Albania's last trains.

 

For the past 40 years, maybe even earlier if childhood stamp collecting is taken into account, I've been fascinated by the country of Albania. The Albanian coastline was visible in 1985 as the ferry stopped at Corfu, and finally in 1994 came the chance to actually visit. It's been the only time, but I've been wanting to return ever since.

It's a shame but understandable that Albania opted for automobile-centrism after emerging from Europe's most North Korea-like existence, and it's a head-spinner to consider communist-era Eastern European rolling stock still in use. 

This is an elegiac and melancholy documentary. I watched it twice, something that's very rare.   

We travel through Albania in a diesel locomotive at a leisurely 40 kilometres per hour. The aged trains make their way through the countryside on single-track lines. Travelling by rail in Albania is not always for the faint-hearted. The trains that are still running were once in the service of the former Deutsche Reichsbahn, the East German state railway before the fall of communism. Albania's rail network was never successfully connected to that of its European neighbors. In fact, it is even threatened with closure in favor of expanding the roads. There are said to be just 50 train drivers left in the country, and as mechanics they also take care of their decrepit diesel locomotives. The documentary accompanies one of them, Vladimir Shyti, and conductor Florida Kucuku on a journey to the north, south and east of the country, on the last remaining sections of track through an intact natural landscape. 

 
The wind whistles through broken windowpanes and branches whip against the 112-ton locomotive. It sounds dangerous and it is. The numerous level crossings have no safety precautions and pose a great danger to pedestrians, cyclists and animals. This often leads to serious accidents. The last trains in Albania all start their journey in Durres, also known as the "gateway to the Mediterranean," and that is where every journey also ends. Anyone boarding a train needs plenty of time and patience. Although rail travel is very inexpensive, it cannot compete for time with travelling by car, which is reflected in the low number of passengers. Hardly anyone takes the train these days. So how long will this form of transport continue to exist in Albania at all?

A comeback for TEE?

American railroad buffs tend to be fascinated by the physical infrastructure of trains and their accessories. Going back to my Eurailpass years, the obsession with me is the act of traveling by train. 

Brussels to Barcelona in eight hours: Proposal to relaunch Trans-Europe Express (The Bulletin)

German federal transport farm-near-me/">minister Andreas Scheuer has proposed at a European transport council meeting in Brussels to relaunch the Trans-Europe Express (TEE) 2.0 network of high-speed and night trains between major western European cities.

If the plan to reinstate the rail link, abandoned in 1987, is agreed by his European counterparts, Brussels, Liège and Antwerp stations could be connected to Barcelona in around eight hours.

The farm-near-me/">minister is keen to cut travel time and make journeys more appealing between several European cities by reviving the TEE trains – a luxury service from the glory days of European rail travel from the late 1950s to the 1970s, when overnight rail travel was common ...

I'm in New Agony, but this video documents "A Train Ride to the Czech Republic."

It kills me to watch videos like this. There are so many of my favorite things, rolled into one: train travel, Germany, beer with dumplings, the Czech Republic ... it yields a melancholy ache.

A train journey through the Elbe Sandstone Mountains between Germany and the Czech Republic. Peculiar rock formations and the river Elbe shape this beautiful region. Since the mid 19th century, a railway line has been meandering through its valleys.

In 2014, a new rail connection was completed: the National Park line connects the Czech Republic to Germany. It runs from Děčín to Rumburk via Bad-Schandau, Sebnitz, and Dolní Poustevna. The train conductors are all bilingual and happy to answer passengers’ questions about the area and its people. This film takes viewers from Dresden to Dìèín. It makes a detour on the National Park line through the rocky landscapes of Bohemian Switzerland. See the enchanted valleys that inspired romantic-era painters, and discover Edmundsklamm gorge on the German-Czech border, and its protected wildlife. The documentary also digs deep into the history of brown coal, which once brought the region industry and prosperity.

From Abbott and Costello to Gahan and Phipps -- that's the Great Rails to Trails Bait 'n' Switch of 2019.

I'm turning over a new leaf ... on January 1. Festivus lasts until all my grievances are aired.

In 2018, Mayor Jeff Gahan unveiled a wondrous plan for rails-to-trails to extend from just north of the former Pillsbury plant to Bedford, reminding us that when anything seems too good to be true, check your wallet.

ON THE AVENUES: "That's why I voted no," explains Scott Stewart, pausing to duck rocks feebly lobbed by Team Gahan's propaganda pygmies.

The hosannas rained down, the boot-polishers got giddy, and yet no observers in local mainstream media bothered asking the only pertinent question: Wouldn't an idea like this be far better linking the Greenway to IU Southeast? -- and besides, the city of New Albany wouldn't even be responsible for 95% of any such project perched on the outer edge of the city limits, right?

Dear Leader took credit, the sycophants became orgasmic, and apart from this blog, conventional media outlets repeated the press release talking points with nary a moment of doubt.

However, there was ample annoyance from property owners along the rights-of-way outside city limits, as well two or three oblique voices located far away from the Gahan inner circle, who kept pointing out an important fact: A component of the city's deal with Sazerac to move into Pillsbury included the provision that CSX would be re-opening the rail line running through the densely populated center of the city, which only a few years ago was a controversial facet of life downtown.

Or, precluding the only rational use of the railroad's right of way for a rails to trails scheme owing to the elegantly simple reason that it was about to be put back into use, thus averting gazes elsewhere. Neither the mayor nor a single candidate for city council thought this entire situation important enough to clarify or so much as mention during the municipal campaign, prime among them Greg Phipps, who once upon a time was outspokenly opposed to trains disrupting the serenity of his hermetic third district.

Gahan's rails-to-trails public relations stunt -- and that's all it ever was -- will be tied down amid lawsuits from property owners ... and it never had anything to do with New Albany, anyway.

Meanwhile Phipps has become a born-again defender of corporate interests at the expense of -- shall we say it aloud? -- QUALITY OF LIFE in his district.

And, notice yet again that Gahan's automobile supremacist default floats inevitably to the surface; in an ideal instance where non-automotive mobility might have been served by a downtown rails-to-trails, Gahan ends by assuring you that the roadway for your car will be smoother.

Bait and switch, thy name is Gahan, but don't look at me. I didn't re-elect the evasive connivers -- you did.

CSX has begun the process of replacing railroad components throughout New Albany, by John Boyle (No Newspaper Never Mind)

 ... Work to update the tracks and roadway intersections started in recent weeks, with crews popping up in areas throughout the city.

No exact timeline for the repairs has been set, but Mayor Jeff Gahan said the work is in full swing.

“It’s fully under construction," he said. "They want it done as soon as possible. They have removed some ties and done some road repairs."

Early phases of the work have seen crews working to tear up and replace older components of the railroads to ready them for renewed traffic. Such construction has seen the closure of sections of roadways along the East 15th Street tracks, including some that have lasted throughout this week.

Another feature of the final product will be improved intersections with the city's streets. Gahan said the city is looking to make these crossings smoother for vehicles ...

Baylor Family Croatia, Slovenia and Trieste 2019, Chapter 3: From Zagreb to Ljubljana by older-school rail.

In the previous edition, the trip began in Zagreb.

On Tuesday morning following our visit to the central market in Zagreb, it was back to the Hotel Esplanade to collect luggage and make the short walk to the main railway station.

To my eyes the station seemed a tad neglected, and there was only one small bar where on might have a beer before boarding.

As I've noted, it was easy enough to locate the space once occupied by the restaurant that served me beers back in 1987, but it was only a dusty expanse, and the outdoor seating has long since disappeared. Another vacant corner of the station was being remodeled.

Public transportation in the form of trains and buses remain a large component of mobility solutions for Croatia and Slovenia, and yet it is impossible to ignore the escalation of automotive traffic.

Diana and I were delighted to step onto the train and find our seats in old-school compartments, not the open airline-style seating that has become the norm in the modern era.

It was atmospheric, if not the Orient Express.

Next stop, Ljubljana.

Raw sewage railway scandal at The Brexit Roadhouse. But what does Nigel Farage think?

In order to properly introduce today's link to The Guardian, kindly allow me to rewind 32 years.

30 years ago today: (May 1987) Sarajevo, Mostar and what came after.

... I was headed for the coast on Friday, and Mostar was the next stop, three hours by train from Sarajevo. It was during this ride that Yugoslavia's mountains became a tangible, visceral presence.

One of my memories of this trip was a long period when the train stopped and sat, apparently waiting for another train coming in our direction to pass over a stretch of single track. Here's the view from my window.

I was in the compartment nearest the toilet, which in the typical European fashion of the time usually involved a foot pedal and trap door which deposited one's leavings onto the track.

However, some Yugoslav trains didn't have a commode, just a hole in the floor. Mine was one of them. It remains difficult for me to imagine squatting on a moving train, and perhaps this is why, with yet another contingent of soldiers on the train, as we sat stock still atop the high mountain pass for an hour, they marched one by one to the WC, and ...

I was very glad when the train started moving again.

That's correct. You depressed the mechanical foot pedal, the hinged door swung down, and the tracks could be seen flying past. Theoretically there was a water line attached to ease gravity's task, but not always.

From defunct Yugoslavia we skip forward to debatably "United" Kingdom of today, where I'm genuinely surprised to learn that rolling stock this old remains in use. After all, it's been a while since I greeted the right-of-way void on the continent while using the loo on a moving train.

Train firms backtrack over pledge to ban raw sewage on railway lines, by Gwyn Topham (The Guardian/The Observer)

Operators admit target to end ‘disgusting practice’ by the end of the year will not be met

A pledge to end the dumping of human waste on railway tracks in England and Wales by the end of the year will no longer be met, Network Rail and train firms have admitted.

Although Network Rail’s former chief executive, Mark Carne, said in 2017 he had secured government agreement to end the “disgusting practice” by 2019, several companies will continue to use trains whose toilets flush directly onto the track.

In 2017 the Department for Transport had said all franchises would compel firms to ensure trains had modern toilets, but several operators have now applied for exemptions. Labour said it was “totally unacceptable that railway workers continue to endure such unsanitary conditions in the 21st century” ...

That's what I always say: Nationalize the railroads.

The Riverfront Amphitheater is separated from downtown by more than a levee.

Train track work finished yesterday, Grant Line Road now open.

From Daniel Suddeath at News and Tribune.

Grant Line Road in New Albany reopens at train tracks

NEW ALBANY — After closing Monday for construction, the railroad crossing on Grant Line Road has reopened.

City officials said Grant Line Road reopened at the crossing at about 2:25 p.m. Friday. CSX Railroad Corp. had requested the closing so that it could install new tracks in conjunction with the improvement project being footed by the city for Grant Line Road.

The crossing is near Pillsbury Lane and the closure meant motorists had to use detour routes to access many of the businesses along Grant Line Road.

Construction is expected to continue into the fall between Mount Tabor Road and McDonald Lane along Grant Line Road, with improvements to include the addition of a turning lane.

Grant Line Road railroad crossing work on June 18.

Monday (June 18) is the day for a temporary closure of Grant Line Road at the CSX railroad tracks. If you're coming to NABC's original location, approach from the Interstate and you'll be fine. A detour map is here.

Part of Grant Line Road to close June 18; CSX resurfacing railroad crossing near Pillsbury plant, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

NEW ALBANY — The date for the Grant Line Road closure has been moved back to June 18, as the street will be shut down at the train tracks near Rolling Creek Drive for likely one week.

CSX Railroad Corp. will be resurfacing the crossing in conjunction with the city’s Grant Line Road improvement project, though New Albany is flipping the bill for the work.

Like I always say: Nationalize the railroads.

Do you think so, Gary? It's only been that way for the past decade.

No north Y: New Albany intersection closure needed for railroad repairs, by Daniel Suddeath (Alabama Pop-Up Multiplier)

NEW ALBANY — The intersection known as the North Y at Eighth Street and Grant Line Road in New Albany will be closed for at least two days next week so that CSX Railroad Corp. can replace its tracks in the area.

“I’ve inspected [and] they are in bad shape and in need of repairs,” said CSX branch manager Gary Reynolds of the railroad tracks Tuesday during a New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.

REWIND: No el, no joyeaux.

As we celebrate the Sherman Minton Bridge not falling down and the shifting of noise and traffic jams back westward, it behooves us to recall what we tore down. Originally posted December 23, 2009, the absence of the following helps explain how we found ourselves in such a preposterous position with regional "leadership" calling for more.




As gratifying as it's been over the past year to finally hear the word "rail" included in transportation planning at the federal level and as frustrating as it is that local political leaders still tend to respond to that inclusion with clinched fists seemingly aimed at modernity, it's helpful to remember that, regardless of how those responses are framed, commuter rail is hardly a newfangled idea born of fantastical daydreams. One only has to look at a 100-year-old map to see how it could and did work.

R. David Schooling has been preparing a book, tentatively titled "Louisville's Elevated Rail and Electric Trains". I've been following him around the net a bit as he contributes information to various blogs and forums. Republished here are tidbits originally shared with the Urbanophile, City Data, and Go Kentucky Homes.


* Multi-car elevated electric trains with 15 minute headways, operating nearly 24/7, were running in Louisville Ky 114 years ago. The heavy rail elevated steam locomotive commuter trains started running in 1886 and were replaced with all electric trains in 1893. They were an instant hit and wildly popular with heavy ridership.

* This commuter rail service was owned and operated by the K&I Bridge and Railroad Company. The K&I bridge across the river held commuter tracks as well as a swivel section that allowed it to open for passing ships. This only happened four times, one of which was for an Australian convict ship. You can read more about the bridge on Wikipedia.

* Louisville also had one of the highest (in elevation) el stations (from ground level) in the country, an elevated station with a subterranean entry, and electric freight subway.

* The 3rd rail train that exhibited in Chicago for a few weeks in 1883 came directly to Louisville and ran for 4 years.

* In the early 1900's Louisville had nearly 100 steam and electric commuter rail stations. Its electric commuter trains ran on till as late as the eve of 1946.

* There were pictures of sixteen car commuter trains from Louisville in Life Magazine as late as the World War II era.

* In the early 1930's Louisville had electric commuter trains that ran at 70 mph on the Indianapolis run and were capable of nearly 100 mph. They were specifically designed and built with extensive use of aluminum and with special undercarriage trucks also designed for high speed. They were clones of the Ohio "Red Devils", but rebuilt on steroids.

* Stretching from the western edge of New Albany, to downtown Louisville to the current baseball park locale, to Mellwood Ave area, to the recently demolished Baxter elevated station, to Kentucky Ave., back to over the Ohio river north over 1 mi. to 11th st in Jeffersonville.......all amounted to about 10 miles of elevated rail lines, upon which all manner (freight & passenger) of trains operated.

* This 10 mile web of elevated lines were used by about a dozen different mainlines and four separate electric train operators, ( the electrics were on the riverfront el, and on the Jeffersonville ramp up to the Big Four then out to about 1 mile southward, where an incline descended to run another mile to downtown (surface) on standard gauge. All electric trains from Indiana with one quirky exception were all standard gauge.

A new era of quiet on Mansion Row. Well, the trains, at least.

Quiet zone to start Friday along East Main corridor in New Albany (Tribune).

"Did you know flooding was caused by train vibrations and quicksand?"

Reader JP asks, "Did you know flooding was caused by train vibrations and quicksand?"

No, not until I viewed new WHAS-TV reporter Mike Colombo's film of "alderman" Steve Price's gesticulating explanation. On seemingly his first day on the job, Colombo spoke with Price and Dan Coffey, those council (not aldermanic chamber) members least likely to have been awake during class. Heaven help us if this sets the tone for crackpot television coverage yet to come.

Are trains still using the 15th Street track? Perhaps it is the absence of vibrations -- or ultrasonic waves from Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen and their Hot Rod Lincoln.

Wound it up to a hundred-and-ten
My speedometer said that I hit top end.
My foot was blue, like lead to the floor.
That's all there is and there ain't no more ...

... My pappy said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln."

Not bridges, but a railway project in the UK.

There's a great line in The Guardian's look at a resumption of local rail service in County Durham, UK -- and from a man of the cloth, no less:

The Northerner: Weardale Railway is back but gravy train has left the station.

... The train that left Bishop Auckland at 11.40am on Saturday was blessed by the Dean of Durham, the Rt Rev Michael Sadgrove, a railway enthusiast.

He said: "I believe God cares about the whole of life, and this includes the welfare of local communities for whom the railways mean a great deal, and the many visitors who come to north-east England, who we hope will enjoy the best possible experience of our region.

"This railway will enhance the lives of both visitors and the people who live and work in Weardale. Railways also make an important contribution to creating sustainable environments, and this too is a real benefit."

I suspect that in our neck of the woods, more than a few preachers caught talking about "sustainable environments" would be regarded with suspicion. Shouldn't he be prattling on about gays, abortion and curbing personal freedoms?

The second half of the story details the budget cuts to come as Britain's new coalition government sharpens its axe for wielding against those regions of the country more likely to have supported the losing party, Labour. Perhaps all they need is a Major Move or two, eh, Mitch Daniels?

Courtesy call: More on El trains.

Those whose mouths watered at the morsels of local El train information shared by NAC recently should take a look at the more comprehensive article author R. David "Ron" Schooling has posted at Broken Sidewalk.

My favorite line:

Even with our modern freeways and fast cars, one cannot duplicate these “point-to-point” travel times today.

And even that fails to specifically mention the wastes of fuel and finance perpetually driving us toward less reason and responsibility that go along with less time to think about the application of either.

When it comes to getting around, we've forgotten more than we know and have thus become as much of a cliché. New Albanians now argue over car parking spots for far longer than it used to take 110 years ago to go between New Albany and Louisville without a car at all.

Does the CSX railroad "own" the 15th Street right of way?

Near the end of last evening's City Council meeting, during non-agenda public speaking time, CM Larry Kochert unexpectedly divulged that legal research conducted by Sewer Board attorney Greg Fifer indicates that the city of New Albany, not CSX, actually owns the right-of-way for the rail line.

Even the self-appointed citizen's advocate at the podium was taken aback at this revelation.

Moments before, CM Kevin Zurschmiede had uttered a seemingly hard-line challenge to the railroad to repair the 15th Street corridor or, in effect, get out of town. Given the traditional status of the nation's rail companies, this seemed foolhardy ... until CM Kochert spilled the legalistic beans.

Now, the obvious question is: True or false? Suddenly, NAC's proposal to nationalize the corridor seems almost capable of being achieved.

There'll be more on the Thursday meeting later this weekend. Cheers.