Jernbanenyheder I. kvartal 2001

• Denmark: Privatbanen Sønderjylland to end operation - DSB MQ in use - Yet another MZ IV fire - DSB MQ to be introduced - Høng-Tølløse Jernbane freight to end - New Desiro-DMU to HHGB - Fire in two DSB MZ's - Skagensbanen buys OHJ MX - Fire closes Copenhagen Central Station for hours - RaiLion & freight wagon update - Use of DSB MY now only in one freight train
  
• Austria: ÖBB is closing branch lines
• Belgium: Head-on crash kills 8 - 75 years celebrations of SNCB
• Germany: Elbe-Ferry to end operation - DB stock news - MaK-stangenlok in use in Kiel - Class 229 only on three diagrams
• Hungary: HZ-locos on loan to MÁV - Sardinian loco for test on MÁV - MÁV M61 ends in Hungary
• Luxemburg: CFL withdrawals
• Italy: Former VLTJ-loco going to Italy - New EMU's and DMU's ordered
• Norway: TGOJ T 66 for testing on the Nordlandsbanen - NSB Di.3's to Sicily... and to scrapping! - Di.3 going to Kosovo - Last use of NSB Di.3
• Poland: Last trip to Goldap
• Portugal: CP 1500's still in use
• Sweden: BK-Tåg TMY repainted & other NoHAB news - LKAB Iore in use - DSB EG and DB 185 testings - SJ freight is now Green Cargo - SJ orders double stock DMU's
  
• United Kingdom: Train collision near Selby, North Yorkshire
• Model railways: Heljan announces DSB EG in HO

  Editors note: It's both sad and interesting to see how the use of the Nohab-build class MY's of DSB, Di.3 of NSB and M61 of MÁV ends almost simultainously as You'll see from the news below. Fortunately they are still in use with various private operators so it will still be posible to hear the distinct sound of the famous General Motors 567-engine across Europe for the years to come.

Privatbanen Sønderjylland to end operation: The first privately owned railway in Denmark, PBS, is to close down operation due to financial problems. It seems the Tinglev-Århus container trains will continue for the rest of March 2001, but the future beyond that is uncertain (27. March 2001, source Jydske Vestkysten and more. PBS stock info here).

PBS is now official bankrupt, as all operation ceased on 27. March 2001, when GF 7340 (Århus-Tinglev) hauled by PBS MY 1134+1148 returned to Tinglev with empty container wagons. 6 locomotives, including 5 class MY-Nohabs will be up for sale. The head of the board Ulf Smith owns one of the MY's together with the former manager Robin Roost and this loco will be leased out with newly-founded company Euro Rail Leasing.
On 28. March 2001 German NVAG DL 2 picked up two tank wagons in Grindsted and will propably also run to Sønderborg on 29. March 2001. (28. March 2001, various sources including DR-Syd and Jydske Vestkysten).

DSB MQ in use: The new Desiro-DMU's of DSB started working on the Odense-Svendborg line on thursday 22. March 2001. Already on friday 23. March two young men got caught making graffiti on one of the units, thus having to be dragged to Århus to be cleaned up again! (27. March 2001, various sources)

Yet another MZ IV fire: Once more a DSB MZ IV caught fire, when the turbocharger and silencer of MZ 1448 burned in the morning of 16. March 2001 in Høje Taastrup. This was the third MZ IV to burn in only few months (see below). This weekend all of the class will be grounded for inspection in workshop. MZ 1447 has been put into store after the fire in Roskilde on 22. February 2001 and will most likely be withdrawn (16. March 2001, various sources).

MZ 1447 has been stored and will most likely be withdrawn
after heavy damage in a fire in Roskilde on 22. February 2001.

It seems the use of MZ IV's in passenger trains will end from the summer timetable change in June 2001! (27. March 2001)

DSB MQ to be introduced: The new DSB MQ "Desiro"-DMU's for the Odense-Svendborg line is to go into regular traffic from 22. March 2001. On 18. March there will be a presentation of the new units in Odense. Testings will be made in the evenings from 12.-16. March 2001. Initially the trains will use platform 2 in Svendborg, as the low-floor units is about 50 cm.'s to low for the very high platform at track 1 in Svendborg. During the summer this will be "cut down" to fit the new trains. At weekdays the MQ's will run about 60% of the trains on the Odense-Svendborg line, even more in weekends (12. March 2001, Fyns Stiftstidende and Zløve).

Høng-Tølløse Jernbane freight to end:
The private line from Tølløse to Slagelse currently operates a freight train from Holbæk to Høng tuesdays and thursdays, but this will end with the timetable change in May. The freight train carries grain in Tdgs-hoppers for the company Dansk Grovvare Selskab (DLG). Whether DSB will take over the freight service with trains from Ringsted via Slagelse to Høng or it will go to road traffic is not yet known. The photo to the left was taken by Allan Støvring-Nielsen on 22. August 2000 near Kulby. Timetable for the train is as follows:

GX 9506 Hk-Øn (Tue and Thu) 
Holbæk             5.28 
Tølløse     5.42 - 5.43 (x 151) 
Skellebjerg 6.05 - 6.08 (x 355)     
Høng        6.21 

GX 9527 Øn-Hk (Tue and Thu) 
Høng               7.07 
Ruds Vedby  7.16 - 7.17 (x 360) 
Stenlille   7.30 - 7.34 (x362) 
Tølløse     7.50 - 8.20 (x 4864) 
Holbæk      8.33 

(12. March 2001, sources Carsten Nielsen and Allan Støvring-Nielsen)

New Desiro-DMU to HHGB: Hornbækbanen, which runs the Helsingør-Hornbæk-Gilleleje line in the northern Zealand recieved their new Desiro-DMU on 9. March 2001. HHGB wanted the DMU equipped with a stronger engine, but this will be installed in October. The trainset will be presented on 17. March 2001 and taken into use the following day. The trainset is numbered HHGB Dm 101 (Siemens 92840/2001) + HHGB Dm 102 (Siemens 92841/2001) (9. March 2001, source Jan Lundstrøm and others).

Fire in two DSB MZ's: Two DSB class MZ_IV has caught fire within the last couple of months. DSB MZ 1447 caught fire in Roskilde on thursday 22. February 2001 when hauling Re 4254 and closed the main line for more than an hour.

On 14. January 2001 MZ 1455 had caugth fire on RØ 2242 from Nakskov to Copenhagen at Øster Toreby on Lollandsbanen. Following this incident the MZ_IV's had been banned from the Great Belt tunnel and also all loco-drivers had to check their locos before leaving København H. or Østerport and entering the tunnel between Vesterport and Østerport.

The MZ_IV's will propably be rebuild, as the silencers and turbochargers are so big, that the exhaust stack had to be made very large as well, making the exhaust fumes leaving the loco so slow that they are sucked into the air intakes on the side of the locos on low speeds. These air intakes are has filters made of paper and when they are soaked in oil it's easy to imagine that they'll easy catch fire. Propably the heat generators will be removed in order to make space for new air intakes and new filters on the sides of the locos.

In 1985 MZ 1454 burned in Borup in October 1985 and MZ 1453 burned in Gedser on 19. April 1994, so it's not a new problem. (27. February 2001).

Skagensbanen buys OHJ MX: Skagensbanen (SB), the private railway running from Frederikshavn to Skagen, started working through freights Aalborg-Frederikshavn-Skagen from the beginning of this year. For these trains two former DSB MX's are used. To have a spare loco, SB has bought OHJ MX 102 from Odsherreds Jernbane (former DSB MX 1009). After refurbishing and repainting the loco will be delivered to SB as MX 11 in the end of March 2001.

Timings for the SB freight train can be found on Johns Jernbaneside (27. February 2001).

Fire closes Copenhagen Central Station for hours: An explotion in some stored gas tanks in the afternoon of 19. January 2001 near Københavns Hovedbanegård closed the station and the streets around it for several hours, while the fire was destinguished. As heavy smoke was thought to be poisoning all train traffic was stopped and the station evacuated. It took around 1½ hour before train traffic could start again - Intercity-trains was stopped at Høje Tåstrup, while S-trains ended at Østerport, Åmarken and Valby. Only the Øresundstog for Malmö wasn't particular affected, as the platforms for these trains are in the opposite direction of the fire (19. January 2001, sources DR and TV2)

RaiLion & freight wagon update: Included in the sale of DSB Gods to RaiLion (see News 2000:IV) was the 13 DSB EG, 8 DSB EA and the 15 DSB MZ IV. Whether some shunting locomotives has also been sold is unknown, but it is likely that some of the Køf and MK-shunters will also go to RaiLion.

However, the use of railways for freight transport in Denmark is steadily decreasing, so 21 of the large Habbins-wagons only leased from AAE in 1999 was returned on 16. January 2001, going to Romania for new use.

The remaining class Hios-tv wagons, used for transport for FDB was grounded from 7. January 2001, after one of the wagons lost one of its sliding doors - which hit a class MZ loco! (19. January 2001, various sources).

Use of DSB MY now only in one freight train: The use of DSB class MY in G 7411-7413-7438-7452 between Fredericia-Vejle-Horsens and return, including the shunting manouvers on the harbours of Vejle and Horsens. ended on friday 5. January 2001 with MY 1158. From 8. January class MZ took over these workings. The 3. and 4. January they were already MZ-hauled, but this last day fortunately had a MY. MY 1158 also worked these trains on 28.-29. December 2000 and 2. January 2001. Also the Århus-Hørning MY-worked freight ended with the minor timetable-change from 7. January 2001, leaving only the G 7719 (Århus-Herning) and G 7752 (Herning-Århus) with DSB MY. These are to be taken over by MZ from the summer timetable, when the Skanderborg-Silkeborg line has been upgraded with new track. An era will soon be over: The MY's was in use with DSB for 47 years!! (13. January 2001).

ÖBB is closing branch lines: ÖBB has announced that 8 branch lines is to be closed when the 2001 ÖBB summer time table goes into effect on 9. June 2001. The lines affected are:
Retz - Drosendorf (Lower Austria)
Freiland - Tuernitz (Lower Austria)
Siebenbrunnen - Leopoldsdorf - Engelhartstetten (Lower Austria)
Droesing - Zistersdorf (Lower Austria)
On the following lines, ÖBB will continue rail service until the end of 2001, but only if the possibility of a continuation of service through third-parties is indicated :
Mariazellerbahn (St.Poelten Alpenbahnhof - Mariazell Obergrafendorf - Mank - Ruprechtshofen)
Ybbstalbahn (Waidhofen a.d.Ybbs - Ybbsitz/Lunz am See)
Gmuend - Gross Gerungs
ÖBB is stating it can’t cover the average cost of ATS 100.000 (US$ 6.000) per transported customer on those branch lines anymore. It is referring to a shut-down list which was approved by the previous Minister of Transport on 20. June 2000 and accepted on 29. June 2000 by the ÖBB executive council. On all listed branch lines, passenger rail traffic will seize as per 9. June 2001.

Three lines included in the shut-down list, will be tendered for private operation by the Niederoesterreichischen Verkehrsorganisations Gesellschaft (NOeVOG), an arm of the provincial government of Lower Austria :
The Mariazellerbahn, including a branch to Mank
The Ybbstalbahn

ÖBB entered into an agreement with the Province of Lower Austria to continue to operate those branch lines until the end of 2001, if the possibility exists that those lines could be eventually taken over by private initiative. Such interest seem to exist for the Mariazellerbahn and the Ybbstalbahn, by consortium. According to ÖBB, all necessary information will be handed over to the NOeVOG before the end of February. Contained in it are the conditions for the handing-over of work shops, locomotives and rolling stock, which are presently property of the ÖBB. (27. February 2001, source OBB-mailinglist).

Head-on crash kills 8: At around 8.45 in the morning of 27. March 2001 a locomotive on an empty stock working crashed into a DMU consist with around 80 passengers near Pecrot, between the towns of Leuven and Ottignies. The four carriages of the southbound passenger train were crushed on impact as the empty train ploughed into them, ending up on top of one passenger car. Among the 8 people killed should be the two loco drivers (27. March 2001, source BBC)

75 years celebrations of SNCB: The celebrations of the 75 years of SNCB will take place over the year. Among the events will be:
5/6. May 2001: Open day at Bruxelles Forest TGV depot - shuttle train between Midi and Forest. Also a special train (presumably a Thalys?) running at 300 km/h between Midi and the French border.
26/27. May 2001: Open day at Oostende depot - shuttle train between the station and depot. Steam trains between Oostende and Brugge.
23/24. June 2001: Festival at Mons, including steam train runnings
22/23. September 2001: Festival at Liege-Palais, including steam train runnings
27/28. October 2001: Festival at Antwerpen Central. Possibility of exploring the tunnel under the station.

More information and a spliffy flash-animation on http://www.b-rail.be/75/F/index0.html (27. March 2001)

Elbe-Ferry to end operation: The privately owned ferry-line from Brunsbüttel to Cuxhaven has stopped, as there is not enough money to continue the operation. The original line ended in the beginning of the 1980's, but Mr. Egon Harms had the dream to restart this ferry line, so on 1. August 1999 he put 10 mio. DM's into the company and started the new line with the three former DSB-ferries M/F Jochen Steffen (former M/F Prinsesse Anne-Marie), M/F Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (former M/F Prinsesse Elisabeth) and M/F Wilhelm Kaisen (former M/F Najaden). The ferries will now be sold. (12. March 2001, sources Sven Ullrich and Mikkel Elling).

DB stock news:

Withdrawn
103 153	31.01.2001
103 206	31.01.2001
103 218	31.01.2001
110 123	01.01.2001
110 176	15.01.2001
110 194	15.01.2001
110 204	15.01.2001
110 212	15.02.2001
110 215	15.02.2001
110 247	31.01.2001
110 254	15.01.2001
110 294	15.01.2001
110 393	15.01.2001
141 019	15.01.2001
141 030	15.01.2001
141 038	15.01.2001
141 057	30.11.2000
141 071	30.11.2000
141 134	31.01.2001
141 136	08.01.2001
141 144	01.02.2001
141 158	31.01.2001
141 179	01.02.2001
141 202	01.02.2001
141 227	15.01.2001
141 234	31.01.2001
141 261	08.01.2001
141 272	30.11.2000
141 295	01.02.2001
141 411	15.01.2001
141 431	01.02.2001
141 448	30.11.2000
150 141	20.02.2001
202 169	15.01.2001
202 265	15.01.2001
202 271	15.01.2001
202 454	11.01.2001
202 494	15.01.2001
202 520	15.01.2001
202 573	15.01.2001
202 722	11.01.2001
202 746	15.01.2001
202 781	11.01.2001
219 034	12.01.2001
219 133	15.01.2001
219 134	15.01.2001
219 138	15.01.2001
Stored / Z-gestellt
103 116	xx.xx.2001
103 157	xx.xx.2001
103 185	15.02.2001
103 225	xx.xx.2001
110 212	16.01.2001
110 215	16.01.2001
110 371	xx.xx.2001
141 073	xx.xx.2001
141 166	xx.xx.2001
212 001	xx.xx.2001
212 005	xx.xx.2001
212 008	xx.xx.2001
212 052	xx.xx.2001
212 053	xx.xx.2001
212 058	xx.xx.2001
212 069	xx.xx.2001
212 089	xx.xx.2001
212 125	xx.xx.2001
212 126	xx.xx.2001
212 127	xx.xx.2001
212 148	xx.xx.2001
212 157	xx.xx.2001
212 163	xx.xx.2001
212 188	xx.xx.2001
212 216	xx.xx.2001
212 273	xx.xx.2001
212 293	xx.xx.2001
212 364	xx.xx.2001
212 370	xx.xx.2001
216 050	xx.xx.2001
216 065	xx.xx.2001
216 076	xx.xx.2001
216 078	xx.xx.2001
216 138	xx.xx.2001
216 142	xx.xx.2001
216 145	xx.xx.2001
216 168	xx.xx.2001
216 169	xx.xx.2001
216 175	xx.xx.2001
216 181	xx.xx.2001
216 190	xx.xx.2001
216 192	xx.xx.2001
216 193	xx.xx.2001
216 194	xx.xx.2001
216 201	xx.xx.2001
216 204	xx.xx.2001
216 205	xx.xx.2001
216 219	xx.xx.2001
216 223	xx.xx.2001
Transfers
103 182/185/188/195/212/228	Hamburg > Frankfurt 01/2001
140 475/476/477/478/479/480/481/634/ 643/666	Saarbrücken > Mannheim 01/2001
215 011/017/018	Mönchengladbach > Trier 01/2001
215 019	Mönchengladbach > Darmstadt 01/2001
215 115	Giessen > Darmstadt 01/2001
215 129	Trier > Köln Deutzerfeld (Cargo) 01/2001
218 113/114/116	Stendal > Halberstadt 01/2001
218 151/270	Halberstadt > Regensburg 01/2001
219 005/060	Meiningen > Erfurt 01/2001
219 007/015/030/053/059/076/079/082/101/124/137/151/ 162/190/194	Gera > Erfurt 01/2001
219 029/050/073/084/139/189	Meiningen > Gera 01/2001
219 091	Leipzig Süd > Görlitz 01/2001
219 185	Gera > Halberstadt 01/2001
219 187	Görlitz > Leipzig Süd 01/2001

MaK-stangenlok in use in Kiel: The private operator VKP (Verkehrsbetriebe Kreis Plön GmbH), which operates the line Kiel - Schönberg and a branch to Kieler Ostuferhafen (Kraftwerk Dietrichsdorf) had a accident with their loco VKP 155. Currently the museum-loco VVM (Verein Verkehrsamateure und Museumsbahn e.V., Hamburg) Lok Nr. 5, former Kieler Seehafen no. 5, a MaK-stangenlok (1000012/1959) is used to run the heavy coal-trains to the power plant (1. March 2001, source Drehscheibe-Online and Gunnar Meisner).

Class 229 only on three diagrams: The DBAG class 229 dieselhydraulics, which was rebuild from class 219's in the early 1990's now only has 3 diagrams left in the Erfurt area, the rest of the locos in Meiningen has been replaced by new DMU's. Diagrams can be found on the Lok-Report homepage (27. February 2001).

HZ-locos on loan to MÁV: In exchange for HZ's debt otwards MAV, HZ Class 1142 locos are again on loan to Hungary, this time 5 of them! 1142.004/006/013 (the ones already equipped with MAV cab signalling) have already entered service, while 1142.005/012 will enter service in the near future (6. March 2001, source Ferenc Joó)

Sardinian loco for test on MÁV: FS E 492 004, one of the "Sardinian" locos that have been stored for years after the electrification project there has been abandoned, has arrived to Budapest Ferencvaros depot on 20. February 2001 for testing in Hungary. The loco is one of the 6 locos which are capable of 160 km/h operation. If tests are successful, MAV will buy all 6 and the 140 km/h E 491 locos as well. First E 492 004 will get MAV pantographs and then be tested on the Hegyeshalom line. (27. February 2001, source Ferenc Joó)

MÁV M61 ends in Hungary:The last working of the MÁV M61's occured on 21. December 2000 when M61 020 worked trains 9750/9725/974 (as far as Tapolca). The 4 locos remaining in Tapolca were moved the next day to BUdapest. M61 020 hauled the consist with M61 019, M61 006 and M61 010 in tow. The loco ran at 100 km/hover the Szekesfehervar-Budapest section (where it was possible).

Now all locos are stored at the Budapest railway museum ("Fusti") and 3 of them are awaiting sale. Hopefully M61 010 will go to the NoHAB-GM Foundation.

Photos and more from the last day with M61's at the homepage of Ferenc Joó (13. January 2001, source Ferenc Joó).

Former VLTJ-loco going to Italy: The former VLTJ (Vemb-Lemvig-Thyborøn Jernbane, Denmark)-loco ML 24 (MaK 800161/1969) is going to the Italian operator Ferrovia Sangritana in Lanciano. Since it was withdrawn from VLTJ in 1998 it went to On-Rail as "Leihlok 32". On-Rail in Germany leases locos for various industries. It is known to have been in use with Alunorf GmbH, Neuss-Norf in 1999. In the beginning of this year Vossloh (VSFT) bought the loco and is now reexporting it to Italy (1. March 2001, sources Werkbahnen in Deutschland and Gunnar Meisner).

New EMU's and DMU's ordered: FS (Trenitalia), the Italian State Railways, has selected ALSTOM to deliver up to 200 new trains for their regional lines, 110 of which with electric traction and 90 with diesel traction.

The first order is of 36 trains: 24 for Trenitalia (14 Electrical Multiple Units and 10 Diesel Multiple Units), 6 Diesel Multiple Units for Trento self-governing province, 4 Electrical Multiple Units for Arezzo province and 2 Electrical Multiple Units for Salerno province. The articulated 3-car train-sets are designed with full low floors, permitting easy access for disabled persons. The electric version will operate at a maximum speed of 160 Km/h and the diesel version at 130 Km/h. The car interiors will be air-conditioned and will feature a multi-functional area. The contract will be carried out by ALSTOM Ferroviaria, based in Savigliano, Italy, and ALSTOM facilities in Salzgitter, Germany. Deliveries will begin in 2003 (19. January 2001, source ALSTOM).

CFL withdrawals: CFL has withdrawn 3604, one of the CFL "crocodiles". Also 3620 has been stored after a major failure. On the other hand 3602 is back in traffic after repairs while 3612 is still awaiting repairs.

Diesel locos 1804, 1817 and lately also 1820 is awaiting repair (6. March 2001, source Graham Belton).

TGOJ T 66 for testing on the Nordlandsbanen: One of the two TGOJ T 66's arrived in Oslo on 28. February 2001 for a press conference. On sunday 4. March it is planned to go to Trondheim and after locodriver education start testdrivings on freight trains on the Nordlandsbanen from the middle of March (1. March 2001, source SJK Postvagnen).

NSB Di.3's to Sicily... and to spare parts!: Three NSB Di.3 locos has been sold to an industry on Sicily, which will use Di.3 626 and 630 in traffic and Di.3 622 for spare parts. When the locos will be moved to Italy is not yet known.

Di.3 605 owned by Jernbaneverket was sold to TÅGAB and arrived in Kristinehamn on 19. January 2001. This loco will be used for spare parts for the TÅGAB TMY's. Jernbaneverket now has Di.3 623 for use on works trains (19. January 2001, source SJK Postvagnen).

Di.3 going to Kosovo: The four locomotives Di. 3.619, 633, 641 and 643 are being transported to Kosovo the coming weeks. The locos are being transported in freight trains on the following route:
Trondheim - Oslo (NSB) - Sävenäs - Ystad (SJ) - Swinoujscie - Wroclaw - Chalupk (PKP) - Ostrava - Breclav (CD) - Hohenau - Wien Zvbl - Ebenfurt - Sopron (ÖBB) - Budapest - Curtici ( Gysev/MÁV) - Simeria - Sibiu - Videle - Giorgiu N (CFR) - Russe - Tulavo - Sofia - Kulata (BDZ) - Promachon - Thessaloniki - Idomeni (CH/Hellas) - Gevgelia - Skopje - Volkovo (CFARYM) - General Jankovic - Pristina (JZ). The locos will be used by the UN / KFOR in Kosovo. On the morning of 12. January 2001 Di3.643 was in Ystad, ready for the 17.30 ferry ('Jan Sniedacki') for Swinoujscie. This pattern will propably continue for the next 3 days with the other locos, which will all be on the 17.30 ferry (13. January 2001, sources NJK Solør Odal, SJK Postvagnen and others. Photo from Ystad 16. January 2001 by Allan Støvring-Nielsen added 22. January 2001)

The first of the four Di.3's for Kosovo is now half ways in Kosovo and has been spotted the following places:

	Di.3 619	Di.3 633	Di.3 641	Di.3 643
Trondheim -> Alnabru (N)	10. Jan. 2001 [photo]	9. Jan. 2001, Train Gt 5716 (NSB El 14.2183) [photo]	11. Jan. 2001 [photo]	6. Jan. 2001, train Gt 5704, dep. 10.15 [photo]
Alnabru -> Sävenäs (S)	12. Jan 2001, Train 4551, Alnabru dep. 23.00	11. Jan 2001, Train 4551, Alnabru dep. 23.00	14. Jan 2001, Train 4553, Alnabru dep. 13.35, Sävenäs arr. 14. Jan. 19.32	9. Jan 2001, Train 4551, Alnabru dep. 23.00
Standing in Sävenäs rbg Göteborg	13-14. Jan. 2001	12. Jan. 2001 [photo]	14. Jan. 2001	10-11. Jan. 2001 [photo]
Sävenäs -> Malmö	15. Jan. 2001, Train Gt 5513	Standing in Malmö 14. Jan. 2001	15. Jan. 2001	11. Jan. 2001, dep. 19.10
Malmö -> Ystad	16. Jan. 2001, Train Gt 6141	16. Jan. 2001, Train Gt 6145 (SJ Rc2 1082)	16. Jan. 2001, Train Gt 6145 (SJ Rc2 1082)	12. Jan. 2001, Train Gt 6141 (SJ Rc2 1127), dep. 5.07
Ystad -> Swinoujscie (PL)	Polferries "Jan Sniadecki" 16. Jan. 2001, dep. 17.30	Polferries "Jan Sniadecki" 16. Jan. 2001, dep. 17.30	Polferries "Jan Sniadecki" 16. Jan. 2001, dep. 17.30	Polferries "Jan Sniadecki" 13. Jan. 2001, dep. 17.30 *1)
Sopron (HU)				18. Jan. 2001 [photo1] [photo2]
Gyor				19. Jan. 2001 arr. 20.00
Ostrava-Marianske (CZ)	24. Jan. 2001		24. Jan. 2001 [photo]
Curtici (RO)	31. Jan. 2001	31. Jan. 2001	31. Jan. 2001	31. Jan. 2001

*1): Di3.643 was shunted on board Polferries "Jan Sniadecki" on 12. Jan. 2001 at around 16.30, but could not be wired properly, thus taken of board again. I presume it was shipped the next day?

(19. January 2000, sources NJK Solør Odal, SJK Postvagnen, Allan Støvring-Nielsen, Christian Bruun, Jan Lundstrøm, Ferenc Joo and lots of others. ANY NEW SIGHTINGS, CORRECTIONS OR PHOTOS ARE MOST WELCOME!)

All 4 locos (Di3.643, 3.619, 3.633 and 3.641) left Hungary and departed Curtici (Romania) in the evening of 30-31. January 2001 with Hungarian drivers accompanying them (the 4 locos in the same train) for Bulgaria. The locos finally arrived in Kosovo on 8. February 2001.

The 4 locos was handed over to the UN-administration (UNMIK) in Kosovo on 23. February 2001. (27. February 2001, sources Aftenposten and NJK Solør-Odal).

Last use of NSB Di.3: On 26. December 2000 NSB Di.3.623, 629 and Di.4.655 hauled the last regular train with Di.3 in train 2303 Hamar-Trondheim. You'll find pictures and a movie from this event on the NJK Solør Odal site. From 7. January 2001 NSB no longer had permission to run the Di.3's. However Di.3.632 is standing by for Jernbaneverket for snow clearingsom on the Bergensbanen (13. January 2001, source NJK Solør Odal).

Last trip to Goldap: All railfans are invited for a special trip on a mixed (passenger-freight) train from Elk to Goldap. This may be the last opportunity to ride one of the oldest railroad of the East Preussia, which is supposed to be closed for freight traffic in June 2001. The freight train with special 2nd class carriage leaves Elk (Lyck) on Friday 6. April in the early morning. Detailed schedule is determined by cargo needs - one way trip to Goldap is supposed to take over 4 hours (66 kilometers).

Price will be determined by number of participants, is expected to be about 50 PLN. Elk is a beautifully located town in the eastern part of Masurian Lakes. There are many places of interest for a railfan in the town and area - still operating narrow gauge railway, several examples of historic rolling stock, railway museum, scenic railroads in 5 directions (3 in passenger use) and huge bridges in Stanczyki, 40 kms north east.

Assistance in looking for accomodation in Elk upon request. The event may be cancelled in case of low number of participants. Please book seats in advance and send all inquiries to Marcin Kulinicz (27. February 2001).

CP 1500's still in use: The agening 1948-build CP class 1500 ALCOs will be working until the next Summer timetable change. Officially only 2 - 1501 and 1510 - are considered as available units (i.e. the ones in better shape). All the others (1505 and 1512) will only be used if that is strictly necessary. The workings are not regularly scheduled (their last programmed assigment, the night trains to Algarve, are supposed to be done with 1400s since 1. January 2001), but the chronical lack of motive power forces CP to use the Alcos a little more in passenger service and other workings (19. January 2001, source Portuguese Traction Group).

BK-Tåg TMY repainted & other NoHAB news: BK-Tåg TMY 1111 (former DSB MY 1111) has been repainted in a handsome light blue livery following some rebuildings in Västervik. A photo can be found here.

TÅGAB TMX 104, the former DSB MX 1021, was stored in February due to mechanical failures.TMX 104 still carries its "Graffiti"-livery as seen on the photo by Niels Karsdorp.

TÅGAB MX 1032, used for spare parts, which was purchased from BSM in april 2000 and taken to Kristinehamn on 8. April 2000 was taken to a scrapper in Nykroppa in the autumn of 2000. It was scrapped here on 28. February 2001. MX 1028 is still standing as spare parts loco in Kristinehamn.
(12. March 2001, sources SJK Postvagnen, Jan Lundstrøm and John Nissen).

LKAB Iore in use: The regular use of the Malmbanan Iore-locomotives started on 7. March 2001 when Iore-loco 101-102 took a heavy train from Gällivare to Luleå.The locos are normally formed of a traction unit of two locos, giving the Co'Co'+Co'Co'-locos a power of 10.800 kW at a weight of 360 tonnes and a traction effort of 1,200 kN! It is thus the worlds most powerfull locos (12. March 2001, sources Svenska ellok and ADtranz).

DSB EG and DB 185 testings: The two-current locomotives DSB EG 3113, DB 185 003-1 and 185 002-3 are currently in Sweden for testings in winter conditions on the Gällivare–Luleå and Kiruna–Svappavaara-lines. Testings will last at least 2 weeks. Photos can be seen on Svenska Ellok (19. January 2001, sources SJK Postvagnen and others).

Following 14 days of testing, DSB EG 3113 had a engine failure when returning. The loco was left in Långsele and technicians from Germany will change the entire bogie on friday with the use of mobile cranes, as it is not possible to change the engines otherwise without dismantling the loco! Apparently this type of failure has happend once before and also on one of the german ansistors, baureihe 152.

The above three photos of DSB EG 3113 are all taken by Ulf Lundgren, Linköping, Sweden on 25. February 2001 in Långsele.

The swedish crews are not happy with the noise level of the cabs of the EG's. Some rebuilding of the locos will maybe take place. The heating capacity of the 185's where quite insuffient, so the test crews had to wear warm sweaters!

The two German 185's are now in Denmark for further testings on the Vojens-Rødekro line thursday and friday (1. March 2001, sources SJK Postvagnen and others).

SJ freight is now Green Cargo: From 1. January 2001 SJ formed a new freight division named Green Cargo. Their locomotives will be painted in green livery, first of is Rc2 1082 (19. January 2001, source SJK Tåg-nyt).

SJ orders double stock DMU's: SJ has ordered a total of 43 double stock DMU's of the CORADIA DUPLEX™-type from Alstom for use on the Uppsala-Stockholm-Eskilstuna-Hallsberg, Stockholm-Västerås-Hallsberg-Göteborg and Göteborg-Karlstad lines. Delivery will take place in 2003 and 2004. Maximum speed will be 200 km/h, the trains will be build in both 2- and 3-waggon versions cappable of seating 202 / 319 passengers resp. (19. January 2001, source SJK Tåg-nyt, Alstom and SJ).

Train collision near Selby, North Yorkshire: On the morning of 28. February 2001 at least 13 people where killed when a car being towed on a low-loader vehicle is believed to have come loose in snowy conditions and fallen off a bridge on the M62 motorway at Great Heck. It then rolled down an embankment and onto the track. The Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) high-speed passenger train, travelling from Newcastle to London, was travelling at 125 mph., when it hit the car and all wagons derailed. A northbound Freighliner freight train loaded with coal then ploughed into the derailed passenger train. It is believed thar around 120 passengers where on the passenger train, 40 of which where badly wounded and many of which had to be cut free from the wrecks of the wagons (28. February 2001, sources GNER, BBC).

Heljan announces class EG in HO: Heljan has announced that they will make the DSB class EG-dual voltage electrics in 2002. Last year it was annonced from Märklin that they would make this loco this year, but it was totally missing at the Nürnberg Toy Fair in February (6. March 2001, source Heljan).