 |
PODRÓŻE
do POLSKI by Roelof Hamoen |
| Second trip - year 1978 | |
|
PODRÓŻE
do POLSKI by Roelof Hamoen |
| Second trip - year 1978 | |
|
July 04, 1978 We had a good trip to Berlin, in our sleeper of the Hoek-Warszawa express. There we changed to a fast train to Szczecin. The check at the Polish border passed smoothly: 'Holland OK'. Szczecin didn't change much since 1976. This time we saw a lot of posters with a Soviet and a Polish astronaut, with big flags behind. Our bicycles were sent earlier to Szczecin Glowny, they arrived without any damage. We changed to a slow double-deck train (made in East Germany) to Choszczno. There we would meet our Polish friend Pawel. In 1976 I took a picture of him, being a fireman on Ok22-77 (Nana) in Krzyz. He gave his adress for some pictures. We stayed in contact - despite of language problems. Now we were invited at the farm of his father. But with only a short encounter during an illegal photosession, it would be difficult to recognize him again. Pawel appeared to be inventive: he figured out the connection to our train from Berlin and looked for people with a capitalistic face... As he found two, he showed them an envelope with my adress... Bingo! Because the train was overcrowded, he invited us to the empty driverscabin at the rear. The 'conversation' ended in reading and pointing words in two little dictionaries Polsko-Holenderskich v.v. We made clear that we liked to photograph a steamloco, if possible at the lineside. No problem, the railwayline Choszczno-Glazow (364a) was not far away of Pawels farmhouse. So after the arrival and the warm welcome we disappeared to see one of the few trains on this line. We took our bicycles, guided by Pawel on his motorcycle. After a few minutes we heard the whistle of Ok22-3 with train 11316 from Mysliborz and made a fine picture with a bad track full of weeds. Our guide asked not to leave yet... The surprise was a Ty42 with a freight train from the opposite direction. Back at the farm in Choszczno we were transfered to a totally different world. Not only compared to the countrylife in Holland, but especially to the hospitality. The dinner, with Pawels family and some friends, was VERY special. Only the patatosoup at the start would be enough for two days! But then followed the chicken, other meat, potatos, tomatos, strawberries in syrup, coffee, wodka, more wodka... At home my mother used to say 'don't let any food on your plate', so I tried hard to show the results of my parents' education. 'Dosyc' (enough)!, we said again and again, when all the food on the plate was gone. Afterwards we learned that an empty plate ment you didn't get enough... |
) spy-work yet in Szczecin - Pt47-34
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) a better view was the shunter Tr203-296
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July 05, 1978 The cock waked us - very early indeed. Because of the poor service on line 364a, we took the early bus to Gorzow Wielkopolski (mainline 345 Kostrzyn-Krzyz, part of the 'Ostbahn'). Pawel expected a lot of steamlocos there. And he was right: Ok1, Tr203 and Ty2 made a fine show. Pawel asked for permission to take pics, because we didn't have a permit from Warszawa yet... The uniform gave us 'ten minutes'. On the platform we were surprised by one of the parcels: a dead young stag on a barrow. A better view was the shunter Tr203-296. The driver of Ok1-37, waiting for train 44130 to Zbaszyn, appeared to be very shy: as we tried to take a photograph of the cabin, he hided himself. Unknown in Holland was the combination of a passenger coach and some open freight wagons, train 44159 from Zieleniec pulled by Ty2-897. We travelled back via line 344 to Mysliborz and changed there to train 11316 with Ok22-10 to Choszczno. Pawel tried hard to fulfill all the wishes of his Dutch guests. So the next surprise was the invitation to join the crew of our loco TKt48-187 at a little station, not far from Gorzow (in Wysoka Gorzowska). There was not a big risk of being catched because the train, 11513, was almost empty. Near the signalboxes and stationmasters we could duck away in the spacy cabin of the tenderloco. The speed was terrible low because the state of the track was terrible. The spectators of the film I made on this trip have always been warned that they may become seasick... In Glazow Pt47-173 passed us with train 87921 from Stargard to Kostrzyn. In our coach in the train to Choszczno we got a lot of attention of the guard. Pawel laughed and told us everybody knew he was at the secret service. He didn't seem to be afraid at all, so we weren't either. At the station in our temporary hometown we counted no less than 7 steamlocos, two of them busy with worktrains for the electrification of line 360. Pawel organized a sightseeing by feet through the town. We saw a lot of scars from WW II. J. paid everything, even our 30 postcards. No discussion. Who in Holland would be so mad, sorry - so hospitable?? In the evening history repeated itself on a lower level, which saved our stomach. A neighbour asked to have a look at one of his animals. It appeared to be a mammoth-pig, the biggest we ever saw, which made the farmer a first-prize winner. The proud on his face was very moving. We were really impressed... |
) the driver of Ok1-37 waiting for train 44130 to Zbaszynek appeared to be very shy
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) a morning in a farm
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July 06, 1978 Pawel proposed to join us on our trip to Naklo n. Notecia. There were two reasons for this destination: the narrow-gauge and our photopermit from the railwaymuseum in Warszawa. A few days before departure, I got a telegram in which we were asked to get our permit at the station of Naklo. Our luggage was made heavier with a lot of gifts, as gooseberries, tomatos and bottles of 'spirytus' (spirits, 95%...). From Kalisz Pomorski to Pila (line 365) a Pt47 was at the head of our train. A diesel drove us to Naklo. The fear that something went wrong with our photopermit seemed to be right as we asked a PKP-employee at the platform. 'I do know nothing about it', he said, but made no objections when we wanted to photograph the departure of a freight with Ty43-4, at 16:55 to the west. Then the real stationmaster appeared: mister Kindermann, a very friendly person who loved the bigger type of cigars. Pawel explained to him what we did so far and what we would like to see in Naklo, if possible with the promised paper form Warszawa... Then he took something out of his desk, something with the wellknown emblem of the museum. Relief! A lot of talking - Kindermann spoke a little bit of German - made clear that a brother from Australia was visiting him. And he found out a difference between our two countries after consuming wodka: Dutch people don't drink much... And he advised us against drinking beer, 'because it's not healthy'. When he asked us if we had a place to sleep yet - no - he offered the dormitory for the staff of PKP in the station building of Naklo. We kindly accepted, the window would be a nice position for photos in the morning. Pawel travelled home via Krzyz after a very warm farewell. Then we decided to have a look at the narrow-gauge, 600 mm, at the other side of the station. A lot of freightwaggons and a Romania-build diesel (Lyd2-56 after train 5458) surrounded the modern stationbuilding. This stationmaster 'didn't have anything to do with the stationmaster of the normal gauge' - and our permit - but he was a good guy. He proposed to have a ride with the morning freighttrain to Kasprowo the next day with the last running steamloco. Who could reject such an offer?? As service in return he asked to send a Dutch cigaret-lighter. Chiefs in Naklo seemed to have a special relationship to tabaco... |
) yet without permission - Ty43-4 in Naklo...
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) early in the morning the whistling remembered us that we spent the night in a station building (Ty2-14)
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July 07, 1978 Early in the morning the whistling remembered us that we spent the night in a stationbuilding. With the sun shining, we had a nice look at Ol49-36 with the impressive 7:41 morning train from Pila. The stationmaster of the normal gauge helped us with finding out the inteneraries of the buses, because the original plan was to go to Znin and the narrow-gauge museum in Wenecja. The bus would depart at 11:50, probably impossible to catch. Of course we prefered to take the freight to the countryside north of Naklo. The stationmaster was there again, a nice welcome with photographs - we weren't the first railwayfriends here! - and some stories about the special interest in Switzerland for his railway. After a lot of shunting we could board the guard-wagon at the rare of train: 7 open wagons, loaded with fertilizer, pulled by Tx6-503. Filming was nearly impossible because of the heavy shaking, but we tried near the crossing with the normal gauge of line 424 Naklo-Chojnice, with 'German' semaphores at every corner. It was a wonderful trip. We aimed our cameras to stoks, gooses risking their lifes while crossing the track in front of our train, an airplane spraying poison, horses and so on. At the junction of Kasprowo we had to shunt again. We were asked to go further to Wierzchucin. Real countrylife there, nice pictures with a horse-drawn cart, the church and a little disused frame of a turntable. Back in Kasprowo it was lunchtime, the crew asked us to join them in the 'restaurant': the foot-boards and cabin of the steamloco. Of course the special request fot a COLOUR photo was no problem at all. Don't know if the pics ever reached them... In Naklo we discussed an option to use our bicycles to go to Szubin and there to take a train on line 392 to Znin. The weather was still very fine, so we said yes to ourselves. In Szubin we got permission to take a pic of Ty43-115 and Ol49-87. This train had an attraction in an old postcar. Znin was quite disappointing with only a mini-railcar and T49-115 in the shed of the narrouw-gauge. A diesel brought us back to Naklo. After filling our stomach with soup we photographed two funny things: a gasstation with 'CPN' (in Holland the communist party) and propaganda - information - from 'PPR' (communist party in Poland, but a smal left-wing party in Holland). The train to Bydgoszcz was diesel again. Here we changed to an overcrowded nighttrain to the south. |
) Ol49-36 with the impressive 7.41 a.m. train from Pila
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) the local train Tarnowskie Gory - Fosowskie, in Tworog Brynek about 13:44
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July 08, 1978 We arrived in a bad shape in Tarnowskie Gory, in the northtern part of the Upper Silesia area of coalmines. In the local train to Fosowskie, with TKt48-69, we could recover a bit. Our hope to see the last active OKl27 didn't come out. Only the dirty no. 50 waited for scrap. But the good thing was that we got the permission to aim our cameras at four TKt48 in the shed. This one wasn't written in our photopermit. One of the workers told us that Polish people were allowed to travel to the West, but only could take 20 German marks with them. 'You can't buy anything with that money!' He was right, probably an example of discouraging these travel plans. The very nice weather tempted us to a short bicycleride in the woods around Fosowskie. That's why we had our bikes with us: to photograph a steamloco at the lineside. It made possible a quick departure, then not every crew was sympathic with railfriends. The driver sometimes warned the police at the next station. Taking photos of trains, bridges, stations was strictly forbidden. So our fingers sometimes trembled a bit on the release-button... We had a suspect of being victims of a telltale as we saw a policeman with an angry looking dog at the platform. We were glad sitting in a train that just left the station of Fosowskie as we saw this couple! Our train, dep. 13:01, had a TKt48 at the front and the back. The guard, nor the very friendly crews at the locos, didn't make any objection when we wanted to photograph a crossing with a third Tkt48. So maybe the angry dog was only a coincidence... In Tarnowskie Gory we had an another advantage of our bikes: by riding on the platform, sorry PKP, we catched an electric train to Katowice which just arrived. The guard spoke French (!) and liked the cigar we offered him. We sticked to our peanuts. From the train window we saw a lot of forbidden fruit, like the big Ty246 with long coaltrains. The time we gained in Tarnowskie Gory was lost again near Katowice because of an electric failure. With the low speed we had a good view of new and (very) old factories, derailed coal wagons and the weeds between the tracks. We arrived 90 minutes late. A bed in a studenthouse was the next - and last - destination of this day. |
) TKt48-69
finally arrived to Fosowskie about 11:24 a.m.
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) dumped Ty246-24
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July 09, 1978 This day we wanted to visit the first shed named in the permit: Pyskowice. Our local train departed 9:25 from Katowice and would arrive in Szczecin (!) at 22.55. The ride from the station to the shed was only a few minutes. We parked our bikes near the office. A driver offered us a tour. In steam mainly Ty45 in the roundhouse. Dumped Ty246-24 and the pre-war Ty23-191. Also TKt48-12 with a double-decktrain at the marshalling yard. At the other side we looked down to the 'Sandbahn' which had own locos, as a Ty51. The signalboxes of Pyskowice still had their German characteristics, a good background for the Ty45s on this rainy day. In the house of the turntable we sheltered together with a steamfriend form Switzerland and plead for free photography in the guestbook. Our guide/driver told us he earned 5500 zlotys each month, the rent for his house was 5000. He came from Malbork to get more money. As in Holland in earlier days, poverty made a lot of people alcoholist. We got a proof of that as we met a very agressive man near the turntable. Speaking loud he laied one of his arms on my back but showed no friendship at all: he tried to push me to the ground. Herman and the railfriend form Switzerland pulled him aside. I was glad not to be alone. He refused to leave the shed, so we looked for the master of the shed. This man forced him to go. We heard that he was in this position only since a week. His predecessor was fired and expelled from the communist party because of... alcoholism! As we took our bicycles again we noticed some damage: I missed the frontlamp and the dynamo, from Herman's bike a toothed wheel was broken. He could use his bike only as a luggage carrier. |
) ) dumped pre-war Ty23-191
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| July 10, 1978 Another thing went wrong: Herman missed his pasport. Now had to go to the Dutch embassy in Warszawa. In the morning we did some shopping in a very rainy Katowice. The wellknown Pickwick tea was three times more expensive than the normal 'herbata'. There was no milk available, but a lot of both Coke and Pepsi Cola. This day we travelled via Krakow to Skarzysko Kamienna. The train was overcrowded again, we had to stand in gangway. We had a nice conversation with a Polish boy who studied Spanish and would visit the Netherlands the next week and hoped to earn some money with a job. In his opinion Polish students had more freedom to do these things than students in the German Democratic Republic or the Soviet Union. He studies Spanish with 50 other students. He wants to be a translator. His girlfriend is Spanish and studies Polish in Krakow, so they corrected eachother all the time... The youth hostel in Skarzysko, a schoolbuilding, was closed. The hotel near the station was more expensive but a better option: the whole night we enjoyed the whistle of the shunter, a Ty51. As the American example Ty246 they had the wonderful sound which we only knew from the Westerns. In a garden near the platforms was standing an another attraction: an armoured train from WW II. |
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| July 11, 1978 At 8.00 we departed in a local train to Warszawa to get a new pasport for Herman. For the way back we weren't able to purchase tickets. So we had to buy them from the guard. He asked to wait for a while. He came back as we were almost the only passengers left in our waggon. We had to pay 50 Zloty extra each, but got no tickets. So we doubted if the PKP was the only winner in this case. At the hotel room we tried our own Indonesian rice and soup, both taken from home as powder. Next time we would go to a restaurant again, even if there was noting else than 'bigos'... |
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) first came the very dirty Ty51-174 with a passenger train to Lukow (15.34)
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July 12, 1978 Back to the steamtrains. First a long ride to
Radom and Deblin, a place full of uniforms of all types
and... steam! Although the temptation to take photos was
very big, we decided to keep the camera in the bag. I
wanted to make a pic of the last Pt31s at the I went out some stations further near Leopoldow, with my bike. As the train was gone, I saw where I really was: in front of a huge armycamp! But the first question - by hand and feet, no guns - of a young soldier was if he could help me. The old black Dutch bicycle was a big attraction to the company and the laughter made the atmosphere pleasant enough. About five kilometers from the armycamp I found a very nice spot for both directions near an unguarded level crossing. Nobody would notice me in the wood. First came the the very dirty Ty51-174 (instead of Pt31) with a passenger train to Lukow (15:34) and then - nice looking Pt31-8 with a passenger train to Deblin (16:40). Aware of the special photo I've just made, I decided to take no risk with the film and snapped it off with touristic matters as a cornfield, horses and a statue of Maria. If the police or the army would arrest me, I would have an empty film in the camera... In a little village I ate some soup. My hart was beating much harder as a policeman on a motorcycle arrived. He came in and took a chair behind me. He ordered something and started to eat. No interest in me... Pffff. A Pt31 was the star on my train back to Deblin, where Herman waited for me and helped me to unload the bike. In an overcrowded train we travelled back to oure 'base' Skarzysko K. |
) and nice looking Pt31-8 with a passenger train to Deblin (16.40)
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) streets of Katowice |
July 13, 1978 Hailstorms with lightning attacked our 8:02 fast train to Kielce. We felt a little bit home again with all the water on the floor of the train. In Katowice Herman wanted to go to the police to ask if someone had found his original pasport. He believed he lost it in this town. I would travel on with his luggage to get two beds in the youth hostel of Kedzierzyn for 24 zloty each. At the station I waited for Herman. I enjoyed the time on the station but didn't see any OKl27 or Ty37, the types we hoped to see here. In the waiting room I joined the audience of a French film about a policebrigade. When it was finished, 40 people left the room and only 5 stayed. PKP as a cinema! One of them tried to change money illegaly with the now very wellknown gesture of 'change?' with the thumb and forefinger. Herman arrived at ten o'clock. He had suffered a lot of delays and lost connections because of the heavy weather. In the youth hostel - a school again - we had a nice time with a lady who understood German but didn't speak it and a little boy who only wanted to sleep if we made a nice painting with 'greetings from Holland'. So we did. |
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) not bad luck: an Ok22
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July 14, 1978 We got up early to photograph one of the few steamtrains to Strzelce. But no luck again: we lost our way. We wished we could buy some maps... On the way back to the station we photographed some people on the street, who didn't appreciate this at all. At 11:20 we departed with a brand new diesel, built in 1977, for Kamice. We've met some good looking Ty2's, TKt48 and Pt47. In Swidnica I tried to find a youth hostel. But there were no free beds left. So we had to pay much more for the city hotel, 240 zloty's each. Though the weather wasn't very good, we tried to spot some trains near the town. Not bad luck: an Ok22 crossed a TKt48. The town itself was interesting as well. A lot of old houses were demolished and rebuild, exept the historic front. A marvellous job! But here too people were queuing to get some of the daily needs in the shops. |
) a lot of old houses were demolished and rebuild, except the historic front...
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) Jaworzyna
Slaska - only Ty2s
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July 15, 1978 The shed of Jaworzyna, also in our permit, was busy but not very interesting. Only Ty2s! The TKt48 and Pt47 at the station didn't appear in the shed, as we hoped. The master of the shed asked for a pasport. Herman was allowed to use his youth-hostel card as an ID... Accompanied by two (!) policemen we walked around. They were in a hurry because their shift was almost finsihed. They thought or hoped we would leave after seeing two or three Ty2's. 'Only Ty2 here' they repeated. But we weren't satisfied yet, so they asked someone from the office to stay with us. This man disappeared soon and from than we had all the time for ourselves... Near the roundhouse old Prussian two/three-axle passenger wagons were being scrapped. Warlike pictures were made at a shed without the roof. Near the depot passed a lot of passenger and freight trains. Yes: all puled by Ty2. We talked to a worker who had an aunt in Canada. He wanted to show his knowledge of English, like 'nice', 'good' or 'yes, yes'. But it was more than we could say in Polish... We were invited to take dinner with his family. It was a pity that our travel plans made it impossible. Our double-deck train to Legnica was
headed by a diesel. Legnica had a very nice roof for the
platforms. It was a little bit like Dresden Neustadt, one
of our favourites. At the shed three Ok1's and some
diesels were lazy. Most trains were diesel. The evening
in the youth hostel went fast with the songs and
guitarplaying of some students from Gliwice. Until two
o'clock we |
) near the roundhouse old Prussian two/three-axle passenger wagons were being scrapped
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| July 16, 1978 The tables were turned in the morning: the Polish student drank Pickwick tea, we - the real Polish 'herbata'. At the station my camera didn't work for a while, so no pics of the nice station for me. After buying some food and drinks it was time to say goodbye to Herman. He liked to see some of the good looking steamlocos in Czechoslovakia. I prefered the route via Berlin. A SM42-diesel pulled my train from Legnica to Poznan with both bicycles in the luggagevan, because Legnica wasn't able to send them back to Holland. In Poznan it was no problem. In my compartment the life was going on. In Wroclaw a very fat lady with a severe look sat down in front of me. She was very nervous and put a thing on every seat around me. Later the reason became clear: her husband, and a baby entered the compartment. The baby gazed me all the time with big glassy eyes. Maybe Fellini had liked it... First thing to do in Poznan was to bring the two bikes to the luggage office. Not an easy job with the backpack and photobag also to carry. Happy to see that Ok1 and Pt47 still were present at the mainstation. |
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) Ty2-832 with one two-axle wagon of German origin |
July 17, 1978 Today the woods around Miedzychod were the reason to sit in the double-deck train with a diesel which left Poznan 8:20. Leaving the train in Miedzychod, I saw a Ok1 shunting. Hidden on the stairs of a platform tunnel, I could make a picture. But the fireman saw my camera and shouted some angry words in Polish. I was happy to have my bike with me, it made it possible to leave this unpleasant station and look for a spot in the wonderful woods with small lakes. Even more exciting was the cross of two steamtrains around two o'clock. The 'echo' of whistles in the woods was superb. So were the trains: Ty2-832 with one two-axle wagon of German origin and well painted Ok1-180 with double-deck wagons and with a driver who hated railwayfriends. He shouted a Polish word I understood as 'forbidden', so it was wise to leave the spot. Some kilometers further I met a freighttrain on a high dam with an unexpected Ty45. That was it for this day, half past eight back in Poznan. There I enjoyed the departure of Ok1-180 (20:50) and a Ol49 (21:34). The youth hostel was full of noisy children now. |
) and well painted Ok1-180 with double-deck wagons and the driver who hated railwayfriends |
) a nice Pt47 was coming by, but a difficult decision had to be made, then from other direction came a Ty43 with freight! |
July 18, 1978 The plan for making linesidepics near Poznan couldn't carry out. There seemed to be maneouvres with tanks and police passing the best photospots. A train I accepted with Ty5 had a diesel instead, so not much lost. The old tramway was an alternative. And the strawberries someone sold in the citycentre, very good taste. Pausing in a park near a railwaybridge I suddenly heard a steamwhistle. A nice Pt47 was coming by, but a difficult descision had to be made then from the other direction came a Ty43 with freight! Which one first? It didn't matter because both locos crossed exactly under my feet! The photo of an Ok1 arriving at 17:41 was impossible with the strong sunlight from the 'wrong' side. |
) both locos crossed exactly under my feet |
| July 19, 1978 A Polish biology teacher in the youth hostel wanted to know a lot about Holland. It was a big pitty to him that he couldn't visit the country because of the high costs. This last day in Poland showed a Pt47 shunting in the station of Poznan Glowny. The fast train to Berlin was late and departed from an another platform. But other things went well and half past four I entered the tourist office near the station Berlin Zoo to get a cheap bed. Two days more with Pacifics in Berlin and than three weeks of working to pay back the debts I made for this tour... |
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