hotel I could find on maps was the Holiday Inn Express. I rocked up and asked for a room facing the railway and all was provided. Note that I've just googled now and found Gunstige B&B Hotel Wuppertal which seems to have much better views and Schwebebahn artwork in each room!?! Good reason to go back again... but in summer.

Just standing out front of the hotel provided enough entertainment thanks to ~6 minute service headways on a weekday!

And then I just wandered back and forth along the railway. You can buy a 4-ride ticket for around ~10 Euro and then just validate it when required. Actually, the validation is a little funny as it's really just a stamp card... but it's a flimsy piece of paper and you need to fit four stamps on it. Fortunately it was never checked, so I don't know if I was doing it correctly. Note that the website says that each ride on the 4-ride ticket can be 'continued' as long as you're going in the same direction... so hop-on-hop-off as much as you like!

Infrastructure

As you can see above, the whole railway is build elevated with over 50% of it above the Wupper River. The railway was built in 1901 and had a perfect safety record until 1999 when a clamp was left on the line after maintenance works. Due to the design of the steel arches, the railway survived both wars. The vehicles have recently been renewed and actually felt very modern!

The vehicles hang onto the track via multiple overhead supporting arms. Each arm has two wheels attached that run along a rail. The wheels have flanges on both sides, making sure that they straddle the rail at all times.

Each vehicle has only one control stand, at one end of the consist. This is due to the fact that they can perform hairpin turns at either end of the line.

At Vohwinkel Station, there's a junction in the track allowing the trains to head into the maintenance shed. Just like monorails, the entire frame has to shift laterally to slot in a new section of track.

Street running

Towards the western end of the line, the railway runs above a street, between both commercial and residential buildings. This also happens to be the area where a crane managed to tear open the bottom of one vehicle, injuring multiple passengers.

Random Locations

From here, I'll just throw up batches of locations that I found interesting. With the rain and the cold, I just tried to get to as-picturesque-locations-as-possible. It'll be really nice to come back in Summer!

Below was all taken around the Bayer plant. It turns out there's a huge manufacturing plant here that spans multiple buildings on both sides of the river.

Varresbecker Straße Station to DB Zoologischer Garten Station

On the final morning, I wanted to depart Wuppertal west for Dusseldorf. I could've just taken the train from the Hbf, but instead decided to use the rest of my 4-ride ticket and check out the pathway between Varresbecker Straße Station to DB Zoologischer Garten Station. This secure corridor takes you through the middle of the Bayer plant, although you wouldn't really know as it's totally sheltered.

That e-waste bin above was interesting... I was hoping to find an Amiga inside, but it's bloody secure.

From here it was off to Dusseldorf on the first westbound DB service.

Venice to Germany via the Nightjet – January, 2020

The initial plan had been very different; after two good nights in Barcelona for NYE, there was to be a sleeper train to Paris and a Thalys to Amsterdam. Thanks to SNCF going on strike, the sleeper was cancelled! I'd wanted to take a sleeper whilst on this trip, so I scoured the web for options via thetrainline.com. It seemed that the best path was to find a cheap flight to Venice and then take OBB's (Austrian Railways') Nightjet to Munich.

Venice

Vueling got me there painlessly from Barcelona. Getting into the city was a little more difficult! There are ferries that take you from the airport to the 'island', but make sure you take the right one. You'll find both an orange line and a blue line, with the former getting you to the main train station the quickest. I had no reason to get to the station quickly (2105 departure), and the sun was already setting, so I chose the blue line. This would allow me to arrive at the easternmost point of Venice and wander across to the station. Do your research on this leg early! It's a little confusing when you're there.

Follow the signs to the water transport... and pay attention to the lack of advertising...

Once you're down at water level, walk all the way to the far end. You'll find ticket booths and you'll want to buy a ticket to the train station. To the right you'll then find the boats, waiting, hopefully.

Taking the blue line mean a slight detour. Firstly, the boat has to (absolutely) dawdle through the shipping lane as it departs the airport. You'll find the private speedboats bolting past, leaving your ferry in their wake, throwing you around! Just as you're about to get to Venice itself, the boat performs a huge left turn and takes you to Murano. After this delay, you'll then end up at the first station on Venice: Nove.

Turns out this was totally advantageous. If you get off at the popular spots, you'll just get sucked into the tourist trap areas and end up eating McDonalds. Going via the backstreets allowed me to really capture the real feeling of Venice.

Of course, you then have to traverse the market streets to get to the station.

But once through it all, you'll find yourself at St. Lucia.

I first went to the departure board to check for my train. There was one for Weins at 2105, but not Munich? For fun, I checked google maps and it still showed that there were two trains, both departing at 2105, for Munich and Vienna.

I quickly realised that Weins was the Italian/Austrian name for Vienna, but I was a little disconcerted that Munich wasn't showing! I then realised that my phone ticket told me that I needed a paper print-out of my ticket... but I hadn't had one and there was no kiosk/information desk at the station to provide assistance. In fact, there were no OBB representatives at all. I quickly googled and found an internet cafe back on the main street, so I took some cash out and went to the store. The proprietor happily printed out my ticket and asked for 70 Euro Cents. I only had a $50 note, so he yelled "FREE!" and told me to get out. Ooops... I promise I'll be back to make it all worthwhile!

Back to the station... I dawdled around to check out the sights.

There were some beautiful Italian trains here. But none that I understood... and lots of graffiti also. St. Lucia is a terminus station and so all trains were either coming in and terminating or propelling in empty to then run a fresh service.

I still had a few hours to burn, so I wandered back through town.

And then wandered back to the station and had pizza at the restaurant at the eastern end of the platforms. Turns out all of the train staff loved this place too!

More trains came and went, more software errors on computer displays and even more OBB services... but no changes to the Weins service and no staff to help out. As the departure time was getting closer, a different type of tourist started arriving at the station...

All was looking good that a nighttrain would arrive, but I was still a little sceptical as to where I'd be waking up in the morning! I didn't bother asking... I just ran with it to see what would arrive.

Just before the 2105 service was due, a little 5' appeared in the delay column! And then... the whole train arrived.

The train wasn't going to run around quickly... and the sign then decided to update and get a little more realistic.

I walked to my carriage, based on the number displayed on my ticket and was pleasantly surprised to see the destination board showing Munich!

The rooms were very similar to night trains both in Japan and Thailand. I'd opted for a four-person berth, but this was really just a six-person berth with the middle bunks 'booked out'.

Before long, I'd met my room mates, we'd all then met the conductor, the train had departed, we'd ordered the first round of beers and an introduction to the nights expectations was provided: the train would proceed to Tarvisio Boscoverde, the last stop before the Austrian border, where there'd be a quick police check. We'd then proceed through to Villach where there'd be a 30 minute stop as we split the front half of the train, which then continued to Austria, and coupled to another half which had come from Budapest. Once connected, we'd proceed to Salsburg where we'd be rudely awakened by Austrian police to have an identity check. Thanks to this awakening, breakfast would also be served... as we'd then hardly have an hour before arriving at Munich.

At Udine, we picked up passengers and dumped the rear engine.

Right before Tarvisio, after a long, flat trip through north-eastern Italy, we proceeded through a tunnel, which allowed me to grab a nice video out the rear of the train.

At Tarvisio, there was enough time to quickly jump out and giggle at the snow.

Once at Villach, and quite a few beers later... all from my cabin got out and stretched our legs. There was snow on the ground and it was freezing... it was also 1:30am, but whatever... there wasn't much room for sleep on the trip anyway! We were then alerted that the train from Budapest was an hour late... so there was no rush! A freighter passed through, but I was too slow for it.

After realising how cold it was, I jumped back in bed and passed out. I vaguely remember the coupling of the trains... but that could also be fictitious. What wasn't fictitious was the border patrol and the torch in one's face. I had slept with my passport in my pocket, so I presented it very quickly. Before long, breakfast was served, and well, it was a bread roll and a packet'o'jam.

Munich

This was a very brief stop-over. I'd considered checking out the sights, but it was 0615 and there wouldn't be much happening for a few hours. I was also pretty tired, so I wandered over to the DB booth to get tickets on the next ICE... which was in all-of 10 minutes. The queue was around 20 people long, as our train had arrived 45 minutes late, with everyone trying to re-adjust their connections. I must admit, the service was fantastic and the conductor on the night train kept telling us that if connections were booked on DB trains then they'd be easily transferred to the next service at no cost.

I didn't feel like waiting in the queue, so I jumped on thetrainline.com and booked a forward-facing seat. It came through within a minute and I was set. I did this as I was standing next to the ticket queue, watching that I'd beaten the person at the front of the line. I then wandered and checked out the station.

There was a weird carriage in a stub road, seemingly doing nothing?

And then we were off... The on-board bordbistro was delicious... beer and currywurst, what more could you ask for!?

It was a beautifully quick and seamless trip. A quick transfer at Frankfurt saw me get to Wuppertal in no time!

What weird contraption is that, built on top of that river, down there? Oh, of course, the Schwebebahn!