1335i

INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT TO BLN 1335 7 SEPTEMBER 2019

BRANCH LINE NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

This newsletter covers the World outside the British Isles from information
supplied by members.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Compilers or of the Society.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS TEAM:-
International Editor (to whom all email and postal contributions should be sent):
Paul Griffin, 7 School Bell Mews, Church Lane, Stoneleigh, COVENTRY, CV8 3ZZ
Email: [email protected]
Deputy International Editor: Derek Woodward, 68 Church Street, Matlock, DERBY, DE4 3BY

_________________________________________________________

The TPF metre gauge station at Palézieux is totally ripped up, no doubt for upgrading along with the planned closure
for the construction of the Châtel-Saint-Denis curve which will eliminate the present dead-end station. Notices say
closed until 3 November, so is that and not the December timetable the date of the curve opening?

[339] Belarus/Poland – Another border crossing reopens for freight
Belarusian Railway is to revive the Vysoko-Litovsk to Czeremcha (Poland) railway crossing on the Polish
border. The facility, abandoned in 2011, is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2019 in response

to the increased container traffic between China and Europe via Belarus. The border crossing is located
around 50 kilometres northwest from Brest and has both Russian and standard gauge tracks and will be
used for bulk freight, allowing traffic via the border crossing of Brest/Terespol to be partly redirected,
enabling an increase of container traffic. The new railway border crossing will become the fourth on the
border between Belarus and Poland. All handle container traffic but Brest is the major facility while the
others (Bruzgi/Kuźnica Białostocka and Svisloch/Siemianówka, both in the Grodno region of Belarus) are
less important at the moment.

[340] Belgium - Brussels - Brugge work update
BLNI Extra 51 item E18 (published in May 2019) described the work being carried out to provide a four-
track route between Bruxelles-Midi and Brugge, and also included maps. A member travelled this route
in early August 2019, and this is the state of play at that point.
After leaving Brussels his train (an Eupen - Oostende IC service) climbed onto the new(ish) viaduct which
is Line 50C, while his return train (Oostende - Eupen) also used Line 50C, crossing over to the outer track
after passing the yet-to-be-completed Anderlecht station (which now has weeds growing). At the
Anderlecht end, both Line 50C tracks are carried on single track viaducts; although the outbound (from
Brussels) doesn’t cross anything, it needs to be at the same higher level as the inbound (towards
Brussels) which does. One of the Line 50A tracks was rusty and the other shiny; the writer noted the
outbound as being shiny and the inbound as rusty, but that would not fit with what was described
previously, and thinks he might have noted them the wrong way round (after nearly two weeks of
travelling on right-hand-running railways) – especially as he also thinks a train he was on at the start of
his trip (a Kortrijk - Welkenraedt IC) might have used Line 50A inbound! There’s a sign for Line 50C near
Anderlecht station.
West of Gent St Pieters station, the new Line 50D (effectively slow lines to Line 50A) is now in use in
both directions from Y Assels to around KP64.6 west of Landegem – in other words, the section shown
in red on the map on page 2 of BLNI Extra 51 is now in use. Drongen station has four platforms (two
islands), platforms 1 and 2 being for Gent-bound trains and platforms 3 and 4 for Brugge-bound. Line
50D is effectively a continuation of Line 50A/6, the connection from the low-numbered platforms (1 to
5) at Gent St Pieters which runs round the north side of the lines to Kortrijk (see map). Anything using
Line 50D at Drongen station (platform 1 eastbound, platform 4 westbound) has to use or have used Line
50A/6 and therefore the low-numbered platforms at Gent St Pieters. It seems that, in addition to the
hourly ‘IC18’ trains between Antwerpen and Oostende, many local stopping trains between Gent and
Brugge on Mondays to Fridays – the hourly ‘L’ trains between Mechelen and Zeebrugge – are now routed
via Line 50A/6 (“unusual lines” entry BE19/23 on the EGTRE website). However, while all the eastbound
‘L’ services go this way, only about a third of the westbound ones do: the writer’s train from Gent St
Pieters at 12.45 used platform 9 and did not, but the 16.45 departure used platform 3 and did, and there
doesn’t seem to be a pattern. Other services off or onto the Antwerpen line (such as the summer trains
to and from Blankenberge) run this way, and there seem to be a handful of others in the peaks. All of
the local trains between Gent and Brugge the writer travelled on also did the grade-separated junction
at Y Oostkamp (line 50A/5 – EGTRE entry BE19/24) and used low-numbered platforms at Brugge.
Gent St Pieters station has been undergoing major reconstruction work for some time, and platforms 9
to 12 (on the south side) have just about been completed. This part of the station bears no resemblance
to its previous appearance, with lots of unpainted metal and glass, and a bright, airy feel. The rebuilt
platforms have escalators and lifts, and a large circulating area at ground level. Unfortunately,

completion of the rest of the station was delayed because tender prices had increased and the plans
had to be revised in order to stay in budget. Therefore the north side of the station remains untouched
at present. Signage on the rebuilt part is pink, with station names reading “Gent-Sint-Pieters”, while
that on the old part is the traditional blue with “Gent-St. Pieters” in capitals.
[341] Czech Republic - A Czech circular
For the whole of the December 2018 to December 2019 timetable period, Brno hlavní nádraží (main
station) is not available as a through route. Work is being carried out on the station itself, and two
historic bridges immediately to the south are having major work carried out on them. Long-distance
through trains are being diverted via the normally freight-only line to the east, and trains call at the
closed Brno dolní nádraží (lower station). Dolní station has been used previously when trains have been
diverted this way, but a modern station has been built in the last couple of years. It has three proper
platforms (a side platform and an island), capable of holding lengthy long-distance trains and fitted out
with seats, shelters and PIS screens, and with a subway with stairs and lifts to access the island (access
to the side platform is via a foot crossing over the siding into an adjacent depot, which looks like it is
used by a preservation group).

General view of Brno dolní nádraží, looking north.

In addition to long-distance through trains, the hourly terminating service from the Břeclav direction is
also using dolní. Some trains from the east, which would normally approach hlavní from the south, are
diverted to Židenice (using the normally difficult to do connection between odb. Slatinská and Židenice)
where many either reverse and run to hlavní or continue northwards to Královo Pole; trains from the
west, however, seemed to be replaced by buses, as are local trains on several routes. There’s a free bus
shuttle every ten minutes between hlavní and dolní stations, but you can walk it in about ten minutes –
there’s a subway under hlavní station, the eastern entrance to which is right next to a Tesco supermarket
(which was convenient for stocking up on supplies).

Another view of Brno dolní nádraží, with an “InterPanter” EMU bound for Hodonín (via Břeclav) on Track 3.

Two members stayed two nights in Brno, ostensibly to do the unusual track on offer (although one had
done the line through dolní before), but took the opportunity to do some other lines in the area which
they both required. Having arrived at dolní (and walked to hlavní), they departed the following morning
from hlavní to Židenice, where they changed to do the rare line from there to odb. Slatinská. The 09:32
via Veselí nad Moravou to Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště unexpectedly departed from Platform
1/Track 6 on the extreme east side of the station rather than from one of the two islands; it was a class
854 diesel railcar hauling a matching trailer. At Veselí nad Moravou a four-wheel railbus trailer and a
two-car class 814 / 914 railbus (a Czech “Pacer”) were added for the rest of the journey. At Staré Město
u Uherského Hradiště – where the signs reproduce the station name in full (is it the longest station name
in Slovakia?) – the train arrived at a sort of bay platform at the south end of the station (although actually
a loop), described as “Platform H/Track 1” on the ČD version of on-line “live departure boards”; the
“Pacer” departed on its own as 11:36 to Bokjovice město after which the class 854 ran round and
shunted the railbus trailer into a siding, and then coupled to the other end of its trailer ready to return
to Brno at 12:33.

Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště station, with a class 854 railcar (854024 with matching trailer) on the right (12.33
to Brno-Židenice) and an “InterPanter” EMU on at island Platform 2 (11.56 to Brno dolní). Czech and Slovak stations
have differently-numbered platforms and tracks, with the tracks usually following the convention of being numbered
upwards from the station building. Thus Track 1 is immediately to the left of the DMU, adjacent to Platform 1, Tracks
2 and 3 are the next two to the left (with low platforms), accessed from Platform 1 by crossing tracks, and Tracks 4
and 5 are either side of high(er) Platform 2, which is reached via a subway. The DMU is stood on a loop off Track 1,
which seems to be described as “Platform H / Track 1”.

A fairly new five-car “InterPanter” EMU took the members to Otrokovice, in order to do the non-
electrified branch to Vizovice. The branch train was a two section articulated “RegioShark” DMU, built
by Pesa (Poland) in 2011-13, the whole unit being allocated one number. Journey time was booked 40
minutes out and 45 minutes back, with a turnround of just four minutes at the terminus; the trains run
every two hours in the morning and every hour in the afternoon, and patronage was fair.

Pesa-built “RegioShark” DMU 844003 stands at the terminus of Vizovice.

One interesting observation not long after departing from Otrokovice was that the non-electrified
railway was running alongside an electrified road – Otrokovice has trolleybuses.
Line closures for engineering work meant that the route chosen back to Brno was initially to Olomouc
(on another “InterPanter” EMU – although the same two kept appearing!) and then via Nezamyslice to
Brno-Židenice (on a loco-hauled train). EC173 (Hamburg-Altona - Budapest Nyugati, formed of one DB
coach and eight MÁV coaches, and hauled by a ČD class 380 electric loco) was running about three-
quarters of an hour late, and this took the members back to dolní. But that wasn’t the end of the day’s
gricing: the branch from Šakvice to Hustopeče u Brno beckoned. This was worked by a class 809 four-
wheel railbus, and the 18:03 departure from Šakvice had only three normal passengers (plus the two
BLS members).

Four-wheel railbus 809-057 stands at the junction station of Šakvice, while working the Hustopeče u Brno branch.
The passengers on the left have just alighted from a train from Brno. Note the track numbers 2 and 3 painted on the
platforms, beside the foot crossing.

This short line, which has no intermediate stations and an end-to-end journey time of only ten minutes,
is a true one-person operation, with the driver checking and selling tickets before departure. However,
on this run there were two plain-clothed ticket inspectors.
Hustopeče station has a single platform and two dead-end tracks, with a road blocking the way
immediately beyond the station (it wasn’t obvious whether it was built like this); there was a run-round
loop, however, located just before the station platform.

The driver of 809057 carries out the necessary operational duties at the branch terminus of Hustopeče u Brno having
just arrived from Šakvice, while a BLS member checks the timetable poster.

A view of Hustopeče u Brno station from the other direction.

Of slight amusement was that there was an unofficial footpath crossing the railway just off the end of
the platform, and on the opposite side the kerb around the edge of a car park had a proper dropped

section (as you find on pedestrian crossings on roads). The 18:43 back to Šakvice had no normal
passengers on board, just the driver and the two ticket inspectors, but the 19:03 from Šakvice left with
14 passengers. The hourly branch trains connect both into and out of trains to and from Brno, main line
departures in each direction being only a minute apart.
[342] Denmark - Billundbanen looks set to go ahead
Billund is Denmark’s second biggest airport and there have been plans to connect it to the rail network
for some time, despite intense local opposition over a four year period.
DKK 926 million has now been allocated to the project, but a final alignment needs to be decided from
three options before construction can start in 2023. The line will continue past the airport to the city of
Billund.

[343] Finland - Lohja to Lohjanjärvi decommissioning
This 5km branch off the Hyvinkää to Hanko line was closed in 2010 and maintenance ceased in 2014.
Now a plan is being prepared for the decommisioning of the line in accordance with the Railway Act.
Along the route there is a limestone quarry at Nordkalk Oy with the mining museum Tytyrin kaivosmuseo
(https://www.tytyrielamyskaivos.fi). This had an underground funicular railway for transporting people
to a depth of 80 metres. This was once used for museum tours, but was banned (or at least no longer
permitted to the general public) in 2014. Its status is unknown.
[344] Germany – Short freight branch for sale
The 1.2km line from Bonn/Siegburg Bf to Siegburg Werke used to continue via Overath to Olpe. Line
speed is only 15km/h and there is no traffic. It costs €35,000/yr to maintain and over the next five years an

estimated €200,000 needs to be spent on infrastructure replacement. It is not surprising therefore that DB Netz AG

have put the line up for sale.
[345] Germany - Frankenberg (Eder) to Battenberg Auhammer re-opens for one journey
DB RegioNetz Infrastruktur GmbH closed this line last year for technical reasons, but it was recently
repaired for the transfer of a steam locomotive from a private museum. The line is no longer used since

wood transport was discontinued two years ago. Despite the limited repairs the steam locomotive could
only proceed at walking pace. The line closed again immediately.
[346] Germany – Renewed traffic to Breidenstein
This is line 3721 which runs Wallau (Lahn) - Breidenstein (- Dillenburg). From the end of 2018 freight
trains were no longer allowed to travel to the Breidenstein loading station on the former route to
Dillenburg. However, timber traffic is reported to have resumed since spring 2019 with fortnightly trains.
[347] Germany - Wiesn-Express ends
In recent years a train marketed as the "Wiesn-Express" has run on the 7.1 km freight branch from
Rosenheim to Rohrdorf (Oberbay) for the Rosenheim Autumn Festival in late August and early
September. However it has been announced that in 2019 no service will operate. This is because the
Wiesn Express now has to obtain its own safety certificate and the cost of this is too great for such a
short operating season.
[348] Norway – Flåm station visited
The original station building now acts as a railway museum and souvenir shop, and the current island
platform is in the former sidings between the station and the loco depot. A model layout in the museum
shows that sidings continued onto the quayside. A very short isolated length survives, with two old
passenger coaches forming a cafe. One has been heavily cut away, to provide open air dining. The old
EL 17 loco 2230, has been moved from its position at the end of the siding through the loco shed, and
now resides in the original platform next to the museum.

One of the two old coaches converted to a café.

Coach partly cut away to form an open air dining area.

[349] Poland – Short section of line to reopen in connection with Kościerzyna to Gdynia reconstruction
Poland Extra 3, item E40, revealed that PKP intend to reopen to passenger services the railway line from
Glincz (junction with the Kościerzyna to Gdynia line) to Stara Piła and Gdańsk Kokoszki as a temporary
measure while the Kościerzyna to Gdynia line is reconstructed.
Now comes the news from an agreement on 13 August that the closed line from Gdańsk Kokoszki to
Gdańsk Kiełpinek is being reopened, bringing trains a further 1.5km closer to the three cities. It should
open by the end of 2021.

[350] Romania - Bucureşti Progresu to Giurgiu Nord
The Compania Nationala de Cai Ferate "CFR" started the organisation of engineering works on this line
from 19 August 2019, specifically the Vidra to Comana section (including Comana station), between km
0.180 (end of Vidra station) and km 30.200 (end of Comana station). If everything goes smoothly, then
trains will start running at the end of 2022 over the new bridge at about km 23.607 over the river Argeş
between Haltele Vidra and Grădiştea.

[351] Romania - Heritage trains on the Turda to Abrud n.g. railway
For some years, the CFI has been carrying tourist traffic on the Abrud - Câmpeni section. The summer
tourist trains were suspended in 2018 due to problems with a Roma settlement in the middle of the line,
but trains restarted for the 2019 season with operation on Saturdays and Sundays from 6 July until 8
September from Abrud at 10:00, 13:00 and 16:00
Not far away, on part of the same 760mm gauge branch line, from 9 August 2019 the "Mocăniţa
Apusenilor" has started tourist trips in the Arieş Valley. The train, which previously operated on the
Teaca - Comlod route, travels 10 kilometres between Lunca Arieşului and Sălciua. This section was made
passable in 2018 and leads through a tunnel and over a large lattice bridge. In the future it is planned to

reach Baia de Arieş. Departures are daily from Lunca Arieşului at 10:00, 13:00 and 16:00. After 9
September, when the school starts, trains will be at weekends or on order.
[352] Spain - Benidorm to Alicante by TRAM
In mid-July a member had the chance to ride to Alicante on the ‘TRAM’ tram-train service. As he was
travelling with family this time he didn’t get much chance to take notes and photos.
The service is half hourly so they just turned up as soon as they could get to Benidorm (main) station
which is quite a distance from where most of the popular British hotels are. He was impressed with the
raised seating area in the middle which makes it feel more of a (long-distance) train rather than a tram.
Seats are firm but comfortable and the views are good from large, aligned windows. For the first 2 or 3
stops the train is still in Benidorm, at the back away from the beach and the famous skyscrapers can still
be seen in the distance. The first place of note is Vila Joiosa. Here there is an original station building,
small fixed crane and turntable. The line follows the coast but seems fairly remote around Venta Lanuza
where there are rock fall shelter tunnels and a viaduct to negotiate. The TRAM stops for various small
bays then arrives at El Campello from where the local service starts and thankfully the next 9 stops are
missed out by the Benidorm service! Between La Isleta and Sangueta is the Serra Grossa tunnel which
has recently been double tracked enabling a more frequent service to operate over this stretch where
they have also been joined by the services from Playa de San Juan.

Mercado. This photo is from a previous visit in 2013 but the scene is unchanged since then.

Alighting at Mercado, it was a pleasant walk through the old town to the castle situated on Mount
Benacantil. It is possible to walk up along a winding route but they chose to walk anti-clockwise round
the mountain to the South side where there is a tunnel and high-speed lift through the mountain to the
castle. After enjoying the castle and the bonus of the vertical transportation they walked to the newly

reopened Porta del Mar station where they just caught the L5 TRAM service as far as Sangueta. This
had only been running a few weeks but the service was quite full. It stopped at La Marina station on the
way which was observed to have its original buildings, various sheds and many tracks. Our member
believes that this was the terminus pre-TRAM days.

In the picture above the Porta Del Mar branch is going off to the left while a tram is arriving from the Luceros (city
centre) direction.

At Sangueta there is a particularly bad connection to the L1 Benidorm service each half hour as the L5
service from Porta del Mar just misses it so they had a long wait in the hot sun while the few other
passengers caught their service or even changed services all before theirs arrived!

This picture is looking the other way at Sangueta towards Benidorm. This is one of the normal trams, not the Vossloh
tram-train to Benidorm.

When the L1 tram-train to Benidorm finally arrived, it was initially standing room only but soon became
half full after El Campello. The most noteworthy feature was an amazing acceleration from a
(presumably signal) stop to what seemed like full speed uphill somewhere West of Venta Lanuza.

[353] Sweden - Even more on the industrial railway at Trollhättan
A member has been following the items on Trollhättan industrial railway in the last two BLNIs with some
interest having explored this fascinating area on foot in 2009. As a result he can throw some light on the
structure used in exporting locos to Russia mentioned in BLNI1334.327. It is known as the Russian Crane,
and as far as he knows it is still there. He ate his packed lunch sheltering from the rain underneath the
A shaped concrete structure used to anchor the cables before taking a look at the abandoned and
modern locks at the end of the canal. By pure chance he was recently looking at the Swedish Railway
Museum website to find out when it reopens and a picture of the Russian Crane loading steam
locomotives was on the English homepage! A little internet searching came up with two more pictures,
all three being included in e-BLNI.



REST OF THE WORLD
[354] Argentina – Mendoza light rail extends
The Mendoza light rail was built along the former railway corridor of the Ferrocarril General San Martín
(FCGSM) from Mendoza railway station to General Gutiérrez in the suburb of Maipú. The standard gauge
line has been running since August 2012 using Duewag U2 light rail cars previously from San Diego. A
northern extension to Avellaneda in Panquehua (5.1 km, 9 stops) opened 7 May 2019. There may be a
further extension to the airport.
[355] Canada – Montreal line conversion to light rail starts next year
The Deux-Montagnes or Two Mountains Line links Central Station in downtown Montreal with Deux-
Montagnes to the northwest of the Island of Montreal. It is to be converted from commuter rail to
automated electric rapid transit in 2020, as part of the Réseau express métropolitain network. This will
also see the line extended past Downtown and over the St-Lawrence to Brossard; two southwest
branches will also be added, to Trudeau Airport and to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. The line is by far the
busiest of Montreal’s four commuter lines, so its closure next year with reopening in 2022/23 is not
popular with locals.
[356] Turkey (Asiatic) – Transasia Express starts again
The Transasia Express has restarted between Tehran and Ankara after 4 years' absence. The train
services between Iran and Turkey were suspended in 2015 due to security problems. In June 2019, the
Tabriz - Van service restarted. The service was then extended to Tehran, but ran only once. The train,
with 188 seats/berths, departed from Tehran on 7 August at 21:50, and arrived in Ankara on 10 August
at 7:45, with 65 passengers on board - a journey of almost 60 hours.

From Tehran to Van, passengers used Iranian Railways couchettes. They crossed Van Lake on the train
ferry (on foot; no carriages went on board) and continued from Tatvan to Ankara on TCDDT couchettes.

The Transasia Express will depart from Ankara and Tehran every Wednesday. The first departure should
have been from Ankara on 14 August. Further to this, it seems that the baggage car will travel on to the
ferry as before.

[357] USA – Foxborough Experimental commuter service
BLNI 1322.062 reported that services were to start from 20 May 2019, but in fact they did not. There
seems to have been some sort of delay, so services now start in October.
https://www.mbta.com/projects/foxboro-weekday-service-pilot

[358] USA – Amtrak Expansion plans
The following route expansions are currently in progress or in the planning stages
1. Downeaster: Seasonal service to Rockland
2. Gulf Coast: Service between Orlando and New Orleans
3. Midwest: Service between Chicago, Detroit and Toronto
4. Ethan Allen: Extension to Burlington
5. Vermonter: Extension to Montreal
6. Valley Flyer: Service between Springfield and Greenfield. Starting imminently.
7. Long Island: Service from New York Penn to Long Island
8. Heartland Flyer: Extension to Newton via Wichita
9. Illinois: Service between Chicago and the Quad Cities
10. Minnesota: Service between Minneapolis St. Paul and Duluth
With only the exception of #10 Amtrak already is or will be the operator of the new service. Nothing is
mentioned about Virginia because there has not been anything announced at this point.

[359] USA – The Chicago Metra and the Kenosha tram
Two Members on an American trip had free days over a weekend in Chicago thanks to the schedules of
planned Amtrak journeys. This was fortunate as all except one of the 14 Suburban services radiating
from Chicago are operated by Metra who have a Weekend Pass. This allows travel over all of their
network on one ticket valid for BOTH days for $10, a bargain as this is just $0.50 more than the cost of
a single to the end of some lines, (Metra don’t do returns, just 10 ride “Carnet” or season tickets....). Of
these 13 lines, the three from Chicago Millenium station are electrified with all those services operated
by EMU’s, the others use Diesels on push/pull double deck stock.
Six of these thirteen are duplicated by Amtrak using the same or parallel tracks for all, most, or part of
their route, but even so, it is impossible to cover the seven unique lines in a weekend due to the
distances and frequent stops of the services. In addition reduced weekend service levels means careful
planning is required, so for anyone who has not been to Chicago before, the schedules as at summer
2019 meant the only way to fit in certain services was in the following order. Millenium to Blue Island
EMU service on the Saturday morning [flighted, infrequent and no Sunday service], then the 13:30
Chicago Union to Manhattan and its 15:15 return [flighted and the only return journey possibility of the
whole week!], the above meaning the Ogilvie Transportation Centre to Kenosha service can only be done
on Sunday afternoon to avoid a lengthy wait for a return.
Other lines can of course be travelled as alternatives, but the Manhattan line is obviously a must on a
Saturday and some do not run at weekends. Additionally two parts of the network are awkward to do,

the north western suburbs 7½ mile branch to McHenry with only a flighted Mondays to Friday peak hour
service except one out and back possibility, the 05:55 from the Ogilvie Transportation Centre returning
at 07:39, and the “World beyond Europe” PSUL entry in Illinois (IL7) where just one SSuX evening train
from Antioch uses the north to east curve at Prairie Crossing to connect onto the line into Chicago from
Fox Lake. http://www.psul4all.free-online.co.uk/wbe.htm
The two Members became three for a pre-planned meet for a Saturday evening meal in Chicago where
that days and future travels were naturally discussed. The third member had been to Kenosha that day
on one of the two return journey possibilities, and in the short time there walked outside the station to
find a totally unexpected shiny tramline. Unfortunately no service appeared before he had to leave but
research found details on
https://www.kenosha.org/images/public-transit/kenosha1.31.17_brochurerevised.pdf
which were gratefully received by your correspondent who planned to visit the next day. He had planned
to do the identically timed trains giving the same 34 minutes in Kenosha, but after confirming the tram
service should be running he was very pleased to find the Sunday timetable had an additional outbound
train two hours earlier giving time to explore the trams!

This proved to be a very unusual operation, a two mile single track anti-clockwise loop connecting the
railway station with the town centre, seafront and Harbour, only built in 2000 but operated by restored
x PCC cars built in 1951. It claims in publicity to be “a model project studied by urban planners
worldwide” but from timings (e.g. just 10:35 to 18:15 peak summer weekends) and operating dates (e.g.
SSuO in January or February) to your writer is basically a Tourist/”Preserved” line with a coincidental
public service function. This might change if the 2014 City Council approved plans for a north/south

route to complement this circle go ahead, but no evidence of any works was seen. Even on this sunny
and warm Sunday in late June it ran only every 15 minutes so only one of the seven PCC’s in the fleet
was in service (ex Toronto 4617 but in San Francisco colours). Single fares are just $1 with a day pass
$3.50 so a circuit on a poorly loaded service was followed by a walk around Kenosha and its Harbour
beside Lake Michigan, all remarkable quiet for a Saturday afternoon with very few shops open. This and
photographing the tram in various places easily passed the 2½ hours until the planned return train time.
Kenosha is unique on the Metra network for two reasons. It is the only part of their system (and only
station) in Wisconsin as opposed to Illinois, and, confirmed from a sighting on a rake near Kenosha
station, has the only membership only commuter car still running in the United States which is attached
to the 06:17 from Kenosha and the 17:35 from Chicago Ogilvie http://www.car553.org/ The website
states that the club began as long ago as 1929 and the current car was last restored in 2017 when it was
painted in its original Chicago and Northwestern Railroad yellow and green colours and lettering, a
striking contrast to the Metra Blue and Silver... . It offers coffee in the morning, a refrigerator where
members can keep their favourite beverages, a private bathroom, and a recently refurbished bar.
Members are responsible for purchasing their own tickets from Metra in addition to paying quarterly
dues for riding the car, plus an initial joining fee. Before being allowed to join prospective members must
meet with the membership committee and fill out an application and perhaps tellingly as the car looks
quite plush in photos, the website doesn’t mention how much those fees are!