Bundesbahn in 1979/80, pt. 2

Was sorting through image files and was able to date the series at Bundesbahn in the '70s (to '81) to 1979 or 1980. Duisburg - Koblenz was my "home" trip as it connected my grandparents. Here two images that weren't included the first time around.

An unidentified 103 pulling an IC in Bonn Hbf. The driver looking back to make sure all clear as
he prepares to pull out.

The two love birds here can also be seen in the main series here. Just scroll down.

Revisiting Meschenich-Kölnberg

With one set of grandparents in Duisburg and my other grandmother in Koblenz, a lot of time during visits was on the train between the two. Going through some images I found two views of the same place between Cologne and Bonn, Meschenich-Kölnberg. This is a Trabantenstadt (satellite city) not dissimilar from the Plattenbauten in the DDR. The image below is from Google's Street View and was captured in 2008. Spinning the image around shows that it is really in the middle of no where.

Here an image of the same location from 1979 or 1980 taken from the train.
Film is super grainy, most likely because of my processing.
More images from that trip here.

And here from the trip I took with my daughter in 2004, my last time in Germany.

Who says you can't drop high rises amongst the farm fields in the countryside...

Catenary ABCeDarium

Abécédaire photographié sur le réseau du tramway parisien

ABCeDarium provided by the Paris tramway network

Trainspotting in Temagami, Ontario

After the Northlander experience in North Bay, I knew trainspotting in Temagami would be very anticlimactic, but nothing would stop me from trying anyway, including the long drive...

Endless forests on the Trans Canada...

Bigger than life fish, tall tails in the making...

Cabins with garages for boats on small islands in endless lakes...

Temagami

Once in Temagami, 1.5 hrs north of North Bay we parked the car and began exploring.

Theodore's Chip Stand in front of the train station

Theodore Moose? Looks almost like a classical African statue.

Here the train station in Temagami while still working as such, from the wiki page.

The train station looking north. Single track mainline, with passing siding.
Passenger service ceased in 2012. The Northlander would have stopped here.

A group of Keewaydin campers portaging through town to put into Lake Temagami.
Great to see for myself what my daughter did several times a day for years... The little kids with big loads and big smiles were inspiring and reassuring. Hard work but loving it.

 

And crossing the tracks to go 2 more blocks to the lake, then back for another load.
My daughter just had her 5th summer with "rival" camp Wabun based on the same lake.
Her trip was 6 weeks and 1000km+ in the sub-arctic.

Oh, you were expecting to see pictures of trains...?

These decommissioned freight cars now serve as storage units for a hardware store...

 Was told the afternoon Ontario Northland train could arrive around lunch (a two+ hour window). Parked myself next to the tracks, talked to the campers and other locals perplexed to see someone waiting for a train that may or may not come, and read John Water's Carsick (also this). Just like going fishin' on a hot summers day... S  l  o  w ... Was a good chance to work on my "librarian's" tan too (long sleeved tee-shirt and pants with hat)

Was a l o n g wait, but then a rumbling, quickly placed two Canadian quarters on the tracks and snapped it coming and going. Not a terribly long train, but there it comes...

 ... and it's gone again... Back to sleep/reading.

And this, watched it flying circles over the lake with tourist...

Here a map of Temagami... 

Click here for a great richly illustrated trip report (in German) on railroading in this part of Canada posted to the Drehscheibe Online forum. Link goes to the last of five posts but has index with links to the other posts at top. Enjoy.

Northlander in North Bay

Waren in North Bay, Ontario, Canada um unsere Tochter auf dem Temagami See von ihrer 1000km+ Canoereise in der fast Arktis abzuholen und haben uns auch in dieser Stadt umzusehen... Bahnanlagen großenteils abgebaut, aber der Bahnhof steht noch mit Mobaladen und Museum. Also, kommen an und parken... In der Ferne dieser Anblick, also nichts wie hin... Die Lok 503 der Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railroad. Gebaut wurde die von den Canadian Locomotive Company in Kingston Ontario.

Were in North Bay, Ontario, Canada to retrieve our daughter after her 6-weekm 1000km+, sub-arctic wilderness canoe-tripping experience Out of Temagami, and decided to poke around North Bay... The railyards that used to dominate the lake front are gone, but the train station is still there and harbored a small model railroad hobbyshop and local history museum. Parked the car, and in the distance spotted what turned out to be engine 503 of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railroad.

Blick in die Bahnanlage |  View into the railyard

Hinter gittern... | Behind barbed wire...

Nanu..., und was stand hinter Gittern daneben? Steuerwagen und Mittelwagen vom SBB RAm TEE / NS DE IV, der an die Ontario Northland verkauft wurde und als Northlander verkehrte. Ontario und Arktis sind nicht Mitteleuropa und das Material kam mit dem Klima nicht zurecht. 1997- wurde was noch brauchbar war zurueck nach Europa gebracht... Diese wurden zurück gelassen...

Once we got to 503 we noticed the real gem hidden behind gates and obstructed from view... The control-cabbed coach and another coach of the SBB RAm TEE / NS DE IV that had been sold to the Ontario Northland railroad and ran as the Northlander between Toronto and points north up to Hudson Bay. These consists were, however, no match for the brutal climate... In 1997, what was left and salvageable was brought back to Europe, with these poor orphans left to rot.

Die netten Mitarbeiter der Bahn gefragt ob wir aufnahmen machen konnten, und schwups waren wir drin.

Asked the nice people from Ontario Northland if we could come in and take some pictures..., and we were in.

Übergangskupplung zwischen Scharfenberg und nord-amerikanischer automatischen Mittelpufferkupplungen

Adapter from Euro-style Scharfenberg coupler to North American-style knuckle coupler.

Und alles war hier zu finden, aber wie lange noch...

And all this can be found here, but likely not for much longer...

Genau meine Gedanken nach diesem Fund!
Exactly my thoughts after this find!

Click here for a great richly illustrated trip report (in German) on railroading in this part of Canada posted to the Drehscheibe Online forum. Link goes to the last of five posts but has index with links to the other posts at top. Enjoy.

Finse

Winter hitting hard in Finse, looks like something from Hoth in the Empire Strikes Back, wait was filmed there...

Christmas tree up and down and up and down... due to to wind. Here it is being righted again by some kids with saucer type sleds...

And down again a few moments later...

and 15 minutes later, webcam set to night mode, ... a train!

 And 1/2 hour later we hold hands and dance around tree...

Finse – 02.09.2013

First time back in Finse in ages and was able to catch a freight heading for Bergen and see the first traces of slushy snow on the platform... Welcome back.