Liam_Murph

I have been seeing those Dr19 diesels popping up on test runs over the past year and they are odd looking machines. Apart from the cab, the body of the locomotive is surprisingly low which gives it a 'toy train' aesthetic. Will be interesting to see if they make a difference to the old Dv12 clag in the local yards

Has anybody experience with using magnetic couplings like accurascale magnetic chain couplings or the selection of couplings from glr? If so which are most functional/easy to use or are they not worth the effort of changing? 

Seen this announcement sent me back to trawling through the 1960's photo album on flickr to get inspiration for tying in these coaches to a scene.

Is the coach here one of the full brake 6 wheelers or a brake 2nd?

Seeing big ten wheelers and pacifics trundling along a preserved branchline really does not do justice to them like a proper run at speed out on the network

While everyone I dealt with also has been super helpful etc., it does leave a grain of suspicion in the back of one's mind for future dealings when someone consistently active in the forum community has been cheated

Seems though that since we passed some other form of grace period in June/July for this season of Brexit, there have been greater checks and controls on anything coming over from UK into the Nordic countries at least, regardless of its price tag.

3 hours ago, murphaph said:

A final couple of pics of Freilassing from today...

The above Budapest-Munich train operated by the ÖBB would not normally stop here. The destination board advises would be passengers not to board as the train is only stopping for a "border check". A couple of federal police officers boarded the train and it departed again.

We took one of these instead of a regional train because we'd just missed the hourly regional connection. Only cost €6.50 more for the three of us on the Railjet and there's a children's "cinema" on board to get 20 minutes peace lol.

Are these the trains using the Siemens Taurus locomotives that have the tuned engine starting to 'do re mi'?

From this week: a mixed freight movement from Ruokosuo - Hangonsaari (T4036) passing through the former station in Vaajakoski, Central Finland. It was running a couple of hours behind schedule but summer nights are very forgiving in providing enough light for recording this far north....

Making time to watch a Jubilee storm through is always worthwhile!

As it was too wet to collect insect samples for work over the midsummer holiday, the next best thing I could think of was head to the nearest station during lunch. Double headed Dr12 diesels were a bit OTT considering the trains were exceptionally short (midsummer is second only to christmas in terms of holiday importance in Finland so very little industrial activity occurs). T3639 (Hanko harbour to Hämeenlinna) passes T3534 (Karis to Hanko harbour) at Lappohja. The red livery on the locomotives is very slowly being replaced around the country, with locomotives in the old livery being allowed to build up lovely levels of grime and dirt compared to newly liveried ones. 

Looks like someone has already modeled such a station:

12 hours ago, Ironroad said:

Impressive,   twice the length of an Irish train.  No barriers or stop lights evident at the level crossing, are there advance warning lights?

 

As it is a smaller secondary road and it is the end of a private siding for the harbour, there are no advance warning lights or barriers. The main running lines in the area have lights and barriers, but there are plenty of small roads which literally have only a stop sign. Outside of larger towns, one can access all accept the fastest mainlines relatively easily, and walk along the trails used by maintenance workers adjacent to the lines thanks to strong right to roam laws.

There is generally a very different approach to health and safety in Finland, where there is a greater onus on the individual to not do something reckless (personal injury claims are prohibitively expensive processes for minor accidents and so are almost unheard of). As such very little 'safety padding' around railway infrastructure which allows for some great views/exploration.

It's been a hectic few months of work but it didn't stop me getting a few chances to take in some railway sites. Last year, Estonian operator, Operail, entered into the Finnish freight haulage market. This was my first chance to see one, moving empty coal wagons (of Russian origin) from Koverhar harbour to Lappohja for that afternoons T7305 Lappohja - Kouvola. The Dr20 locomotive is very much like an updated version of the 201s I thought.....

Another Sr1 led train; this time a movement of empty timber wagons from Äänekoski to Pieksämäki just up to speed. The 24 wagons of this train is the usual length for longer distance timber trains. Only local movements of timber wagons that are being moved from loading sites to/from the marshaling yard are longer this.

1 hour ago, murphaph said:

No lamps on the rear of freight trains here in Germany either, just two (nowadays reflective) red and white markers on the last wagon.

As long as the signalman can see them to know the whole train made it through the block that is enough I suppose. I presume all signal boxes have sufficient floodlighting to allow the signalman to see the end of train markers.

 

 

They have gone a step further in most of Finland, with signalling and points changing all being done remotely. The nearest signalman (or computer) to my hometown is roughly 150km away

5 hours ago, Ironroad said:

Two questions, when does it stop snowing?  And more seriously is it not the practice there to have a red lamp on the end of trains, looks like this video was shot at dusk or dawn?

Business first: I have only noticed red lights on the rear of passenger trains. I can't say I ever notice red lights on freight trains in this neck of the woods.

As for the snow, the main winter snows are finally melting away from the ground here. Generally snow starts accumulating on the ground in November/December and melts away properly in April. However, extensive snow showers can still fall into the early summer months. I have seen a few centimetres fall on the 1st of June before and the local joke is that midsummer's day can usually have snow falling too.

5 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Don't be so cruel, not everybody has 28 degree-latitude climate... You know damn well that three hundred days a year up there, it goes dawn-dusk-night-repeat...

A serious question, though. Are those freight wagons actually converted passenger stock or something?

The majority of the wagons in both trains I have posted here are purpose built 4-wheeled vans. There are 2 types of these vans, Gbln built in the mid 90s and Gbls built between 2009-2013. Both are 14m long and weigh about 15t. Latest figures I have seen for them put about 560 and 750 of each on the network respectively.

Another evenings movement from the past week. This was the Ruokosuo/Siilinjärvi - Hangonsaari freight. This 500-odd km trek starts in the Yara mines complex in the east of Finland, picking up additional wagons in the nearby town of Siilinjärvi, bringing them to the port in the south-west of Finland. Since covid, the trains are not as long as they were, but they are still always double-headed. The two Sr1 in charge of this train sport the two different modern liveries that the class has had. The lead locomotive has the most recent green and white which started to be applied about 5 years ago. The red and white livery of the latter is the older livery. This train passes through my area almost everyday, and can be one of the more diverse in its makeup, with four or five different wagons being the norm, making it interesting to check out imo.

(Apologies for the shaky camera, my hands aren't the steadiest when cold)

I no longer live somewhere over looking a railway line so I have to bring the dog for a 'walk' to get my fix of railway reality. I thought I better start recording pictures/videos of this just in case I get notions in the future.

The line between Jyväskylä and Pieksämäki, is one of the few lines I know of in the area that are still dominated by VR Sr1 class electric bo-bos. These were built in the 1970s in the Soviet Union and are now starting to be replaced in Finland by Siemens vectrons. At this stage, they are predominantly used for freight and only touch passenger trains on secondary lines with lower speed limits (which includes my local line).  

This one came through with the almost daily Kuopio freight yard to Tampere freight yard train at 23:11. The driver must have been desperate to get home as he had been over half an hour earlier than scheduled and was a good 10-15km/h faster than freight normally runs on this line for the majority of the journey. The wife must have said something to him...

19 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Nearly everybody around the 53 degree mark. How do you all hack the weather up there?

You are all way in the south with your winter sunlight and greenery by my reckoning....

5 minutes ago, Noel said:

A recent 121 delivery from one supplier was not IMHO adequately protected inside the outer box just one layer of bubble wrap which does not prevent the MM loco box from moving within the outer packaging box, nor protect it from shock (eg if the outer box is dropped or chucked on to a load). No apparent harm done, all the grap rails where still stuck to the model unlike my 1st grey 121 a few months ago which had virtually every hand rail shaken off for the same reason (ie no bubble wrap at all, just some thin paper). Ideally the loco box should not be in direct contact with the side of the outside packaging box and should not be able to move around freely within the outer box. Should be stuffed with bubble wrap or an alternative padding. Mind you first world problems.  

If I couldn't moan about my first world problem on an internet forum, would it really be a first world problem? 

There was no packaging around the loco box itself at all which is why I count it as lucky that there was not more damage to it. Did you just re-insert the rails into their sockets in the loco body or use a drop of glue with them to hold it in place?

21 minutes ago, iarnrod said:

Side rails should be attached to the loco. Your ones appear to have broken off in transit.

Was there any other packaging (e.g. bubblewrap) on the loco apart from being placed in an over-sized flimsy box?

My advice would be return it to wherever you purchased it. 

No packaging inside the box. Unfortunately this was bought from the lads at IRM which I wouldn't have expected

6 minutes ago, popeye said:

What's the point of putting fragile tape all round it.

I don't think these people can read. 

It is would be annoying if they can't read, but the infuriating thing is that you know fine well they can understand it.

4 minutes ago, iarnrod said:

Side rails should be attached to the loco. Your ones must have come loose or broken off in transit.

Cheers; some minor re-assembly is in order in that case

Started bricking it when I went to collect my 121 from the post office today and was presented with this box. Luckily there seems to be no major damages to the model itself.

As they are not attached in the correct position on both sides, I presume the railings along the sides of the locomotive are to be attached once out of the packaging? Or is this a case of them being dislodged during a clearly uncomfortable journey?

It looked an even greater shambles after its time in Gracedieu, Waterford. Such a sorry sight when I would pass it when taking the dog for a walk there, windows boarded up and covered in graffiti....