Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: ICE

After taking the Eurostar to Brussels, the next leg of the trip to Prague is from Brussels Midi to Koln Hbf, where there is the sleeper train, EC457 the "Phoenix," to Prague, which departs at 2228, and gets into Prague at 0925 the next day. In km/h, the Phoenix isn't necessarily slow (if I'm not mistaken, it's allowed to go 200), but the trip takes all night due to a 20-minute stop in Berlin Sudkreuz, and more importantly, the fact that it runs via Berlin at all. In this video, however, I'm still on the ICE, enjoying close to 250 km/h running.

Here's a shot that I like better than Picture 5, although I chose to upload both anyway.

Here's a lucky shot that I got of my ICE (the one my friend was impressed by) pulling in.

Introduced in 1952, and originally designated the E10 Class, these electrics represent one of the oldest surviving locomotive classes in Germany, and for that matter the world. Equally impressive is that these units have managed to stay in passenger service in the country of the ICE. Power output is 3,700Kw, or 5,000 horsepower, which is also impressive for its era, tractive effort is 62,000 lbs., which is also good, and this is distributed through a Bo-Bo (or B-B) wheel configuration, with 85 metric tonnes overall weight (so figure 21.25 tonnes per axle, a heavy axle loading for Europe). The cruising speed for the best-maintained units is 140Km/h, although the maximum design speed is 150Km/h.

Here's one of the newer Classes of ICE introduced around the time of my first visit to Germany in 1998. At the time, the Class were still in testing, but now they have been in service for many years. Although there isn't a high-speed line in Germany yet that can accommodate their full 330Km/h (205 m.p.h.) cruising speed, they still get to run quite fast, up to at least 250Km/h on most high-speed lines.

Incredible as it may seem now, the original Class 401 are already over 20 years old and counting, and showing little of their age. I got to meet up with some old American friends on this trip, including one old hot rodder who was suitably impressed, not to mention surprised at our train's age. "It works," he said.

Also called the ICT for its tilting mechanism, this class of ICE can be spotted by its stubbier nose than the similar (and contemporary) Class 403.

Well...here it is....my first public video on iPernity. Had Flickr's policies not driven me over here with so many other people, this would also go on Flickr, but instead this is an iPernity exclusive for now. I shot this video seconds before the photo I uploaded right before this.

I have a few ICE photos scattered throughout my photo collection, but only a few on Flickr. I took this one in Munchen Hbf as I was about to get on my train (which wasn't an ICE). #401509-5 is one of the original 401 Class ICE sets from the early 1990's, meaning it can cruise as fast as 280 Km/h (173 m.p.h.) given a dedicated high-speed line rated for 280. That's impressive enough to American ears, but the newer 403 Class can reach 330 Km/h (205 m.p.h.), so it isn't like progress stopped with the first sets, either.