This section contains photos taken recently with some comments, a blog. These pictures also appear in their respective categories if there is an album yet.
Use the "Map This" button at the top right to see a map with the photo locations pointed out on it.
If you need help in finding places, or if you are visiting the area and would like some more input on places to go, drop me a line at pix [at] mtnsub [dot] org. (you know what to do with the 'at' and 'dot' thingies...)
Use the "Map This" button at the top right to see a map with the photo locations pointed out on it.
If you need help in finding places, or if you are visiting the area and would like some more input on places to go, drop me a line at pix [at] mtnsub [dot] org. (you know what to do with the 'at' and 'dot' thingies...)
19-Mar-2009
Haven't been taking a lot of rail-related photos lately. Firstly, the weather reached the usual low point in February and March, with nothing like rain, clouds, darkness. Secondly, we were away for two weeks of vacation.
But today was a nice day and when I saw one of Veolia's 66s bring grain cars up from Germany I headed out for a spin. Due to the centuries-old screw type couplings European railroads insist on using (for freight service, mind - there seems to be lots of money for all kinds of incompatible passenger car coupler systems), trains exceeding 1300 tons have to either be banked up leaving Aachen West or double the hill.
The latter is what Veolia did today, notwithstanding the fact the Mittelweserbahn Taurus that brought the train into Aachen was sitting there idle. The 66 made two trips dragging two cuts of 12 cars each to Montzen where she reassembled her charge and then left westbound, sounding great as she revved up and pulled hard. Here the train is seen weaving its way past tower 14 and onto the main leaving Montzen.
The abandoned track (note red flag) I'm standing on is the remaining stub of the old branch line via Hombourg and Battice to Liege.
R4C PB017 in Hindel
Haven't been taking a lot of rail-related photos lately. Firstly, the weather reached the usual low point in February and March, with nothing like rain, clouds, darkness. Secondly, we were away for two weeks of vacation.
But today was a nice day and when I saw one of Veolia's 66s bring grain cars up from Germany I headed out for a spin. Due to the centuries-old screw type couplings European railroads insist on using (for freight service, mind - there seems to be lots of money for all kinds of incompatible passenger car coupler systems), trains exceeding 1300 tons have to either be banked up leaving Aachen West or double the hill.
The latter is what Veolia did today, notwithstanding the fact the Mittelweserbahn Taurus that brought the train into Aachen was sitting there idle. The 66 made two trips dragging two cuts of 12 cars each to Montzen where she reassembled her charge and then left westbound, sounding great as she revved up and pulled hard. Here the train is seen weaving its way past tower 14 and onto the main leaving Montzen.
The abandoned track (note red flag) I'm standing on is the remaining stub of the old branch line via Hombourg and Battice to Liege.
R4C PB017 in Hindel
28-Feb-2009
It's been a good while since I ventured out to take pictures around here. The weather has been absolutely abysmal, and the short daylight hours didn't do anything to enhance the situation.
The 2800-class electrics have a firm grip on traffic, but class 55s still run a few trains and occasionally show up on others. But the private guys continue using their 66s, so at least there are some decent diesels to be seen. Such as the Ewals train in this view, being brought through the maze of shiny new poles in Buschhausen, just 3 kilometers outside Montzen.
Spring is finally upon us, the snowdrops and crocus are starting to bloom. Before too long the trees shall turn green and drab views of forests such as this one will be a thing of the past...
DLC PB18 leads the DGS 40168 (Novara/I - Genk-Zeehaven) in Buschhausen.
It's been a good while since I ventured out to take pictures around here. The weather has been absolutely abysmal, and the short daylight hours didn't do anything to enhance the situation.
The 2800-class electrics have a firm grip on traffic, but class 55s still run a few trains and occasionally show up on others. But the private guys continue using their 66s, so at least there are some decent diesels to be seen. Such as the Ewals train in this view, being brought through the maze of shiny new poles in Buschhausen, just 3 kilometers outside Montzen.
Spring is finally upon us, the snowdrops and crocus are starting to bloom. Before too long the trees shall turn green and drab views of forests such as this one will be a thing of the past...
DLC PB18 leads the DGS 40168 (Novara/I - Genk-Zeehaven) in Buschhausen.
26-Jan-2009
So, looks like this week we're wrapping it up for the venerable 55s. What probably has become the best-known Belgian diesel series faces an uncertain future as their total replacement in freight service (at least on the L24) will come very soon indeed. Get your pictures now!
This morning 5531 put on a fine show at the Gulp Tunnel with another victim of the recession, the Ford auto train from Genk. Rumor has it this will be history next week, as B-Cargo find themselves with a lot of engines and not a lot of traffic.
Farewell, chant of the 16-567!
5531 with the Ford train 46511 (Genk-Zuid-Ford - Carimate) exiting the Gulptunnel in Hindel.
So, looks like this week we're wrapping it up for the venerable 55s. What probably has become the best-known Belgian diesel series faces an uncertain future as their total replacement in freight service (at least on the L24) will come very soon indeed. Get your pictures now!
This morning 5531 put on a fine show at the Gulp Tunnel with another victim of the recession, the Ford auto train from Genk. Rumor has it this will be history next week, as B-Cargo find themselves with a lot of engines and not a lot of traffic.
Farewell, chant of the 16-567!
5531 with the Ford train 46511 (Genk-Zuid-Ford - Carimate) exiting the Gulptunnel in Hindel.
16-Jan-2009
Had a bit of time to kill yesterday evening and decided to head on down to Aachen West which I hadn't done in a good while. The yard is nicely lit up and the head of the stored engines line was conveniently parked underneath a lamp, making this shot possible.
2820 will be the next engine out after a train arrives from Germany to be taken into Belgium. The engineer does his checks and has turned on the cab lights.
Temps still hovering around freezing but daytime sun has killed most of the snow.
2820 at Aachen West
Had a bit of time to kill yesterday evening and decided to head on down to Aachen West which I hadn't done in a good while. The yard is nicely lit up and the head of the stored engines line was conveniently parked underneath a lamp, making this shot possible.
2820 will be the next engine out after a train arrives from Germany to be taken into Belgium. The engineer does his checks and has turned on the cab lights.
Temps still hovering around freezing but daytime sun has killed most of the snow.
2820 at Aachen West
9-Jan-2009
While hanging out on the L40 in the valley of the river Meuse, waiting for a couple freights, this class 13 electric showed up in sweet light. Looks like that pantograph has already scraped a significant amount of gunk and copper off the overhead in its lifetime.
The 13s are weird animals, at least optically. Considering they are close relatives to the French Astride, it seems whoever designed the nose and cab section must have been in a real hurry...
You'll notice there's still snow on the ground. Temps never topped -5 degrees C the entire day. Did I previously moan about how we never got any real winters around here...?
1342 with IC Maastricht - Oostende in Hermalle-sous-Argenteau.
While hanging out on the L40 in the valley of the river Meuse, waiting for a couple freights, this class 13 electric showed up in sweet light. Looks like that pantograph has already scraped a significant amount of gunk and copper off the overhead in its lifetime.
The 13s are weird animals, at least optically. Considering they are close relatives to the French Astride, it seems whoever designed the nose and cab section must have been in a real hurry...
You'll notice there's still snow on the ground. Temps never topped -5 degrees C the entire day. Did I previously moan about how we never got any real winters around here...?
1342 with IC Maastricht - Oostende in Hermalle-sous-Argenteau.
6-Jan-2009
Good way to start the new year! The cold spell already lasts much longer than expected and in fact we reached -20 degrees C on the 6th of January, with a nice snow on the ground. Reason enough to quit the office early and enjoy the sun.
After a cold afternoon in Stolberg (east of Aachen) the very last shot of the day netted 2809 racing westbound with the FE 44532 (Gremberg - Antwerpen Noord) into the setting sun. In better times, this train would have had a trio of class 77 diesels on the point.
If there's something to be said for light, fast freights it's the nice snowstorm they produce even in snow that's been on the ground for a couple days.
Happy and healthy New Year everybody!
2809 with the FE 44532 (Gremberg - Antwerpen Noord) in Stolberg/D.
Good way to start the new year! The cold spell already lasts much longer than expected and in fact we reached -20 degrees C on the 6th of January, with a nice snow on the ground. Reason enough to quit the office early and enjoy the sun.
After a cold afternoon in Stolberg (east of Aachen) the very last shot of the day netted 2809 racing westbound with the FE 44532 (Gremberg - Antwerpen Noord) into the setting sun. In better times, this train would have had a trio of class 77 diesels on the point.
If there's something to be said for light, fast freights it's the nice snowstorm they produce even in snow that's been on the ground for a couple days.
Happy and healthy New Year everybody!
2809 with the FE 44532 (Gremberg - Antwerpen Noord) in Stolberg/D.
30-Dec-2008
Traffic slowly picks up again so a short excursion to the high iron was in order. I last visited this spot at the tunnel near Gemmenich (border between Germany and Belgium) about a year ago. The masts and catenary have destroyed all the nice sight lines that were there previously, and the Traxxes are not doing anything to compensate for the loss - quite the contrary.
Well, we can moan all we want, that's what we get from now on until someone figures out that, in fact, electricity doesn't just appear out of thin air. I don't think the current witch hunt against CO2 and accompanying irrational belief in electricity as the all-encompassing solution is going to end anytime soon. Ah well... At least Infrabel took the chainsaw to the brush in a massive way, opening up a number of angles again.
2821 brings the DGS 41548 (Ludwigshafen - Antwerpen BASF) westbound through Botzelaar.
Traffic slowly picks up again so a short excursion to the high iron was in order. I last visited this spot at the tunnel near Gemmenich (border between Germany and Belgium) about a year ago. The masts and catenary have destroyed all the nice sight lines that were there previously, and the Traxxes are not doing anything to compensate for the loss - quite the contrary.
Well, we can moan all we want, that's what we get from now on until someone figures out that, in fact, electricity doesn't just appear out of thin air. I don't think the current witch hunt against CO2 and accompanying irrational belief in electricity as the all-encompassing solution is going to end anytime soon. Ah well... At least Infrabel took the chainsaw to the brush in a massive way, opening up a number of angles again.
2821 brings the DGS 41548 (Ludwigshafen - Antwerpen BASF) westbound through Botzelaar.
29-Dec-2008
The period between Christmas and New Years is always a trying time for the railfan seeking freight train action. This year is even worse because of the weekdays occupied by the holidays.
We're in the middle of a week-long cold spell here and that invariably means clear skies and sun (we never get cold temps and precipitation at the same time). Alas, no freights run. So rather than not do anything, one takes aim at window trains.
Here's one of the few Dutch-owned ICE3M (for multi-system) trainsets departing Aachen for Frankfurt. You can just see the "Hispeed" logo where usually the "DB" logo would be placed on the nose.
NS Hispeed ICE3M on the Burtscheider Viadukt east of Aachen Hbf.
The period between Christmas and New Years is always a trying time for the railfan seeking freight train action. This year is even worse because of the weekdays occupied by the holidays.
We're in the middle of a week-long cold spell here and that invariably means clear skies and sun (we never get cold temps and precipitation at the same time). Alas, no freights run. So rather than not do anything, one takes aim at window trains.
Here's one of the few Dutch-owned ICE3M (for multi-system) trainsets departing Aachen for Frankfurt. You can just see the "Hispeed" logo where usually the "DB" logo would be placed on the nose.
NS Hispeed ICE3M on the Burtscheider Viadukt east of Aachen Hbf.
20-Dec-2008
With most other activity at Montzen having dried up as a result of the recent startup of electric Cobra operations (Cobra = Corridor Operations B-Cargo - Railion), the private guys are the only show in town. DLC has been using Montzen as the base of operations for some time.
On this particular day, 5 class 66 engines were in the yard - one Rurtalbahn/Trainsport unit and four DLC engines. Here PB14 has cut away from her intermodal train in the background and rolled up to the "portable gas station" for a drink. PB18 and PB13 are in the background, PB15 behind the photographer.
With most other activity at Montzen having dried up as a result of the recent startup of electric Cobra operations (Cobra = Corridor Operations B-Cargo - Railion), the private guys are the only show in town. DLC has been using Montzen as the base of operations for some time.
On this particular day, 5 class 66 engines were in the yard - one Rurtalbahn/Trainsport unit and four DLC engines. Here PB14 has cut away from her intermodal train in the background and rolled up to the "portable gas station" for a drink. PB18 and PB13 are in the background, PB15 behind the photographer.
20-Dec-2008
A passenger train was scheduled across the L24 today. This is usually a freight-only line, so a special window train is always interesting. Here 2828 powers the train out of the Tunnel de Fourons, enroute to the Christmas market in Aachen. The train consisted of 9 cars, including two kitchen-buffet cars, plus 2802 trailing.
The light was downright abysmal, especially in the cut here. Even with really high ISO settings exposure times were a stretch.
Welcome to the shortest day of the year, it can only get better from here. Happy winter solstice/Meán Geimhridh/Alban Arthan/Sanghamitta (or whatever you're celebrating) everybody!
2828 with 18524 Forest Voitures 09:10 - Aachen Hbf 12:26.
A passenger train was scheduled across the L24 today. This is usually a freight-only line, so a special window train is always interesting. Here 2828 powers the train out of the Tunnel de Fourons, enroute to the Christmas market in Aachen. The train consisted of 9 cars, including two kitchen-buffet cars, plus 2802 trailing.
The light was downright abysmal, especially in the cut here. Even with really high ISO settings exposure times were a stretch.
Welcome to the shortest day of the year, it can only get better from here. Happy winter solstice/Meán Geimhridh/Alban Arthan/Sanghamitta (or whatever you're celebrating) everybody!
2828 with 18524 Forest Voitures 09:10 - Aachen Hbf 12:26.
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