The latest visit to this fine country-and what an enjoyable trip it was too!
A guided tour around the depot at Liberec,My first trip on the Tabor-Bechyne branch line produced some lovely photos at Bechyne,followed by a Pendolino trip to Breclav,where i got my first sight of Austrian motive power!....Fantastic trip,as ever i recommend a visit to anyone with an interest in "proper" trains!!

Through the presentations here,I intend to illustrate a picture of life in the Czech Republic,during my visits,the first of which in 2004 opened up a fascination which has grown ever since-centred mostly around the railway system-which for the railway enthusiast,is a must!
Czech Republic is a country formed from the breakup of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was a Communist state from 1948 until the 1989 Velvet Revolution. On 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech and Slovak republics.
The railway system,České Dráhy,or "Czech Railway",is one of immense interest-ranging from the delightful rural backwater branchlines,where the pace of life is relaxed and the history is very much alive-to the "SuperCity" express train network,run by fantastic tilting "Pendolino" type trains at high speeds across the country. For people who do not hold an interest in railways,the Czech Republic holds such a vast amount of history,beautiful scenery and fantastic buildings,architecture and many British people who visit the land return again and again to see more of this wonderful place.

The Czech Republic is a fantastic place to visit,rich in culture and history-and for those with transport interest,it is a goldmine.
A wonderful nationalised railway is complemented by numerous tram,trolleybus and motorbus networks.
I last visited the country in June 2006 and some of the photos from the trip are published here.
Views from previous visits to The Czech Republic will appear in albums with different dates-keep "czech"ing back!

Locomotives of the Czech/Slovak Railways generic class 230/240,built by Skoda,Plzen.Because of the "unique" look of the locomotive,i have given them the nickname.."Goldfish Bowls"...
I have never come across a locomotive that has fascinated me quite so much,the design is so strange,but i like it!
Many of the examples of these locomotives i have come across have been very down heeled and in need of desperate TLC,i managed to catch up with one or two members of class 230/240 around Jihlava,Czech Republic,on various different visits,to take some detail photos and highlight the condition they are in!-leave your opinions in the comments section,but i think they are "SUPERB!"

The locomotives of classes 162/3/4 361/2/3 are what come across as the basic skoda design of electic locomotive here.
Many variations are apparent within the classes and this type of locomotive can also be found in other parts of Eastern Europe.
A super type of design which really looks the part and is infinitely powerful and up to any task-the locomotives can be found the length and breadth of electrified Czech republic lines hauling all manner of train types.

Locomotives of classes 748/750/3/4 are known as the "bespectacled" ones-because of the wonderful look of the cab making them look like they wear goggles!.
These new to Czechoslovakia locomotives are now spread around Europe,with some of them even working for private operators in Italy,im led to believe!
They are a fantastic and unique looking engine,many in superb liveries-one of my favourites is the blue,white and yellow locomotive shown in this gallery in close detail.
Most of the close detail shots were taken in Plzen,Czech Republic and they show the unique look of this type as being part of the fascination with the railways of the Czech Republic!

The railways of Britain must surely demonstrate to other European railway systems,all the reasons NOT to employ private companies to attempt to run the show!.Here are some photos taken since the railway in Britain was fragmented,to very undesirable effect.

Here is a collection of photographs,showing Leeds City Transport Leyland Atlantean,331,which is 42 years old.
This bus entered passenger service on the 09/07/1965 and was the very first Leyland Atlantean to be purchased by Leeds City Transport, one of a batch of nine similar vehicles.
No.331 has a body built in the Midlands by Weymann-unusual as Leeds seemed to generally go for locally built Roe bodyworks.
No.331 commenced driver familiarisation duties from 28th June 1965 and worked from Torre Road garage on trade plates. The vehicle entered passenger service on the 9th July and worked on the East – West, York Road to Horsforth or Bramley routes initially.
Many hundreds of buses on this chassis type were to be purchased in the following years,with many differing body variations,completely changing the appearance of the City’s bus fleet and signalling the replacement of the traditional open-platform, forward engined bus by these “New Generation”, rear engined vehicles.
On the formation of the West Yorkshire PTE on April 1st 1974, the vehicle was soon repainted into the new authorities livery of Verona green and Buttermilk. The bus outlived many of the later single door Atlanteans and Fleetlines purchased up to 1968. No.331 became,in fact one of the final buses of this period to remain in service and was the subject of a final tour, by Leeds Transport Touring Group in April 1981,this tour is shown in detail in this collection.
After withdrawal the bus was purchased by father and son Messrs. J & S Proctor, both employees of the PTE and has since been restored to original Leeds condition complete with the LIMITED stop sign, once a feature of Leeds buses. It is a frequent attender at the various rallies.
From 2007,No.331 will be under restoration,to an as yet undecided livery from a part of its timeline. The 1970's style of livery (lighter green)which was applied to Leeds vehicles rostered for one man operation-ironically something which 331 never had to do!,is a possibility.
The vehicle appeared at Huddersfield Railway station on the 13th May 2007-this being the final chance to view No.331 in its original dark green before paint restoration begins.
In 2008,the latest updates are soon to be posted,with major structural work being undertaken on 331,and repaneling in progress as of august 2008.

Here is a gallery dedicated to the diesel units we know here in the north as Pacers.Either love or hate them they are over 20 years old now and i bet in a few years they will have a cult following!As much as i hate to admit i have grown quite an affection for these ridiculous excuses for "trains",i find it amusing as they bang,clatter,rattle and roll i dread to ask what the passengers think on the jointed track!
But the absolutely superb thing about the Pacer is the "turbo-rasp"sound effects emitted from the exhaust on acceleration haha!! madness!The early units of class 141 were narrow bodied and low capacity..The Leyland class 142 is derived directly from the Leyland National bus,the bus body being stretched,widened to improve the capacity and room in the saloon-and bolted directly onto a 75mph high speeds goods wagon chassis.The class 143/144 style of unit is a development of the theme,the bodies for these types being produced by Walter Alexander,the look of the 143/144 unit widely accepted as the more "attractive"of these types.
The Pacer types for me,along with classes 313/4/5/6/7/8 electric units-sum up the policy of cost cutting by the 70's and 80's anti rail governments-the starvation of cash to our great national railway resulted in the production of the cheapest available stop gap measure possible-and that is what the Pacer was intended-as a stop gap measure-whilst BR tried to source funding to build some "proper"trains for our railways.
Unfortunately,with the advent of the rape of our railway by private cowboy outfits-this was not to be-the Pacer still runs,now over 21 years of age-and really showing this age!-there are NO plans to replace these units in the future as private company policy dictates this would cost too much and not provide a big enough return to the shareholders.
In reality-had BR had the amount of cash which is now being dealt out to the private operators-our railway would have been the best-the Pacer would never have been born-the APT would have ruled-the ECML would have been electrified PROPERLY and not on a budget and things would have been a whole lot better for our great national railway network.
As it stands now,PUBLIC money is being literally poured into the railway,instead of it being Poured back into the railway SYSTEM-its being plundered by greedy managers and shareholders.I would say the Pacer is here for a long while to come-this gallery is full of more recent photos,hopefully illustrating just how poor the condition of these units is now in 2007-its time they were retired-they have worked and paid for themselves time and time and time again,they deserve retirement-the public DESERVE a "PACER REPLACEMENT!"

...and so we move on to this public information gallery-"how to tackle a troop of out of control pylons"...
Ever since the advert on the tv was screened years ago,the one where the pylons came to life and marched across the fields,it used to scare the hell out of me when i was little!-but now i cant help but look at pylons,with their evil glare and menacing march.....hahaha
The "War of the Worlds" movie is a graphic reminder to anyone who underestimates the evil contained within the pylon community-pylons are slaves to alien machines from another world-they are here to destroy our way of life and the human race itself!-we know now,that the pylon seeds were planted underneath the surface of our planet in the early 19xx's
Through our complacency they have been left to develop into a raging network of sub-stations and mega stations,where breeding takes place.
** Do Not approach a pylon without high level rubberised battle suits-and if you are to tackle one alone,lay low,quiet,and use mirrors to deflect any type of blue thunder which they might aim at you in a well known method of human decimation-"electrification"
Please-if YOU spot a pylon looking suspicious in YOUR area-report it to this gallery immediately-Life could be at stake!
**

For anyone interested in vehicles of any sort-the scrapyard is a very sad place to visit.
Even more so if,like i had for many of the vehicles shown here,memories of them being in service.

This event was organised jointly by J Fishwick bus operator,with the Leyland Society and the Leyland museum in Leyland,Lancashire also involved.
The event ran over 4 seperate sites with a heritage bus service linking all the parts of the event together.
The weather aside,which was nothing short of torrential rain,it was a very enjoyable event and the attendance seemed very good indeed.
I travelled across on the Leyland Royal Tiger Doyen of Harrogate Coach Travel,on a trip organised by the Harrogate Transport Touring group-which was very well organised and made the day well worth the early start :-)

A superb weekend at Plaxtons coachbuilders,Scarborough.
The company marks its**CENTENARY**year in STYLE!
The whole event seemed well planned and i found it very good that the organisers opened up the whole plant for people to see just what goes into the building of the end products.
WELL DONE to anyone involved with the organisation of this cracking event. :-)

The contents of this gallery are almost all eastern european,where some fantastic trolley and tram systems operate,using modern,environmentally sound vehicles which really put the British transport circus to shame...
The green trolleybuses are all from Plzen,Czech Republic-there are some trolleys from Brno and Jihlava,Czech Republic,and from Zilina and Bratislava in Slovakia-and trams from Praha,Liberec and Bratislava-Czech and Slovak.