Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: budapest

Most European railway stations, at least in major cities, host trains from several different countries, and Budapest Keleti is no exception. This locomotive, a Kraus-Maffei/Seimens 1116 Class electric, works for the Austrian OBB.

Like many big city stations around the world, Keleti is large and monumental, and has a large arched ceiling over the main concourse. It's a beautiful station, underneath all the grime, and the only thing that I dislike about it is that it doesn't appear to have central heating, or at least none which is particularly effective. As a result, I was freezing when I took this.

I was very surprised to find a sleeper train to Belgrade in one of the platforms of Budapest Keleti, but on the other hand Serbia isn't too far away from Hungary.

The title says it all!! I took this from the castle, in February, so if it looks cold...well...it WAS cold. You don't necessarily get high contrast on days like these. If you look carefully, you should also see some ice in the Danube

I took this from across the Danube, which had a fair amount of ice on this particular day, as it was February. I looked at this photo after a few months, and rediscovered it. I really like it, so I figured it had to get posted on Flickr. Initially, though, I made the flagrant mistake of mislabelling it as the Hungarian Parliament. It is, in reality, St. Stephen's Basilica. I mistaked the two because of their similar domes and towers.

I like this picture even better. You can really tell that it's cold!

Here's an external view of Budapest Keleti, which makes it look a lot cleaner and better maintained than it is!!! It's apparently a beautiful building regardless.

I noticed that this sleeper train was Russian, although I forget the destination. I think it was Petrograd (St. Petersburg), but I'm not certain. In any case, it's being pulled by a MAV (Hungarian State Railways) Class V63 electric here, which gives it a greater degree of exoticism, although really it's totally normal for sleeper trains to be pulled by the motive power of the railway on which they're running at a given moment. If you can read it in this picture, notice Russian Kryllic lettering and RZD reporting marks on the sleeper.

The Budapest Funicular Railway is very short, as its only purpose is to help lazy people get to the Royal Castle. It nevertheless provides an interesting contrast to the Prague Funicular, as it has two tracks, with no need for a passing siding.

The Royal Castle in Budapest is really more of a palace nowadays, having been rebuilt in the late 19th Century.

This shot gives you a better idea of the palatial nature of the Royal Castle in Budapest. It was clearly built more as a residence than as a fortress.

In spite of its residential nature, the Royal Castle in Budapest does nevertheless have a parapet, although it's more for sightseeing than anything else.

#1361 is a V43 Class electric, which are quite common on services in and out of Keleti, even if they are indeed quite old at this point. Note that this photo has been retouched, if it looks weird.