randomness

(Casablanca, Havana 23.5.2011 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAILS IN AND ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

One of the most interesting aspects about being a rail enthusiast is that you often find  yourself in some very strange places! I'm not a very adventurous person but I have been to a few odd places over the decades.

One of the oddest was Casablanca station in Havana, Cuba, back in 2011. We had planned to travel on the Hershey Railway and stay overnight on the beach before coming back. But neither of us was feeling particularly well, and when we reached the terminus of the line (by ferry) my wife found the whole place a bit creepy, even scary. It looked to me like the line had closed and that a battered electric unit had just been abandoned at the tumbledown station. Except this was actually the next train. It was around 30 degrees and very humid, and a five hour trip, even with a beach at the end, suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea.

So I took a few photos of the street running section, then we made our way back to our hotel.

Luckily we did, because over the next few days we got more and more ill and I was on oxygen for most of the long flight home. It turned out we'd picked up campylobachter (which as vegetarians should be impossible) and it took me three months to fully recover.

All a far cry from watching trains at Lyminster crossing or walking abandoned trackbeds in Sussex in the 60s - but that's the beauty of rail enthusiasm - variety!

More info

The Hershey Electric Railway, also known as the Hershey Railway, is a standard-gauge electric railway that runs from the suburbs of Havana, Cuba, to the town of Matanzas, approximately 92 kilometres (57 mi) to the east. There are a number of intermediate halts and a station and depot at the town of Camilo Cienfuegos, better known by its pre-revolutionary name of Hershey. The railway is the only surviving electric line in Cuba. The railway was built by The Hershey Company to transport sugar to the port of Havana. The original electric interurban cars were bought from the J. G. Brill Company, but these were replaced by cars from the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya in the 1990s.

There are usually four trains per day from Havana Casablanca to Matanzas, but the service is irregular and journeys may be truncated without prior notice. The main stops are at Guanabo, Hershey, San Mateo, Jibaco and Matanzas, but there are numerous intermediate halts serviced on demand. There are four branches from the main line in current use, running to Playas del Este, Jaruco, Bainoa and Santa Cruz del Norte. These are rarely used since 2000, but in the summer months, diesel hauled excursion trains run from Havana's La Coubre station to Playas del Este, a popular destination for city dwellers. Other branches exists but have not been used in recent years. When the Hershey line was constructed, the main railway operator in Havana province, United Railways, refused to allow the Hershey train access to its tracks so a new terminus was built at Casablanca, which is across the harbour from Habana Vieja, connected by a ferry service.

Website

a trip down the mountain

Foggy Leysin Village station.

Past vineyards on the outskirts of Aigle.

Starting on the street track past Aigle Depot station.

Aigle Place du Marche halt.

Tight squeeze!

Station approach.

Entering the station forecourt area.

All pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 14.9.2011

FACEBOOK - SWISS NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS

RAILFILE - AIGLE-LEYSIN

You never really get used to it, and I must have done this trip 40 times! The Aigle-Leysin line starts from a brand new station adjacent to the main SBB station in Aigle and immediately runs on street to Aigle Depot station, just over a mile, before reversing and taking the rack up the mountainside to eventually reach, via a couple of wayside halts, the four stations in Leysin.

The street running includes a stretch along a narrow one way street which always delights! Whether from the train or from the pavement it's always entertaining.

The line is busier than ever and replacement of the street running section is not even on the radar so you can safely wait a little longer before visiting. The line itself is absolutely essential, taking just 20 minutes to link Aigle and Leysin, a much longer journey both in miles and time if you're unfortunate enough to have to drive!

There are two other metre gauge lines at Aigle, the long Aigle-Ollon-Monthey, Champery line which has lost its street running stretch in Aigle - it was a simple job to lay a new line along the SBB route and regain the original route just outside town. There is however street track remaining on this line in Collombey, plus a decent amount of roadside running. The other line is the Aigle-Sepey-Diablerets route which still uses street running to exit Aigle, and also has a very rural roadside stretch (traversed twice on every journey) into Le Sepey.

trains at the pub

(All 24.4.2011 - copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - MINIATURE RAILWAYS

Until a few years ago the Hunter's Rest pub near Clutton had an attraction almost unique in the UK, if not the world - its very own miniature railway!

We visited just the once, planning to make it a regular trip. But sadly a short while after the one trip the line was suddenly closed. No idea why, perhaps the pub changed hands, there were insurance issues or they found a busier site.

But I did manage to get some photos on the day and caught it in the sun with trains running. No steam sadly, but at least I have the evidence that it did exist and it wasn't just some weird half remembered dream!

Website.

Out of date info!

bristol's underground funicular

The booking area from above with mock up of car front on tracks.

Some of the brickwork in the booking area.

The stairs which run both sides of the whole tunnel - one of the rails is still in situ underneath.

One of the chambers with seating where people stayed overnight during bombing raids.

A Bristol secret is the Clifton Rocks Railway which was a very unusual quadruple track funicular which linked Clifton to Hotwells. It closed in the 1930s. Occasionally it has an open day where visitors can wander around the booking area, and even more rarely has guided visits to the while line.

We joined one of these back on 9 April 2011. Debs hated it! The line is still in situ throughout and there is an active group preserving and promoting it. At the top the booking area has been restored

and a mock-up of one of the cars sits on the tracks.

A guided tour involves descending and ascending the flights of stairs that are on either side of the route, covering one of the rails throughout. The tunnel was used as an air raid shelter in World War Two and also had a radio station at the bottom. Lots of physical artefacts remain, both in place and in the museum area at the top station.

The group's website is here.

good girls

Liskeard (Looe Branch platform - copyright Abby Hitchins)

Blackpool 15.10.2011 (Both copyright Danielle Hitchins)

FACEBOOK - THE RAIL THING

Nice to see I'm starting to have an influence on my two stepdaughters! They've both posted rail shots to Facebook today, and both from locations I've visited and photographed.

Liskeard looks hardly different from when I photographed it back in 1972, though the mock WR sign is a new feature. And Blackpool is, at last, starting to update its tram fleet with some fantastic new vehicles, which I believe they're going to roll out a couplke a month.

bournemouth - easy climbing

(All August 2011, copyright Steve Sainsbury)

Bournemouth has apparently got three cliff lifts - a couple of weekends ago we used two of them. Both are very similar and have the same ownership. They both seemed fairly busy even though they are quite short.

I like funiculars, they are fun but also serve a very useful purpose. My favourite is probably the Great Orme Tramway, Switzerland also has some very spectacular (and long) ones, though there are a lot there I haven't yet used.