A stupid o’clock departure from home saw me driving to Cheriton in time for the 05:48 shuttle through the tunnel to Frethun. Although it had been dry and clear in the UK, it was raining in northern France and it took 2 hours to get past Lille in stop-start traffic. The weather was just as bad in Belgium and Germany but at least everything kept moving at a reasonable pace. Six hours after leaving Calais, I finally arrived on the Koblenz - Trier line in the Mosel Valley near Bullay.

The weather wasn’t amenable to getting out of the car, let alone taking pictures, so I didn’t spend too long on the line. What I did see was in line with expectations; two ICs hauled by 181s, two REs formed of dosto push-pull sets with a 143 at the west end, a 425 or similar EMU on an RB service, a 628 on the Traben-Trarbach branch and a pair of 151s on a westbound ore train. No numbers were recorded.

Initial impressions of the line are that there are plenty of potential photo positions but they’re not particularly easy to get to and having a car isn’t that much of an advantage as it’s difficult to park and many positions appear to need a hike along vineyard tracks with no vehicular access. It’s all a bit academic unless the sun shines anyway.