The New Shasta Daylight, U.S.A.

 

The Shasta Daylight was a train operated by the  Southern Pacific Railroad, inaugurated on July 10, 1949 between  Oakland, California and Portland, Oregon. It was SP's third "Daylight" lightweight streamlined train. it had a fast 15 hour 30 minute schedule in either direction for the 713 mile trip through some of the most beautiful and spectacular mountain scenery of any train in North America. The Shasta Daylight replaced heavyweight trains on the same route that had required nearly a full day and night to complete the run. The Shasta Daylight was the first  diesel powered Daylight to enter service and the only Daylight to operate interstate. The scenic route of the Shasta Daylight passed its namesake mountain in daylight hours. In fact, the Shasta Daylights ran on the very flanks of  Mount Shasta.

Streamlined Locomotive, France.

 

This stereamlined locomotive has just arrived at Lyon Train Station, Paris in 1937.

Locomotives of Royal Bavarian State Railways, Germany.

The Royal Bavarian State Railways (Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen or K.Bay.Sts.B.) were founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German state railways.with a railway network of 8,526 kilometers by the end of the First World War. Here you see some of the locomotives which have been preserved at the Nuremburg Transport Museum.

Prater Liliputbahn, Austria.

The Prater Liliputbahn is a 381 mm (15 in) gauge light railway in Vienna, Austria. Opened on 1 May 1928, the line runs for almost 4 kilometres around the Prater Park. At its opening it ran for 2 kilometers to the current Rotunda Station. The railway was extended in 1933, almost doubling its length. In the picture are Original Steam Locomotive number 2  (8442)  built in 1928 (top),  Diesel  Locomotive number D 1, built in 1957 (bottom left) and Diesel Locomotive number D 4 originally built in 1967 and re-built in 2009.

Mallet Locomotive 060-4013, Spain.

The Mallet Locomotive is a type of articulated locomotive, invented by a Swiss engineer named Anatolet Mallet (and thus, the name is properly pronounced in the French manner, "Mallay"). 14 Mallet type locomotives beareing nos 060 – 4001/4014  were bought by the Ferrocarril Central de Aragуn, Spain in 1906. They ended its life with RENFE in the late 1960s on Valencia-Utiel. This is locomotive 060-4013 preserved at the Railway Museum at Vilanova I la Geltrъ, Spain.

The Journey of the Little Yellow Train, France.

A small bright yellow train with cherry red trim has meandered its way through the French Catalan Pyrenees in the Languedoc Roussillon region near the Spanish border, connecting remote and isolated mountain villages for over 100 years. Popular with travellers, le train jaune tracks through dramatic alpine scenery over towering bridges, tunnels gouged through the mountains and a number of viaducts. The train departs from the travel wonder medieval village of Villefrance-de-Confluent. The track bends and curls between mountains, ploughing into the inky darkness of a tunnel when no other paths are available. At several points on the journey, the train travels high via bridges and viaducts over the forested valley floor including the vertigo-inducing Séjourné Viaduct with its dramatic double-decker arching. Tiny stations whisk past, the train only stopping at more major stops unless signalled by a passenger to stop. The train needs all its power too as it climbs to Bolquère-Eyne, France’s highest rail station at almost 1600 metres.  The train train crosses a plateau and tumbles down into the final stop at Latour-de-Carol.