7th July 2017 - The Oslavany OscillatorFriday 7th July 2017 This was day three of six days of “Grumpy” haulage in the Czech Republic or day six of nine if including the tour in Slovakia as well. Today’s excitement was a single day tour named "The Oslavany Oscillator", run by “Grumpy Tours” who have run several tours using said locomotives over the years though the first one that we’d been able to participate in was only earlier this year due to work and other commitments. The upheaval round Brno with engineering works meant that this train had to start at Královo Pole meaning that the day started with a ride on Tram line 6, though with a 9:10 departure time, this was not too onerous. Our main tour loco for the day was T478.1001 (751 001) ČD’s own “Grumpy” and the doyen of the class which would basically take us on a large circular tour, including a dip into Slovakia, with a couple of branches thrown in for good measure. After leaving Královo Pole, the train called at dolní to pick up the stragglers / those that wanted even more of a lie-in, before taking the line towards Jihlava via a flyover across the main line which we doubted saw any passenger services, even during the current disruption as trains on that route were one of the few that were still using the main station. At Střelice, the train took the junction to line 244 and on to the first branch of the day, the 9.2km long line to Oslavany which had lost its passenger service on the last 3.6kms from Ivančice last December (2016). In complete contrast to the previous couple of days, the weather had started off rather dull and had started to rain after we’d departed from Brno though it had more-or-less stopped by the time we reached Oslavany. It looked as though there had been a coal mine here and we presume that there was still some heavy industry in the area as a factory hooter sounded long and loud several times just before we departed.
It was only a short run back down the branch to Moravské Bránice before the loco had to run round again to continue the journey south but only for a short distance as there was another reversal to cover the branch to Dukovany nuclear power station. On this occasion there was no need for the “Grumpy” to run round as arrangements had been made to use one of the power station’s own locos to work our train along the branch in one direction.
This turned out to be quite a long line and we were just pondering how far we would go when the train stopped opposite the 15.9 km post with a level crossing a short distance ahead. The crossing had been activated so we thought that the train might be continuing but the driver of the “Grumpy” was spotted wandering back to his loco so that would appear to be that then. A perusal of the map on the phone indicated that the entrance to the power station was just the other side of the crossing so it appeared very unlikely that we would be going any further so maybe the power station loco was being detached. However, we departed with it still attached to the rear – most strange as we had no further need for it now and it would have to return from the junction light engine unless there was something for it to work back. It took less that five minutes to detach the power station loco from the rear at Rakšice but we still departed seven minutes late which we hoped wouldn’t cause more delays further down the line. We made it to Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou without further loss of time where there was a brief pause before setting off along the next bit of rare track to Hevlín on the Austrian border. This had been a through route to Laa an der Thaya until it was severed in 1945 in the aftermath of the second World War with the line between Hrušovany and Hevlín loosing its passenger service in December 2010. It looked as if little or no traffic used the line these days as it was a complete totter down there and rather overgrown though there were some signs of the vegetation having been cut back, maybe specially for our train. The run round loop at Hevlín had been completely cleared but T478.1001 never got to use it as the train had lost so much time with the slow running it was decided to propel back to Hrušovany straight away without even allowing anybody out to take photos apart from the organiser who quickly leapt out and raced across the remains of the platform to record the event for posterity and kindly sent everyone a copy later; LINK. We arrived at Hrušovany at the same time as a passenger service so had to wait at the signal outside for a few minutes and despite another rapid reversal left here heading to Břeclav some 75 minutes late. We were greeted by the unusual sight of a ČD Railjet livery class 1216 on a freight as we came off the branch just south of Břeclav station and had the chance to get a photo of it passing through the station as we went first from the junction.
T478.1001 stormed away from Břeclav and across the Slovakian border but only for a short time as less than 20 minutes later it had to run round again at Kúty, after waiting for a Prague-bound EC to pass first.
The next section was a short trip through Slovakia to Holíč nad Moravou where we turned left and re-entered the Czech Republic on the electrified route to Hodonín which had lost its passenger service in December 2004. It was still in use for freight traffic though as it provides a handy alternative / avoiding route for Břeclav. We arrived at Hodonín a few minutes over an hour late and just in time for the next service train along the line towards Čejč that we were booked along so more time was lost whilst it went first. By now we were looking at a rather late arrival back in Brno and the probability of the final line of interest being done in the dark, that was if it would even be allowed as it involved some street running. There was a way of clawing some time back but it would mean missing out on the short branch between Šakvice and Hustopeče u Brna so the organiser went along the train seeking opinions regarding the options. This particular branch had a passenger service and, had we been on time, our train was actually booked to combine with this in one direction so, given these circumstances, most people reluctantly agreed it would be best to skip this line in order to do the BVV line in the last of the daylight.
After what seemed like an age, we finally “got the road” from Hodonín and it was all speed to Brno dolní which was the junction for the BVV line and where we would get one further loco to assist with the moves necessary to access the line and the reversal at the end. This loco was originally planned to be a privately-owned class 748 but had since turned into one of the centre cab ČD class 714s. This was attached to the south end of the train before doing a shunt to access the branch, which sneaked off round the back of the loco shed and would explain why we had not noticed it on our previous visits there. The line curved off towards the river Svratka, under the main line before joining a road named Poříčí where the track ran down the middle of road. There were no barriers so we had a police escort which actually stopped the traffic in places to avoid any road vehicles getting too close but after a short distance the railway became the central reservation, though still with limited clearance to the traffic either side.
During the street running section we crossed two tram routes at right angles before the line swung off to the right, crossing another road, passing between two buildings and terminating in an open area outside various exhibition halls. It had rained very heavily around the time we were shuffling around dolní but, thankfully, had stopped by the time we reached the BVV where the setting sun enhanced the scene.
Ten minutes was ample time to get some photos before boarding the train for the run back to dolní though a number of people decided to end their day at BVV and departed on foot in search of food / beer. The train was actually returning to Tišnov but ourselves and many of the rest of passengers decamped at dolní though it had been stated that we should get off at Královo Pole – the situation not being helped when it became obvious that the train was not going anywhere for some time. We later discovered that it actually departed around half an hour after we’d hopped off so that proved to be the correct move as we were relaxing back at the hotel before the train had even departed.
Keywords:
Czech Republic,
Grumpy Railtours
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