15th September 2014 - Turkish DelightMonday 15th September 2014 No rest for the wicked so the saying goes and it was back on the coach straight after breakfast, which deposited us at the port station in good time for the 9:20 arrival of the empty coaches from their overnight stay at the junction / shed. Twenty past nine came and went and it was nearly 10 minutes after we should have departed before the end of a coach hove into view with a new loco in the guise of A507 attached to the far end. It turned out that the delay had been due to a last minute loco swap as it had been assumed that there would not be another loco in the area to swap with and when A507 was seen there last night phone calls were made and strings pulled so we could have it, cheers OSE! The A501 locos are a more powerful version of the Portuguese 1961 class with a different body design, but load three and a fairly flat route would not really tax the loco though it did produce some pleasing typical GE chugging sounds at times. We had one stop at Pythion for photos which turned out to be the only chance to get a decent shot of A507 as it basked in the sun. The station had nice rebuilt platforms; it was the border station for the line from Turkey after all, but the international trains had ceased over three years ago leaving only the sparse service to Dikea serving the station.
Our next stop was at Dikea where there was a customs check to leave Greece as we would soon be crossing back into Bulgaria though it should be pointed out that we were very close to Turkey as well, having followed the border quite closely after leaving Pythion. The customs check took an age, far longer than was catered for in the timings, and we were stuck on the train but some entertainment was provided by the Greek Army who were busily loading some tanks and APCs onto a train. They did not appear to mind us watching but we don’t think anybody dared to take any photos; the proximity of the Turkish border and the memory of a group of plane spotters getting charged with espionage a few years back ensured that our cameras stayed out of sight. We were now on freight only track, the passenger service having withdrawn as long ago as August 2009 and we doubted that much freight came this way either as the vegetation was quite close to the track in places. We were now following the border with Bulgaria with the line eventually curving gently across it near Ormenio towards Svilengrad station which was actually some distance from the town of that name. About halfway between the border and the station, the line from Turkey trailed in – it was equipped with some recent looking overhead lines but these stopped abruptly just before the junction. Svilengrad station was like a bomb site and had only two though lines separated from the station and two truncated lines by a chasm which we presume was going to be the site of a new platform; we felt quite sorry for the customs officials who had an obstacle course to negotiate consisting of two rakes of stabled wagons and this large hole in order to get to our train. Once they had done their business and picked their way back across to the station we were allowed to get out. We were not going to bother, but then the sun came out and it dawned on us that this was probably be the only chance to get a picture of the class 07 loco which would only be on the train for a short distance, so it was time to brave the leap onto the ballast on the opposite side to the chasm.
Back on the train we were all hoping for a prompt departure as there was an awful smell in the area, probably from the rotting grain alongside the track which looked like it had leaked out of the numerous grain carrying wagons in evidence. This created a dilemma; keep the windows shut and swelter / trap the fetid air in the coach or keep them open and allow a modicum of fresh air and lots of flies in. Time ticked on, a class 06 went past on the other open track and disappeared into some sidings and word filtered through that we were waiting for a guard. About an hour after we first arrived, a guard appeared and gingerly picked his way over the two sets of stabled wagons and across the chasm, the red-cap declined to follow suit and merely gave the “right away” from a perch on the nearest rake of wagons. Despite all the faffing about we were only about 40 minutes late leaving Svilengrad, largely due to being allowed 1 ½ hours there of which only an hour was taken though it seemed a lot longer. 07.049 took it steady round the junction before opening up and emitting a rather large amount of black exhaust, typical kolumna!
The line to Kapikule on the Turkish border had been extensively rebuilt and realigned in places and a long queue of lorries could be seen waiting to enter Turkey on the nearby road, the customs buildings were clearly visible from the train and were flying the biggest Turkish, Bulgarian and EU flags that we had ever seen. It wasn’t long before we pulled into Kapikule station where there was one of each of classes DE24 and DE33 standing amongst the freight wagons; as we suspected the BDZ 07 was soon taken off the train and we were kept on board pending the arrival of the border staff who probably had to come from the road crossing, there being only one train each way overnight across this border. The border police turned up in due course and opened up the sparse office and we were all told to get off the train and queue; this is what normally happens apparently, even on the only two booked trains – that’s one way to put people off travelling, having to get out of a nice warm bed and wait in an unheated office at an ungodly hour in the morning. It should be pointed out that a visa is needed to enter Turkey and everybody on the train had been told to apply for one before the tour which was an easily done through the Turkish Government website though caution had to be taken to avoid one of the many rip-off websites that would not only charge for the cost of the visa but also a hefty “processing fee” for the privilege of doing something that is simple enough to do yourself. Most people had printed out a copy of their visa but it was not required to be produced, just the passport which was checked against the computer and vigorously stamped. Once “processed” we were allowed to go off, wander round and even take photos – though there was a bit of a run on the bar / shop on the end of the platform which, handily, accepted Euros as well as Turkish Lira. Of course there had to be a farce in that one person had inadvertently put tomorrow’s date on their visa application thereby rendering it invalid so they had a bonus ride in a police car to the road border where the facilities existed to purchase a replacement – an expensive mistake (and no, it wasn’t either of us!)
Returning to the train, this now had DE33 029 (mechanically similar to a Croatian class 2063) on the front rather than the expected class DE24 though those who had been to Turkey before were of the opinion that DE33 locos were slightly more unusual on passenger. It was hard to form an opinion of it as we were now at the back of the train and the line speed was not that fast though the track was in good condition. Although still running late, all the photos stops were taken as booked and some time was picked up as we did not linger as long as was allowed in the timings; there was also a brief extra stop at Luleburgaz to drop off a guy that we picked up at Alpullu though we were not sure if it was some potential passenger who wanted a lift or a member of staff or friend of staff who needed a favour.
Our destination for the night was the port of Tekirdağ on the Sea of Marmara which is on a 31km long line opened as recently as 2010. It has two junctions with the main line from Kapikule and we would be covering the eastern side this evening with a run round required at Muratli. The light was starting to fade when we arrived just as DE33 023 shot past on a train of white chemical tanks similar to the ones seen earlier at Svilengrad, this was the first train that we had seen moving in Turkey other than our own.
There was a level crossing right at the start of the branch which had either failed or not yet been commissioned so it was a slow start to the journey down the branch giving plenty of time to inspect the other side of the triangle and what looked like the start of some earthworks for a future flying junction though it was hard to fathom out the need for this given the apparent lack of trains. The day ended at the single track passenger station which had only briefly seen a passenger service for about a year before it was withdrawn due to lack of use, the line continued from here to the port and a train ferry but permission had not been granted for our train to go any further. Tonight’s hotel was rather plush and set on a hill with nice views over the city, it looked to have only opened relatively recently and was accessed by a rather hair-raising dirt track – at one point there was only just enough space for the coach to get round a bend without ending up in a ditch!
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