Our yearly family holiday was in the north of Istria, where we could enjoy sun and sea, and visit towns like Poreč and Rovinj. We were also located rather close to Koper, and this led me to spend 1 full day on the Koper ramp between Koper and Črnotiče.

I kicked off the day right after sunrise in Dekani. Here I met fellow holidaymaker Björn, with whom I made photos of the first 3 trains in sunlight leaving the port of Koper that day.

The daily night train from Maribor to Koper, that runs during summer and also carries carriages coming from Budapest, was announced with a delay of approximately 90 minutes. This led to an opportunity in Hrastovlje, at a location where I had not yet made pictures. The hike to the location, which started at the ruin in Zanigrad, was not the easiest. The view was worth it however, and we were treated on a number of freight trains on top of the passenger train. The location also offers a good view on the elevated track down the line. It takes the trains only a few minutes between both locations, illustrating the important gradient of the line.

The night train is a very interesting one. It is combined and split 2 times on its journey. In Maribor, coaches from the 1246 “Istria” train coming from Budapest-Deli are added. In Ljubljana the train is split in a part going to Koper and a part going to Rijeka. On below photo, the 3 Hungarian coaches can be distinguished on the rear of the train.

Now that we knew the way, it was only a short hike towards the well-known location in Zanigrad. Here you get a nice view on the rough landscape in which this railway was built not too long ago (it opened in 1968, making it a relatively young rail line). We only saw 1 freight train uphill; fortunately it got a little help from a Taurus loco pushing it towards Divača.

At this point the clouds started coming in from over the sea, as you can already see on above picture. On the hike back down towards the ruin, we met A D, who informed us that the yellow 363 was heading towards Koper. Despite the cloud cover, I headed to Podpeč. Maybe I would be lucky? Apart from some light engines down the hill, I actually got to see the yellow 363 005 with a container train towards the port of Koper.

My guess was that this loco would come back uphill with another container train. Considering the low number of locomotives in Koper, I estimated that this could happen rather quickly. Instead of waiting a bit longer, I headed towards the famous afternoon location in Črnotiče. It was a guess on the safe side, in order to really not miss this yellow loco – if it would run at all. I did miss a photo of a train headed by a double Vectron because of this decision, though, and in retrospect I should have waited a bit longer. Easy to say now.
Anyway, I got to see what I came for, and more.

With more clouds coming up, and 3.5 liters of water gone in and sweated out again, I decided it was time for a break. A delicious hamburger with fries and a few cold drinks replenished me enough to keep going until sunset. First for a few trains towards Koper, taken just east of Črnotiče.

The night train was also about to leave Koper, and it was one of the last days that you could still photograph it by daylight. I had always wanted to check out the elevated embankment near Hrastovlje; this was a good occasion. I found a good spot for the night train running uphill, and was still able to make a last shot in last light at the entrance of Hrastovlje station (that is only served by a bus).

The drive back home was long and uncomfortable due to the traffic and the immense thirst after a day in the blazing heat with only 4 liters of liquid to drink. At home I refueled with water and watermelon until my stomach hurt, while looking back at a good day on the Koper ramp. Yes, a satisfying day, even though train traffic was rather calm due to works between Divača and Ljubljana.