Czech Railways

5th April 2005

My interest in Czech Railways was aroused by the sight of "strange beasties from over the border" into Gmund in Austria. The regular locomotive in steam days was 556.0506 a modern 2-10.0 tender loco which tripped freight and passenger services from the former Gmund Hbf (now Ceske Velenice) over to Gmund NO.

556.0506 was replaced by the CSD T669.1 series, generally T669.1078 which was renumbered 771.078. Other classes of loco over the years have been T466.0 (class 735), T478.1 and T478.4 (classes 751 and 754).

A figurative "stones throw" from Litschau, at the end of one of the northern 760mm gauge branches, is Nova Bystrice (Neubistritz). This is the end of a 760mm gauge branch from Jindrichuv Hradec (Neuhaus), fomerly a CSD operation, but now operated by JHMD.

For the record CSD (Czech & Slovak Railways) was split into CD and ZSR when the countries broke Czechoslovakia apart.