Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: OBB

As I said previously, OBB #1216 239-4 took us all the way to Prague.

This was the departure from Brno.

The historic capital of Moravia, and the second largest city in the Czech Republic, is Brno, and accordingly it has a sizeable station. This was taken with my cameraphone at dusk while in motion, hence the blurring and strange lighting.

Here we are getting closer to Nadrazi Breclav.

This was on the Czech border, coming into Breclav, the former border checkpoint pre-Schengen. That locomotive is a Class 731 diesel switcher of Ceske Drahy, #731001-4.

After I spent over an hour fixing my film shot of Simmering, I was frustrated to find that I had had a clean cameraphone shot the whole time. Still, I don't like it as much.

This photo had a light leak, so it was very difficult to edit it to an acceptable standard. In the end, I minimized the damage by converting it to black and white. I liked the photo, so I figured it was worth it.

This really was my train back to Prague, and unusually for a Eurocity, #1216 239-4 would take us all the way, with no locomotive change. The OBB 1216 Class are increasingly known by the easier-to-remember name of "Taurus," as they increasinly are popular export units. Even Amtrak have bought them in the form of the Cities Sprinter, which is a slight modification to meet their specifications (the 9 aspect PRR-style cab signals, the Amtrak pantograph, a bell, etc.).

Here's another Austrian locomotive that happened to be waiting in Holesovice, double headed with either a CD 362 or 363 Class electric.

My first international trip after getting back to Prague was to Dresden, which meant that I departed from Nadrazi Holesovice. Since the Schengen agreement took effect, my sense is that the various European railways have been less hesitant to allow their locomotives to operate across international borders, as these Austrian OBB Class 1216 electrics have been turning up in Holesovice quite a bit lately.