5th January 2018 - A Tale of two BanskásFriday 5th January 2018 Our last full day in Bratislava, so it was out to view the selection of trains departing around 8am; the only required loco was on the 8:01 to Košice via Zvolen so that was the first move sorted. As the train trundled east, we toyed with the idea of having a “bash” on the Nové Zámky class 240s but without a printed timetable it would be rather hard to work out the moves so we stayed on the train to Zvolen, not least for the fact that it meant doing the short section between Kalná nad Hronom and Levice which we had been bussed over on our only previous trip along this line. There was a choice of two new branch lines on offer, Levice to Čata or Hronská Dúbrava to Banská Štiavnica; the first would involve a +4 at Zvolen, or alighting earlier, then an hours wait at Levice whilst the doing the second would allow a move to Banská Bystrica and a break there or at Zvolen before catching the branch train. We chose the latter as it gave the chance of getting a couple of new locos in the book (it did!) so we then had an hour to find lunch at Zvolen. 754 003 at Zvolen Os.st.5th January 2018. On Os6215 13:24 Zvolen os.st. to Fiľakovo. We had another fruitless quest for a Cestovný Poriadok (timetable) before searching for food but there wasn’t much of that in the main station beyond some rather large slices of pizza so off across the road to the modern bus station where there was a similar lack of choice. There was a Lidl supermarket a short walk away which did have a decent in-store bakery but no hot drinks but it was a better option than gorging on pizza. We had considered walking through the town to to Zvolen nákladná st. to catch the train from Ostrava back to the main station but time was getting short now so we went straight back to the main station to await the “chariot” to Banská Štiavnica. In due course a rather grubby two car class 813 DMU arrived in a yellow livery with ZOS Zvolen (the local works) on the side and the outline of a previous owner (Czech-based GW Train Regio) on the front. Just for a moment, we thought that it might be a privately operated line but the departure board said ZSSK and the conductor was wearing the relevant uniform so it was fairly safe to assume that the line was still under the auspices of the national operator. 813 101 at Banská Štiavnica5th January 2018. On Os6112 13:59 Banská Štiavnica to Hronská Dúbrava Around 10 minutes after setting off, the train reversed at Hronská Dúbrava and set off along the branch, noticeably climbing. The weather had been murky all day but got worse as we climbed which was a shame as there was probably some nice scenery shrouded by the mist. The journey took around half an hour with five minutes at the terminus which was just enough time to grab a couple of photos before heading back down the hill to Hronská Dúbrava where the train terminated for a connection to Zvolen which turned out to be a DMU despite the line being electrified. The return to Zvolen was necessary as the “R” train back to Bratislava didn’t call at Hronská Dúbrava plus it was a Friday so we expected the train to be busy and wanted to ensure getting a seat. We actually found an empty compartment but were just settling down when a young lady entered, waving her mobile phone and indicating that she had reserved one of the seats that we had occupied. A man then turned up and claimed the opposite seat but there was still plenty of room and in the process of shuffling round and making ourselves comfortable, discovered that the young lady lived and worked in London and was on her way there after visiting her parents for Christmas. She was chatty and engaging and spoke fluent English so we had an interesting conversation on the way back to Bratislava where she headed off to the airport whilst we deliberated where to eat. Expensive Switzerland was next on the itinerary so we decided on one last cheap meal at Divný Janko; no doubt we would be paying a lot more in the next week.
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9th & 10th January 2018 - A lucky trip
8th January 2018 - Brewery Bonus
7th January 2018 - To Bern for steam
6th January 2018 - Onwards and westwards
5th January 2018 - A Tale of two Banskás
4th January 2018 - Bobbing around Brno (again)
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