3rd September 2013 - Return to GyöngyösTuesday 3rd September 2013 Having been to plenty of new places since arriving in Hungary it was time to pay a return journey to somewhere that we visited last year, Gyöngyös, but this time we were aiming to do the longer of the lines two branches. Although the journey was not a long one, it would take some time to get there as the train times on the main line did not exactly connect with the narrow gauge but better to have a bit of breathing space rather than tight connections which might not be held. The journey from Keleti, changing trains at Vámosgyörk for the usual two coach push-pull branch shuttle, went without a hitch and we arrived in bright sunshine which was just right for a photograph of 431 369 and its two coaches in the station.
According to the timetable, the first train of the day should have been returning from Szalajkaház but Mk48.411 was standing on the running line outside the shed, they do have more than one loco available but we doubted that anything else would be out with something parked on the line. As we stood there taking a picture a man appeared out of the workshop clutching a piece of equipment, climbed into the loco’s cab, started it up after fiddling around for a few minutes then drove it off to the shed to collect a coach much to our relief; we were starting to get a little anxious that the line wasn’t running today after all.
Back at the station, two tickets were purchased from the booking office but they said Mátrafüred, which we did last year but it was too late to have a change of plan now so we took a seat in the single coach along with the guard and one other passenger. The junction for the two branches is a couple of kilometres down the line so we were pleased when the train stopped there and the guard went off to set the points for the Szalajkaház direction and operate the lights for the level crossing just past the junction. As we swung left a wagon could be seen on the Mátrafüred line with a small gang of workmen which would probably explain why the loco was parked where it was when we arrived at Gyöngyös. The line we were now on only went as far as Lajosháza until early 2010 when a 3.5 kilometre extension was opened to Szalajkaház making it appreciably longer than the system's other branch. The train crossed a second busy road a couple of kilometres from the junction, turned sharp right, then largely followed a minor road and stream through a village before hitting open countryside, past a quarry then back to following the stream and climbing steeply through the woods. This very rateable journey ended in the forest at a new station with a shed and a pile of logs being the only other sign of habitation in sight. The other passenger got off the train here and disappeared down a dirt track into the forest leaving just the pair of us, the train crew and a small lizard-type creature enjoying the sunshine.
We had the train to ourselves on the return journey and back at Gyöngyös took a short walk down the line to get a photo of the 12:50 departure. The next train back to Vámosgyörk was in less than an hours time, not long enough to take a walk down the town for lunch, so we called into the local store on the way back to the mainline station. They didn’t do filled rolls but were quite happy to cut a couple of loose rolls in half, slice some ham from a joint, weigh it then insert the meat into the rolls, very tasty it was too; a view shared by the station cat who was very friendly whilst there was the prospect of a few morsels to chew on but promptly disappeared once the food had been eaten!
Once back on the main line we headed for Füzesabony to have a look at the diesel turns on the line to Debrecen and caught one hauled by 418 188 which provided us with our best run behind one of these locos to date. The lines they usually operate on don’t often allow for any fast running so it was a nice change to be able to hear what one could do when driven hard. The sun was out for the whole journey to Tiszafüred but annoyingly went behind a cloud just as the train arrived there and we wanted to take a photograph.
Our intention from here was to catch one of the two trains that run each day towards Karceg but the connecting train from Debrecen was rather late meaning that the branch unit was held, unlike some countries we can think of. It was quite possible that the mainline connection the other end would also be held but, if it wasn’t, we would have been stranded for some time with a late arrival back in Budapest so we chickened out and returned to Füzesabony. This train should also have been hauled but, much to our disappointment, it was one of the class 6341 DMUs.
Although the train from Tiszafüred was late, it still made the connection with the IC train but we didn’t have time to buy any supplements at the station. However, were pleasantly surprised when the conductor gave the InterRail tickets a cursory glance and carried on with no mention of any supplements, a bit of a result to compensate for the minor irritations that we had suffered in the past couple of hours. As we arrived into Keleti station it seemed rude not to eat in the excellent Rosenstein restaurant again to finish the day.
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Hungary
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