9th May 2012 - M62 1198......again9th May 2012 A 9 o’clock start this morning meant that there was no rush so some of us amused ourselves by photographing the multi-coloured trams passing outside the hotel whilst waiting for the coach to the station to leave. A couple of really keen tour participants decided to catch the tram down to the station; judging by the general price of things out here, we doubt that the fare was more than one LAT (approx. 80p). Most of the party used the tour coach provided and arrived at the station to find the train in the platform with the samovars boiling away (they also heat the coach as well as provide boiling water for drinks) and a rather familiar looking maroon loco attached to the front. Despite sighting single M62s in the area raising hopes that a swap might be on the cards, it was our old friend M62 1198 again. Having had enough photos of this particular loco by now, many people headed for the bridge over the station and adjacent freight yard in the hope of seeing something different and were rewarded by the appearance of a 2M62 arriving on a freight. A ChME3 loco also came out to do some shunting and the p.way were preparing for an outing with a rather intriguing trolley on the track immediately behind our train. We retraced our steps to Jelgava where we then took the freight only line to Kruspils; despite the lack of passenger services, many of the stations along this line were still in use as “block posts” with lengthy loops for the many freight trains. The journey along this line comprised of the usual trundle, interspersed with some faster running, we had come to the conclusion that the tour had been timed as or used a freight train path and that the drivers over here merely went at the relevant speed to keep to the section time even if it involved jogging along at a sedate pace. Krustpils is a very busy junction station and many no doubt hoped to see some freight action in the 15 minutes we stood here but we had to make do with a quick dash along the platform to photograph a ChMe3 loco shunting the yard before clambering back on board for the journey to Daugavpils. It was booked to be a late finish tonight as the train was booked to traverse a few of the various curves and avoiding lines round that city before arriving for the night so we turned right shortly before the main station for the city to start our coverage of these lines. The weather had been fantastic all day but it was rather hot by now so we were a little disappointed when the run round at Daugavpils Škirotava turned out to be in the middle of the freight yard there; we think that most people would have preferred to get outside for a leg-stretch and some fresh air. There were no such problems at our next reversal point of Grīva where one of the road coaches had been arranged to meet those who didn’t want a late finish and transport them to the hotel. Most of the participants wanted to stay until the bitter end and do all the track on offer and there was a bonus of the Vilnius to St. Petersburg sleeper train passing in the last patch of sunshine before shadows engulfed the whole area. Back on the train, we were slightly surprised when it didn’t move off at the appointed time, so far everybody had been herded back onto the train about five minutes before departure time at every stop and all departures had been punctual. Apparently the crew had been querying which route we were to take, there being several options available with all the various curves and avoiding lines in the area but we did head off along the booked route when we did eventually depart. The train then had to go some distance before it could run round but instead of turning left at the first junction that would take us back across the river to the station, we carried straight on and took the second junction to go across the river much nearer the city. This was not a major issue as we had to use one of the routes to get into Lithuania on Friday; hopefully it would be the other one! As we headed towards the river crossing, entertainment was provided by a huge fireworks display which the whole train had a grandstand view of – there are many Russians living in Daugavpils and 9th May is the official end of the second World War for them, hence the celebrations. Comments
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