Are We Desperate Then?

“ Are We Desperate Then?”

SLB Vs72 (ex ÖBB 2095.004) arriving at Tischlerhäusl on 13/08/2008 with train R3311 10:14 Mittersill - Zell am See Having spent many hours getting my Austrian Beer Guide into a printable draft condition, I thought this was a good enough reason to plan another trip to Austria. The Desperate tour gave me a date to aim at although I had to use a week of annual leave and two floating days which would still mean missing the first day of the tour. Still, with RiotScare again providing June & me with a cheap way of exiting the country (it cost more to drive to/from Stansted and park the car for six days than it did for our two return flights!), we were able to plan a few days after the tour for ourselves and book back on the Wednesday night flight to Stansted.

Friday 08/08/2008 We had both managed a few hours sleep before our very early departure from home at 00:50 which of course saw us have a faultless journey and therefore arrive in plenty of time for flight. An extra hour in bed was very tempting but I’m sure that bloke called Sod would have entered into the equation then! He turned up anyway as we somehow managed to get an extra passenger on board our flight compared with the computer manifest which then took almost an hour to sort out. This got me sweating a bit for our train from Salzburg to Graz but luckily the flight had a very slack schedule so we touched down at 10:00 and only just missed the 10:05 trolleybus into town. After buying our tickets from the machine, we got asked by a couple where the trolleybus was going so I confirmed it was going to the Hbf and took them to the machine and showed them how to use it. Realising that I had been before they asked me why I came to Austria so I said to drink beers. Instead of withering them, I got withered when the bloke told me he was part of a brewing family! It turned out that he lived in London with his British wife but he was from Sweden and the rest of his family were still brewing in Sweden. I decided that revenge was in order and withered him with my Austrian beer guide – I knew it was worth printing off. He promised to e-mail me as I’m very keen on learning more about Scandinavian beers and would also love to run a tour in Sweden. We arrived at the Hbf by 10:35 so still had time for breakfast and to raid the hole in the wall before bagging a compo on IC517 to Graz. I was surprised to see the train formed entirely with DB ex IR stock (so no plug points) and disappointed to see a dud 1044 dropping onto the front. Denzil sent me a text letting me know how the tour was doing although I’d already heard that it was likely to suffer from some fairly major operational problems during the weekend. We had quitea relaxing journey, keeping the compo to ourselves but we did lose 25 minutes waiting connections. As the Ibis hotel is next to the Hbf, we still had time to in before my planned move at 16:04 with the STLB 2016. Sadly, it dropped for a normal ÖBB machine but it was a winner and I worked out a move including a very swift walk from Graz Don Bosco to Graz Wetzelsdorf to cover the five GKB diesel turns. I met back up with June as planned at 18:05 (yes, she had been shopping) for the bus to Haslau and a visit to Brauhäusl am Steinberg. We were both quite impressed with the place, enjoying the beers and even having time to eat before the last bus back to the Hbf at 19:25. We decided to continue the trend by heading to Frohnleiten to visit the two brewpubs there although this meant suffering a unit on the way out. Never mind, it would be out of the way by the time we were coming back. We arrived in a thunderstorm but after a short wait decided to brave the elements for the short walk to s’Kloane Sudhaus. The place was a mixed result as the beers were very enjoyable but the place itself had the feel of a usual bar / meeting place rather than a brewpub. We decided to push on after one pint as the €5 for 0.5ltr had burnt a bit of a hole in my pocket and the rain had died down so walked up to the main square for a beer in Frohnleitner Hofbräu. This place is also strange as it is part of a four star hotel but the prices were much less than s’Kloane! The rain had stopped by the time we headed back to the station but I failed to get a loco hauled train back to Graz as it was another 4024. We had planned on turning in to catch up on some sleep but rather typically we stopped for a chat with some of the tour passengers in the Ibis bar which then turned into a beer. For the first time ever in an Ibis, the bert said that our beer token was only valid for a small glass of beer so started to pour a draught Gösser. After a rant by a few of us, he agreed to do us bottles of Fürstenbräu Zwickel instead. 

RyanAir EI-DAK 06:30 Stansted airport - Flughafen Salzburg 09:25 FR304 06:30 Stansted airport - Flughafen Salzburg ÖBB 1044.034 11:15 Salzburg Hbf - Bischofshofen 11:55 IC517 11:15 Salzburg Hbf - Graz Hbf ÖBB 1016.047 12:13 Bischofshofen - Selzthal 13:40 IC517 11:15 Salzburg Hbf - Graz Hbf ÖBB 1116.275 13:50 Selzthal - Graz Hbf 15:25 IC517 11:15 Salzburg Hbf - Graz Hbf ÖBB 1142.628 13:50 Selzthal - Graz Hbf 15:25 IC517 11:15 Salzburg Hbf - Graz Hbf ÖBB 2016.080 16:04 Graz Hbf - Graz Don Bosco 16:07 R4716 16:04 Graz Hbf - Fehring GKB 2015.002 16:19 Graz Wetzelsdorf - Graz Webling 16:22 8419 16:14 Graz Hbf - Köflach GKB 2015.006 16:37 Graz Webling - Graz Köflachbahnhof 16:43 8426 15:52 Köflach - Graz Hbf GKB 2015.003 17:06 Graz Köflachbahnhof - Graz Wetzelsdorf 17:09 8571 17:04 Graz Hbf - Wies Eibiswald GKB 2015.001 17:40 Graz Wetzelsdorf - Graz Köflachbahnhof 17:43 8428 16:52 Köflach - Graz Hbf GKB 2015.005 17:53 Graz Köflachbahnhof - Graz Hbf 17:55 8578 16:33 Wies Eibiswald - Graz Hbf ÖBB EMU 20:05 Graz Hbf - Frohnleiten 20:31 ???? 19:10 Spielfeld Straß - Bruck an der Mur ÖBB EMU 22:27 Frohnleiten - Graz Hbf 22:53 ???? 22:06 Bruck an der Mur - Graz Hbf Saturday 09/08/2008 My first day of the tour started with an alteration from the original plan due to OBB declining access to Graz Hbf all weekend. Instead our stock was attached to the rear of IC153 to Spielfeld Strass where 664.102 was waiting to go on the front and 2050.04 on the rear. It wasn’t long before we headed into the buffet coach to give Suzi & Marcus a bit of trade. The 2050 wasn’t allowed to work in Slovenia so we had a straight forward run from Spielfeld Strass to Bleiburg via a stop outside Maribor works for photos. The line to Bleiburg was a bit of a stagger but I’d scored the 664, the route was very scenic and the Eipeltauer beer was now going down well. After some photos at Bleiburg of the two green diesels side by side, we set off for Klagenfurt as our original route to St Paul (to go to Lavamünd) was closed due to engineering work. This did however give us a run under the wires to Zeltweg for my first new Austrian loco on the tour – 2068.048 along the branch to Pöls. Next stop was Knittelfeld for a visit to the museum which had laid on some food and drink along with having the steam crane and miniature railway in operation for rides. The break was enjoyable as it gave a chance to relax a bit as well as having a seminar phot with the 2050. The food was good and the BBQ style setting meant that we were able to sit and jeer and the more desperate of our passengers who had a spin on the childrens miniature railway which wasn’t without incident as one trip slipped to a stand and the final run derailed! From Knittelfeld, 1063.024 was provided for the journey to Leoben Hbf for the final short branchline trip to Leoben Donawitz before the train terminated. This wasn’t however the end of the days entertainment as while some of us were waiting for a beer in the bar across the road from the station, we were kept amused by a couple having a mega argument outside the station. Well, the old girl was arguing, having a right go at the bloke with the hand that wasn’t holding the can of lager! The bloke though was a star and took it all in his stride, even when she gave him a good thump. Eventually she stormed off past the bar followed very casually by the bloke a few minutes later so we couldn’t resist giving him a standing ovation! We had reserved coaches on the IC to Graz as our stock was stabling at Leoben for the night. I tried to whip a few people up to join me at Dombräu but most were either too tired to head into town or had been the night before. Messrs Bates & Morrison joined me on the tram after we’d worked out how to get a ticket. Despite offering a day ticket (€3.60), it can’t be bought from the machines in the Hbf and the tram stops and trams do not have machines so you have to resort to the old fashioned method of buying one from the driver – a brilliant way to hold things up and create congestion in the tram (single ticket is €1.80). It was worth the trouble though as the place was fairly quiet (except for a few others off the tour) and the beer was good. The only disappointment was not getting to try the Weissbier as they run out after the first round when I had gone for a Dunkel. I then had a further problem in the hotel as June’s room keycard had failed earlier so she had mine and unfortunately she’d nodded off so after failing to wake her I had to head back downstairs and ask for another keycard!

ÖBB 1016.015 06:55 Graz Hbf - Spielfeld Straß 07:28 IC153 06:55 Graz Hbf - Maribor SŽ 664.102 08:12 Spielfeld Straß - Bleiburg 11:15 9134 08:12 Spielfeld Straß - Bleiburg ÖBB 2050.004 12:00 Bleiburg - Zeltweg 15:20 SR19804 12:00 Bleiburg - Zeltweg ÖBB 2068.048 15:30 Zeltweg - Pöls 15:55 SR19806 15:30 Zeltweg - Pöls ÖBB 2050.004 16:10 Pöls - Zeltweg 16:35 SR19807 16:10 Pöls - Zeltweg ÖBB 2050.004 16:45 Zeltweg - Knittelfeld 16:53 SR19808 16:45 Zeltweg - Leoben Hbf ÖBB 1063.024 18:23 Knittelfeld - Leoben Hbf 19:00 SR19808 16:45 Zeltweg - Leoben Hbf ÖBB 2050.004 19:15 Leoben Hbf - Leoben Donawitz 19:23 SR19809 19:15 Leoben Hbf - Leoben Donawitz ÖBB 1063.024 19:40 Leoben Donawitz - Leoben Hbf 19:47 SR19810 19:40 Leoben Donawitz - Leoben Hbf ÖBB 1116.122 20:41 Leoben Hbf - Graz Hbf 21:25 IC613 15:35 Innsbruck Hbf - Graz Hbf

Sunday 10/08/2008 We were able to have a bit more of a lie in compared to Saturday as the train to Leoben for the tour was at 08:35 and June’s train to Wien was at 09:26. She was flagging the tour in favour of a day in Wien but was hoping to meet up with us later in the day to help us finish off the wine. After boarding the tour, it was straight to the buffet for breakfast again followed by Weissbier that Marcus had obtained the previous evening to help bolster the dwindling supplies. I hadn’t been over the Zeltweg – Wolfsberg line since May 1999 and had forgotten what an excellent line it is so it’s a shame that it has such a poor train service now. The excellent scenery and gradients made for a good run off the 2050 as well as some good photo stops. The NBik loco was waiting at St Paul but wasn’t running or positioned so we’d lost quite a bit of time by our arrival at Lavamünd. The 383 was quite similar to a 2067 although actually built by MAVAG/Voest for Linz steelworks. The future of this line seems uncertain, possibly due to a combination of lack of traffic, poor track (one bridge has a 5kph restriction with no stopping allowed on it) and the new Klagenfurt – Graz line under construction (which will bypass St Paul). The run back north to Mixnitz gave us more opportunity for thrash from the 2050, most of which was spent in the buffet car finishing off the beer supplies and enjoying the Gulasch. The narrow gauge Mixnitz - St Erhard line is normally freight only but they run occasional passenger specials. Their loco fleet comprises E1 & E2, very old 4 wheel steeple cab electrics and two much newer Bo-Bo centre cab electrics E3 & E4 which work the majority of the trains. As some people had been before, they were hoping for the rarer E1 & E2 but on arrival, we viewed our train with E3 & E4 top and tail while the other two were boxed in by a rake of freight wagons. This led to a bit of winding up, especially with Denzil as he’d had both loco’s before but all was not lost as on our return we had time for a quick shunt with us sat on some flat wagons. Unfortunately, the rarest loco is E1 which is currently restricted due to a traction motor failure so despite both loco’s being involved in the shunt, only E2 powered. We’d managed to pick up time during the visit despite having a seminar at the magnesite mine and stopping for phots on the return run .We departed Mixnitz on time so I sent June a text to let her know and ask how she was getting on. She was looking on coming down to Gloggnitz to join the tour but I then discovered that we were knocking out a couple of stops to try to get back to Wien an hour earlier and as Gloggnitz was a pathing stop it now couldn’t be guaranteed. This meant that June had to wait for us at Wiener Neustadt Hbf so Sods law we stopped at Gloggnitz for about 15 minutes. Geri invited us into the “Austrian” coach for the final part of the tour to enjoy the 2050 thrash and have a wine social. The 2050 sounded excellent in the hills and for extra amusement we played tag with a freight for a while on the bi-directional tracks. June was waiting patiently for us at Wiener Neustadt where our train had been announced with the added “do not join” so she got a few strange looks from the waiting punters when she was welcomed on board with a glass of wine! She’d had a good day, spending the first part wandering around the city and the second part at the zoo where she had managed to get some excellent photo’s, particularly of the big cats and polar beers. All too soon, we reached Meidling, the official end of the tour and my eagle eyes noticed that the Passau Erlebniszug was coming in late so we leapt over to the platform only to discover a winning 1044 but on the Bratislava. Needless to say, the Passau was a dud Gale so we headed for the U-bahn and our Ibis hotel near Westbahnhof for a well earned rest.

ÖBB 1142.612 08:35 Graz Hbf - Leoben Hbf 09:18 IC512 08:35 Graz Hbf - Innsbruck Hbf ÖBB 2050.004 09:25 Leoben Hbf - St. Paul 11:25 SR19815 09:25 Leoben Hbf - Lavamünd NBik 383.010 11:40 St. Paul - Lavamünd 12:15 SR19815 09:25 Leoben Hbf - Lavamünd NBik 383.010 12:35 Lavamünd - St. Paul 13:10 SR19814 12:35 Lavamünd - Mixnitz Bärenschützkl ÖBB 2050.004 13:25 St. Paul - Mixnitz Bärenschützkl 15:50 SR19814 12:35 Lavamünd - Mixnitz Bärenschützkl MStE E4 xx:xx Mixnitz - St Erhard xx:xx ???? xx:xx Mixnitz - St Erhard MStE E3 xx:xx St Erhard - Mixnitz xx:xx ???? xx:xx St Erhard - Mixnitz MStE E2 xx:xx Shunt @ Mixnitz xx:xx ----- xx:xx Shunt @ Mixnitz ÖBB 2050.004 19:10 Mixnitz Bärenschützkl - Wien Meidling 22:41 SR19816 19:10 Mixnitz Bärenschützkl - Wien Meidling

Monday 11/08/2008 I decided to get up in time to cover the Bratislava turn out of Westbahnhof in case the Gale had stuck from yesterday and luckily it had. Myself and Richard Morrison headed round to Meidling where I baled and he was joined by Denzil and Simon Kemp for the run into Slovakia. Snowy was also around but I said I wanted to view an inbound diesel turn which he told me was already in. I shot off to the right platform and boarded just in time, which was just as well with it being a winner. Jools was on board and I thought that Snowy was also going to join us but he said he was waiting to view a late running inbound IC. Despite a slight door farce on arrival at Süd, I managed to leap straight back to Meidling on a required Taurus and as I got off, the IC rolled in with a mixed pair including a required 1144 so it was back to Süd for me! I then jumped on the next tram 18 at Südtirolerplatz and headed back to the hotel to help June with the bag packing before wandering over to Westbahnhof for breakfast and the 10:44 IC to St. Pölten Hbf. Most of the platform level kiosks at Westbahnhof have closed so the nearby Anker was heaving. Instead we headed back downstairs to the one next door to the pizza shack which was almost empty of customers. We’d decided to stay a night in St. Pölten as this would allow us to visit a nearby brewpub as well as covering the St. Aegyd 2143 turn and the narrow gauge 2095 turn. We booked into the Graf and after sorting our things out we headed back to the station where I realised too late that I’d left my camera in the room. Required 2095.011 was on the Laubenbachmühle which was good news for Snowy as he’d been intending on joining us hoping for 2095.007 but had been caught out by the bussing of the local trains. I decided to cover the narrow gauge later in favour of heading to the brewpub in Traisen and then onto St Aegyd for low km 2143.068 (thanks for the gen Geri!). The Gasthof Linko is only a few minutes walk from Traisen Markt station but we still managed to view a car crash on the way when only the first car managed to stop at a zebra crossing. They had two beers on and we also decided to have a quick soup before heading back to the station. Just as we were leaving, bert asked me if I wanted to look at the brewery but it would have meant missing the train and the next one was a tight connection onto the 2143 so I had to turn him down. As the 2143 was still parked up at St Aegyd, we continued through to Markt St. Aegyd for the last bit of track (the onward line having closed years ago) and a wander back through town, picking up some water and ice creams on the way. The 2143 was now running so I used June’s camera phone to get a few pictures of it shunting before wandering over the road for a quick beer. The run was enjoyable although the first section is downhill so would’ve been better in the other direction but after getting delayed en route, the driver thrashed the diesel well to try to make up some time. Surprisingly and unfortunately for Snowy who wasn’t around, the 2095 had been swapped and number 7 was on the second trip. I wasn’t going to complain as it was still required but as June was flagging a bit I just did a leap to Alpenbahnhof and walked back via an internet shop to confirm our RiotScare “web check in” booking. After a few moves to pick up a required 1144 that I’d viewed earlier, I met back up with June for a meal in the Graf (including a draught Egger Zwickl) before crashing out.

ÖBB 1044.033 08:14 Wien West - Wien Meidling 08:27 IC405 08:14 Wien West - Kosice ÖBB 2016.042 08:30 Wien Meidling - Wien Süd 08:35 REX2794 06:39 Oberwart - Wien Süd ÖBB 1116.156 08:38 Wien Süd - Wien Meidling 08:44 R9709 08:38 Wien Süd - Payerbach Reichenau ÖBB 1116.145 08:17 Wien Meidling - Wien Süd 08:22 IC658 05:30 Graz Hbf - Wien Süd ÖBB 1144.261 08:17 Wien Meidling - Wien Süd 08:22 IC658 05:30 Graz Hbf - Wien Süd DB 101.014 10:44 Wien West - St. Pölten Hbf 11:27 OIC548 10:44 Wien West - Salzburg Hbf ÖBB DMU 12:32 St. Pölten Hbf - Traisen Markt 13:02 REX6712 12:32 St. Pölten Hbf - Markt St. Aegyd ÖBB DMU 14:02 Traisen Markt - Markt St. Aegyd 14:44 REX6714 13:32 St. Pölten Hbf - Markt St. Aegyd ÖBB 2143.068 15:44 St. Aegyd am Neuwalde - St. Pölten Hbf 17:11 R6791 15:44 St. Aegyd am Neuwalde - St. Pölten Hbf ÖBB 2095.007 17:34 St. Pölten Hbf - St. Pölten Alpenbahnhof 17:38 R6813 17:34 St. Pölten Hbf - Laubenbachmühle ÖBB 1142.613 18:33 St. Pölten Hbf - Prinzersdorf 18:39 R2078 18:33 St. Pölten Hbf - Amstetten ÖBB 1116.272 18:55 Prinzersdorf - St. Pölten Hbf 19:01 REX1641 18:09 Amstetten - Wien West ÖBB 1144.264 19:04 St. Pölten Hbf - Pöchlarn 19:27 REX1636 18:04 Wien West - St. Valentin ÖBB 1144.228 19:53 Pöchlarn - St. Pölten Hbf 20:22 R2087 19:23 Amstetten - St. Pölten Hbf

Tuesday 12/08/2008 Having found out the previous evening that there was a winning 1099 out vice EMU, I got up for an earlier breakfast than planned so I could do a 1099 out to Obergrafendorf for my winner back in. This would give me a +7 onto the Innsbruck train but June said that she would check us out of the hotel and meet me on the platform. The 1099 left late as it was held for the slightly late IC from Wien so I decided to play safe and bale at Alpenbahnhof which would at least allow me the chance of a few photos in the sun. Five 1099’s are dumped in a row down the side of the shed (3,5,6,9 & 12), three were inside the shed (7,16 & 10), two were possibly out of use (1 & 4) with the others in running condition (8,11,13). 2095.013 and 007 were parked down the side of the shed while 2095.011 was running and after photting it the driver got in and started some shunting. Well, having missed it the day before, I thought it would be rude to turn down a quick spin up and down the yard in the stock.  Afterwards I continued my photting, saying hello to everyone and chatting with one guy about the numberless brown 1099 in the shed (1099.010 undergoing heavy overhaul) before postioning myself to phot 1099.014 arriving. Just before it arrived, a bert came over and started ranting at me because I wasn’t wearing a HV – good job I hadn’t met him 20 minutes earlier! The 1099 rolled in ten late so I was on a -3 and as we came round the curve towards the platform, out it went – cheers! Needless to say, the following IC was six minutes late. This meant a re-hash of the plans so we did the IC to Linz and went to the internet café to look up some hotels around Kufstein on HRS. The old Speednet café is a now a proper café which has three free internet terminals (as long as you buy something) but it doesn’t have a printer so after booking our hotel, I wandered over to the Ibis to use their terminal to print off our boarding passes for the flight home. When we arrived at Zell am See, we were greeted by the sight of a rather full single car dmu on the Mittersill service – not what I was hoping for. The driver told me that the only loco hauled trains were now the 08:49 & 10:49 departures in the morning (the 16:49 & 18:49 also show bike symbols but I assume they are karts towing bike vans) and also confirmed my directions to the brewpub. We bought tickets on the unit (zonal day tickets, €4 each to the second zone) and then baled at Bruckberg Golfplatz for the walk to Simal Br ä u. We ended up going the long way round as we hadn’t spotted a track leading straight to the place off the road opposite the station and then the first person we met thought that we wanted a room rather than to try the beers. Eventually we got sorted out and introduced to the boss who was very helpful and showed me their small brewplant. She also told me that they also produced schnapps and gave me a free taster of the apple schnapps – and very nice it was too. After trying both beers we decided to pass on the food as neither of us was particularly hungry and we had another brewpub planned for later anyway. We used the direct path back to the station which cut the walk down to almost 5 minutes. After ice creams at Zell and a required Taurus across my required track to Jenbach, the plan was to cover a Zillertal service before heading to the next brewpub and I dropped lucky as D15 was on the 18:22 which was available to the first shack for a unit back. After a quick phot of one of the Zillertal shunters, I had a required 1144 to Brixlegg for a short photting session during the wait for our unit to Rattenberg-Kramsach (loco hauled trains don’t appear to stop here). Once again, we found a quicker route to the brewpub to that on the map courtesy of an alleyway alongside Fürst Bräu so walking time was only a couple of minutes from the station. The town is quite picturesque and F ü rst Br ä u is on the site of the old Lederer Brauerei. The place had a nice feel to it and we were served by the boss who had a glance at my beer guide. Having got his interest, I managed to have a chat with him after we’d eaten and he took me to see the brewplant followed by a free bierlikör each. June was glad that she hadn’t missed out like she did with the schnapps at Simal as it was absolutely gorgeous! I worked out that instead of festering at Wörgl for the loco hauled to Kufstein we could double back to Jenbach for a nine minute wait but I’d forgotten to factoring the engineering work on the Swiss border so we arrived at Jenbach to discover the train was almost an hour late. We wandered up into town to kill time and ended up in the Italian restaurant that we’d used a couple of years ago so we had a coffee before wandering back to the station. Needless to say the Taurus was dud so I’d wished we’d just done the unit straight to Kufstein for an extra hour in bed!

ÖBB 1099.002 07:33 St. Pölten Hbf - St. Pölten Alpenbahnhof 07:38 R6835 07:33 St. Pölten Hbf - Mariazell ÖBB 2095.011 07:50 Stock shunt @ St. Pölten Alpenbahnhof 07:53 ----- 07:50 Stock shunt @ St. Pölten Alpenbahnhof ÖBB 1099.014 08:10 St. Pölten Alpenbahnhof - St. Pölten Hbf 08:15 R6806 06:48 Laubenbachmühle - St. Pölten Hbf ÖBB 1116.273 08:29 St. Pölten Hbf - Linz Hbf 09:29 OIC690 07:44 Wien West - Klagenfurt Hbf ÖBB 1116.280 10:32 Linz Hbf - Salzburg Hbf 11:54 OIC544 08:30 Wien West - Salzburg Hbf ÖBB 1116.210 12:04 Salzburg Hbf - Zell am See 13:42 REX1526 12:04 Salzburg Hbf - Saalfelden SLB-PB DMU 13:49 Zell am See - Bruckberg Golfplatz 13:57 R3318 13:49 Zell am See - Mittersill SLB-PB DMU 15:59 Bruckberg Golfplatz - Zell am See 16:08 R3321 15:14 Mittersill - Zell am See ÖBB 1116.209 16:43 Zell am See - Jenbach 18:14 REX1510 16:11 Schwarzach St Veit - Innsbruck Hbf ZB D15 18:22 Jenbach - Rotholz 18:25 145 18:22 Jenbach - Mayrhofen ZB DMU 18:32 Rotholz - Jenbach 18:36 142 17:35 Mayrhofen - Jenbach ÖBB 1144.242 18:45 Jenbach - Brixlegg 18:52 REX5164 18:16 Innnsbruck Hbf - Kufstein ÖBB EMU 19:24 Brixlegg - Rattenberg Kramsach 19:26 R5128 18:09 Telfs Pfaffenhofen - Rosenheim ÖBB EMU 21:31 Rattenberg Kramsach - Jenbach 21:41 R5133 20:36 Rosenheim - Telfs Pfaffenhofen ÖBB 1116.244 21:50 Jenbach - Kufstein 22:14 OEC165 17:40 Zürich HB - Salzburg Hbf

Wednesday 13/08/2008 After possibly the best nights sleep of the trip, we headed back to the station via a few brief stops for photo’s. We both quite liked Kufstein so may well be back as there is still quite a bit we’d like to do in the area in addition to my brewery research. The plan for today was to revisit Zell to cover the two diesel turns then the brewpub in St Johann. The train services didn’t work out well enough for me to pick up my original move of covering the Attnang shunt but as I’d viewed a dud 2070 knocking about on Tuesday I thought I was better off trying for some new 2095’s. After a breakfast stop at Saalfelden, we arrived at Zell and I was quite relieved when Vs73 (ex 2095.006) backed two coaches and a bike van into the station at 10:42. I’d already decided to only go to the first shack, partly as it wasn’t a request stop and partly to get a few phots on the depot. I was pretty happy approaching Tischlerhäusl to view dud 2095.01 (assume it will become Vs71 or are they swapping it for a non “museum” livery lok?) loaded onto a standard gauge wagon. The only other loco on shed was 2092.002 so I now didn’t know whether I’d get another 2095 back in or the new Vs81 (2096.001). As it turned out, Vs72 (ex 2095.004) did the honours and Vs81 was later viewed light engine, possibly on a test run. We did a quick leap to Bruck-Fusch to cover a couple of Taurus turns then had a wander around Zell before the IC to St Johann which produced a winning Gale. This also gave me a chance to catch up on the report and charge the laptop! I had thought about missing out the Huber brewery visit as the train times were less than perfect but I’m glad that we didn’t as the food, beers and service were excellent. The brewery was only a few minutes walk from the station although we had to wait for the second lift to the fourth floor Braustüberl as it only had a four person capacity. We ended up on the balcony (not sure what they do in the winter or when it rains) and were so enjoying the visit that we decided to flag the 14:37 to Salzburg to avoid rushing the food as we also wanted to sample several of their beers and I wanted to chat with them to check my gen. June discovered the hard way that the “grated cheese” garnish with the meal was in fact rather hot horseradish so she had to grin and bear it until our second beer arrived. It was soon time to start our long journey home although I’d planned a little diversion to visit the Gusswerk brewpub in the Salzburg suburbs before our flight home. As our train to Salzburg was booked to come from Bregenz which is currently affected by engineering work, as we’d found out the night before, trains were getting delayed but our 20 minute delay was nothing compared to the problems caused by huge numbers of students on the train heading for a music festival in Salzburg! In the end we invaded two lads who were stretched out in a compo and very reluctantly made way for us just before I started getting ratty. The delay did mean missing our intended S-bahn unit out to Kasern at 17:45 but the next was only 30 minutes later so it didn’t matter too much. The brewpub is close as the crow flies but about ten minutes to walk to unless you risk crossing a large field. Once again I got a good reception to my beer guide so we spent a while chatting to the owner/brewer as well as sampling a couple of beers not on the menu. Sadly, I had to limit my consumption due to the long drive home from Stansted but we were still there long enough to miss our planned train back to the Hbf so I got the boss to book us a taxi which should have given us enough time to catch a trolley bus to the airport. Unfortunately, there was some sort of riot going on with the power in Salzburg so we once again had to jump in a taxi and for the first time ever we failed to make use of our priority boarding for the plane  The bonus though was landing early so we made use of the time to have a hot drink before boarding a waiting bus to the car park (that doesn’t normally happen either!) and a hassle free drive home once we’d negotiated the roadworks at the motorway junction.

ÖBB 1116.223 07:38 Kufstein - Wörgl Hbf 07:47 OEC164 06:22 Salzburg Hbf - Zürich HB ÖBB 4010.029 08:10 Wörgl Hbf - Saalfelden 09:17 IC515 07:35 Innsbruck Hbf - Graz Hbf ÖBB 1116.113 10:07 Saalfelden - Zell am See 10:16 REX1525 10:07 Saalfelden - Salzburg Hbf SLB-PB Vs73 10:49 Zell am See - Tischlerhäusl 10:51 R3312 10:49 Zell am See - Mittersill SLB-PB Vs72 11:05 Tischlerhäusl - Zell am See 11:08 R3311 10:14 Mittersill - Zell am See ÖBB 1116.209 11:17 Zell am See - Bruck Fusch 11:22 REX1507 09:25 Innsbruck Hbf - Schwarzach St. Veit ÖBB 1116.250 11:36 Bruck Fusch - Zell am See 11:42 REX1524 10:04 Salzburg Hbf - Saalfelden ÖBB 1044.098 12:32 Zell am See - St. Johann in Tirol 13:10 IC512 08:35 Graz Hbf - Innsbruck Hbf ÖBB 1016.004 15:11 St. Johann in Tirol - Wörgl Hbf 15:49 OEC668 10:35 Graz Hbf - Bregenz ÖBB 1116.037 16:05 Wörgl Hbf - Salzburg Hbf 17:29 OEC569 12:46 Bregenz - Wien West ÖBB EMU 18:15 Salzburg Hbf - Salzburg Kasern 18:19 ???? 17:33 Golling Abtenau - Straßwalchen RyanAir EI-DCV 21:55 Flughafen Salzburg - Stansted airport 22:45 FR307 21:55 Flughafen Salzburg - Stansted airport Summary First of all, a big thanks to Andy, Stuart & the ÖBB Nostalgie guys as without their efforts we wouldn’t have had a tour at all. Being involved with Mercia Charters, I am possibly more aware than most of the work that goes into organising and running a tour, and the huge list of possibilities for things to go wrong! It was far from perfect but still a very enjoyable weekend, especially from the social point of view. Hopefully all the problems won’t put them off trying again next year. I was very pleased with the reception that I received at most of the brewpubs where I showed my guide and everyone was willing to help once they understood what I was trying to achieve. One brewer even offered to get another local brewer on the phone for me! Maybe I will be able to get it published in the future although I still need to check and update some of the gen and obviously I want to try to visit some more of the breweries myself. Timekeeping was possibly the worst that I’ve known in Austria but luckily we only got caught once with a big delay. The new 4024s are still spreading their wings and it was disappointing to see quite long distance trains around Villach operated with them. Apart from anything else, one toilet in four coaches is disgraceful and possibly quite embarrassing, especially after a few beers in a brewpub!! And finally, it is now official, Denzil Morgan is a NED cuz I’ve now had more Austrian loks than him 

Hotel Ibis Graz Europaplatz 12 A-8020 Graz Tel: +43 316 7780 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.accor.com Booked online but instead of using my Accor card I took advantage of their Happy 30 rate of €59 for a double room without breakfast. As mentioned above, we had hassle over the validity of our free (to Accor card holders) drink vouchers and the electronic room keys were also unreliable. Similar to Ibis Linz, they have a free internet terminal with printer in the lobby area.

Hotel Ibis Wien Mariahilf Mariahilfer Gürtel 22 A-1060 Wien Tel: +43 1 59998 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.accor.com Booked online but instead of using my Accor card I took advantage of their Happy 30 rate of €64 for a double room without breakfast. Unlike Graz & Linz, the Mariahilf does not have any free internet facilities.

Hotel Gasthof Graf Bahnhofplatz 7 A-3100 St. Pölten Tel: +43 2742 352757 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.hotel-graf.at Well used by cranks. We turned up on spec and got a double room including breakfast for €88. The food and beer in the restaurant was also good but it closed at 21:00.

Hotel Andreas Hofer Pirmoserstraße 8 A-6330 Kufstein Tel: +43 5372 6980 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.andreas-hofer.com Booked via www.hrs.de, €68 for a double room without breakfast. On their website, a small double room with breakfast is quoted as €65 per person! Free WiFi & Internet was available as part of the HRS booking. From the station, head over the river and up the hill through the Stadtplatz. Head straight over the crossroads and continue straight on and the hotel is on the right. Walking time approx 10 minutes. Beer Gen

The following are the brewpubs and breweries that we visited with the gen taken from my beer guide (minus maps). Please e-mail me on [email protected] if you are interested in more details.

324) TRAISEN – Gasthof Linko Gartengasse 9 A-3160 Traisen NIEDERÖSTERREICH Tel: +43 2762 62802 Fax: +43 2762 62094 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.linko.at Directions: From Traisen Markt (T113), turn right (west) over the level crossing along Hainfelder Straße then right again into Mariazeller Straße. Turn right at the sign into Gartengasse and the brewpub is on the left. Walking time 5-10 minutes. Remarks: Brewpub opened during 2005. They have 15 guest rooms and food is also availble (the restaurant is closed 14:00-17:00). Opening hours: Closed Thu from 14:00 and all day Fri+Sat. Beer information: Pilsner 5.2% Wiener Gerstl

513) SALZBURG – Brauhaus Gusswerk Söllheimer Straße 16 A-5020 Salzburg SALZBURG Tel: +43 662 243279 Fax: E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.brauhaus-gusswerk.at Directions: From Salzburg Kasern station (T101) in the northeast suburbs, the brewpub is approx 500m to the southeast. From the northern (Linz) end of the platforms, head west down Wickenburgallee then turn left into Söllheimer Straße. Turn right in to the Gusswerk complex and turn left, following the signs for the brewpub. Walking time approx 10 minutes. Bus 21 also runs from Bergheim station to Werner von Siemens Platz at the southern end of Alte Mattseerstrasse. Remarks: Brewpub opened in 2007 by Reinhold Barta in part of an old iron foundry. The site is now mainly a trade retail complex but still includes a small foundry which cast the bell inside the pub. All the beers brewed are organic. Opening hours: Tue-Sat 16:00 – 24:00 Closed Sun-Mon & BH. Beer information: Edelguss 4.9% (unfiltered) Weizenguss 5.4% Sonderguss (seasonal – different beers produced 5 or 6 times a year) Frenkenberger Synergy Hanfbier 4.7%

520) ZELL AM SEE - Simalbräu Bruckberg 1 A-5700 Zell am See SALZBURG Tel: +43 6542 57407 Fax: +43 6542 574074 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.limberghof.at Directions: From Bruckberg station (T230 narrow gauge Pinzgau Bahn, €4 day ticket from Zell), the brewpub is approx 750m to the north west. Head north along Wiesengütelweg to the main road. Dogleg left into Bruckbergstraße (signposted Ausichtsgasthaus & Schober-Alm) and head uphill. Turn left onto the track that leads just below the Gasthof Limberhof to the brewery. Walking time 5-10 minutes. Zell am See station (T200) is approx 4km east of Bruckberg Golfplatz. Remarks: A small microbrewery opened by the Dürlinger family in 2000 located next to the Gasthof Limberhof. Opening hours: (Gasthof Limberghof) Daily 07:00 – 24:00. (Braustüberl) Tue-Sun 14:00 – 23:00. Beer information: Zwicklbier 4.5% Simalweizen 4.5%

606) FROHNLEITEN - Frohnleitner Hofbräu Hauptplatz 14a A-8130 Frohnleiten STEIERMARK Tel: +43 3126 41500 Fax: +43 3126 4150555 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.frohnleitnerhof.at Directions: From Frohnleiten station (T501), the brewpub is approx 1km to the north. Head north west along Mauritzener Hauptstraße. Cross the river then turn left up Am Tabor (footpath) and through the gateway into the Hauptplatz. Turn right and the Braustube is set back on the right. Walking time approx 10 minutes. Remarks: Brewpub opened in 1995 producing unfiltered beers in a 4 star hotel owned by Humanomed-Gruppe (who also own hospitals!). The restaurant is open 11:30 – 14:00 & 18:00 – 22:00. Opening hours: (Braustube) Daily 08:00 - 23:00 Beer information: Frohnleitnerhofbräu Hell (unfiltered) Frohnleitnerhofbräu Dunkel (Seasonal) Frohnleitnerhofbräu Bock 6.8% - Pale Bock (Seasonal)

607) FROHNLEITEN - s’Kloane Sudhaus Mauritzener Hauptstraße 1 A-8130 Frohnleiten STEIERMARK Tel: +43 3126 2356 Fax: +43 3126 235610 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.sudhaus-frohnleiten.at Directions: From Frohnleiten station (T501), the brewpub is approx 500m to the north. Head north west along Mauritzener Hauptstraße and the brewpub is on the right just before the junction with Josef Ortis Straße. Walking time approx 5 minutes. Remarks: Sister brewpub to the s'Kloane Brauhaus in Salzburg, opened in 2004. The place felt more like a normal city pub (€5,00 for 0.5ltr!) although the beers were good, particularly the helles which was only lightly gassed and quite sweet. They also have six rooms and food is served daily 16:00 – 21:00. Opening hours: Daily 16:00 – 01:00 Beer information: Helles Dunkles They also have six other beers on tap.

610) GRAZ – Dom Bräu Burggasse 4 / Bürgergasse 5 A-8010 Graz STEIERMARK Tel: +43 316 821950 Fax: +43 316 821950 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.dombraeu.at Directions: From Graz Hbf (T501/520) the brewpub is approx 3km to the east. Catch tram 1 or 7 from Europaplatz (outside the Hbf) to Kaiser Josef Platz. From there, turn left (north west) along Franz Graf Allee between the opera house and park then cross straight over into Burggasse. The brewpub is situated on the left in a courtyard between Burggasse and Bürgergasse. Walkingtime approx 5 minutes. Remarks: Brewpub opened in 1997. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 24:00. Closed Sun & B/H. Beer information: Helles Naturtrüb 4.8% Styria Dunkl 4.8% Weizen Hefetrüb 4.8% Red Chili Beer 4.8% (seasonal) Weizenbock 6.5% (seasonal) Vollmonbier 4.8% (seasonal) Maibock 6.5% (seasonal) Sommerhelles 3.2% (seasonal) Honey Red Ale 4.8% (seasonal) Oktoberbier 4.4% (seasonal) Dominator 8.0% (seasonal) Maisbier 4.4% (seasonal)

613) HASLAU (GRAZ) - Johannesbräu am Steinberg Haslau 183 A-8052 Graz STEIERMARK Tel: +43 316 586957 Fax: E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.johannesbraeu.at Directions: From Graz Wetzelsdorf station (T550), the brewpub is approx 6km to the west. Bus 710 runs from Graz Hbf to Haslau bei Graz Gapp (the stop after Haslau), which is next to the brewpub. The fare is €1,80 single or €3,60 for a Graz area day ticket. Beware that the last bus back during the week is at 19:25! Remarks: Brewpub opened in 1987. Food is available until 21:30. The beers can also be found in Bierg' Wölb zum Pfiff, Schönaugasse 3, Graz (see Appendix A). Opening hours: (Brauhäusl am Steinberg) Wed-Sat 10:00 – 22:00, Sun 10:00 – 16:00. Closed Mon-Tue. Beer information: Helles 4.8% Dunkel 4.8% Johannesbräu Märzen Johannesbräu Hellen Bock (seasonal, Xmas)

711) RATTENBERG – Fürst Brau Bienerstraße 48 A-6240 Rattenberg. TIROL Tel: +43 5337 63870 Fax: +43 5337 63870 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.brauhaus-rattenberg.at Directions: From Ratternberg-Kramsach station (T300), the brewpub is approx 200m to the north west. Head out of the station via the subway, heading north towards the centre and the back of the brewpub is visible on the left. The rear entrance may be closed but if it is use the adjacent passageway through to Bienerstraße. Walking time less than 5 minutes. Remarks: Brewpub opened in 2005 by Josef Fürst on the site of the old Lederer Brewery. Food is also available 11:30 – 14:00 & 17:00 – 21:00 with the spare ribs being a house speciality. Due to limited brewing capacity and increased demand in the Summer months, only the Rattenberger Altbier is brewed. The other beers are also brewed during the Winter. They also produce a very nice bierlikör which tasted like liquid toffee! Opening hours: (Brauhaus Rattenberg) Daily 10:00 – 24:00 (closed Mon+Tue in the Winter) Beer information: Rattenberger Altbier 4.5% Schloss Weizen 5.4% Kellerbier 4.5% Other “local” beers available included: Kristall (Alpbach) - Hefeweizen Hell (on draught) Huber (St Johann in Tirol) – Augustinus Huber (St Johann in Tirol) – Hefeweizen Dunkel Starkenberger (Tarrenz) – Pils Starkenberger (Tarrenz) – Schlossbräu 5.0% Harald Baumgartner (Innsbruck) – Tiroler Märzen Zillertaller (Zell am Ziller) – Das Schwarz Zillertaller (Zell am Ziller) – Gander Bock 2008 7.8%

712) ST. JOHANN IN TIROL - Familienbrauerei Huber Brauweg 2 A-6380 St. Johann in Tirol TIROL Tel: +43 5352 62221 Fax: +43 5352 65253 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.huberbraeu.at Directions: From Sankt Johann in Tirol station (T201), the brewery is approx 300m to the north west. Head left out of the station along Brauweg and as the road veers right you will see the brewery on the left. Walking time less than 5 minutes. Remarks: A family-owned brewery opened in 1727 featuring a rooftop braustüberl accessed via a lift to the fourth floor. Opening hours: (shop) Mon-Fri 08:00 – 12:00 & 13:00 – 17:00. Sat 09:00 – 12:00. (Turmstüberl) Daily 10:30 – 22:00. Beer information: St Johanner Zwick’l 5.3% Tiroler Hefeweizen Hell 5.2% Tiroler Hefeweizen Dunkel 5.2% Tiroler Dunkel 5.0% Tiroler Spezial 5.3% Augustinus 5.0% Meisterpils 4.8% (bottle only) St Johanner Engerl 3.7% (bottle only) Original 4.9% (bottle only) Weizen Leicht 3.7% (bottle only)