22nd September 2012 - Neusiedler Seebahn AnniversarySaturday 22nd September 2012 The main plan for today was to have a ride on the special anniversary train to celebrate 115 years of the line between Neusiedl am See and Pamhagen but as the outward train was booked to take over six hours for the journey our original idea was to head to Pamhagen for the return which was a lot quicker. However, on closer inspection it turned out that we would have to leave Vienna at 12:30 to get to Pamhagen for the return and there is not a lot you can do in four or five hours so we decided to settle down for a long drawn out journey. This wasn’t as bad as it sounds as the excess time taken is due to hanging around at each station on the line for around 30 minutes so the locals can have a little celebration of the anniversary complete with the a toast of wine (the area is a big wine growing region) and entertainment by the local band. The loco for the day turned out to be 93.1420, a 2-8-2T rather than the expected former GySEV railway engine, we had not ridden behind this particular loco before so we found the guard to ask about seating and were directed to the buffet car, result! It was the only coach in the train which wasn’t a four wheeler so the ride would be a bit more comfortable even if the seats were not.
Departure was on time and our progress was what could best be described as stately, 93.1420 being restricted to a maximum speed of 60kph (about 37mph) due to its small wheels and we even got a small piece of bonus track by way of a fester in the loop at Bruck an der Leitha yard whilst several other trains passed us in both directions. At Neusiedl am See we picked up the first of the local dignitaries and proceeded a short distance to Bad Neusiedl am See where the first “party” was due to take place. The sun was attempting to come out and the train was in just the right place for photographs except that somebody had been busy investing in the line and the station had been rebuilt with nice new platforms complete with fence between the two tracks to deter anybody wanting to take a short cut between the platforms so we had to settle for a photo of the plinthed loco at the entrance to the station.
Things were looking up at the next stop at Gols where there was a siding and small goods yard opposite the platform, so whilst a large proportion of the passengers went to listen to the band / have a drink / listen to the speeches, the photters headed off the end of the platform towards the goods yard to get some pictures. Returning to the platform, a quick glance over the shoulder revealed a train waiting to cross us – no idea how though as there was only a siding at the station. The solution was simple really, just shunt the special into the siding – including any passengers that were still on board, who needs reams of paperwork for such a move? Of course the photographers rushed back across to the goods yard to take some action pictures and some of the two trains passing each other.
The next stop was at Mönchhof/Halbturn where the station waiting room had a small museum with some interesting pictures on the walls and a few artefacts in glass cases and there were a small selection of GySEV locos which had been brought from Hungary for display. 93.1420 was detached from its train here and shunted towards a siding so that it could be coaled and watered; there was even a man on hand to take an isolation as the position of the coal lorry and fire engine (as is usual out here, the local fire brigade assist with water on such occasions) was outside the normal “switching point” for turning the power off to the overheads in the siding.
Up to now things were going swimmingly but at the next stop it all started to go a bit wrong when, we ended up doing another shunt to let a service pass which we think was running late; possibly due to waiting for a bus connection from Fertőszentmiklós as the line was closed for engineering works between there and Pamhagen. By now, the train was about 15 minutes late and it would not really be polite to shorten the celebrations at the last two stations so we arrived at Pamhagen with only around 15 minutes to run round and allow the dignitaries and band to do their stuff. The station there was in the process of being rebuilt like the others on the line and there was only one platform available for use with another road to run the engine round on and the service train which was due to depart 24 minutes after the special was patiently waiting out of the way on the other side of the level crossing beyond the station.
Of course, by the time we were ready to leave it was nearly time for the service train so we were slightly surprised when the special vigorously set off just four minutes before then but only as far as the points from where we proceeded to propel back into the loop (the EMU could not use that line as the track had been moved across but the overhead lines had not yet been realigned to match). The EMU departed then there was yet another shunt to put us back into the platform as there were some passengers to get back on board and we eventually left 42 minutes late. Close inspection of the timings led to the hope that we would pick some time back up but there was another stop for water and coal at Mönchhof/Halbturn, this time the whole train was taken to the siding, complete with many of the passengers still on board. There was a delay in doing this as we had to cross another service train which had to clear the section before the isolation could be taken for the coal lorry and fire brigade to do their bit but at least it gave the opportunity to get a photo of the 1116 working this train as well as 33.132 (the "GySEV railway" loco that we were expecting to work our train) on three posh-looking dining coaches which presumably was the special train to take important guests to the anniversary celebrations.
By now we had decided to bail out and catch the 1116-hauled bike train back to Vienna, the only question being at which station; the answer to that question was Bad Neusiedl am See when we saw the Mönchhof fire brigade heading towards the loco to top it up with water. A few other people had the same idea and 1116 113 duly arrived to whisk us back to the remains of Wien Südbf Ost a lot quicker that we had left there this morning. Postscript, the steam special eventually arrived back at Wien Südbf Ost 1 hour and 10 minutes late by which time we had just finished dinner!
Keywords:
Austria
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