Europe's last regular standard-gauge steam passenger service

pjd7•16 minutes ago

Train nerd here..

In Australia there are a fair few steam tourist train services. Not regular time tabled ones unfortunately. These ones operate on the main line & are not limited to their specific line.

https://www.picnictrain.com.au/ NSW / around Sydney https://www.steamrail.com.au/tours VIC / around Melbourne

https://transportheritageexpo.com/ NSW/Sydney (Gov supported) https://www.steamfest.com.au/ NSW (Hunter Region/New Castle) [1.5-2h north of Sydney]

Yes coal particles will rain on your face if you stick your head out of the window.

pndy•13 minutes ago

By the way, wasn't there a monorail in Sydney that was dismantled in recent years? I remember watching some show where this train was running in the background

hdgvhicv•about 1 hour ago

There’s loads of standard gauge steam in the UK with regular service, but it seems that these are excluded because

1) flying Scotsman as it’s not regular service with integrated tickets but runs on public railways and stations

2) festiniog has integrated tickets and runs to normal station but is narrow guage

3) north yorks, swanage, bluebell, svr, Dartmouth etc are regular service to real stations but arent integrated. Dartmouth (kingswear) is certainly used for non tourist purposes.

pm215•32 minutes ago

The Severn Valley railway is about to start a trial where you can buy a standard railway network ticket to Bewdley which is then valid on the SVR on special purpose trains for the Kidderminster to Bewdley section; some of those will be steam. I think if that trial becomes a permanent operation it would count.

https://svr.co.uk/news/heritage-trains-to-carry-commuters-as...

lol768•3 minutes ago

Yes, and the UK's industry body - Rail Delivery Group - has thoroughly screwed up distribution of the timetable data for this trial... so no online retailers (with the exception of BR Fares) will be selling tickets for the operation. Hardly a fair trial.

timthorn•23 minutes ago

Yes, though I think it's being positioned as a commuter service for the people of Bewdley to get to Birmingham and back rather than for visitors to get to Bewdley.

adfm•36 minutes ago

Just took steam out to Holt on Monday. The conductor mentioned it was the first run in weeks due to the drought.

apples_oranges•about 1 hour ago

I also think there must be more

warpech•26 minutes ago

Funny that you can buy tickets for this train as a part of the countrywide train network system, but they don’t have a right graphic for this kind of train. The website displays an electric unit with no information that this will be a steam engine: https://koleo.pl/connection/c21a973b-4eaa-55bd-80d0-5dd2541a...

ptsneves•22 minutes ago

Not sure from the page but I rode one coal powered steam train in Poland for “fun” and i wish i never did. It was an open carriage trip in koszalin and the pollution it did was such that coal particles rained on everyone. It was awful and I don’t get the nostalgia of riding such an obsolete vehicle. I was so outraged about it I told my wife the experience was like trying to experience a big pre industrial city without sewage system and finding it nostalgic.

wazoox•6 minutes ago

Funny, I rode many steam trains and I love it. I even plan trip at places specifically to enjoy an obsolete, stinking, smoky ride :)

NamTaf•16 minutes ago

My sympathies; I did the same elsewhere once (during sporadic rain, so the ash stuck!) and had an absolute ball. The novelty was fantastic but I am however under no illusions that I'd ever want to live during a period where that was the prevailing technology.

Different strokes, eh.

Europe's last regular standard-gauge steam passenger service

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