Czech Republic

This is one of a number of snow photos I've taken in Cercany, this one being from the latest batch taken at the beginning of February.

Here's one of my few photos of a Czech freight train, this one taken in Cercany. The locomotive, a Class 742 diesel built by CKD sometime in the 1970s or 1980s, is a common sight on freight trains in Central Bohemia, and can also occassionally be seen on local passenger services.

Hrad Krivoklat was built during the 12th Century, used as a prison during the 19th Century, used as a family castle from the 19th Century until 1929, and today it's a tourist attraction. The village of Krivoklat is more common, but still pleasant. I was there mainly because of a steam train excursion that I was on over the Easter holidays.

Here's the historical marker on Hrad Krivoklat.

Sundials mounted on the sides of buildings are quite common in the Czech Republic, and I've seen them in Germany, too. This one is in Hrad Krivoklat in Krivoklat, in the Czech Republic.

This is one of my best photos of Hrad Krivoklat, although I can't decide whether I really like it or not. It would have been nicer if we had had nice weather, or maybe not....

Here's another shot of Hrad Krivoklat through the trees at the Krivoklat train station.

I took this shot while waiting for a steam excursion to take me back to Prague from Krivoklat. This is a Ceske Drahy Class 810 Railbus, very common on branchlines, but nothing spectacular. It probably wouldn't be unfair to compare it to the "Pacer" railbuses used in the UK, actually, except for that 810s are lower and wider, if I'm not mistaken.

Here's our train back to Prague, although in reality it's passing through Krivoklat on the way to pick up our train. In the end the train was closer to 42 cars, rather than 3!! That's a record for my train travels, actually. The locomotive, ex-CSD 498.022 is a Ceskoslovenske Drahy Class 498 4-8-2, the same class as 498.106, "Albatros," which set a Czech speed record for steam locomotives at 162Km/h in 1964.

This shot gives an impression of the immense size of our train. You actually can't see it all here, as three cars are behind me, and many more are hidden around the curve up ahead. All that you can see of 498.022 is the water vapor plume.

Here's the rear end of our train, looking around the curve and into the tunnel in the opposite direction, even further away from Prague than Krivoklat. :-)

Ceskoslovenske Drahy used coal stoves for heating trains until surprisingly late in their history, and this particular passenger car wasn't built until the early 1940s, although it looks 100 years older because of all the wooden construction, and if you could see the outside, it's 4-wheel undercarriage, devoid of modern trucks or bogies. Rolling stock like this could be seen in Czech movies as late as the 1980s, although I don't know the precise year that they were pulled from regular service.

Here's another shot that I took of 498.022 in Beroun, on the way back to Prague. Trains from Krivoklat to Prague have to be turned here, as the track layout forms a wye, so here 498.022 was being turned.

The Romanske Rotunda sv. Jiri, or the Romanesque Rotunda Of St. George, is the oldest Romanesque church in Bohemia, and one of the oldest in Europe, dating to the 10th Century. The location is significant, also, as legend has it that this was where Praotec Cech, the original Czech, decided to found Bohemia while surveying the land around him, as indeed this is the summit of Rip at 455 meters.

This was a color shot that I took with my MZ-10, loaded with Ektachrome Elite 200, right before I shot my black and white of this same scene.

Okor is a ruined castle near Rip that is at least moderately well known. Hrad Okor was built by Frantisek Rokycansky, a wealthy burgher from Prague, and was later expanded in 1494 and 1590 by subsequent families, before coming under the control of the Jesuits in the 17th Century. They only maintained the castle until the late 18th Century, however, and the castle has since fallen into ruins. This doesn't stop tourists from visiting, however, and the castle is listed on a number of tourist websites.

This, like the "View From Rip" shot, was taken with both my Ikoflex and my MZ-10, the Ikoflex having Fomapan in it, and the MZ-10 having Ektachrome Elite 200.

I've taken photos of car headlight streaks many times, but this is my first attempt with a train. This is one of several shots that I tried, being the best of the batch.