In may 2018, with 3 friends we managed to get a week off duty in order to undertake a trip to Bulgaria. Purpose of the trip: discover what Bulgaria’s railway scene has to offer. Immediately after getting off the plane we headed to Septemvri for an afternoon on the Rhodopen railway, which connects Septemvri to Dobrinishte. It serves for tourism, but is also an essential means of transportation for the people living in this remote region. We found the section that we visited very charming, and the limited number of trains was compensated by the speed they run at. We saw only 3 trains in total, but were able to shoot them at a variety of different locations.

The first train we captured was train 16104 from Dobrinishte to Septemvri. The chase downhill started in Dolene and ended in Varvara.

After this chase, it was time for some food and a local beer (Shumensko Spetsialno, decent lager) in Varvara. Refreshed after waking up early, the flight and the first action of the day we followed train 16107 up the mountain between Varvara and Velingrad. The train was so easy to follow, that we were able to check out some photo locations for the next downhill trip.

In Velingrad, the uphill train had to wait for the downhill train which was running late. This made some time for us to check out the atmosphere in the station, and for the locals to teach their children about trains. When the train to Septemvri finally came in, it turned out it had hit a tree a bit earlier, which smashed one of the front windows. The train crew used the stop in Velingrad to clean the debris off the locomotive, and to prepare it for continuing its trip. It probably helped that the train was reinforced due to Gergiovden (day of the courage of the Bulgarian army) and that it was carrying the Bulgarian flag. But still. I can’t imagine this to happen in our region. So we also got some pictures and a little movie of the train running to Septemvri, in the pouring rain and without front window.

This relaxing afternoon was an excellent introduction to Bulgaria, and to Bulgarian rail. We still wanted to visit many other parts of the country, so we headed north and spent the night in Panagyurishte.