Winter in the Swiss Alps attracts skiers and snowboarders in huge numbers but what would it be like for a railway photographer? In spite of doubts about the weather, I decided to visit the Rhätischebahn in south-eastern Switzerland from 19 to 23 December to find out. Once again, the RhB exceeded all my expectations.

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This trip turned out very differently to the one we planned. The idea had been to get some shots of Huanan in the snow and have another go at Huludao before the diesels arrived. As we were in the area, it seemed sensible to spend a few days in Jixi as well. In the event, there was no snow and Huanan wasn’t running any trains. Huludao had two brand new diesels and no steam on line work. Fortunately JIxi didn't disappoint and Nanpiao proved to be an acceptable alternative to Huludao.

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The Albacete - Murcia - Cartagena line in south-eastern Spain is still worked by diesel locos including the last dedicated Talgo machines of class 354 and the new class 334s. There's some heavy freight to and from the industries at Escombreras as well. This wasn't the busiest line I've ever visited but splendid scenery and good light contributed to a successful trip.

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The Rhätischebahn operates an extensive meter gauge electified network in the canton of Graubunden in south-eastern Switzerland. Its lines link the regional capital Chur with the alpine resorts of Klosters, Davos and St Moritz, passing through some of the finest alpine scenery en-route. This was my first visit to this splendid railway.

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This report covers a two week photographic trip to the Czech Republic in autumn 2007, visiting four rather different diesel and electric lines across the country. I started with the loco hauled weekend trains on the scenic line from Praha to Cercany before moving on to Olomouc where some old class 141 electrics are enjoying a new lease of life. Next on the agenda was the Jaromer - Trutnov line with its diesel hauled fast passengers. The trip ended with an old favourite, the Karlovy Vary - Chomutov line, my first visit there since electrification.

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Class 753 diesels disappeared from most parts of the Czech system several years ago but Liberec depot has kept a handful in service for working freights on the scenic line to Zawidow in Poland. This report covers a short trip to the area in late summer 2007.

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The Allgäu region of southern Bayern is an excellent place to photograph trains. DB's red class 218 diesels look great working through the beautiful green hills on local and long distance trains and the ALEX class 253s on Oberstdorf trains add a bit of variety. In summer 2007 it was better than usual as three pairs of München - Zürich EuroCity trains were diverted over the Allgäubahn while their usual route via Memmingen was closed for engineering work. This report covers a short trip to the area in early August 2007.

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It had been a couple of years since I’d visited the Tyniste nad Orlici – Mezimesti line in the north of the Czech Republic but an increase in the number of freight trains prompted a return visit in June 2007. There was also the opportunity for a first visit to the nearby Jaromer – Trutnov line, which now has regular loco hauled fast passenger trains and turned out to have a lot of photographic potential.

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The Lötschberg main line is a busy freight and passenger route across the Swiss Alps. As well as being a major trunk route, it’s a scenic delight and a real engineering marvel. Seven years had passed since my last visit and the imminent opening of the 35.6 km Base Tunnel provided the impetus for a return in May 2007 while the original route was still busy. The Base Tunnel will bypass the most scenic section of the old line and is expected to take increasing volumes of freight traffic after its official opening on 16 June 2007.

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A final visit to the scenic Letohrad - Lichkov line before electrification work started. This was one of the few routes left with diesel hauled heavy freight traffic and recent vegetation clearance had made it a real photographic treat. Four days were also spent on the splendid Hanusovice - Jesenik line, which has seen a resurgence of loco haulage this year.

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This visit to China started with a few days photographing modern traction around Beijing, including SS4Gs on the busy Datong - Qinhuangdao coal line and 8Ks on the Fengtai - Shacheng route. The remainder of the trip was spent in the North-East visiting three of the surviving steam-worked colliery systems at Jixi, Hegang and Zhalainuoer.

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This report describes a short spur-of-the-moment trip to the Czech Republic. The intention was to spend 3 days on the Brno - Jihlava line, a route with a reasonable level of locomotive haulage, nice scenery and plenty of open locations suitable for low winter sunshine. In the event there was no sun so most of the time was spent travelling around, checking out photo opportunities and covering new track.

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A short holiday on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca included a couple of days photographing the vintage electrics on the Soller Railway.

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Shibanxi had been near the top of my "must visit" list for some time but it was difficult to combine with the best of the remaining steam locations in northern China. There was also a problem deciding when to visit. There just didn’t seem to be a good time of year to go to Shibanxi. The opportunity for a short trip arose in January 2007 so we took the plunge and set off for Sichuan to see what all the fuss was about. On the way, there was time to investigate some rarely reported SYs around Chengdu as well.

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