4th August 2013 - Unwanted AssistanceSunday 4th August 2013 Back to the Mariazellerbahn again this morning, this time for steam as we had enjoyed the trip behind Mh6 a couple of years ago so much it would be rude to pass up the chance to do it again especially as it only runs on a few days each year. Tickets for it were a lot easier to organise now as they can be directly booked via the NÖVOG website with a credit card though there is an issue when using the calendar on the site to pick the dates. It appears to want to show the date American style (ie 2013/08/04) but they need to be input as 04/08/2013! Once this was sorted out, NÖVOG were very prompt and helpful when e-mailed it was simply a case of printing the ticket once payment had been authorised. The steam loco is based at Ober-Grafendorf so joins and leaves the train there; maybe one of the elusive 1099 electric locos would work the train from St Pölten? Not today it didn’t as 2095.10 (again) appeared propelling the train from Alpenbf which is the normal method of working for trains between the shed and the main station.
M6 was waiting at Ober-Grafendorf with its service van, rather strangely, coupled in front of it rather than behind. 2095.10 was uncoupled and went to pick the van up and place it on the train but instead of then being placed to one side, stayed put whilst Mh6 dropped down on top of it, so it looked as if diesel piloting steam due to fire risk was not restricted to the UK. This particular example was a bit galling as Mh6 is fitted with a large spark arrestor and the area was still quite green as opposed to yellow and brown but we did appreciate that it would be best to be cautious as a fire, particularly in the section through the mountain forests could get out of hand very quickly.
Once the train got underway it was soon apparent that the 2095 was doing a lot of the work as it could be plainly heard from our position in the “salonwagen” at the rear of the train. Despite being big fans of the 2095s we were not best pleased but we were on the train now, Mh6 was on the front making a little bit of noise, the sun was shining (for now, thunderstorms were threatened) so may as well sit back and enjoy. Lots of people were stopping to look, wave and photograph – including a policeman who had parked up on the roadside and got out to capture the sight on his mobile phone.
Thanks to the diesel assistance we arrived early at Mariazell so after a few photos were taken in the station area we walked towards the level crossing just before the station to photograph the 12:53 departure and 13:10 arrival. Interest was added by a couple of light aircraft doing circuits or the “bumps” at the nearby airfield, they were coming in quite low over the railway as the runway was very close. Annoyingly, the sun chose the exact moments that the two trains passed to disappear behind a cloud so the results were not what we were hoping for.
Time now for a trip on the Museumstramway to Erlaufsee though the loco was the same Jung diesel shunter that was working on our last trip; we were hoping for one of their steam locos but it is a very steep climb from Erlaufsee back to Mariazell so that might also have fallen victim to the fire risk. The loco does not run round at the terminus but goes round a loop with a 15 minute wait in the station, just enough time for a quick leg-stretch, look at the lake and photograph but whilst doing this we heard a rumble of thunder so maybe the forecast was correct.
It started spotting with rain as we entered the outskirts of Mariazell, was precipitating a bit more as we pulled into the Museumstramway station then decided to chuck it down as everybody raced across to the shelter of the Mariazellerbahn station’s canopy. By now you could barely see the other side of the station and the sound of vast quantities of water falling on the ground was accompanied by rumbles of thunder and lit by vivid flashes of lightning; thunderstorms are often grand affairs in the mountains. The rain stopped just long enough for us to dash to the adjacent kiosk to get a snack and drink which we took back to the train to consume. The summit of the Mariazellerbahn is at Gösing so there is a bit of a climb back on the return journey which proved that the heavy rain did have some advantages in that Mh6 was left to its own devices on this section and very good it sounded too with the extra weight of the 2095 to drag along as well. Water was taken again at Laubenbachmühle where there was a line of three or four class 5090 DMUs looking as though they had been banished to sit outside the old goods shed rather than be allowed to sully the brand new shed on the opposite side of the line.
Mh6 came off the train at Ober-Grafendorf and as its van was on the rear, no complicated shunting was required so 2095.10 stood waiting under a threatening sky before leaving early only to end up standing at the home signal outside Alpenbf. Once the red-cap had returned from the shops or whatever he was up to we duly set sail again but did not quite get to St Pölten Hbf with enough time to catch the Railjet. This was no great loss though as we were quite content with the new 1144 on the following REX service which still got us to Westbf in time to meet our friend from Vienna at the arranged time.
Needless to say, he had an interesting move lined up for us so after getting a surprisingly good takeaway from the Asian food outlet on the station we jumped on board EN347 “Dacia” to Bucharest with the intention of getting off at Meidling station for EC105 (from Warsaw) back to Westbf. EN347 was showing as being slightly delayed due to waiting connections but once the last passenger had come tottering round from that there was still no sign of the train leaving but the conductor was fiddling about in one of the cupboards presumably trying to fix a problem. Time was ticking on now and there was still no sign of EN347 departing so we thought it best to head for Meidling on U6 instead rather than miss EC105. In the event EC105 was a few minutes late and EN347 did just beat it to Meidling but the rear coach was missing so it would have been an uncomfortable night for a few people as the train was already pretty full before the defective coach was removed. Once on board the Polish restaurant car in EC105, the reason for catching it became clear when our host announced that it was now time for dessert prompting the arrival of three slices of delicious chocolate cake; an excellent way to finish the day.
Keywords:
Austria,
Mariazellerbahn
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