After some time of waiting here is my next report: the Semmering Railway, one year after its 150th anniversary, the oldest mountain railway in the world, planned and built by Carl Ritter von Ghega.
On the way to the "Magic Mountain":
Schneeberg mountain glowing at St. Egyden, SPR 1538 "Südbahn-Sprinter". That's one of the straightest line parts of the Austrian Railways, called "Neunkirchen Alley"
Winter-sunrise with ÖBBEuroCity 31 "Allegro Johann Strauß" from Vienna to Venice
Schneeberg-moon-panorama with early ÖEC 658 from Graz to Vienna
X534.074 OHE maintenance vehicle and view along the Neunkirchen Alley towards Semmering
R 1652 from Mürzzuschlag on the last part of the Semmering Railway between Schlögmühl and Gloggnitz
1116.100 (formerly in special "Licht ins Dunkel" livery) with E 2923, same place
E 2360 to Bernhardsthal
Well, the livery is matching!
IC 158 "Croatia" from Zagreb near Schlöglmühl
IC 536 from Villach to Vienna in front of the imposing backdrop of Rax mountain
E 1759 "Ski Region Semmering" negotiating the curve after Gloggnitz
Simply classic: double class 4010 "Transalpin" EMU as InterCity 550 "MAK Express" from Graz to Vienna. These EMUs are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year!
"Erlebniszug Zauberberge" with nostalgic 1010.003 in charge near Schlöglmühl
And the same train already a little higher on the other side of the valley near Eichberg.
We will visit this spot a little later...
Who can spot the freight train with class 1044?
Class 1x42 and Taurus with freight crossing the Schwarza viaduct at Payerbach, now with a little more snow
Very colourful EuroCity 151 "Emona" from Vienna to Ljubljana on the Schwarza viaduct
EuroNight 234 "Allegro Tosca" from Rome and Milan at Payerbach-Reichenau, more than 1 hour late. This is the longest regular passenger train and the only one needing an 1142 banker (seen here)
1044.120 descending from Payerbach-Reichenau station
At Eichberg:
Freight with double 42s in charge
And more action at the spot we saw from down in the valley before
Shortly later more freight in this beautiful S-curve
IC 552 "Stadt Bruck an der Mur" from Graz
And finally: ÖIC 535 "Wissen-schafft-Demokratie.at" to Villach
Back to the snowless time:
Simply go by train to Wolfsbergkogel stop, walk for 10 minutes and voilà ! On these pics you can see how Ghega built the railway litterally to display the trains in front of a beautiful landscape by using many more artificial structures than would have been technologically necessary to get over Semmering Pass, even in 1854:
IC 552 again, this time at Breitenstein
Entering Weinzettelwand-tunnel, to the right you can see the Weinzettelwand-gallery
R 1650 on the Kalte Rinne viaduct, the tallest bridge of Semmering Railway (two tiered, but the lower part is behind the woods)
IC 534 from Villach
The train descended from a place very close to where this photo was taken at
R 1555
EC 32 "Allegro Stradivari" from Venice on the Krauselklause-viaduct
44 + 42, same place. You will see many single bankers crossing Semmering from Mürzzuschlag to Gloggnitz
IC 158 "Croatia" is just passing Breitenstein station, thanks for the presentation, Mr. Ghega!
Meeting at Steinhaus, on the Southern ramp of Semmering:
IC 559 "Stadt Bruck an der Mur" to Graz going down and Taurus/1042 double going up
1142.538 with R 1635 in nice afternoon light, sadly it couldn't take me anymore back to Wiener Neustadt that day. The return train from Mürzzuschlag arrived with some delay and a 1044 "borrowed" from a freight train.
Another blood-orange 42 double with freight at Steinhaus station (stonehouse) - the name says it!
These buildings are typical of Semmering and can be found everywhere along the line
*** End of Part I ***
You're photos are getting me excited about Austrian trains!! 