China : Nov/Dec 2006

A winter visit to photograph steam worked coal railways in the north-east of China. We visited Jixi, where SYs work on 5 separate colliery systems, Huanan, a superbly scenic narrow gauge operation and Fuxin, where steam operation continues despite the decline of mining in the area.

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Germany : October 2006

An Autumn trip to one of Germany's busiest freight lines, running through attractive countryside from Würzburg in northwestern Bavaria towards the cities and ports of the north. As well as a good variety of DB and Railion classes, Swiss and Austrian locos and those of a number of independent operators were seen on trains of all types.

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China : Sep/Oct 2006

With no QJs on the Jitong Railway this autumn, my thoughts turned to photographing China's diesels and electrics. Steam is now confined to industrial operations and I was beginning to miss the excitement of photographing big trains on scenic main lines. China has a remarkably varied modern traction scene and those used to seeing nothing but QJs, JSs and SYs might be surprised at the plethora of different diesel and electric classes in use.

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Czech Rep : August 2006

The Hanusovice - Jesenik line in Northern Moravia was always a top priority for a return visit after my first trip there in April this year. It's a superb piece of railway with good scenery, a variety of traction including vintage class 831 and 851 railcars, a few class 749 hauled passengers and freights worked by unsilenced class 751s, several of which carry a glorious red and blue livery.

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Germany : July 2006

In spite of a huge DMU building programme, there are still a fair number of diesel hauled passenger trains in some parts of Germany. The network of secondary lines in the Allgäu area of south-western Bayern sees more diesel haulage than most these days. This report covers a short photographic trip to the Oberallgäu, the scenic area around Kempten, Immenstadt and Oberstdorf, in July 2006.

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Czech Rep : June 2006 (2)

Praha is the hub of the Czech rail system and sees a variety of classes working heavy freight and passenger traffic on the electrified main lines radiating from the city. A few less heavily trafficked lines are still diesel worked and see some loco haulage. This report describes a photographic trip to the city in late June 2006.

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Czech Rep : June 2006 (1)

A short trip to Ceska Trebova on the busy electrified main line from Praha to Ostrava and Brno. Lots of electric action from an impressive variety of classes on freight, local and long distance passenger trains.

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Czech Rep : Apr/May 2006

A two-week trip concentrating on the scenic Hanusovice - Jesenik and Letohrad - Lichkov lines in the hills of the north-eastern Czech Republic where class 749s and 751 locos mix with old class 831 and 851 railcars.

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Turkey : Mar/Apr 2006

Turkey was on the path of the 29 March total solar eclipse and that was the main reason for my visit. The trains weren't ignored though and I spent 3 days by the lineside on the Ankara - Kayseri and Kayseri - Ulukisla lines.

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China : Feb/Mar 2006

A return visit to the best of the Manchurian industrial lines. Most of the trip was devoted to visiting the steam worked colliery systems at Meihekou, Jixi and Zhalainuoer. A day exploring in the area east of Harbin turned up a new steam location but three months too late. Although the emphasis was on steam, diesels working on the main lines weren't ignored.

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Czech Rep : January 2006

A trip to photograph diesels and electrics in the snow around Ceska Trebova during the January 2006 big freeze when temperatures plummeted well below -20°C.

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