Our
program begins with a 1972 trip to Europe and a visit to Spain where we
see Broad-Gauge action with 2-8-2's on the Renfe (National Railway of
Spain). We had only limited information during this time, and stuck to
one area west of Zaragoza, which featured steam in Castajon, which had a
roundhouse full of steam, and Pamplona. Pamplona you might recognize as
the city where you can run with the bulls each year, but we were there
for some steam operations and caught a couple of daily passenger trains
to Castajon. There is a cool shot of a train passing through an ancient
Roman aqueduct, plus two passenger trains meeting. There is also action
chasing a freight toward Castajon on a different route. Seeing nothing
but steam at the Castajon roundhouse was pretty special, even if they
were all oil burners (tough on the shoes).
Next we head to
Austria in 1974 as part of a 6 week trip. We see a little bit of a
sample in Vienna, and Linz, before moving to the Linz-Summerau line
which is Austrian Railways standard gauge. Most traffic on this line was
steam hauled with the Kreig-Lok German designed 052 2-10-0's working
both freight and passenger trains. Electric polls were up on 2/3 of the
line so we spent more time on the northern end for better looking
sequences. This was all upgrade going north too which made for better
action. We also see a Czech 4-8-2 (475 class), which was on a
cross-border train in Summerau. This was during the cold war and a guard
was sent so the engine crews did not defect to the west.
After the
Linz-Summerau line, we see a little bit of action the narrow gauge line
from Gmund, and see a meet, and do some pacing on one train. These
trains hauled some standard gauge cars on their narrow gauge flats.
After this we spent a days on the "Iron Mountain" at Vordernburg for
this unique Rack line with steep grades. Empty trains went up the grade
with an engine on either end, and besides good action there was great
scenery as well. This line stopped running steam a few years after we
were there.
Lastly we visited
Italy in 1974 and got a few shots in March of 1975. The region was the
northern part of Italy (Tyrol), on the Fortezza to San Candido line.
This very scenic line featured some freight action and a couple of
passenger trains each day. Power was 2-8-0 class 740, and the unique
class 741. The 741 2-8-0's were converted 740 class engines that had
Franco-Crosti boilers which had modified boilers to preheat the water,
and a side-stack for exhausting smoke and steam. We have good coverage
of these unique locomotives, and an explanation of the basic design.
This was some of the best weather of that 1974 trip. Greg went back in
March 1975 and got a little more action with each class engine.
The Austrian and
Italy footage was a mix of footage shot by Greg and his brother Randy,
while the Spain was shot by Greg. This is not a long video, but it is
certainly unique. We finish up with a slide show of some 35mm stills
shot during these segments. Standard Definition, all color, with music
and narration. (There was no sound on film in the early 70's). |
