22nd May 2013 - North West LithuaniaWednesday 22nd May 2013 It was a beautiful morning in stark contrast to yesterday so once the suitcase had been dumped on the road coach that was following the tour we set off on foot to the station which was about three quarters of a mile away. We didn’t have the best of maps and got thrown a little when we crossed the river via a footbridge which did not appear on our map but with the two other people who had also decided to take a walk with us we managed to find the station. Our three (rail) coaches were in a siding and one of the newer TEM locos brought them into the platform where one of the fairly new Siemens ER20 locos took over for the first part of the day. The first part of the journey took us to the major junction of Radviliškis where we branched off to cover the freight branch to Pakruojis, a very recent line dating from 1982 which continues to a dolomite works at Petrašiūnai. We were denied access to the latter so we ran round in the bright sunshine at Pakruojis and returned to Radviliškis where we had a slow run past the depot which enabled most of the numbers to be picked off. ER20-025 at Pakruojis We were booked to stand for 45 minutes at Radviliškis, a depot visit had been requested but LG had consistently rebuffed all requests, however they did agree to “bring some locos out” for us to photograph. A TEM2 and green M62 had been placed on the next track across from the platform then a new TEM arrived in one of the other platforms and parked opposite our train followed by an un-rebuilt ChME3 on a trip freight which returned light engine and also stopped adjacent then a second ChME3 arrived. We could not see any reason for the locos to be standing there other than for our benefit so much appreciated if that was the case. TEM TMH 015 at Radviliškis The train reversed here but rather than the ER20 loco running round a new M62K loco had come off the shed which was pleasing as we had expected to get the same one that we had yesterday. We then headed off in a north-easterly direction with another reversal at Akmenė where we were expecting the loco to run round but it just sat there as a rebuilt ChME appeared from the direction of the branch we were to do and approached the rear of the train. It sat there for some time until another ChME 3 turned up then the “man with the gloves” appeared and coupled the first loco to the rear of our train; the third new engine of the day. ChME3 7115ME at Akmenė The ChME3 took us off down the branch to Karpėnai with a pause at Alkiškiai where a further branch trailed in from Šaltiškiai which we were not doing. At Karpėnai we stopped short of the sidings, hence the need for the extra loco as there was no way of running round the train without going further into the (presumably) private sidings. There was a long-disused second track next to where our train was standing and it had been comprehensively cleared exposing it’s rather rotten sleepers but whether this had been done for our benefit or a start on work to re-instate the track was not known. M62K 1229 at Karpėnai At Akmenė, the ChME3 was removed from the rear of the tour train and the M62 driver was persuaded to set back so the loco wasn’t parked underneath the footbridge and, once everybody had taken dozens more photos of M62 K 1229, it was time for the tour “seminar” photo of the group standing in front of the train. Akmenė There was a further short wait whilst one of the three DMUs a day crossed us then it was off to Bugeniai where there is a large oil refinery. As we rolled into the reception roads, there was a 2M62 (a double M62) waiting on a line trailing in from the left, another new loco? No such luck as it dropped onto a rather long train of tank wagons whilst our loco ran round. We were allowed out of the train whilst all this was going on with the proviso that we did not cross any tracks or head off towards the yard where a ChME3 loco was busying itself preparing another long train. A security guard had been sent to make sure we didn’t wander off but seemed quite a good natured sort of chap and was quite content to chat to the train crew as the passengers wandered around within the limits allowed. In fact the only thing that interrupted the conviviality was a stork that managed to land on a pressure relief valve on a nearby pipeline. TEM TMH 017 at Bugeniai Just before our train departed an ER20 class locomotive arrived and it did occur to us that the 2M62 loco on its tank train might depart first, but off we went only for the 2M62 and train to overtake us as we stopped a short distance down the line at Mažeikiai. A couple of us realised that we were being overtaken so walked down to a foot crossing a short distance away where we could get a better photograph but the sun was not at the best angle. 2M62M-0677 at Mažeikiai Others on the tour had carried on down to view the remains of the line that used to go to Reņģe and Jelgava in Latvia (see our report last year) which had been illegally closed some four or five years ago. The European Union has apparently demanded that the line is re-instated and there was a brand new level crossing close to the junction but no track between it and the junction points. The new fence that looked as though it had been recently erected alongside the line went straight across the track bed as well, perhaps nobody had told the fencing people! From Mažeikiai it was a straight run back to Šiauliai where we would be staying the night, the only thing of note being our old friend the 2M62 on the oil train which we overtook again about 15 minutes before arriving. Comments
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