This trip was basically a christmas avoidance move. As my office closes for a week and a half over christmas and new year, I couldn’t face the prospect of sitting at home for the whole time, so I took the rest of the week as holiday and decided to go abroad. I considered various options, including Portugal, Tunisia or even further afield, but eventually decided on a return to Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, as I only decided two days before departure, the flights were rather expensive (the flight back from Prague went up £20 virtually as I was booking my ticket – cheers then!), but on the plus side I was under-charged £30 for my Zone D inter-rail – win some, lose some! Over the past year I have become fed up with all the journeys to Stansted, so decided from the start that I would fly from, and back to, Bristol with Easyjet – out to Venice, back from Prague.

I had arranged to meet Gazza in Czecho on New Year’s Day, and had decided I did not want to be on a train for the New Year celebrations, but other than that had no fixed timescale. I decided to spend a week in Croatia and Slovenia, before heading up through Hungary to Czecho for the second week. In the end I made two false starts leaving Croatia before finally making the trip on the Tuesday. However, had I known how badly the Czech diagrams had been affected I’d have probably made the journey even later – the loss of the double Jesenik turn has taken away the last decent Grumpy move, and together with the loss of the early Sumperk-Olomouc turn has left the Sumperk area far less worthwhile – though as a consolation the pool of locos for Bradlo (0616 Sumperk-Olomouc and return), previously all silent, now includes 749121. However, Sumperk have apparently been instructed that when overhauling grumpies, they must fit silencers – indeed 749264 has recently emerged ruined.

I intended a return to Bosnia at some point, and a day in Poland, but the latter was missed out in the end as it didn’t fit in with other plans, while I didn’t bother with Bosnia as it’s a bit of a one-move country (ok, two moves, but the Tuzla move is too much like hard work, and I really couldn’t face getting bowled out with a 212 as happened to Anthony and Pete a month earlier).

The flight was right on time, and the clear sky afforded excellent views of the Alps obstructed only by the hippy who had the window seat, but that was the end of things going right for the first day. At Venice airport there was a massive queue of people at passport control – even though I was first off the plane, another must have landed just before us. In typical Itie style, there were only two grippers, who seemed to be in no hurry. I finally got through, only to find there was a bus strike – lazy Itie bastards! In the end I shared a taxi to Mestre, which cost the four of us €7.50 each – thieving Itie bastard! I have yet to have any sort of good experience in Italy – let’s just hope Easyjet add Ljubljana to their list of destinations!

There was not much to do in Venice, so I decided to do a couple of leaps across the bridge. However, first I needed to get a Euro Domino for Slovenia, as I was unable to obtain one at home thanks to FGW’s inexplicable decision to move their international sales office from Bristol to Bath – a station used by a tenth as many people as Temple Meads. I obtained the ticket without too much hassle, though Bert had no idea what a Domino is and so had to summon the manager.

EN241 has now been wrecked as a move – it now goes to Budapest via Maribor instead of Zagreb, and leaves an hour earlier, arriving in Maribor at 0331, making it a very unsociable overnight. I got a compo and drew the curtains to deter the froth from invading, but predictably the Ities didn’t get the message and invaded anyway, making the compo load six, with enough luggage for about a year.

Last time I did this move, there was a fresh loco from Trieste, but none were visible on this occasion. As a bonus, we were shunt released by 245-6093 – these shunters are probably the most rateable locos in the country – certainly better than the 445 junk I had earlier in the day. On the downside, the new Slovenian diagrams meant a rancid 342 forward from Villa Opicina, instead of the 362 that used to be allocated.

I headed back south to fill time before covering the Hodos diagrams. I decided to leap at Poljcane, as according to my (out of date) diagrams this would give me a 363 forward. Unfortunately, what I actually got was the same 342 I’d had to Maribor – especially annoying as there were three 362s at Maribor. At Celje, nowt was open in town, but the Spar was open 7.30-12.00, so I stocked up for the day, including some nice fresh bread.

Another change of diagram at Pragersko – dud 664102, which had arrived on IC517, went on to work IC247. When I’d arrived at Pragersko earlier the only locos present were 644023 and 661032 – either of which would have done nicely! Winner 664108 had also turned up, but I was to have 102 for the third time in four trips. At Hodos, unlike previous visits, the 664 was not swapped for the return journey, so 102 effectively ended up covering three passenger diagrams. This was especially frustrating as we’d passed another winner, 664112, on the freight which normally swaps locos with the passenger train. Minor interest as the M41 going forward was in tandem with an M62 ‘Sergei’, however they were split before the M41 dropped on as booked.

I decided to go to the bar at the end of the station approach road, but was chased down the road by a customs bert, and dragged back to the police station on the shack for a passport check even though I’d crossed no borders. This still left me enough time for a couple of beers, before the usual move to Celje and back. IC245 disproved the various railway companies’ assertion that people prefer open coaches – all the compos were wedged, while the open coach was empty apart from myself and Bart, who had appeared in the hope that 664112 would produce.

We weren’t sure if the schoolie was running, as it wasn’t term time. Although the timetable shows it running all year apart from the summer holiday, the gripper checked his traffic notice and said it wasn’t running. We decided to flag Hodos and find the brewpub in Murska Subota, but as we arrived we saw that the schoolie in fact was running, so we did that instead. Unfortunately being the school holidays the train was nowhere near as scenic as usual. Forward from Pragersko, a 362 had appeared so I took this through to Ljubljana. I had intended to do an overnight, but because Slovenia is so small there are no decent overnights – any move would involve a fester in the middle of the night. As it had started to rain heavily, I decided to break with tradition and get a hotel. I went for a couple of beers in Kratochwill, which unfortunately had stopped serving food, before checking into Hotel Park to dry off.

The plan for today was to cover the Autovlak, a rateable train that is sadly very difficult to get to. The problem is not the lack of trains between Jesenice and Sezana, but that those which do run mostly fail to connect with main line trains. I had decided that as it is impossible to do any other diesel move in the same day as covering the Autovlak, I would at least attempt to maximise my mileage, especially as the train had been dropping 644s lately, a winning class for me.

Leaving the hotel ridiculously early, I almost missed my train, as it was now snowing, but the wet ground meant the snow turned to sludge, slowing my walking pace considerably. As I headed west, the snow was settling and becoming gradually deeper, but by Sezana we had gone beyond the snow. The train from Sezana to Nova Gorica wedged out, but for once I was invaded by two cute lasses. As we headed north, I could see snow on the mountains, though what would have been spectacular views were spoiled by low cloud.

At Podbrdo, as I’d hoped, 644018 was on the Autovlak, though as usual the coach was at the bottom end of the train. As predicted, the gripper was Mr One-Trip-Only, so after having a beer at Most na Soci I had to buy a ticket to return up the hill. At 430 SIT, it works out approximately £1.30, not bad but still irritating when one has a ticket supposedly valid on all trains.

I was pleasantly surprised when we emerged from the tunnel at Bohinjska Bistica to find a good covering of snow. I took several photos, but again the background was obscured by low cloud. The station bar serves draught Temno Lasko, and I ordered a hamburger for 550SIT, which was about the size of a dinner plate! At this point there was a crew change, and Mr One-Trip-Only was replaced by a much more sociable gripper.

At Podbrdo there are two bars (out of shack, under bridge, about five minutes walk), one Union, one Lasko. Bart had joined me by this stage, and we decided on the Union bar as we could see draught beer fonts. However, the draught beer turned out to be unavailable, so we made do with bottles.

My plan was to do the overnight to Split, but my only escape from the Autovlak was a three cart move – rancid! The Autovlak is worth doing, but I really can’t be bothered to do all the carts again. There are moves to at least have locos to Sezana or Jesenice, but these don’t connect well with the local trains, severely restricting the mileage on the Autovlak (not that it’s a high mileage move anyway)

A long awaited return to the Split line, as it had been closed during Balkan Bash II in September. The first thing I noticed is that it is definitely not worth the expense of travelling first class any more, as all the Split trains have the new air-Connolly, open, first class coaches. While the air conditioning may be more welcome when the temperature is pushing 100º, there’s no chance of a decent doss in FC any more. At Perkovic, I could see the Sibenik portion was a 2062.0, so I bailed out for it, but I then saw it was 2062055, which had been solid on this turn when I was here in June. I therefore rejoined the main train to cover the Split local turn. Back at Perkovic, I saw the Sibenik-Knin train was 2062107 vice cart, so I did this to Knin to await the train to Zagreb. This would enable me to get some more supplies, as there is not much at Perkovic.

At Knin, the train went past the station through the freight lines, before setting back into the shack. I later saw that this was because the bridge leading to the south end of the platforms had been removed, though the catenary was still intact, with wires over the gap!

After restocking, I also obtained a new timetable, and sat in the dilapidated waiting room looking to see what trains had changed. The only major changes are the loss of the summer-only twice-weekly early sleeper, and the down daytime train is advanced about an hour. This means one can no longer do the fill-in can scratch move to Karlovac and back, but on the plus side means the loco on the up daytime no longer returns on the down daytime. Also, the daytime trains have been downgraded from IC to B, meaning there is no longer compulsory reservation (never used to reserve, but always got chinged the six kuna on the train). In theory, the down train now gets to Split in time for the up overnight, but late running usually precludes this. Finally, covering the Sibenik portion in the evening involves a guaranteed fester at Perkovic, as the cart into Sibenik follows the Split train from Knin.

The only significant change elsewhere is the retiming of trains 258/9 and 450/1, which unfortunately means that the only Vinkovci 2062 diagram is the Beograd-Banja Luka portion. The return portion is conveyed as far as Strizivojne Vrpolje in the Sarajevo-Budapest train, and taken forward by a can. 258/9 now cross in Bosnia instead of Osijek, so they are worked by an Osijek 2044. There is also apparently no loco-hauled train to Pula this year, a shame as I had planned to cover it on Balkan Bash V in June.

By this stage, the wind had become very strong, and actually blew a big piece of glass out of a cracked high-level window in the waiting room. The glass landed about a foot away from some equally dilapidated Bert, who appeared totally unfazed by this. Maybe he’s used to it. When I went out to wait for the train, my hair was blown all over the place, and at one point the wind was actually blowing people off their feet! The train was wedged – unsurprising, given that there used to be two trains each way, each load six or seven. Now there is one train a day, and it’s load three.

After a while I had the compartment to myself, but a Licko Lesce I fell victim to a sneaky invasion – one bert came and asked if there was a free seat, and when I confirmed that there was, he promptly bellowed to four mates at the far end of the coach that there was room for all of them. Two of them had personal stereos that weren’t very personal, broadcasting crap music to the whole compartment. Fortunately, due to late running, we had an extra stop at Plaski to pass the local from Ogulin, so I bailed for that (not sure why they don’t make that a connection anyway). However, I misjudged the depth of the snow, so when I jumped out I went about two feet further than I expected! The local was a winner, and even better was the loudest one I’ve had yet.

The return to Split was dud, but plenty of time yet! This was the sixth move in a row to be nose first, so not many good photos to be had. As lots of people had joined at Licko Lesce on the up train, I hoped some would get off there on the return, but instead the train filled up as it headed south. These towns between Ogulin & Knin must have rapidly diminishing populations, as all week lots of people boarded the trains at these shacks, but hardly anyone got off.

The Split local was the same loco that had been on the diagram in the morning, so I decided to go and have probably 2062055 on the Sibenik, as at least that portion ends up at the front out of Perkovic. However, all bets were off, as the Sibenik-Knin rolled in with 2061101, my last operational 2061. I had a choice of doing this to Drnis or Knin for the overnight forward. I decided on Drnis, as the waiting room has more heaters, with a total of one, and considerably less permanent inhabitants. The only downside is that this leaves a small gap (Drnis-Knin) where I haven’t had a 2061, as I have otherwise cleared everything south of Ogulin for the class.

I had planned to bail at Karlovac for a trip to Rijeka, but seconds before arrival Simon texted me the Table 12 gen – two winning 2044s out, plus an added bonus in the shape of 2062001. The only diagram I couldn’t cover was the 0710 Zagreb-Budapest (advanced 10 minutes from new timetable – up sleeper very rarely connects, due to late running). The previous day two 2062s and my last working 2043 had been out – cheers then!

I later did the 1423 Varazdin-Zagreb, as this was allocated 2043001. After Budinscina I opened a beer and took my boots off to relax. Within a minute we had come to a sudden stop, and it transpired that the loco had burst. I got out to take some lineside photos. However, I found it very difficult to get back in as the train had stopped on a very steep ballast embankment. Eventually we were pushed back to Budinscina by 2044006 on 1412 Zagreb-Varazdin, the two locos in the middle of the formation. We then festered at Budinscina, until as predicted the 1414 Kotoriba-Zagreb arrived with a pair of 2044s, the leading one coming off to work the 1423. I was bored of waiting, and with no 2043 available just did the 1414 back to Zagreb.

Back in Zagreb, I had a long fester until the overnight. To make things worse, the shopping centre was closed, which meant I couldn’t go to the former bowling alley for a Tomislav as planned. I headed into town, but the place was dead – almost everything closed, including the other bar known to sell draught Tomislav. The station buffet was open until 9.00, or at least it would have been if the policija hadn’t closed it at 8.30 after a big fight involving about ten locals. The stock for the Split was in but not advertised, so I claimed a compo and dossed out.

Bah Humbug!

The Sibenik portion was 2062055 AGAIN! Nice to have 2062.0s, but could do with a bit of variety. I saw loads of 2062.0s in the week, but apart from 2062055 the only working was 2062049 on the early morning Ogulin local one day, which I missed by being asleep. At Knin, three of my winning 2062.1s were lined up on freights – cheers then! However, when I returned on the down daytime move, Simon texted me to say that one of them was on the up beds, and another winner had appeared for the Split local, and just for once 055 was on the Sibenik portion. Not bad, 4 winners for the day, and 765 GM miles.

I awoke to a text from Simon telling me that there was nowt interesting on T12, so I bailed at Karlovac for a trip to Rijeka. The shop opposite the shack is normally open from 0600, but today was still closed when the Rijeka train left at 0630.

The Rijeka train is a so-called Intercity, which in reality is worse than the normal trains because the stock is 100% opens. As an added ‘cheers then’, there was piped music being played over the PA system, the same few tracks repeated in an endless mind-numbing loop. Despite the fact that the train was nearly empty, the gripper still insisted on charging me the six kuna reservation fee.

At Rijeka, after visiting the supermarket, I went into a pizza place and asked for a large ham and cheese pizza. They weren’t joking, it was huge – about 20" diameter! Back at the shack, while I was photting the can (which fortunately had been swapped, and was one with rebuilt cabs), the station cat appeared, followed by another five. I managed to phot two of them, before some tramp with a rancid dog walked past and scared them all away. The train back was the same stock, and despite being an Intercity, none of the water tanks had been filled in the three hours at Rijeka. I than had a fester at Ogulin, as the 1415 to Plaski was caped due to it being a public holiday.

I went back into Zagreb, as I was meeting an e-mail contact in the Medvedgrad brewpub. Unfortunately I didn’t have as long as I’d have liked here, as it is a superb bar with four excellent beers. A return visit will definitely be included on Balkan Bash IV in March.

I made my first visit of the trip to Split, as the Sibenik was – guess what – 2062055, and Simon had told me the Split local was dud. I got a compo at Split, and was invaded by one bert. However, at Perkovic we were invaded by three people with reservations, who evicted me from my window seat. I hate unmarked reservations! The train was very busy – a lot of people were returning after xmas trips etc, so HZ did the obvious thing and sent the set out load three.

As usual, B721 was late. I went to Sibenik just for the sake of it, even though I already knew it was 2062055 – is this loco on a 22km piece of elastic? It’s as bad as 144 in Ireland, which I’m convinced is tied to Limerick bufferstops. Normally Sibenik gives a better chance of a decent seat than the main train, but the late running cart going in meant I was too late to take full advantage.

The first of three attempts to leave Croatia and head north. I got as far as halfway round Lake Balaton, before turning back because Hungarian locos are just so dull – this must be the most over-rated country in Europe, except maybe Germany. It would have been worthwhile a few years back when the NoHabs were working, but based on my experiences in Hungary and Serbia, Ganz Mavag have yet to build a decent loco.

Train 205 was formed of one Croatian coach, which was wedged, and three Hungarian coaches, which were filthy and decrepit. I had decided to go along the north side of balaton, as even M41s are marginally better than cans. This meant I had long festers in Balatonszentgyorgy and Tapolca – it also meant I had to write ridiculously long names in the moves book! I scored a couple of beers in each place – in Balatonszentgyorgy I could watch the A-Team in Hungarian, while the bar outside the shack at Tapolca has a mock NoHab cab on one wall! At Balatonszentgyorgy, just as I emerged from the bar, steam loco 424.287 passed through on a special.

By this stage I had decided to return to Croatia, but decided to do a leap to Revfulop first. As I only had a Thomas Cook timetable, I didn’t know the stops other than Revfulop, where the trains crossed. A shame, as Balaton was frozen over, so I’d have liked to have bailed early and taken a short walk on the lake – for now I shall have to leave the walking on water to Tony Blair.

Back at Nagykanizsa, I went into the station bar and ordered a large draught beer, before noticing bottles of Dreher Bak – could this be a dark beer? I quickly downed my pint and ordered a bottle – it was indeed dark, and 7.3%. My lords! Outside, a BdMot arrived – a source of some debate as to whether it is a loco or a cart – although classed as carts, they have no passenger accommodation, and have cabs at both ends, I would be inclined to say they’re locos, unlike HST power cars which are classed as locos, but are in my opinion part of a multiple unit.

The Zagreb train arrived with a V63, which was at least a new class for me, and Simon had texted me to say it would be 2043004 forward. Back at Zagreb, a bonus scratch, as a defective coach was shunted out, with passengers in the adjacent coach. With surprising sense for HZ, the defective coach was replaced, just as well as the train was wedged anyway – again I fell victim to a single person invading and then summoning their mates, which made this the worst overnight so far, particularly as I’d somehow acquired backache (probably something to do with filling an already heavy bash-bag with beer!).

This time the Sibenik wasn’t 2062055 – it was a bus! In the evening the line had reopened, so I went for it, as the Split local was dud. There were speed restrictions though, and the cart lost 20 minutes on the way in. I just made the portion, and was delighted to see an ex-first class coach at the front – for the first time in a week I’d actually be able to lie flat. The train also seemed fairly empty, so I might even escape being invaded. I’d just got the compo set up for doss, when the gripper came round and announced that contrary to the labelling, this coach was only going to Perkovic, and the coach behind was the one for Zagreb. Cheers then!

The overnight stayed relatively empty, and I was not invaded. However, we were running late, making the Budapest move look dodgy. In the end I made it literally by seconds, by virtue of doing a ballast leap – the normals who went via the subway missed it. Unfortunately, unlike Sunday, the Budapest train was wedged, so I had to stand as far as Varazdin.

I was destined not to leave Croatia just yet though, as when we arrived at Kotoriba, the 1111 Zagreb was headed by 2043002, while the cart diagram to Varazdin was 2043005, my last remaining one. Quick timetable check – I could do one to Cakovec for the other forward, a quick restock in the supermarket (wanted some Tomislav to take home!), before doing a cart to Koprivnica and heading to Budapest that way. I would still make the overnight to Praha, but would lose the leaps I had intended doing between Budapest Deli and Kelenfold. However, my last Croatian 567-engined loco was more important!

Train 203 was formed of three first class and one second. Two of the first class coaches were derated, but the normals didn’t notice and all crammed into the one second class coach. The Hungarian gripper was the first of the whole trip to ask to see the actual inter-rail ticket, not just the journey record booklet. The overnight to Prague was pretty wedged, the only free seats were in the cancer coach. However, by the Slovakian border the train had emptied out, and I got a civilised compo in a Romanian coach.

The last day of the year, and my last chance to bring the scratch total for the year up a bit. Sadly, this was not to be, as my Czech jinx was working overtime. The day started with a dud can – somehow I manage to get dud locos in a large class of which I have had only a few locos. I decided to just do the double Jesenik turn, and hope there would be units getting piloted by 751s as there had been every year in the past. Tim had been the week before, and told me there was no piloting, what he didn’t tell me is that the double turn had gone. For some reason, the grumpy now goes up in the morning and back at night, and the middle part is a two-piece cart – very clever considering the train used to be full when it was full size, and about three million ski-veg had descended on Jesenik. Now the loco, stock and driver all just sit in Jesenik all day – what a fantastic use of resources.

The other major problem is that there were no timetables available anywhere, so I had to try to plot moves by using station departure and arrival sheets. I decided against the six hour fester in Jesenik, so came back on a cart. I covered the Letohrad diagram, normally a silent grumpy, but it turned up with a rancid goggle, and was duly flagged. I checked into the Grand, which although quite full still had a couple of rooms, and I ended up in the room next to Anthony and his girlfriend. I had arrived too late though, as prior to my arrival a group of young ladies had been roaming the corridors in not much clothing, including one in only a thong!

I then went back to Zabreh to try to at least scratch a couple of cans. Failing that, I headed back to Hanusovice to pick up the grumpy coming back. I did at least finish the year on a high note, as the driver I had been chatting to at Jesenik was in the seat, and invited me up front. I joined Anthony and Lynne to see in the new year at the usual bar – not often I only spend two quid on beer on New Year’s Eve!

Although there were two Jesenik diagrams (cheers then – one right behind the other), the pilot turn didn’t produce, so I started the new year on a cart. The first Jesenik turn was 749265*, so was flagged in favour of 749248 on second turn. This was my last loud Sumperk 749 to score, but is now my highest mileage one.

I returned from Jesenik immediately, and headed to Olomouc in search of anything working vice cart. I also covered the 1341 to Sumperk, as this used to be a loud 749, but this to had gone over to a cart. The 111s on the Nezamyslice trains had also been replaced by carts, so I carried on to Ostrava where being a public holiday there were no grumpies to be found. I had arranged to meet Gazza on Excelsior, so I went for a couple of beers before attempting some desperate leaps between Ostrava Hlavni and Svinov. Even that didn’t go right – at Hlavni three consecutive westbound trains had dud cans – impressive when you’ve had about seventy locos out of a fleet of hundreds or even thousands.

Excelsior arrived on time, and I got in at the back to make it easier to see what came on at Prerov. Despite having had only two 150s, one of the two went forward to Praha.

At Praha, I had considered going to get food, but I’m glad I didn’t. The Thomas Cook timetable shows the train leaves at 0413, so when we moved in reverse at 0355 we assumed we were being shunted. However, it soon became apparent that we weren’t – we were on our way to Usti nad Labem. From Ostrava, I had managed to get in the wrong portion, as both go to Cheb – I hadn’t realised part of the train goes via Plzen! Gazza had claimed a compo in the right portion at Pardubice – not bad, normally getting a seat on this train at all at Pardubice is a joke. We soon saw why it was empty – it was severely NB! At Usti we managed to find an EH compo, though we had to move yet again at Kadan to be nearer the pair of grumpies.

At Kadan we passed 749102, which both of us need, heading to Chumotov, while we had 749170+039 – one winner, one dud, in fact 039 is the only Kadan 749 I’d already had. Unusually, both drivers were whipped up, and the noise was more impressive than is usual for this line. At Ostrov, the driver saw me photting and Gazza with his sound recording eqiupment, and treated us to a spirited departure.

We headed back to Praha, as we had booked into Hotel Pegas in Brno, with the intention of covering the Znojmo, at the time booked a Jihlava 749, all of which are loud. But, such is my luck, with the new timetable this is now a Brno diagram, and therefore solid filth. By this stage I had already written the rest of the trip off for bashing, so we went to Brno anyway for a beer move. While in Praha we went to stock up at Pivnice Gallerie, which unfortunately was closed. What we did find amusing was a poster for the Czech release of Texas Chainsaw Massacre – sponsored by a chainsaw manufacturer! Not sure that film is really the best advert for chainsaws…

The Znojmo managed to be the other 150 I’d already had – cheers then – but at Kutna Hora it was removed in favour of 230087, a winning class. During the loco change at Jihlava, I went to the station shop and obtained two winning beers for each of us. We had already decided that as it was a goggle, we would bail at Okrisky, as this gives more drinking time in Brno. We had an hour at Okrisky, so went to the hotel up the road, which had three winning beers for me.

In Brno, we checked into the hotel, which is worth staying at just for the hellfire receptionist, before heading downstairs to score the beers. We then went to the other brew-pub, and scored all their beers together with a meal. I had duck with potatoes etc, which worked out about £3. Finally, we went in search of another bar mentioned in Gazza’s guide. We didn’t find it (the guide is somewhat old), but we did find another bar selling Vyskovske beers.

Even from Brno, the Jesenik train was full of ski froth. We found seats, but were immediately evicted by molluscs with reservations. As usual, we were at the front, and the one door train effect was in full force – at some shacks thirty or more veg were all queuing for the same door. Anthony and Lynne joined us at Zabreh, and we decided we would go to some bars in Jesenik. We had hoped to be able to do the earlier train out of Jesenik, but as it was 749265*, that wasn’t an option.

Myself and Gazza headed back out to Horni Lipova to cover the Letohrad diagram, optimistically hoping for 749008, but predictably it was another goggle. We then met up with Anthony and Lynne in a nearby restaurant, where somehow I managed to get into an eating contest with Lynne. We all started with garlic soup – beast! – before having main courses and in the case of myself and Lynne, dessert. We then went to a couple of bars, then for some reason I volunteered to entertain everyone by letting them phot me having a large quantity of snow falling on me! We then returned to the restaurant for another dessert, before getting the grumpy back to Zabreh. In the evening we went to a restaurant in Sumperk, where after a two course meal myself and Lynne decided a draw looked most likely. A couple of Zubr darks, and an early night – my first full night’s sleep in over two weeks, and only my fourth night in a bed.

Anthony and Lynne were flying home, while myself and Gazza were heading back to Kadan to try for 749102 on Monday. We wanted to do the early train back from Jesenik, so that we could head to Praha via the Pardubice brewery, before doing Excelsior. This move was, as expected, ruled out by 749265* working the first diagram. The second train was absolutely wedged, but even with the thousands of tons of luggage the ski veg had brought, the driver was a windbag. It was only as we went round a bend approaching Hanusovice that I saw how the loco was managing with so little thrash – there was another grumpy on the back! We could tell by the colour that it was 749248, and it was obviously working somewhat harder than 259 judging by the clag! It was at this point that I was handed a late victory in the eating contest – while I had had ham and eggs for breakfast, Anthony texted me to say Lynne’s stomach felt a bit rough, and she daren’t risk breakfast.

We covered the Letohrad diagram again, with a view to doing it throughout if it were not a goggle. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a GHOS, but 749187(*?), which although silenced must have had a faulty tlumic, as it was considerably louder than any other snipped one I’ve had. We did this train through to Praha, where we went to two of the brew-pubs. The queue for the metro ticket machine at Hlavni was horrendous, so we walked to Muzeum and bought tickets there, before heading to the Klasterni brew-pub. The beers were adequate but not special, but the place was nice, and the barman took our photo in front of the brewing kit. A couple of night phots of the monastry, before heading to Pivovar Dum, my favourite bar in Praha. There we had four beers each, including the seasonal vanilla beer, a large meal and a shot of absinthe, for just over a fiver each including the tip.

The Plzen portion of the eastbound Excelsior was in when we got back to Hlavni, and we found a compo. As a bonus, we were shunted by a winning 110. Unfortunately, the westbound Excelsior was utterly wedged, and we stood from Pardubice to Praha. At Kadan, things started exactly as Friday, with 749102 heading in the opposite direction, while we had the same pair forward. Gazza was out all week, so he stuck around to have 749102 later on, but I had to go straight back to Praha to fly home. I had intended flying home on the Sunday, but doing so would have cost me £100 more.

The return trip was entertaining, with four different locos. The 749 was replaced by the 141 at Kadan, which had surprised me when it had gone forward from Usti nad Labem on Excelsior. This was then piloted from Teplice to Usti by a 742, before a final loco change when we reversed at Usti, sadly to a dud loco to finish the bash. The pilot move had delayed the already late train, and it was starting to look tight for my flight. I made it thanks to good fortune with the metro and bus, though I was among the last to board the plane. I still managed to find a seat at the front, and was first off at Bristol. My bag was, however, one of the last out, and emerged giving me about ten seconds to get to the bus back into town. The bus was just pulling away when I got there, but the driver saw me running and stopped – made a nice change.

Although the new timetable has not really affected the rateability of Croatia, Czecho has been almost wiped out by the new diagrams. While other countries are buying silent locos and new carts, Czecho is the only country I can think of that is being so anti-social as to retrofit old locos with silencers. I certainly shan’t be returning for more than a day or two, though I shall continue to use Praha as a convenient airport for northern Europe, but this may change when the Bristol-Berlin route starts in May. Slovenia is still worth visiting for a couple of days, but I’d soon get bored after that, as the Hodos line is pretty uninspiring, and the Autovlak is such an inaccessible move. The rerouting of the Venice-Budapest train has taken out the only vaguely civilised overnight move – there is no sociable alternative to a hotel in Slovenia. Hungary continues to be unimpressive, and the least said about Italy the better. Slovakia may be subject to a return visit, particularly the 752 diagrams around Presov.

Thanks to Simon Hillcox for numerous text messages while I was in Croatia – why can’t every country have a website that good? All we need now is net cafes at all the major stations!

Ljubljana: Hotel Park. Single 9,000 SIT. From station, turn left, then turn right onto Maistrove ulica, hotel is at far end of street. 5 minutes walk (when it’s not snowing!)

Kratochwill: out of shack, straight ahead. Bar on left. Allegedly four beers, though I’ve only ever seen Svetle and Tmave.

Zagreb: Medvedgrad. Tram 4 from shack. Beers: Crno Kraljica, Psenicko, Mrki Medvjed, Zlatni Medvjed

Brno: Hotel Pegas. Single 1,000Kc, twin 1,500Kc. Out of main station exit, straight up the hill, through the square, taking the top left exit, then right. Brewpub downstairs. Beers: Jakobska Brno, Psenicne (Wheat), Svetle, Tmave. 10 minutes walk

Pivovar Cerna Hora: In the main square on way to Pegas. Beers: Tas 10º, Granat 12º, Lezak 12º, Kvasar 12º, plus a semi-dark which is blended at the bar.

Sumperk: Hotel Grand. Still good value at Kc250 a single. Out of station, straight ahead. 5 minutes walk.

Praha: Pivovar Dum. Jecna. Trams including 22 and 23 stop outside, or a short walk down the hill from IP Pavlova metro shack. Beers: Svetle, Tmave, Wheat, Coffee, Cherry, and Banana(!) plus seasonals.

New locos: 75

Miles travelled:7,642

Loco miles: 7,722

GM miles: 3,919

Countries visited: 6

Countries scored: 0

Beers scored: 52

Dave Unpronounceable

e-mail evilempire888@hotmail.com