10th October 2012 - Around Lake BalatonWednesday 10th October The travel card was put into immediate use this morning as we went back to Déli to have a spin round Lake Balaton. The first train we caught was hauled by a Bombardier TRAXX class 480 which, judging by the date on the side had entered service almost exactly a year previously; this loco took us to Székesfehérvár where we changed for a diesel hauled service which would take us round the north side first. This was a re-engined class 418 (formerly class M41) which sounded quite loud whilst idling in the platform but could not be heard at all once it had started moving. The coaches were worthy of note and were a real blast from the past for us as they were former German Railways “Halberstadt” coaches, a type in which we had travelled many thousands of miles in the former East Germany around the turn of the century before it all went “plastic” (loco hauled services replaced with modern units). Just to make us really feel at home, the décor inside was untouched from DB days, the only nod to their new ownership being a lick of blue paint on the outside and Hungarian maps and notices inside. 418 327 at Zánka-Köveskál With the benefit of hindsight we would have done things differently today as the journey started to get very tedious after a bit, stopping at all stations with virtually no noise from the loco and the weather being quite dull as well, it had even been raining in places en route but had stopped by the time we passed through. It was a relief to finally arrive at Tapolca and change to a Bzmot unit and trailer for the short journey to Keszthely; we sat in the rear of the trailer coach which gave an excellent view out of the rear though it was not the warmest place on the train. Bzmot 225 at Tapolca The connection to the next train at Keszthely was tight, in fact as we arrived a couple of minutes late a quick dash across to the electrically-hauled train was needed though, unlike some places we can think of, the train was held to make sure everybody made the connection without rushing. The journey round the south side of the lake was just as tedious due to the slow journey and dull weather, the only break in the proceedings coming at Székesfehérvár where we had to change trains as the one we were on terminated there. To be honest we would have got off there anyway just to have a little break and we boarded another train feeling a bit more enlivened after a quick stroll round. Back in Budapest we had an excellent pizza in a restaurant opposite Nyugati station and discussed tactics for the following day before blowing more cobwebs away with a stroll back to our hotel (Mercure Budapest Metropol) near Keleti station.
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