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| Picture of the Month July 2010 - Allegro Being Taken to Russia for Test Drives | |
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| The
Karelian Trains Allegro units are bringing the winds of change to the
traffic between Russia and Finland. 50%/50% joint venture of the
dominating railroad companies in the area, mighty RzD in Russia and
VR-Yhtyma in Finland the success of these four new high speed Pendolino
trainsets is imminent. They will replace the now existing trains
Sibelius and Repin between St Petersburg Russia and Helsinki Finland at
the end of the year 2010. Click one of the links on the right to learn a lot more on the subjects! Why 2 pictures of the month? Well, we simply could not choose between the master shots of Stanislav. The above is taken 5 o'clock in the morning in the first light train passing Kerava station adn the one below the previous day running at Kerava junction. Pictures by Stanislav Voronin 2010. |
Finland Main
Page...
Russia Main
Page...
Karelian Trains Theme Page...
Allegro Theme Page...
Pendolino High Speed Trains...
High Speed Main Page...
Finland RR
Pictures Gallery...
Russia RR
Pictures Gallery... |
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| Picture of the Month June 2010 - Heavy Railroading in Estonia | |
| Estonia
is one of the rare places in Europe, where heavy freight railroading is
common. The Russian built powerful 2Te116 locomotives haul oil, coal
and other raw materials to Estonian ports and lumber and pulpwood to
Estonian growing wood processing industry. Here the double (or quadruple) unit is starting a kilometers long empty can train from Estonian city Narva across the river to Ivangorod in Russia. Transoil is the second largest Russian private operators with literally hundred of the 2Te116 units in its service. Recently the western alphabet on the locos has been changed to cyrillic and all the locos repainted with slightly different tone of red to create a systematic corporate look. Picture by Hannu Peltola 2010.
Estonian Picture Gallery...
2Te116 Theme Page...
Russian Locomotive Types...
Estonia Main Page...
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| Picture of the Month May 2010 - Stockholm Underground in the City Center | |
| The
C20 consist of the Stockholm Underground is gliding away from the
darkness and crosses the bridge southbound in the middle of the city.
Stockholm is just one of the cities, where the only way to transport
great number of people and doing it fast has made metro number one
vehicle. More than 300 million people daily travel by metro. The C20 units replaced the older rolling stock after year 2000. The C20 are built by Adtranz, now part of the Bombardier. Picture by Antti Eväsoja 2010.
Sweden's
Picture Gallery...
Sweden's Multiple
Units...
Sweden's
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Sweden's
Diesel Locomotives...
Sweden Main
Page... | |
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| Picture of the Month April 2010 - SBB ICN tilting at Curve in Wassen | |
| The
seven module ICN train of the SBB is doing the maximum tilt at the
curve in Wassen, Switzerland. The "Intercity Neigezug" is a common sight
in Switzerland's regional traffic with its 43 unit fleet. The trains
were built by a consortium of Bombardier, Alstom and the SBB itself.
The interesting design is by Pininfarina of Italy. Here the unit on its route from Basel to Lugano taking a tight curve at Wassen on the Gotthard Route in Switzerland. Picture by Nick Slocombe 2009.
Swiss
Picture Gallery...
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| Picture of the Month March 2010 - Railroads are Back at Work! | |
| Railroads are Back at
Work! The economy is improving and the hardest winter for years is retreating, so its time to get back to work with higher volumes for many operators around the world! A T44 (EMD 645 powered) Swedish road switcher crew is exchancing ideas with another similar switchers crew through the air instead of talking on the radio phone. Notice the engineer on the left carrying the remote control equipment. Many T44's are used remotely while switching, often enabling a single worker to handle the whole work. Picture by Hannu Peltola 2009.
Diesel
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Electric
Locomotives in Sweden...
Swedish
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Sweden Main
Page...
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Gallery...
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| Picture of the Month February 2010 - Waiting for the Spring | |
| Finnish Tk3 Waiting
for the Spring In this impressive and dramatic photograph by Christian Westerlund the Finnish vintage Tk3 type steam locomotive is clearly waiting for the spring. Sitting in the snow and covered throughoutly with the frost the unit 1163 is seen against the sun in the horizon, barely capable of warming the air. With the coming months the angle will change and with time the sun will be able to melt the frost on the loco. Given a few more weather cycles this preserved but not in driving condition steam locomotive can hopefully be restored to original working order. Interestingly, the locomotive is sitting just 100 meters from the busiest Finnish station Pasila, Helsinki, so if you visit Helsinki, give it a few minutes! Picture by Christian Westerlund 2009.
Westerlunphotography.com...
VR1 Steam Loco Page of 4rail.net...
Vintage
Locos of Finland...
Finland RR
Picture Gallery...
Ken
Storey Winter & Steam Pictures...
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| Picture of the Month January 2010 - Snow in the U.S. East Coast | |
| CSX
mixed freight at
Point of Rocks Maryland, U.S.A. The CSX mixed freights is lead by a trio of heavy locomotives, ES40DC units 5317 and 5317 plus an SD40-2 number 8463, past the beautiful Neo-Gothic station. This picture is quite unusual with its forward angle to train showing surroundings, and the handling of the light for the camera is great. You can almost see the movements of the train slowly rolling forward through the snowy scenery bathing in light. Picture by Gerard J. Putz 2009.
Visions
from U.S. by Gerry Putz...
ES44/ES40
Page of 4rail.net...
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| Picture of the Month December 2009 - Snow Falling in Switzerland | |
| Swiss
SBB Cargo Re482
in the snow at Muttenz Switzerland Our picture of the month for the 2009 shows this time snow fall in the mountain railroading country Switzerland. The SBB Cargo brightly colored brand new Traxx locomotive rests between assignments at the station of Muttenz near the German and French border. Picture by Ilkka Siissalo 2004. | |
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| Picture of the Month November 2009 - Rush for the Trains at London Paddington Station | |
| People
rushing
forward to catch their trains at Paddington Station in London UK
Something you remember from the visit to UK? The British often seem to be rushing forward to catch their trains. Look at the background and you will see several people literally running! Sign for the modern times... The London Paddington station combines the early steam age train shed with several types of trains for the United Kingdom. Behind preparing to leave are two old class 43 diesel powered engines while the Heathrow Express class 332 EMU is the new state of the art modern high speed vehicle. Picture by John McKey 2009. | |
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| Picture of the Month October 2009 - NS Koplooper Desing from Holland | |
| NS
Koplooper Design
from the Netherlands The Dutch NS has always had several interesting unusual designs for their EMUs. Pictured here is one of them: the infamous Koplooper parked at the Groningen station in the Netherlands. The design allows for walking from one EMU unit to another and better visibility from up to the driver. This unit is still seen in the old livery before the rebuilding. At the rebuilding the doors connecting trains are closed cahncing the original functionality of the trains. Picture by Sanna Siissalo 2009. | |
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| Picture of the Month September 2009 - Dm3 Monster Locomotive in Kiruna Sweden | |
| LKAB
Dm3 triple locomotive near Kiruna iron mine, Swedens north
The three-unit electric locomotive type Dm3 was built in Sweden between 1960 and 1970. 15 units were manufactures for use on the "Malmbanan" iron ore transportation route between the iron ore mines in the Kiruna region in Sweden and the Norwegian harbour of Narvik. The line passes over open tundra in arctic conditions. These huge monsters are 35,25 metres (116 ft) long, weigh the massive 273,2 tons (602'000 lb) and can haul iron ore trains of over 50 huge cars over the steep slopes of the Malmbanan route. Maximum speed of the Dm3 is 75 km/h (47 mph) and a typical operational speed is 45 - 50 km/h (28 - 31 mph). Picture: Ilkka Siissalo 2009
Sweden
Main Page...
Swedish
Electric
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Swedish
Diesel Locomotive
Types...
Swedish
RR Picture
Gallery...
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| Picture of the Month August 2009 - RzD Passenger Electrics in St Peterburg Russia | |
| RzD
Passenger Electrics at Moscowskaya Station in St Petersburg
Moscowskaya station is a busy terminus for the passenger trains for destinations both in the large Russian nation and some international connections. As common in the large railroading nations, the trains are huge, often almost 20 coaches long, so the necessary power is provided by electric traction. In the picture types Chs7 and Chs2, both Czech built, rest at the bay and will soon push their trains to the service area just outside the station. In the near future, the high speed passenger trains will be more common, as the trackwork and deliveries of Velaro trains progress. Picture: Hannu Peltola 2009.
Russian
Railroads Main Page...
High
Speed Railroading in Russia...
Russian High Speed Train types...
Railfan Trip Report from St
Petersburg...
Russian
RR Picture
Gallery...
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Picture of the Month July 2009 - Norfolk Southern Freight in Ranson, West Virginia |
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| NS
Diesels pulling a Freight in West Virginia
You can see the heat radiating from the fans of the Norfolk Southern ES40DC number 7549 and SD60I number 6747 (still in Conrail colors) as they work to pull the heavy train 37Q southbound through the sag north of Ranson West Virginia. Notice the blinking ditch lights (the lower lights of the engine) as the engineer has just sounded the horn probably approaching the level crossing. With numerous crossings in the U.S. sounding the horn is much more common than for instance in Europe. While the sound of the horn is very low it creates an interesting back ground environment. The Norfolk Southern is one of the largest railroading companies (the class 1s) in the U.S. its diesels serving mostly the east side of the country. Picture: Gerry Putz 2009.
U.S. Locomotive Types...
General
Electric ES40/ES44 locomotives...
Norfolk Southern...
U.S. Export Locomotive
Types...
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Picture of the Month June 2009 - Go Rail Epress Leaving Tallinn Estonia |
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| Go
Rail Express Train Leaving Tallinn
There are numerous good news about the passenger railroads around the world from U.S.A., Europe and Asia. The newest are from the Russia, which is building its international connections with a numerous trains to Helsinki Finland, Tallinn Estonia, a number of places in Southern Asia and as the latest even Berlin Germany. The last involves (always feared) gauge change on the way at the Polish border! The Russians have interesting names for their trains like several Falcon/Hawk related names including Sapsan, Sokol and the Golden Eagle. Others use names of the famous Russian persons like the luxury train Alexander Nevski or Leo Tolstoi. In the picture the GO Rail Tep70 pulled train is preparing to leave from Balti Jaam of Tallinn Estonia for its nightly journey to St Petersburg and Moscow. Behind one of the Estonias Soviet period Edelraudtee DR1Bs is just arriving to the station. Go Rail, Go! Picture: John McKey 2009.
Russian
Locomotive Types...
Russians
in Finland...
Estonia
Main Page...
4rail.net
Sokol Page...
Famous Russian Trains...
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Picture of the Month May 2009 - BLS Intermodal Freight at Weil am Rhein in the Southern Germany |
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| BLS
Intermodal Freight at Weil am Rhein in Southern Germany
A Traxx series BLS "Connecting Europe" locomotive leads the intermodal freight from Switzerland to Germany through a lively railroad town of Weil am Rhein, opposite Basel in Switzerland and Saint-Louis in France. Dozens of freight trains of several operators including Deutsche Bahn, DB Schenker, BLS Cargo, SBB Cargo, RTS, Fret SNCF and others roll through the station day and night. For European Union Members, the ownership of the tracks is separated from the operations, the track is normally owned by the member countries and any operator, given predefined technical limitations, can operate on it. Yes, this is just like on roads! The result: better service and lower prices for customers, and real renessaissance for railroading, for the market share and volumes are getting higher all the time. For railroad operators this means very real competition after a century of relatively little need to think about service development. Good news for many who foresaw the change, and very bad news for the ones not prepared. Picture: Ilkka Siissalo 2007.
4rail.net Traxx
locomotives Family Page...
4rail.net
BLS Group
Page...
4rail.net
Switzerland Main Page...
4rail.net
Germany Main
Page...
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Picture of the Month April 2009 - BNSF Freight at Cajon Pass Summit with Snowy Peaks |
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| BNSF
Freight at Cajon Pass Summit with Snowy Peaks
Californian Cajon Pass triple track main line is a scene of serious freight railroading, even during the recession. Huge freighters bring containers across the pacific to many harbors of the U.S. west coast and the two mighty railroads BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad take these containers inland to the bigger cities through the mountains. While many California scenes are stone or rust colored, this picture shows the rare beautiful snow cover on the mountaintops while the quintet of BNSF locos on the tip of the stack train thrundle by. Picture: George Cataulin, February 2008.
4rail.net
North
American Main
Page...
4rail.net BNSF
Railway Main
Page...
4rail.net
BNSF Roster Page...
BNSF
Stack Train in California Valley...
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Picture of the Month March 2009 - Flirt EMU from Stadler on test drive in Finnish Winter |
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| In
Finland Helsinki Metropolitan area passengers have recently seen Flirt
(Fast Light Innovative Regional Transit) EMUs from the Swiss
builder Stadler on their way to work. First two units are currently
being tested mainly
around Helsinki area, the other 30 units will be delivered once the
initial test runs have been finished. The new units will add much
needed modern low floor
capacity to commuter transit and replace some of the obsolete 1960's
technology EMUs. In Finland much of the rail traffic used to be in hands of one state owned operator: VR-Yhtyma. Now the track is owned by the state, the trains are owned by a new consortium and the trains are operated by a third entity. The changes are fundamental and in accordance to the EU directions, which will try to guarantee competition on the rails just the same way as on the roads. The new trains will still be operated by the Finnish state owned railway monopoly VR-Yhtyma. In the picture the Flirt (class Sm5) unit number two has just gotten the signal colors to proceed from Tikkurila towards Kerava in February 2009. Picture: Stanislav Voronin, February 2009.
4rail.net
Flirt EMUs Info Page...
4rail.net
Junakalusto Organization & Roster Page...
4rail.net
Finnish Operator VR-Yhtyma Page...
4rail.net
Manufacturers Main Page...
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Picture of the Month February 2009 - High Speed in the Norwegian Winter |
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High Speed EMU in Oslo, Norway The country known for its thousands of mountains, valleys and fjords, Norway, has also a network of high speed trains dashing through its terrain between the bigger cities. Here is a picture on a winter day at the Oslo main station with an Adtranz built NSB BM 71 high speed EMU leaving for its destination at the nearby Airport. All units are going to be lengthened to 4 car length by the end of the year 2009 due to constantly increasing demand for service. Picture: Ilkka Siissalo, January 2009.
4rail.net
Norway Pages...
4rail.net
Norway Gallery...
4rail.net
Super High Speed Main Page...
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Picture of the Month January 2009 - Picture from the Winters Wonderland at Sumpter Valley |
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Bright Winter Morning at Sumpter Valley The first train at Sumpter Valley morning plows its way throught the snow. The pride of the Sumpter Valley Railroad, number 18 originates from the year 1920 and is built by then powerful locomotive manufacturer Alco (American Locomotive Company). Storey has taken numerous pictures on the mountains of Canada and Western U.S.A. and steam traction in the landscape. In 2009 we will have new articles as well as his pictures on these to honor his work on capturing many views to remember on the digital film. Picture: Ken Storey, December 2007.
Ken
Storey Winter & Steam Pictures!
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