Last weekend, works between Bruges and Ghent meant rerouting of rail traffic over scenic West-Flemisch rail lines, that otherwise don’t see that many freight and intercity traffic.Add to that a sunny Saturday, and no car available. What you get is an oldschool day trip by bicycle. Packed with photogear, tripod, lunch and water; led by the circumstances to get the most out of the day. … Continue reading Oldschool day out
After a night at a hotel in Strasburg, I got up early to catch a morning train to New York. It was all silent: no sound of cars, only of hoofs of the Amish’ horses. Very relaxing in the warm morning light. Continue reading Galloping to New York
After the short visit to the Liège – Luxemburg line, we headed towards line 24 for some freight trains from Germany. On Sundays, after 3pm, a whole bunch of trains that had been waiting in Germany head into Belgium. Continue reading The start of a busy week
On a beautiful sunny Sunday a passenger train heads south, linking Liège to Luxembourg via the magnificent valley of the Amblève river. The cows remain highly uninterested, the green grass must be way too good – and the last they will get for a couple of months. Continue reading Grass is green, trees are orange
This is probably the last photo I made of these magnificent French diesel locomotives in commercial service. As the pack of clouds was getting thcker and thicker, and the sun was starting to set, I kept on going for that one final shot. On the bridge over the railway at Maison-Rouge I enjoyed for the last time the thundering sound at high speed of a … Continue reading Dark perspectives
It was getting darker and darker. The clouds had finally won the battle with the sun. Continue reading “A lost battle”
148 years, 6 months and 0 days. For that long trains have been passing over the viaduct of Besnard in Longueville. I absolutely wanted a photo of this magnificent structure. It took me a while to find a good location, but I was way on time for the train from Paris. Continue reading Standing strong
The castle of Flamboin dates from the sixteenth century. I got to see it from a distance from where I was standing, though I’m not sure the passengers got even a glimpse of it as the train to Paris raced through the station of Flamboin-Gouaix. The station is deserted for a while now, as is the railway line connecting Flamboin-Gouaix to Montereau. The switches on … Continue reading Historic relicts
For the next photo, I wanted to make my version of some photos I had seen before. Location is Chalmaison, where a dog was doing his best to protect his master’s property… constantly barking at me. Note: I wasn’t trying to break into his master’s house, I was just standing on a public bridge. So, I’ve had more enjoyable times waiting for a train. To … Continue reading Early clicking necessary
Next train was also a surprise. Well, it was not wat I had expected, like the previous one. Or was I the subject of some wishful thinking? Anyway, the location was nice enough to still make for a good photo. Continue reading Another surprise
Railscapes 