T3G Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Been a while, but I'm back with more. On the south side of the complex was the Trnavka bus garage. Here are some photos that are all too representative of the almost exclusively SOR fleet of the garage (and they have none of the kinder eggs anymore) DPB 3419 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2848 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2842 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Among the displayed units were a number of historical buses. DPB 3350 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 236 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Including the newest growth in the historical fleet, Ikarus 415 #4122. DPB 4122 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4122 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4122 interior - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr Its bigger brother, the 435 was on display as well. DPB 4827 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4827 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4827 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4827 cab - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4827 interior - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr There was also a Karosa B 741. DPB 2636 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2636 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2636 cab - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2636 interior - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr A Mercedes CapaCity. DPB 4935 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4935 cab - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4935 cab - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 4935 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr A Skoda 14 Tr trolleybus. The steering wheel on this one is comically large. DPB 6288 - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6288 cab - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6288 interior - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr I then went for a ride on the Cabrio bus. While I waited I photographed 8434, a T3 converted into a snowplough. DPB 8434 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some more Karosa work buses. DPB 4340 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some revenue Karosas. I don't know if 2607 will ever run in service again, though, as it has been sitting out of service since August 4. DPB 2607 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2635 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr A group of Solaris Urbinos. DPB Solaris Urbino 15 CNG buses - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr SOR mania, with a lone Solaris out front. DPB SOR NB 18 City buses - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr 7719. DPB 7719 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr 7514, one of the new Skodas. DPB 7514 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr The ride also went through the trolleybus section of the division. Here is 15 TrM #6620, which was originally retired in February but was revived. DPB 6620 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr A Skoda 14 TrM. They're all gone now. DPB 6293 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr On the other side, there was a Tatra T3SU, which had been retired in March 2014 due to accident. I have no idea, again, why it hasn't been scrapped, but there you go. DPB 7722 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr A selection of vehicles which run out of Trnavka division. DPB 3422 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr A Mercedes track sweeper. DPB Mercedes-Benz Axor by Andrew P., on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted November 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Continued... I went for a second ride on the Cabrio bus because I wanted to photograph vehicles viewable from the other side of the bus as well. DPB Karosa B 741 buses - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some SOR midibuses. 3501, 3508, 3509, 3512, 3513, 3515, 3516, 3517, 3518 and 3519 have all been made into work buses recently to replace the old Karosas. DPB 3508 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 3517 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 3515 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 3508 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 3513 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr An ad wrapped NB 18 City. DPB 2210 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some red 14 Tr trolleys. DPB 6268 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6272 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr 15 TrM #6636 in the presence of some retired T3s. DPB 6636 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 7720 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr Another line of SOR artics. 1827 and 1843 are significant, because they've been sitting out of service for more than a year. I also hear they've been unofficially retired, not sure how true that is though. DPB SOR NB 18 City buses - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr A sample of the major buses in Trnavka's fleet. DPB 1851 - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr New SOR trolleys before entering service. DPB 6021 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr T3SU #7728, after an accident in the carhouse that ultimately sealed its fate and has been retired. DPB 7728 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr The only Citaro in Bratislava, which has spent more of 2015 out of service than in service. DPB 2020 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr K2G #7085. DPB 7085 - 05 by Andrew P., on Flickr Along the north side of the property was a LOOOOOONG line of retired trolleybuses, including some of the youngest 14 TrMs - 6260, which entered service in late 2008! Through this, I did manage to photograph all the 14 TrMs though, 6261 being the exception. DPB 6639 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6639 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB Škoda 14 Tr trolleybuses - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB Škoda 14 Tr trolleybuses - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB Škoda 14 Tr trolleybuses - 06 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB Škoda 14 Tr trolleybuses - 07 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB Škoda 14 Tr trolleybuses - 08 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6274 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Another SOR B 9.5, with an all white bumper. DPB 3516 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr A retired Karosa B 741. Interesting story behind this bus - it was retired in early May 2015 after a frame break, but due to a shortage of vehicles in Trnávka, was sent out once more on May 20. As soon as it was discovered that the bus had already been retired, it was removed from service. DPB 1621 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr And some revenue buses. DPB Karosa B 741 buses - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr While waiting for the no. 10 back, I photographed another 29 T, on route 4. DPB 7409 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr The interior display on the 29/30 Ts. DPB 7504 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted August 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2016 The day after the open house, I went back to the city again because there were some diversions happening, due to a pro-life protest in the city center, that would make for interesting photos. And interesting photos they did make, but I doubt anyone would find them interesting unless they knew the geography of Bratislava, so I won't go into detail. On the way, I saw a cool Volvo truck.Volvo FH Truck by Andrew P., on Flickr I made my way over to the spot where I would be able to photograph the most routes diverting from one spot. Fortunately, even on a Sunday, I didn't have to wait around long for something to come along.DPB 7919 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr Have I warmed up to this car since the last time I talked about it? ...no DPB 7503 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr The 9 doesn't usually go this way, but it used to, many many years ago. It was a nice throwback to the olden days, even if it would have been much better if they had used road trains instead of artics.DPB 7125 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7123 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr One of my personal favorite trams, the only K2G in the city, was out and about.DPB 7085 - 07 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7085 - 08 by Andrew P., on Flickr This was a much better opportunity than at the open house to photograph the changes that had been made to it since the last time I saw it, back in 2013:DPB 7085 - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 7504 - 05 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7403 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr I left the area and went to a shopping mall near the Danube for lunch, and also because it would be a couple of hours before part 2 of the diversions could begin. Whilst there, I photographed route 70 terminating there, an irregular event as well.DPB 1066 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr On the opposite side of the mall, there was a river side park, from where I photographed the Apollo bridge...By the River by Andrew P., on Flickr ...and construction work on the new 'Old' bridge, which takes its name from a similar structure that stood here from about 1946 to 2014.By the River by Andrew P., on FlickrBy the River by Andrew P., on FlickrBy the River by Andrew P., on Flickr I had my lunch, and went back. At this point, the whole city center was closed off. This meant that routes 3, 5, 8 and 9 were ALL running along the exact same route between the same terminal points. Route 2 continued to be unaffected and route 4 terminated at the main railway station, the same place that the 2 went to.DPB 7109 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7933 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7934 - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr It's still really weird for me to see a T3SUCS on route 5. When I was a kid, that would have been an incredibly rare sighting, but it used to be common until all the unmodernized T3s were bumped off by the new Skoda cars.DPB 7812 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7404 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7125 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7919 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7085 - 09 by Andrew P., on Flickr My final port of call was the main railway station, from where I intended to catch a ride on a Mercedes-Benz CapaCity. Before I boarded, I photographed various equipment preparing to set out. Note the irregular colors on 1840's front mask.DPB 1840 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 6111 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 4926 - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr I ended up riding #4939. The bus was stupidly crowded for a Sunday, so I didn't film a lot of ride, but what I did manage to catch is here: A picture of it, after I got off. Still a great bus: DPB 4939 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr A broken down Tedom to close off this batch of pics: DPB 1107 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Thanks for viewing, more soon! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted August 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 Here is the next part. I next visited Bratislava on September 25. I had a rich itinerary set out for the day that was cut short by some heavy rain. What I did managed to see is thus: I visited the outer borough of Dubravka, terminus of routes 4 and 5. I used to live here back in the day. It's changed a lot sadly. Fortunately, at least the trams were the same, although that would stop being true a few short months later: DPB 7845 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 7769 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 7953 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2010 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr In times of old, the tram line here was configured like so. The tracks were set in concrete and large canopies provided ample shelter from the elements: Dubravka trackage - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr That unfortunately changed back in November 2014. Here is a different stop in the borough that was configured similarly before. Now, there is a ridiculous little shelter instead of the huge canopy.DPB OD Saratov stop - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr The only remain of the old line was an underpass.DPB OD Saratov stop - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr If anyone has read the transit regrets thread, I go into more detail on that there, but the intention was to photograph the rest of the line before the old stop and line configurations were consigned to history. Here are some things which will likely be a thing of the past late this year: DPB Damborskeho stop - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Horne Krcace stop - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Dolne Krcace stop - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr In the city, nature and construction co-exist.DPB Dubravka-Karlova Ves line - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7839 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Dubravka-Karlova Ves line - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Nad luckami stop - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr The old Karlova Ves loop.DPB Karlova Ves loop - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Currently, it is only possible to exit the loop heading towards the city. During the rebuild, the junctions will be changed so that trams coming from Dubravka (the line past the junctions) will also be able to enter and exit the loop.DPB Karlova Ves loop - 05 by Andrew P., on Flickr One of the oldest K2S cars in the city in operation.DPB 7104 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Borska stop - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Dubravka-Karlova Ves line - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Nad luckami stop - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Jurigovo namestie stop - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some T6A5s at the Karlova Ves stop (pictured above, in the photos of 7839)DPB 7943 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7905 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7906 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr And a T3P on route 4.DPB 7791 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr I would get a chance to visit Bratislava once more before leaving. More photos soon! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted September 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 Exactly one year later, here are photos from my most recent fanning trip to date in Bratislava. That evening, I was going to be staying with some relatives in Bratislava. We arrived early in the afternoon and I soon made my way to the city, but not before photoing a midibus in service on route 44 just outside. DPB 1900 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr I went downtown, near the big railway station, to photograph some trolley bus routes before route changes which ended up transpiring this past summer. I don't remember exactly how the changes went, they were originally supposed to renumber all trolley routes from the 200s to two digit numbers in the 40-60 range (to match the previously existing 33 and 64), but that didn't end up going through so the photos I took aren't as significant as they could have been. In any case, here they are. DPB 1856 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6009 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6005 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6114 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 1848 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6003 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 2221 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr DPB 6279 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr My next port of call was a shopping mall on the east side of the city. I had yet to ride a SOR B 9.5, and I saw that there was one in operation on route 69, so that was where I went. Laying over before the trip.DPB 3518 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 3518 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr Ride video: Some interior photos: DPB 3518 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 3518 interior - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 3518 interior - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr Unfortunately, these buses were all too indicative of the lack of maintenance in the bus departments here. Note the state of the foam grab bars on the backs of the seats in that last photo! Next, I went to Rača to photograph another SOR B 9.5, this time #3533. This one was the last of the 2005 order, and it has a different rear end cap compared to its predecessors. It was in service on route 54.DPB 3533 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr One of the last things I planned to do that day was to ride a T3G, something which I hadn't done since 2008. So I made my way back towards the very outskirts of the city center and waited at , photographing some T6A5s while I waited.DPB 7915 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7949 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr Along came Tatra T3G #7839+7840, in service on route 9. Here she is traversing the switches at Trnavské mýto while operating on route 9.DPB 7839 - 05 by Andrew P., on Flickr A look at the driver cab.DPB 7840 cab - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Ride video. Another stop which will be changed during the rebuild, at the city's botanical gardens. There will be an elevator installed here.DPB Botanicka zahrada stop - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Botanicka zahrada stop - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Botanicka zahrada stop - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB Botanicka zahrada stop - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7511 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr After this, I went back downtown again. Taxi drivers were protesting against Uber and causing mayhem, but fortunately it didn't affect my fanning plans at all.Taxi driver protest by Andrew P., on FlickrTaxi driver protest by Andrew P., on Flickr I made my way to a nearby tram stop and waited for a tram on route 7. The 7 was a service that I actually had wanted to ride going as far back as 2005, but it only operated during the rush hours during the school year, so even back then it wasn't excessively possible for me to ride on it.DPB 7907 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr And here it is!DPB 7119 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Ride video: I rode the car all the way to Račianské mýto, where I got off and photographed it leaving. On the other platform, I saw a downtown-bound number 7, driven by someone who looked like Vladimir Putin.DPB 7119 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7101 - 06 by Andrew P., on Flickr Afterwards, I returned to the Central mall where the car was parked. I photographed one of the prototype MB CapaCities, built in 2005, before heading inside.DPB 4921 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 4921 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr By this point I still hadn't photographed T3Gs #7837+7838 and I began to suspect that I wouldn't. But I checked the dispatch again before heading to the parking garage and noted that it was reporting as being in service on route 5. I did some verifications on the Bratislava equivalent of NextBus to ensure that some moron hadn't been playing around with the onboard control unit and erroneously signed them in. Fortunately, they were indeed in service, so the chase was on once more. I ended up cutting across half the city because rush hour traffic made it very difficult to pull over somewhere and take a picture, but it was worth it.DPB 7837 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7838 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr Mission accomplished, and not a moment too soon. For my last port of call, I stopped by the old military hospital loop and photographed some trolley buses laying over there.DPB 6024 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 6013 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Good times. Unfortunately this thread will likely remain dormant until the summer of 2018, but thank you all for viewing! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brzyski Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 Pekne fotky (am I allowed to discuss in Slovak or any other language here? This being said, I'm better in Polish.) Always nice to see European buses, especially MB. Capacity looks beautiful. Does NFI or Nova produce 4-door artics? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsbuspage Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 11 hours ago, brzyski said: Always nice to see European buses, especially MB. Capacity looks beautiful. Does NFI or Nova produce 4-door artics? Both companies install their engines behind the rear axle, so there would be no room for doors there. However, NFI does produce a 5-door BRT version of the Xcelsior, but in this case it is three doors on the right side and two on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted September 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 10 minutes ago, tomsbuspage said: Both companies install their engines behind the rear axle, so there would be no room for doors there So does Mercedes, actually. If I'm not wrong, the engine is installed vertically, as on the Orion VI, which allows them to fit the door in. DPB 4935 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millennium2002 Posted October 3, 2016 Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 Pretty sure North American agencies see that kind of engine mounting as more of a costly maintenance nightmare vs simply adding more buses to the fleet, hence why it is so rare in this part of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted November 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 For anyone who may be interested, an update on the tram fleet in Bratislava. There are no longer any accelerator controlled T3s running in the city. The last car was pulled from service in early May IIRC. A solo unit (275) and a two-car road train (7819+7820) remain behind as historical units. Besides these, and modernized T3M cars 7729+7726, all other modernized cars continue to operate in service. Out of what remains, the T3G fleet (7835-7846) and the remaining T3M cars (7602+7610 and 7733+7734) are the only ones still operated with foot controls and mostly unchanged interiors. These cars should continue to operate for at least a couple of more years. Recently, 78 of the retired accelerator controlled T3SU and T3SUCS cars were sold to 6 companies from around the former Czechoslovakia. I suspect these will be sold off to systems in Ukraine, Bulgaria, or Russia. I'll miss these cars, that's for sure! Going through my Flickr and updating their disposition was a little morose. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted July 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 Greetings from Slovakia! I am visiting Slovakia once again, and what's a trip to Slovakia without seeing Bratislava? Unlike in years past, I decided that this year, I'm going to upload my content when I am able to, rather than waiting to come back home. It means a lot less work for me at the end of every trip, haha. I haven't come to the city on a specific transit fanning related trip yet, but I stayed there in a hotel a few days ago, so I figure I'd post my haul from that stay. This is probably post 1 of 2. Some SOR buses and trolleys in operation on assorted routes. DPB 2218 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 6030 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr I arrived in the city on July 5, which was a holiday, so sadly, the amount of trams in operation wasn't as varied as it could have been. There were still some things of interest, though: unlike three years ago, when no T6A5s made it out during the weekends/holidays, this time around they reign supreme. At least half of the dispatch on route 5 is provided by these cars; the other half is the brand new Škodas to provide some semblance of wheelchair accessibility. DPB 7936 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7119 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7947 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7120 - 06 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7927 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7928 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7507 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7522 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7424 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr I was waiting to catch a route 5 tram to Dúbravka, where I wanted to photograph the former building of the post office, which has stood derelict and unused for nine years. They intend to tear it down and build a condo complex on the site, but when that will happen is anyone's guess. While I don't have a particularly strong affinity for this building, least of all in its present condition, I am glad that I got to photograph it nevertheless. Dúbravka post office - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr A murder of crows on the lawn outside completed the visual.Dúbravka post office - 05 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka city crow by Andrew P., on Flickr More photos. Dúbravka post office - 06 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 08 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 09 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 10 by Andrew P., on Flickr The façade at the north end of the building has been completely torn down at this point; it's now just an ugly concrete box.Dúbravka post office - 13 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 14 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 15 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 16 by Andrew P., on Flickr With my photos under my belt, I proceeded to get out of there. There weren't any odd looking characters around the building or anything - people do park their cars right by the sidewalk with no trouble, but the building was rather imposing and I didn't particularly care to stick around! I made my way to the tram stop and photographed T6A5/III #7953+7954 on route 5. With that, I now have photos of all the series III T6A5s in the city.DPB 7953 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7954 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr A Solaris midi bus.DPB 2003 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr I snapped a couple more pics of the post office from my tram. I still can't get over the fact that this thing is still standing!Dúbravka post office - 21 by Andrew P., on FlickrDúbravka post office - 22 by Andrew P., on Flickr I got off my tram and photographed it, and a few others.DPB 7418 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7127 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7116 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7119 - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr I will post up the rest of my photos later today. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted July 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 And here's part 2! The morning after, I woke up at around 6:30 in the morning, so I headed over to nearby grocery store to grab some food for the bus ride to my grandparents' house. On the way, I saw some buses: DPB 4930 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 1837 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr I had quite a bit of time before my bus left, so I went over to Trnavske myto to photograph some tram and trolley bus activity at the tail end of rush hour. One of the new trolley buses on a route 209 service heading back to its home garage.DPB 6024 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some K2Ses on routes 2 and 8. Having photographed 7102, 7112 and 7128 on this trip, I now have photos of every K2S to have ever operated in Bratislava. This is the third complete fleet I have, after the T3G and T6A5/III trams.DPB 7102 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7107 - 06 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7112 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7128 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7128 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7135 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7115 - 06 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7109 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr Some trams on routes 4 and 9.DPB 7410 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7424 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7941 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr I encountered Mercedes #4926 again. This time it was doing a 68 service, and running in to the garage after morning rush hour.DPB 4926 - 05 by Andrew P., on Flickr After this, I went back to the hotel to grab my stuff and made for the bus station. I *just* missed a trolleybus on route 205, and I had a nice 15 minute wait for the next one. While I waited, I snapped one of the new articulated trolleys operating on the 207.DPB 6865 - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Until next time! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brzyski Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 Pekne! Vdaka vasim fotografiam ja mozem vidiet exoticke slovenske autobusy! (please forgive my grammar and lack of a keyboard ) Always glad to see the Tatras. I also wonder why SOR put so many doors on their buses... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted July 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 11 hours ago, brzyski said: Pekne! Vdaka vasim fotografiam ja mozem vidiet exoticke slovenske autobusy! (please forgive my grammar and lack of a keyboard ) Always glad to see the Tatras. I also wonder why SOR put so many doors on their buses... Ďakujem! If I'm not mistaken, the larger amount of doors seems to be a trend a lot of European manufacturers are moving towards. The new Mercedes-Benz Capacity L, which was unveiled late in 2014, also has a five door configuration. http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/The-new-Mercedes-Benz-CapaCity-L-show-vehicle-in-detail.xhtml?oid=9904821 I wish we got more Mercedes buses instead of the SORs, but that sadly, that doesn't appear to be on its way to changing - a new order of I believe 90 buses is coming in in September and they're also SORs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brzyski Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 1 hour ago, PCC Guy said: Ďakujem! If I'm not mistaken, the larger amount of doors seems to be a trend a lot of European manufacturers are moving towards. The new Mercedes-Benz Capacity L, which was unveiled late in 2014, also has a five door configuration. http://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/The-new-Mercedes-Benz-CapaCity-L-show-vehicle-in-detail.xhtml?oid=9904821 I wish we got more Mercedes buses instead of the SORs, but that sadly, that doesn't appear to be on its way to changing - a new order of I believe 90 buses is coming in in September and they're also SORs. Skoda... For a Capacity L 5 doors seem to be fine, but 4 doors for a 12m is kinda too many... Maybe someday they will develop a bus that lifts the entire right-hand-side wall instead of using doors to ultimately boost their "vystup and nastup"... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted August 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2017 Here's a few pics from a visit to Bratislava at the end of July. A few from Dúbravka, where road works dictated that city centre-bound buses had to divert via some side streets. DPB 4906 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 4906 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 4936 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 2001 - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 2001 - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr Back downtown, I was photographing some trams. DPB 7915 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7943 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7835 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7835 - 05 by Andrew P., on Flickr A few T6A5s were running around with their front pantographs down. Visually I think I'm more partial to this arrangement.DPB 7953 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7905 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7954 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7957 - 05 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7958 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7923 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7924 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7946 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7945 - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7301 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7301 - 05 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7302 - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7302 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7949 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7950 - 02 by Andrew P., on Flickr I went for a ride on Tatra T3G #7843+7844.DPB 7843 - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7843 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7843 - 05 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7844 - 05 by Andrew P., on Flickr Until next time! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted October 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2017 Picture this: You are a big fan of the T3G tram. You would like a photo of the driver's cab, which has considerable differences as compared to the regular T3, but you won't be able to attend an open house in the garage, and even if you did, there's no guarantee they'd have a T3G on display. What do you do? Well, if you're me, you charter one! Charter rates are a steal in Bratislava; this whole excursion cost me €60. In the end I ended up deciding to charter cars #7841+7842, which had, in 2016, had modifications made to them. The first modification is the expansion of the cab with an extra seat for an instructor. The details of that shall be posted later; for now here's a comparison of a standard T3G cab (7838) compared to that on 7841. DPB 7838 - electrical panel by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 interior - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr Additionally, the area beyond the second set of doors had had its 1+1 seating upgraded to 2+1. DPB 7841 interior - 02 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 interior - 03 by Andrew P., on Flickr The builder's plate. DPB 7841 interior - 04 by Andrew P., on Flickr At the end of the line, I got a chance to take all the photos I needed. DPB 7841 - 06 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 - 07 by Andrew P., on Flickr The driver training amenities.DPB 7841 cab - 13 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 14 by Andrew P., on Flickr An extra bank of controls for the instructor, including an emergency stop button and track brake activator.DPB 7841 cab - 01 by Andrew P., on Flickr The photos I came for: DPB 7841 cab - 03 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 04 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 06 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 07 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 09 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 10 by Andrew P., on FlickrDPB 7841 cab - 15 by Andrew P., on Flickr After the excursio, back at the yard:DPB 7842 - 07 by Andrew P., on Flickr 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTC T6H-5307N 2252 Posted October 27, 2017 Report Share Posted October 27, 2017 How come bratislava don't clean up the grafiti? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted October 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2017 3 hours ago, TTC T6H-5307N 2252 said: How come bratislava don't clean up the grafiti? The graffiti you are seeing here is on the rear cars of the two-car units. These are generally not cleaned because they get dirty again very quickly afterwards. On average, a newly refurbished car will remain in pristine condition for about two days, before vandals take a trip, at some point during the late hours of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsbuspage Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 On 10/27/2017 at 10:39 AM, PCC Guy said: Charter rates are a steal in Bratislava; this whole excursion cost me €60. €60? That is a steal! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted December 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2019 On December 1, 1989, the final order of classic Tatra T3 trams for Bratislava entered service for the first time. These 12 cars (numbers 7835-7846) were built in late 1989, and were one of the final orders of T3 cars built before the fall of the Communist government, and subsequently discontinuation of the T3 (though other, updated variants would later be built by both the original manufacturer and other rail engineering firms). In the mid to late 1990s, these cars were rebuilt to type T3G, seeing their original PCC-based control units swapped out for more energy efficient GTO thyristors. This has, in effect, saved the cars, as they continue to be in service several years after the disappearance of the last unrebuilt T3 cars, and with no replacements currently on order they may still be around for at least a few more years. These are my all-time favourite tram cars, and I am fortunate enough to have been able to photograph all 12. I'm attaching some of my favourite photos I took over the years. Here's to at least another 5 years! Cars 7835+7836 (serial numbers 178445 and 178446) photographed eastbound on Hviezdoslavovo námestie, on route 4 on March 9, 2015. This was not a regular route for these cars; however, from 2012 until 2015 they operated out of a different tram division, and could appear on routes they otherwise didn't run on. A more classic view of cars 7835+7836 approaching Kapucínska in route 9 service on July 27, 2017. Cars 7837 and 7838 (serial numbers 178447 and 178448) photographed near Park kultúry (today, Kráľovské údolie) on September 28, 2015, shortly after completing a several month long round of scheduled maintenance. The cars are in service on the legendary, now defunct, route 5, which was the principal line where these cars ran for decades. Cars 7839+7840 (serial numbers 178449/178450) cross Trnavské mýto in service on route 9 on September 28, 2015. Cars 7839+7840 photographed eastbound on Námestie SNP on March 19, 2015. Cars 7841+7842 (178451/178452) northbound on Hurbanovo námestie in route 8 service on March 19, 2015. Cars 7841+7842 photographed at Zlaté piesky, the terminus of route 4, on August 11, 2017, when I held a private charter for myself and took them there. Car 7842 photographed at Zátišie on August 26, 2008. The cars are wrapped for the German chain of Hornbach stores, which they were from October 2004 until September 2009, making them rather distinctive for photographers of the fleet. Cars 7843+7844 (178454/178453; no, I did not reverse the serial numbers) entering service on route 6 on Kamenné námestie on August 19, 2013. Cars 7845+7846 (178455/178456) are photographed on Kapucínska on September 18, 2015. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted July 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2020 Things are very different in Bratislava as of today: the last of the legendary Škoda 14 Tr trolleybuses, in service since March 1982, were removed from regular service last night and moved into storage. The modernized Škoda 15 TrM articulated trolleybuses are now the last regularly operating representatives of a nearly 40 year trolleybus dynasty. The 14 Trs were numbered 6201-6315, and arrived in the city in 12 batches built from 1981 to 1991. In the mid-2000s, several of these buses were "modernized" to type 14 TrM with a brand new body: these were 6304II, 6293II, 6263II, 6291II, 6271II, 6222II, 6226II, 6265II, 6283II, 6306II, 6260II, 6301II. these w Finally, 14 TrM buses 6267/II and 6261/II were bought second hand in 2010 to replace the original buses, which were too far gone to repair, and in 2014, buses 6316 and 6317 were temporarily leased for a period of several months to deal with a trolleybus shortage. These buses began to disappear en masse in 2015, and after early 2016 became a rare sight, with usually only two buses making it out onto evening runs of route 203, which then operated all night on the night routes. This job will now be done by the last two 15 TrMs. As for what will happen to the remaining buses on property? Only heaven knows. Two 14 Trs, 6207 and 6293/II, are currently indicated as historic vehicles, but it will be a long time before any of this family, including the artics, will see restoration. The remaining buses may be put into storage, to be used in an equipment shortage, they could be sold to beleaguered trolleybus operations in Ukraine, or they could be scrapped. Only time will tell. There are two 15 TrM trolleybuses which are still in service: 6621 and 6632. The overwhelming majority of the fleet now resides in dead storage in a tram yard since 2016, their futures unknown. I can only hope that these God forsaken restrictions will be lifted and I will be allowed to travel to Slovakia before they scrap them before all of humanity dies out. Here are some of my choice photos of the 14 Trs over the years. DPB 6207 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6234 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6238 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6262 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6269 - 02 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6270 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6272 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6275 - 02 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6278 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6279 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6284 - 03 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6288 - 03 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6290 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6292 - 02 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6297 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6300, 6301 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6302 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6315, 6283 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6283 - 03 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6222 - 03 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6293 - 03 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6226 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6226 - 02 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6265 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6261 - 02 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6304 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6263 - 02 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6263 - 04 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6263 - 05 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6274 - 01 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6302, 6294, 6271, 6307 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6307, 6276, 6298, 6306 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6276, 6298, 6306, 6260 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6265, 6222, 6269, 6267, 6300 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6306, 6260, 6265, 6222, 6269 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6269, 6267, 6300, 6291, 6297 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6300, 6291, 6297, 6244 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6226, 6303, 6238, 6281 by T3G, on Flickr DPB 6281, 6232, 6231, 6274 by T3G, on Flickr 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted November 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2021 I doubted, often, over the last 2 years, that I'd ever get to post in here again, but life can be surprising. It's been two months since my trip, and I've edited enough of my photos that I have something to share in here now. So I'll start with a post dedicated to the Tatra T3P, the most modern variation of T3 operating in Bratislava, one which I didn't see any of when I visited Slovakia back in 2017. The reason for this is because after the retirement of the unmodernized T3s with PCC controls in 2016, someone decided that the T3Ps should form the operational reserve. So for the last 5 years, these cars, which have modern IGBT based electronic kits, have most recently been refurbished, and are in general very reliable (they did not have the same string of breakdowns post-lockdown that the T3Gs did) have operated only in limited amounts. In July 2017, three (out of 11 available) trains would appear on morning rush hour portions of split shifts, being swapped out for low floor trams in the afternoon due to the heat. In August 2017, when I had a car available, they didn't run at all! The T3Ps are mostly based out of Jurajov dvor yard, the only older cars in a yard otherwise full of low floors. In 2018, to try to get some more use out of them, a few cars were shuffled to the other yard at Krasňany, which has only old trams, and so that limited quantity of cars ran more regularly in service, even as the T3Ps which remained at their old yard were out of service from March to October 2020 because of COVID measures. They did not get so lucky during the second lockdown; all T3Ps were moved back, and they appeared exclusively on morning rush hour only shifts (with the exception of one standby vehicle) for about two weeks; then they all vanished from service in the middle of November 2020. Cars 7781+7782 carried an ad wrap for Podravka condiments, and they re-entered service out of Krasňany again in January 2021 after the ad company complained that they were spending money to wrap a car that hadn't run in service for two months. As pandemic measures began to ease up again through May and June, more T3Ps rejoined service, though not all of them - those that did were also transferred over to Krasňany, spending the summer there until they all went back to Jurajov dvor at the start of September, except for two - 7783+7784 and 7799+7800. They have since been traded for 7787+7788 and 7717+7718. The first T3P I got to ride since March 2015 ended up being cars 7791+7792, in service on a special route X running to Rača, a borough in the northeast corner of the city, for their annual wine festival. The festival ran on September 11 - 12, and involved chiefly old trams, which was good to see because MU cars have not run there since December 2019. 7791+7792 did not re-enter service in the summer, so were out for about 10 months, and you could tell by the general state of the interior - though the cleaners had done their best, it was rather shabby inside. I ditched the cars a few stops before the end of the line, and hung out in the neighbourhood, grabbing photos of trams on route X as they passed by. Coming from Ontario this was a total shock to me, the streets were packed and lively, though the X did not appear to be well patroned at all. Which benefited me! There are now four pairs of T3Ps in the city that are painted in the transit company's corporate red livery, an initiative which started earlier this year: 7715+7704 (which I did not catch on this trip as they were undergoing maintenance), 7783+7784, 7787+7788, and 7795+7796. 7795+7796 is the most recent refurbished T3P - it was taken out of service for rebuilding at the end of 2009, but because of money troubles, it wasn't returned to service until February 2014... and since 2016 it has spent more time out of service than in service (probably the only place in the world where this wasn't caused by reliability issues). They never made it to Krasňany, they were out of service from March to October 2020 and then again from October 2020 to September of this year, with the exception of one unusual occurrence of it being dispatched as a standby vehicle. Over the summer it was repainted. Cars 7787+7788 were outshopped before the new graphic guidance changed from yellow pantographs to anthracite coloured ones. Personally I think the yellow matches the red better, but I'm evidently an old fashioned fool being left behind in an era that values drab, lifeless everything, so what do I know. 7799+7800 came next. At the time they had just been freshly transferred back to Jurajov dvor, and I was very lucky that they ended up sending them out on this service, because otherwise any evening rides or shots would not have been possible... but more on that later. 7704 (joined together with rebuild 7715), 7703+7706, and 7717+7718 were built in 2005 - 2007 as brand new car bodies by ČKD Pragoimex to replace cars that were too badly corroded to repair. In these photos, 7717+7718 have just serviced the stop at Hybešova and are heading towards Komisárky in Rača - you can notice the poor quality of the trackage in the green right-of-way it has just existed. There are still many lines in the city which suffer from deferred maintenance, especially in the outer reaches of the city. 7791+7792 headed back to the city centre. Next came 7781+7782 with its ad wrap. This has not saved the car since it transferred back to Jurajov dvor in September, and seeing it is more of an event than it should be. Unfortunately the cars at Jurajov dvor are still only used on morning rush hour trips and one standby car. 7787+7788 again. 7717+7718 again. I then rode to the end of the line, where I got more photos of the old cars coming out of the beat-up looking loop. The sun had vanished behind a cloud for a while, but it did end up reappearing eventually, making for some very nice golden hour photos. At this point it was time for the only T3G that was operating on route X to finish its break, and I caught it back to the city - but more on that in a future post. I enjoyed my ride on it but decided to ditch the car shortly before entering the center proper in favour of cars 7799+7800, as I wanted to ride them as well. I am glad I got a chance to grab them on their last evening shift to date (if you don't count the standby - which you shouldn't, because there's no guarantee the car will carry any passengers on a given day), they were still very clean (only 4 months after maintenance), they sounded great and rode well, and the driver turned the interior lights on, which is when the T3P interior, in my opinion, looks the best. By this time I was famished, so I bid farewell and went off to find something to eat. But that evening, I grabbed my tripod and went back downtown to grab a few night shots. And I rode 7792 back. With the burnt out lightbulb, the seats coated in grime, and the dirty light casings, it gave off a considerably less luxurious vibe than 7800 did. And what of poor old 7783+7784? Well, I didn't see them in service at all while on the trip, because they'd suffered a LVPS failure. However, I did get a chance to grab a photo at an open house at Jurajov dvor yard a week later, thanks to the kindness of a shop worker. These are probably the best looking trams in Bratislava, and that is because of the red windshield banner that matches its paint. It's not to everyone's taste, but it certainly is to mine. Hopefully it retains this for many years still to come. 7784 was one of the few rear cars that got a digital destination sign, being one of the earliest rebuilds (in May 2022 it will celebrate 18 years in service as a T3P) before they realized the extra signs was a waste of money. One more trio of photos; I ended up grabbing a ride on 7795+7796 on its way back to the yard after a morning shift on September 13. Its interior is a bit less flashy than that of the other T3Ps. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T3G Posted March 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2022 The fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, has resulted in damage to some of the trams in the city. https://www.instagram.com/p/CasOUQJrPWY/ The first photo is of car 708, which started life as no. 7747 in Bratislava. Here she is in times long gone, photographed together with no. 7748 (which also went to Kharkiv) on March 19, 2015. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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