6th October 2012 - Return to SloveniaSaturday 6th October 2012 We woke to another bright sunny morning with a little more time to get to the station which was just as well because we all had to take our suitcases with us; it was not possible for our Slovenian coach which had been shadowing the tour to pass through the border full of suitcases but no passengers! Once the bags were safely stowed on the train we took the opportunity to take a few photos of the service trains in the morning sunshine before taking our seats behind 2044 027 again, the depot at Koprivnica had decided not to give us a different loco this time round. It didn’t really matter as we would not be behind this loco for long, a mere 14.5 km to the Hungarian border at Gyékényes where our train would reverse and swap to a Hungarian loco. This short trip meant another border crossing and another stamp in the passport as well as the chance for a picture of a Croatian loco in another different country. The Hungarian loco was a Russian-built M62 type of which we had recently become familiar with during our trip to Latvia earlier this year and took us for an equally brief journey of around 15km to Murakeresztúr for a further reversal and loco change. 628 175 at Gyékényes We lost a few more tour participants here who were heading to Budapest for flights home and gained a fresh Croatian engine which had been sent from Varaždin depot. So it was back into Croatia, another stamp in the passport and about an hours journey to Varaždin, including a photo stop where we crossed another loco-hauled train to Kotoriba. 2044 012 at Kotoriba There was a break of an hour and forty minutes at Varaždin where there was an option for a group lunch in the hotel opposite the station and a depot visit. Quite a few people chose to do both so, after dropping off those who wanted a more leisurely meal at the station, the whole train was taken down to the depot which was a fair bit further on. Once there, it was everybody out and make your own way round with a set time to be back on the train; there was not a lot on the shed and we were back in good time to watch a further “new” loco being attached to the other of our train to take it back to the station. It appeared that the loco which brought us in was going to run round, but the sight of two different locos sitting outside all ready to go prompted the question if we could have one of those instead the answer was in the affirmative as it would not be away from the depot for long bearing in mind we were shortly going to pass back into Slovenia. 2041 013 at Varaždin Though this new loco was attached quickly our train sat at the exit to the shed for quite some time therefore delaying our dinner. We eventually set off with an hour and two minutes to go before departure from Varaždin station which had reduced to something like 45 minutes by the time we sat down to eat. The staff in the restaurant efficiently served us with an excellent meal which unfortunately had to consumed rather more rapidly than we would have liked; in fact quite a few people fled back to the train clutching a bottle of unfinished beer and the cheesecake dessert wrapped in a napkin. This is definitely somewhere we would like to re-visit for a more relaxed meal in the future. The loco we had “purloined” from Varaždin shed only had to take us some 11km to Čakovec where the train reversed again and a Slovenian “Spanka” class 644 was waiting to take us back across the border; these locomotives were built in Spain, hence the Slovenian nickname meaning “Spanish” . 644 016 at Čakovec Though this route does not have a cross-border passenger service, it is in good condition as it is an important freight route and there was evidence of a fair amount of investment. We had a good run along this line but had to leave our train at Kidrevičo to get on two rail replacement busses as the line was closed between here and Pragersko due to engineering works, fortunately our Slovenian coach was waiting for us as well so we could put the cases back on there to be taken to the hotel in Ljubljana. The time allowed for this bus transfer was tight but proved to be just right as we had enough time to board our replacement train, also formed of four coaches and a third 644 loco of the tour, without rushing too much. The line from Pragersko all the way back to Ljubljana is very scenic and with good weather and a noisy diesel engine on the front it was an enjoyable journey. 644 025 at Celje We were soon we were approaching Ljubljana and the end of a fantastic seven days of railtouring; the driver obligingly slowed down to walking pace past the depot at Ljubljana so everybody could get a good look at the locos that were being scrapped there and then we arrived and it was all over. Finally, it was time to present the collection that had been made for Robbie and Dušan a Slovenian Railways driver and conductor who had accompanied us all week and helped enormously by liaising with the HŽ staff and crews about what we could and could not do, cheers guys and no doubt we will see you both on the next tour in this part of the world. 362 023 at Ljubljana Comments
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