Railways - Czech Republic: Illustrated History Books & Guides

Czech and Slovak Railways - Three Decades of Change, 1990-2020s

The Czech Republic and Slovakia emerged as independent countries in 1993, as joint successors of the former Czechoslovakia. Having once been a single country, with a single national railway operator, the change was significant, although both countries, and their railways, still have a lot in common.
Loco types have changed through modernisation and rebuilding, and both countries have retained very different narrow-gauge systems. Both countries have invested in modern fleets, and rail freight has boomed thanks to globalisation and EU membership.

Spanning three decades, this book explores the history of both countries and their railways, and features over 140 pictures, most of which have never been published before.
The book concludes by looking at the ambitious plans for new high-speed networks, connecting both countries, and most of their neighbours by the late 2030s.

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Edel-Stahl - Analog-Fotografie

Museum locomotives delight not only passengers, but also photographers along the route. One of the latter is Joachim Kraus, who regularly seeks out the most beautiful photo spots to capture the steam, diesel and electric locomotives. As a fan of classic analogue photography, he makes elaborate hand prints of each of his subjects.

Pages of the book "Edel-Stahl - Analog-Fotografie"

This illustrated book contains his most beautiful photos, which bring us back to numerous museum locomotives in Germany and the Czech Republic, some of which have not been in use for quite some time. This unique combination offers one thing above all: pure nostalgia.

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Die Knödelpresse - Die Baureihe 180

To "close the electrical gap" on the Dresden-Prague railway line, the DR, together with the Czechoslovakian State Railways (CSD), procured a total of 35 multi-system locomotives, which were to be used on both the 3 kV direct current network of the CSSR and the 15 kV alternating current network of the GDR. The 20 locomotives for the Reichsbahn were given the series designation 230, the CSD classified its 15 machines as series 372. The two railways each received a prototype locomotive in 1988, but series deliveries did not begin until 1991.

With the founding of DB AG, the former Reichsbahn machines were designated series 180 and used together with their Czech sisters in the Elbe valley. With a top speed of 120 km/h, the 180 series was only partially suitable for passenger transport, so a conversion to 160 km/h was considered. The Czech State Railways converted six machines to the new 371 series, while the DB stuck with the conversion of the 180 001.

Since the machines represented a fragmented type in the DB's vehicle fleet, they were soon handed over to DB's freight transport. The first locomotive was retired in 2002 and all machines were completely taken out of service at the timetable change in 2014.
The Thuringian Railway Association has the 180 014 in its museum collection, the remaining locomotives were transferred to the Czech Republic, where they will be used again by private railways after being refurbished.

This image archive presents the technical development of this former DR series and shows its use in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. A look at the Czech variant is also included.

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