Roma Děčín v SK Stap Tratec Vilémov local league XI
Jeseník v Jeseník II
A wintertime European jaunt, combining quite a lot of cranking, with some futsal and some friendlies as teams resumed from their winter breaks, ending with a weekend of league action in the low countries.
Every journey starts with a single step, and mine was a 150/142 combo on the 1421 Sowerby Bridge – Leeds via Brighouse. It was then down to Kings Cross and across to St Pancras for the last Eurostar of the day, heading to Brussels.
After a night in the luxurious splendour of an Ibis, next morning and the first ICE of the day off Midi. I was in the panorama coach, which is a glass compartment behind the driver so was able to get an excellent view of the line ahead as we raced across to Koln and then down to Frankfurt Flughaven.
Onwards, it was another ICE, this time across through Erfurt to Leipzig. By now we were getting the first signs of snow.
A fester at Leipzig results from the connecting IC service at Dresden, having problems with the new IC double decker stock that forms these services. Eventually it did turn up, and was very unimpressive, wo much so that it appears I never got a photo of it. Anyway, the snow was getting thicker.
Into Dresden, where I’d missed my connecting Eurocity service heading for Prague, which was also my destination for evening futsal.
So it was a local hop on an S-Bahn service to the almost border station at Bad Schandau.
By now there was no way of getting to the capital in time for the 1800 start of the futsal, and the snow in the Elbe valley was laying so thick there was little chance of any of the local mid-season break friendlies being on.
However, Roma Děčín were still showing their game to be on and as it was only a short hop by train, and the ground was close to the station, I decided to chance it.
Sure enough, arrival at the station showed the effort to be fruitful, with the teams warming up.
Although only formed in 2011, Roma Děčín have made plenty of headlines due to the providence of the club.
The clubs version is that they are founded on their shared romany heritage and have since been persecuted due to inherent racism from teams in the local area.
The alternative view is that the team was born from the remains of a previous club who had ceased to exist due to the appalling disciplinary record of the players, petty theft of opposition players belongings, and violence against other supporters.
Although I was up for the game, my phone decided it didn't fancy it, and immediately discharged its 40% of battery life, so I've only got these initial pictures I took of the ground. Down one side were a couple of covered terraces, with a large uncovered terrace behind the goal.
On the opposite side was a larger seated stand.
Speaking to a few fans at the game, it seemed there had been more than a grain of truth in the alternative view of the clubs origins, but things had now settled down. However, this wasn't before a significant number of teams refused to play against Roma. This had a strange effect as they were given the points as a result, which enabled them to win very unexpected promotions right up to the third level of the Czech system.
The opposition tonight was a selection of players from local leagues, and was played in a relatively relaxed atmosphere, so I perhaps didn't get a true idea of what a matchday is like, nor was I able to get any lasting pictures.
I headed on down to my overnight at Ústí nad Labem, with power sockets on the train meaning I could get a shot of my loco haulage departing západ station.
Next morning was the start of a two day railtour rattling around north east Czech Republic
Haulage was one of these, a class 749 'Grumpy'. These are ex freight and steam heat locos that were converted to give electric train heat in 1992. Although only 1500hp the unsilenced ones give a decent bit of grunt, and have attracted a strong following from the UK, most notably from the West of England class 50 bashers, who seemed to move onto them when the Vacs were withdrawn.
There was also the opportunity to get in a few 'football grounds from trains' pictures, in this case another Děčín club, FK Řezuz.
I'm not normally a fan of railtours, as they are very expensive, full of weirdos and fussily stewarded by people who normaly work in banks. However, these ones are run by a rail worker from Bristol, who only advertises by word of mouth, meaning it is mostly rail staff on board.
So unlike UK tours, where you can't even look out of the window, the combination of a more relaxed railway, an understanding organiser and more knowledgeable participants, means pretty much anything goes. So it's everyone off and on the track for photo stops.
The organiser also has a good knowledge of Czech beer, which he makes sure the train is well stocked with, all included in the £45 ticket price. Today was a local 12° Světlá Millaček and a 12° polotmavá Drsňák. However, I'm still off the beer so my spoils were given to my travel companions who today were the Great Western fares team, who I'm sure are very popular amongst Thames Valley commuters.
Moving on, and the combination of a semaphore signal and a football pitch would make a good photo, even though we are in the middle of no where.
No problem. Out you get mate. A snow bound pitch at the junction station of Krupa.
How about where another line crosses ours?
Except the loco is in the dark under the bridge?
So the driver is found to pull the train forward.
Do you mind if we block the line for a bit while we wait for a train to cross on the other line?
No problem.
Not for the first time, a train was delayed awaiting Great Western staff.
Block the main road through a rural Czech village as the loco poses on a level crossing. Crack on boys.
As the day progressed, the mist descended, which didn't give the best viewing conditions. Now I'll never know what the head shunt at Duchov opencast mine looks like.
Which gave the opportunity to take in the local cuisine. If I was choosing a picture for a salami packet, I probably wouldn't choose this strangely suggestive one.
The next day and the weather was a lot clearer for the long run down to Kadaň.
A reversal took in the Chomutov avoiding line and then onto the Vilémov branch. This is in a Czech military zone and is kept open as the armed forces use it for logging activities.
But we got the opportunity to take pictures of Watford supporters in stupid hats.
Or have a wander into the cab for a ride with the driver.
At the terminus of Kadaňský Rohozec, the driver decided he couldn't be bothered to run round the train, so just reversed the eight miles back to the main line.
This was the junction station at Blatno u Jesenice.
One of the reasons for doing the tour was to bale here as although there was no full game on at the adjacent sports club, there was meant to be futsal.
However, I didn't know it was an outdoor pitch, with the game predictably off.
So it was back with the tour.
This time up the very rare freight only branch to Brochov. Hmm, those piles of logs would make a good vantage point.
Not only was there no objection from the organiser, he was the first one up them.
The great and the good of the UK rail industry.
But guess who's staff we were waiting for again?
Running a bit late, we said goodbye to half our contingent at the isolated shack of Protivec, for their connection back into Prague.
We rattled up to the main line at Karlovy, with today's offering on draught of a 11° Kellerbier, 12° semi-dark lager (5%), 13° pale ALE (5,5%) & 15° black wheat IPA (6,5%). We baled at Most for an overnight there.
Next morning and this was the first reason for staying there, the city's tramway system.
The network links Most with the neighbouring city of Litvínov, and is operated by the ubiquitous Tatra T3 trams.
To add to the stereo typical scenes, the post-industrial nature of the city means the streets are lined by Panelák flats.
We headed to the southern terminus for a view of the hillside flats.
Then a T3 across a modern art instillation in the park.
And finally the tram depot.
Next stop was the stadion Josefa Masopusta
FK Baník Most were formed in 1909 and had a pretty modest time for most of their existence. However, a couple of promotions in the 1990s to the Czech second division, then saw sponsorship of the privatised local gasworks, and promotion to the top division.
The ground was opened in 1961, but was heavily refurbished for their rise to the top league.
The stadium was made all seater, with cover on the two touchlines. However, these are now largely redundant as the club has suffered successive relegations.
A quick wander back to the junction of the three lines on the network.
For a final run back to the station.
Which was a proper soviet era beauty, though suspiciously similar to Plymouth North Road.
Our Praha bound service arrived behind a 362.
Into hlavní nádraží, the main station in Praha. A reversal at Ústí nad Labem had seen a class 150 'gorilla' drop onto the train.
With an hour before our next service, Ciaran headed off to a railway book shop at Masarykovo nádraž but I had enough time for a quick spin on another T3 tram.
This took me up to Viktoria Stadion, home of Viktoria Žižkov.
Some building works gave easy access to the ground.
Viktoria are one of the oldest clubs in the Czech Republic, being formed in 1903 when Žižkov was still separate from Praha. They were one of the countries top teams until the outbreak of war, with communism not a good era for the club as they descended to the amateur leagues. However, the 1990s saw them rise back to the top division, where they have been there or thereabouts ever since.
The ground was opened in 1951 and still retains its original grandstand.
The terraces on the other sides have been replaced by open seating.
Overlooking the open touchline is the Žižkov Television Tower. Like a Czech version of Emley.
But no time to dwell and it was back onto another 'Gorilla', these time a ŽSR Slovak railways class 350, on to Zábřeh na Moravě.
This was reliving former haunts, as the line up to Jesenik used to be class 749 turns. A bit of rare traction turned up on our train from Brno, with a CD Cargo 363 continuing with its Šumperk portion.
It had left behind a couple of coaches from which a class 750 diesel dropped on from the loco siding.
First stop was Hanušovice, where we passed the branch service coming the opposite way.
It is home to the Holba brewery. If anyone is thinking of doing a brewery tour when you are not drinking and the tour is completely in a foreign language you don't speak, then a quick tip; don't.
The line passes up through the Praděd mountains, peaking at Ramzová, the second highest station on the Czech railway network and where a number of skiers departed.
However, we were now shrouded in clouds, which seemed to mesmerise Ciaran, who was debating whether or not to head back in time for Reading's game against Barnsley.
We arrived at dusk into our overnight stay at Jeseník. This is a junction station with our train terminating on the right, the branch unit to Zlaté Hory on the left, and in the middle, the service onto Krnov via a short foray into Poland.
As well as being a positioning move for the following day, this also fitted in with football as the local side were playing a friendly, with the ground located across the Bělá River.
Jesenik play in one of the Czech fourth divisions, who strangely don't allow draws, with penalties deciding any games that end as a stalemate. However, it was apparent that the game wasn't being played on the first team pitch.
Nor the second team pitch, with its ornate stand.
Instead it was being played on the 3G training pitch. It also transpired that was an in-house friendly, and with the pitch not even being railed or having dug outs, it was decided to give the game a miss.
Which meant we had a whole evening in a masonic themed hotel, with its endless displays of animal skulls...
...and items left over from your grandparents house clearance.
The next morning, relieved to find that we hadn't joined the skull collection, we were back at the station for the first trains of the day, the 0514 to Krnov.
This involved a short hop over the border into Poland, with a reversal at Głuchołazy.
We alighted back into Czecko at Třemešná ve Slezsku.
The reason for this is that it is the junction for the countries last narrow gauge line run by CD, the state railway operator.
Trains are formed of a very rateable narrow gauge T47 diesels with a single coach, easily accommodating the two of us that were on the 0650 departure.
This took us to the border terminus at Osoblaha.
This was also the location of the loco depot, entered via a gateway still displaying the original Československé státní dráhy flying wings logo.
After a completely unchallenged walk around the loco shed, we headed off into town.
Osoblaha was a sugar producing village, but its position on the border, meant it was the first place that the Soviets encountered Nazi occupiers in Czechoslovakia during WW2, and the previous picturesque dwellings were flattened during the fierce fighting.
The village was rebuilt, but in a very brutalist style, and mainly for the significant army presence that were stationed in the area during the communist era.
However, this had brought the opportunity of watching a game in the Czech armed forces league, which was scheduled for the morning, between Osoblaha Pohranicni Straze, the local border patrol, and the 72nd Mechanized Battalion, based about 30km away in Přáslavice.
Unsurprisingly, the competition doesn't have many updates on its online presence, and when the ground was located, it was apparent that a game wasn't going to be taking place on the main pitch.
What was slightly surprising was to see the plastic pitch under a foot of ice, so it was obvious that this was going to be another blank football day.
So instead we had a quick wander over the border and a visit to Poland.
And then back to the rather distant station.
For the next train back to the main line, this time with a heady load of five people.
We passed the other venue used in the forces league, was relatively clear, but disappointingly, didn't have a game scheduled.
Back into a somewhat lighter but just as cold Třemešná.
A quick shuffle across platforms.
And onto the main line unit.
Leaving the station, we passed the locked down open stock of the narrow gauge line, which is steam hauled during the summer, and keeps the line in business.
A quick change at Krnov...
This was the reason, some relatively rare class 714 haulage.
Rolling stock was four railbus trailers. These have end windows and seating, so it feels like you are being towed along in a caravan.
This took us up the branch to Hlučín. The station is adjacent to the stadium which hosts their third division side, except late running meant it was a quick turn round so no opportunity to visit the ground.
So here instead is FK Úvalno...
...with its strange pitchside fence and stand tucked away, Moor Green style, miles behind the goal.
Another unit move took us down to Ostrava, the countries third largest city. The line south of here is still unelectrified, and has some loco hauled services.
There was time to take one of them down to Frýdek-Místek.
Where there was another 754 move back to Ostrava, for an overnight there.
Next morning and another early start at the city's main station.
This time a class 151 gorilla, heading into Slovakia.
After a loco change at Žilina, it was up through the Kremnica Mountains, with the football ground at Ulanka down below.
Another change at Banská Bystrica, took us down to Zvolen.
Here we had a chance to piss around with the model railway in the forecourt.
And also the timetable rolls that a lot of Slovakian stations still have.
Today was a bit of a goggle fest. This is the name given to the odd looking diesels of the 750/753/754/757 classes. Although not really rated by the British cranks, we seemed to be plagued by the particularly disliked 757s.
We headed east, past another snow covered ground, this time Šid.
Four hours later and into Košice, the biggest city in eastern Slovakia, and quite a line up of loco haulage.
We were on another 757 move.
The reason for this was to find some locos on the broad gauge Uzhhorod–Košice line. This line was built by the Soviets to link their network from Ukraine, with the colossal steelworks at Železiarne. On the Slovakian leg, they are operated by these unique class 125s, which are a broad gauge version of the Polish ET40 double locos. We hunted out a quadruple headed and banked train at Ruskov.
Mission accomplished, we carried onto Humenné, where another 757 took us back for an overnight at Košice.
Despite it being a major industrial city, its historic centre has survived largely intact, and we had a wander around the main square, including the St Elisabeth Cathedral, the largest in Slovakia.
The next morning, and I left Ciaran who had now decided to go back for the Saturday, but missing the Reading v Barnsley game and getting a bed delivered instead, which in hindsight, was probably the best option. A quick tram move took me back to the station.
Where a ZSD class 361 was on a Bratislava service.
This took the northern route to the capital, through the incredibly scenic Tatra mountains.
And the frozen Liptovská Mara reservoir.
The football ground at Važec.
The rather more developed Štadión pod Dubňom home of MŠK Žilina
And the dammed valley of Vodná nádrž Nosice.
However, I was off in the beautiful sunshine at Púchov.
On to the adjacent Prague bound connection, with some more Slovak gorilla haulage.
The first class coach was actually from one of the motorail tarins, and had strange glass partitions to make it a bit open, and a bit compartment, but not really achieving either.
However, it did confirm how far ahead of the game the Europeans are, with bottle openers on the table legs.
To start with I entertained myself with the translation of the warning stickers, "Wrongdoers are liable for the inflicted damage".
But I soon succumbed to a full meal for a whopping 4.5 euros. A very civilised way to travel.
This was the one train a day that heads the secondary way to Praha, through the Moravskoslezské Beskydy mountains. This gives a good view of a number of the small grounds nestled in the villages.
Lúky pod Makytou
Valašská Polanka
Leskovec
Ústí u Vsetína
Onward across the centre of the Czech Republic, and eight hours after departing Kosice, I was into Praha.
It was some class 362 Rychlé eso (Fast Ace) haulage on a Klatovy bound service.
Out across the Vltava.
Passing one of only two only horse racing courses ive seen in Eastern Europe, the other is in north east Belgrade.
I was off at Plzeň, with its wonderfully ornate station and old style station name boards. The city is best known for Pilsner beer, created by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll here in 1842.
I had an onward move to Mariánské Lázně behind a class 242 Plecháč (Tin man). Although the service did carry on to my final destination of Cheb, it had a half hour fester here to connect in with the railcar in from Karlovy Vary, which predictably, didn't produce any passengers wanting our service.
This delay meant that the following express service had caught us up, so I waited for its relative luxury. It was formed of a Czech Pendolino set, who managed to order them ten years before Branson got round to it.
It was into Cheb for an overnight, and the start of a long weekend of European football.
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