The Way of the Warrior

Day 3 : 8th September 2002

Tour Review
(by Gary Thornton)

Day three - our earliest start with breakfast just after 6am! The tram was taken to get us to Miskolc station where we were met by our train, on this morning hauled by our second V46 of the tour - V46 026. It was an interesting concept as we were travelling the short freight branch to Diósgyor with a depot visit thrown in...all done without any form of booked timings!

It only took 5 minutes to get to Miskolc depot. A guided tour of the depot was made for us by Ferenc Joó. Of particular interest was the roundhouse as in Western Europe these are now few and very far between. We were also lucky as we got to the roundhouse just as M62 205 was being started up alongside...it was about to be put into the shed. We therefore got to witness the loco going on to the turntable, being turned, then reversing into one of the free shed roads.

The run to Diósgyor was quite interesting, if not somewhat of a stagger. On arrival into the yard we spotted a privately-owned M44 so it was duly photographed by most tour participants as the V46 ran round the train.

After photographing our train we all boarded as it had been agreed to propel us back as far as the overhead wires went. This was achieved though we understand the line went on a further kilometre or so...so next time we come back it'll have to be with diesel traction so we can clear the track (Matt to note...).

With plenty of time available a number of photo-stops were taken on the way back to Miskolc. Ferenc also requested a slight diversion after the depot which took in the remaining two sides of the triangle between the depot and station. No need to run round, we simply propelled the last few hundred metres to the station...just imagine that in the UK!?!

Back to the tram now, but right through almost to Diósgyor, hopping of at Miskolc Kilián Ésak which is adjacent to the LAEV narrow-gauge railway.

I haven't mentioned that "The Way of the Warrior" is in fact Mercia Charters 21st railtour - what a coming of age. The visit to the LAEV also marked a first for Mercia Charters, we arrived to be met by a steam locomotive...the first to be used on any Mercia Charters railtour! A few chuckles to see its number - 447.401 - a generator spoon?

Because of fire risk in the wooded area we only had the kettle as far as the depot at Majláth. We were allowed 20 minutes or so to look around and whilst doing so D02 506 with an alternative carriage replaced 447.401 and the carriage we'd ridden in with. Good job the weather was good as both were open-sided!

One particular vehicle caught quite a few peoples attention - a rail-mounted car that looked suspiciously like it had once been a genuine road-going vehicle!

The run up to Garadna is quite interesting, even for those of us on board who had visited this railway on a previous occasion. Just short of Garadna we were amused to pass an open area of ground on which was a small oval of track (15" gauge) with a small steam loco and coach - literally in the middle of nowhere!

On arrival at Garadna a bit of swift negotiating gave the go ahead to catch the waiting service train (headed by D02 510) back to where the 15" gauge train was, with our tour following a few minutes behind.

The 15" gauge steam loco (actually petrol or diesel driven) was then duly besieged and most people got a ride. Getting into the carriage it was soon clear this was in fact a train for small children (the seats were minute!) but what the hell it had to be done for the riot value!! A few photographs were even taken with the loco sporting the Mercia Charters headboard!

Our tour train soon turned up and we set off back towards Miskolc but only as far as Lillafüred where we were due to take lunch. Tucked in the hills this is a very touristy place but worth a look around nonetheless. We lunched in a medieval themed restaurant in a hotel right next to a large lake. I did suggest to matt Reeves that we had an opportunity to scoop yet another form of transport as there were rowing boats for hire, but alas there wasn't time.

It was explained by our host over lunch that the hotel was once used to provide holidays for workers in nearby towns - a sort of management incentive during the days when Hungary was under communist rule. It was nice to see the area was still popular these days.

After lunch our group became somewhat fragmented as quite a few caught the waiting service train which had D02 508 in charge, paying a fare for the opportunity to claim another loco. In doing so those people only had one loco left to clear the railway - D02 501...the loco I had on my last visit back in 2000! I flagged D02 508 (have to leave something to come back for!) in favour of a cab ride in our loco.

We arrived at the "junction station" of Papirgyár to find our next train already waiting for us, along with those who'd caught the service train hauled by D02 508. This station is basically in the middle of nowhere, but next to a large paper factory which appeared extremely well protected for such a business. The explanation was that this was a main producer of the paper used for paper money across Europe! We were warned not to photograph or show too much interest in what was on the other side of the fence...not wishing to sample a Hungarian prison cell we were all happy to live by the rules set!

Our new train was hauled by a C50 diesel, C02 407 and again consisted of an open-sided coach. The branch to Taksalápa was new to me and I have to say it was actually much more impressive than that to Garadna - both in terms of the climb as well as the scenery. Our C50 had to work very hard even though the speed limit wasn't that much (something like 20km/h max). One of our number had a cab-ride all the way but he looked extremely uncomfortable as the C50 bumped and rocked its way over the pretty dubious track! Amazingly Steve actually managed to fall asleep during the ride too (he blamed a good lunch plus it being rather hot).

Although the line is advertised as open to Taksalápa the state of the track beyond Mahóca was considered so poor that we ran only as far as Mahóca. Plans exist to open the line beyond Taksalápa one day so that at least gives us reason enough to return one day.

Heading back to Miskolc we paused at one point to be shown a man-made "pond" which was built in the days when steam traction was used - the water being used to replenish the locos when required.

As we arrived back at Papirgyár, somewhat early, Denzil Morgan and myself had realised we were just ahead of the service train coming back from Garadna which should have D02 508 on it. To the surprise of the crew we hopped off there, with a wave that we would catch up with the the tour back in Miskolc.

After about 15 minutes wait the service train arrived...with D02 506 at the front! Looks like a swap had been made at Miskolc! A few minutes later Denzils mobile phone started spouting loads of text messages - all of them just saying one word - "withered?". Hmmm, seems everyone knew we'd been bowled out.

As we arrived into Miskolc Kilián Ésak station we saw D02 508 in the headshunt - hence why everyone knew we'd been blown out on our move.

But....

...a driver promptly got in and started it. A quick look at the timetable confirmed that the next service train departure was in only a few minutes and it looked like D02 508 was to be the motive power.

It was, so a ticket to the first shack ( Diósgyor) was purchased...after some problems with pronunciation - I asked for it several times but was met with shrugs and questions in Hungarian. Finally, after showing the place on a timetable, I got a reply that sounded nothing like it was spelt, a smile and a laugh from the ticket Ada and two tickets duly produced.

D02 508 was then put "in the book", clearing all the railways locos for haulage in the process for both Denzil & myself. A short walk down to the main road saw us straight on to a tram and we arrived at Miskolc Tiszai with an hour to spare before the continuation of the tour. As people began appearing (most had stopped by the hotel) they were trying to wind us up about missing D02 508 but we just took it in our stride as we knew something they didn't!

Our evening was something to be remembered. We had a superb 50 minute run to Tokaj behind M62 205 (the one we'd watched being shedded in the morning at Miskolc depot). This was all the more enjoyable because the driver was a bit of a thrash merchant and the "Sergei" clagged extremely well. To make it complete this was one loco fitted with an original air horn - a very loud example (sounding not unlike the early series Alcos in Portugal which have a ships air-horn fitted, with fairly similar volume too).

What can I say about the wine tasting? We were taken to the wine cellar in a fairly old bus - so the headboard produced and was put in the front. The driver and our MAV colleagues were rather amused as we reversed the last yards to the wine cellar - the bus had a reversing horn fitted and most of us on board had a go at imitating it as we reversed (and that was before we started on the wine)!

The wine tasting session was held a long way underground in the cellar - a cold damp place but presumably perfect for storing the wine. Each table came complete with a large glass for the tasters to spit out the wine after it was sampled...but I have to report they were all still bone dry at the end! Five wines were sampled and a jolly good time was had by all from what I could tell. After a while it didn't seem quite so cold, though on leaving it was noticed just how hot it seemed outside!

A seminar phot (headboard, cranks and wine barrels) was held as we were leaving. A short run in the coach got us to the restaurant where our evening meal was taken. All too soon it was time to leave for the station and M62 205 was waiting to take us back to Miskolc. A late arrival back so most of us crashed out again (this railtouring lark over four days is damn hard work you know!!).

Route, Distances and Timing's (Booked & Actual)
(by Gary Thornton)

Train Reporting Codes :
55571 : Miskolc Tiszai - Diósgyor
55570 : Diósgyor - Miskolc Tiszai
???? on narrow gauge
13560 : Miskolc Tiszai - Tokaj
13561 : Tokaj - Miskolc Tiszai

The morning train (55571/55570) was operated without any pre-planned timings, those given as "booked" below were merely estimations.

Key;
a : arrival time
c : change train!
d : departure time
L : loco change
r : reversal of direction
/ : passing time
A time in brackets is approximate.

All distances, in kilometres, are taken from the timing sheet given out on the train (compiled by Ferenc Joó). No attempt has been made to verify the distances given.

Back to "The Way of the Warrior"