The Last Loco worked Trains from Wolsztyn to Leszno - Chasing Dinosaurs Episode. 28

Hello everyone,
Last year Lawrie went out to Poland - and was in time to witness the times changing with the last of the locomotive hauled trains on the Leszno to Wolsztyn line.
By now, the line is entirely worked by DMU's and this sight is unlikely to return.
Much of the sound on this video was made possible by using this: www.sr3d.co.uk/store/p65/SR3D...
The amount of wind noise it can cut out is quite amazing.
A video featuring:
Lawrie - Presenter and Cameraman, excited to be in Poland,
James - Presenter and Cameraman, on Lawrie wrangling duties.
A video edited by Lawrie
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[@srajfnly2]

I love the nickname of the SM-42 “The Vibrator”

[@lukaszszpak]

😆

[@mateusz_paulus]

I feel your pain. Hopefully when Wolsztyn depot will have another steam locomotive running they will return to scheduled train rides to Leszno. Now only Pt47-65 is running.

[@lmm]

Yes, hard to keep a service going with just one engine

[@Wilma2101]

I did the wolstyn Poznan driver experience about 11 years ago now. Firing the loco non stop for two hours was a workout

[@KellinoRail]

Great little video and sad to see these small loco hauled trains disappearing. I remember doing an inter-rail at the beginning of 1989 and going up and down lots of little German branch lines hauled by class 211-213 locos steaming heating one or two coaches, or starting off with two carriages and then getting to a junction and another loco would be waiting to split the train and so two one coach trains would depart. I also remember chasing Austrian class 1020's in the Arlberg and a particular working, which was something like the 15.12 Landeck - St Anton, which used to be booked for a class 1020 and one coach. Happy days. The video brings it all back 😀

[@matt_acton-varian]

You shouldn't be disappointed by the cloud cover shots from the start of day 3. They were beautifully poignant that this sleepy little service is in its twilight which the light levels in the shots capture very artistically. I hope that this is not the end of the steam locomotive that broke down.

[@lmm]

The Pt 47 is current back in service. Day 3 was fine - but we'd hoped for more like day 1!

[@trainswithnickyt]

Many won't agree with me, but I';m perfectly happy seeing the SM42 going about it's business

[@Ben31337l]

Many won't agree, but you're also not alone. I love diesel-hauled services including those small ones.

[@DMCRailways]

Oh wow. I feel the pain of not seeing a steam hauled train but, it did look like fun chasing down the locomotives and getting those shots. Hope it was a hood time. I really like your editing style and music selection too by the way :)

[@lmm]

Thank you very much! It was a disappointment, but good to record something that would be otherwise lost

[@TechJoe1994]

Have to say seeing a diesel with coaches is much more attractive to me than the likes of our sprinters and the other railcars.

[@lmm]

Oh certainly

[@TechJoe1994]

@@lmm I was born a bit too late but I always loved the look of the class 45 and it's coaches. Every now and then I take it for a spin in train simulator 😂 if I won the lotto I'd have a small version built to drive about on a private track 😂 air conditioned cab and coaches haha. I've got it all planned out.

[@jarekjagielski366]

The video is great, but what made it for me is the 90's style opening, were it not for the video quality I'd totally thought it comes from a VHS tape 😁

[@lmm]

Thank you! Excatly what we were going for

[@MatiEP09]

its always great to see your home country!

[@orys]

well, on the bright side you have a really nice shot of that classic Ursus tractor in 10:40

[@jacobmoss6830]

All good things must come to an end, and whilst this ended with a bang as opposed to whimper lets be glad that for the first two decades of the 21st century steam still had regularly timetabled passenger runs in Europe. And lets not forget regular steam working in Europe isn't dead as long as Harz Mountain railway and other German narrow gauge lines can keep going steam will survive on regular revenue earning trains.

[@StefsEngineering]

I like the theme, reminds me of "diverine" used in the glider episode of "James May's Toy Stories". Used in a similar manner

[@antekspotter]

Thank You guys for this episode!

[@oddballschtuff]

If you’re ever in the states, I think you’d enjoy the Golden Spike National Monument! I normally don’t like bigger channels, but I really like yours!

[@SeaKing61]

I'm disappointed if I've walked the mile to the nearest train tracks and it isn't the loco I'm expecting. If it happened to me on a trip to the other side of Europe I'd be bloody devastated!

[@lmm]

Not going to lie. There was a good hour we just sat in silence

[@alfafan164]

Brilliant filming as ever ....shame not steam but still very pretty

[@bentullett6068]

Great video. Some lovely shots taken of the train.

[@aliciashepherd8912]

Maybe next time the steam engine will run

[@lmm]

Here's hoping

[@lbscthomas440]

As a Polish person, hearing one of the steam engines have broken down hurts me ever so much

[@captaindonut9075]

Lawrie. I have told you this before. Poland's Neibour Lithuania has one operating steam Engine Siaurukas A narrow Gauge Steam Loco and museum's in the town of Anyksčiai it runs services during summer.

[@lmm]

Yes, it's on my list to go visit!

[@captaindonut9075]

@@lmm hope you will have fun, maybe you will be allowed to ride the hand power cart to.

[@robertook]

I didn't know that Anglo-Saxons were so much complaining... Poles are known for complaining. The weather was as expected in this time of the year. There are many things to see in the neighborhood but probably not interesting for railway lovers...

[@lmm]

When our trip was to see the steam during winter, we obviously were very disappointed. It's a long old way for us. Having been many times we know what the weather can do - we where hoping for more of what we had in day one. That's the stunning conditions we've had before.

[@Pyrotrainthing]

A shame that steam services won't be run there anymore but I do hope that Poland keeps their Steam services alive!

[@lmm]

So do I!

[@nick-c]

Apparently, Pt47-65 is working currently and running to Zbąszynek this week, but her tyres are getting very worn, and I've heard there are no spares left. I think there's at least one serviceable loco at Chabowka, too?

[@lmm]

When we were out there we didn't think there was anything serviceable at Chabowba. Yes, the Pt is back in service now

[@nick-c]

@@lmm it seems difficult to find anything online, but it looks from FB like the two Kreigsloks were running in the summer, and they were advertising trips to Osielec.

[@lmm]

@@nick-c yes, but I think they were under repair over winter

[@zinjarich1963]

I'm happy yet sad cause good for my home country for getting "better" transportation but I'm sad because its sad to see our beautiful locomotives go to the shed not to be seen again

[@lmm]

It is very sad

[@toprus7412]

Eeeh, Wolsztyn is a weird topic to cover. PKP officially phased out all of their steam engines from regular traffic in 1993 and Wolsztyn was only left there to serve as a tourist attraction. The services might be regular, but it loses a part of its romanticism by just being a touristy gimmick (that's why I think reffering to this as "last loco hauled services" might be a bit controversial). The management of the place has also really gone downhill, funding was cut and for most of 2023 there were no steam locomotives in service. After Pt47 returned from its reapair (which had to be done outside of Poland, because there aren't even any certified places which could do it over here) it could only do very few runs, people got very angry and disappointed. It certainly would be better to just have the loco run on the weekend service to Poznań, where tourists and families would actually have fun by using/seeing it instead of covering commuters on the Zbąszynek/Leszno line with coal dust every single day and risking damage to the locomotive, which would make it unable to run on the more popular route to Poznań. It's also a big shame that you saw the modernised version of SM42. For a part of 2022 and 2023 the steam locomotive replacement service was worked by the old version. If you want to experience some more local loco-hauled services around Poland I would recommend going to the railway line between Reda and Hel. Polregio runs 3 sets of (old) SM42+5 coaches from Gdynia to Hel (that makes up for around 12 loco hauled regio trains each day), one of which also goes from/to Chojnice on the old Ostbahn line from Berlin to Kaliningrad. Some of the stations still have old semaphore signals there and the overall vibe is just stunning. Polregio even has a heritage unit SU42 running there. Occasionally you might also see a railbus replacement service between Chojnice and Tczew with a SM42 hauling one double decker coach. Anyways, with what you had to work with, I think the video came out really great, still a big shame that Wolsztyn can't get to regular work though.

[@fishw]

Know disappointed not to of captured exactly what you set out for but a lovely vid which yes, documents something thatll soon be a distant memory. Also some beautifully framed shots, ever thought of doing this professionally?! 😂

[@lmm]

The thought had crossed my mind 😂

[@fishw]

@@lmm go for it! Am sure a few people would watch your stuff

[@TrainsSleepRepeat]

Here’s the footage I shot back in Autumn 2022, it was a nervous wait at 5:30am to see if steam was up! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIfFlpqLe7aqbbM

[@wdubbelo]

now all that is left in europe is the the mines in bosnia with the old ww2 BR 52's

[@forrestrobin2712]

Ah so sorry Lawrie 😢 Only one word comes to mind… bugger. But I have religiously watched to the end purely out of solidarity. I feel your pain.

[@borowka_]

You should visit one the the EKD museum near warsaw, you have some really interesting trains there, tho no steam trains there sadly

[@Mr_wally]

I if I was I change I would do this on the uk I’m telling you I would be a trillionare by the end of the week

[@themidlandconnection]

We're seeing the end of loco hauled services here in Australia too, its progress i guess, but i cant help that it just doesnt feel right to have railcars and only railcars

[@lmm]

Sad isn't it

[@bentullett6068]

Are the HST's still running in Australia as they are being reduced from service in the UK now and being sent to Mexico or the scrap yard.

[@silverfox2358]

what track gauge is this russian or 4 foot 8 1/2 inch standard?

[@lmm]

Standard

[@arturneto8770]

Great video. There is another steam train service in Poland, it only runs in the spring and summer moths. It operates from Chabówka to Zakopane. They either run the Tkt48 or Ty2 steam locomotives.

[@lembitmoislane.]

That isn’t the same. The importances is that this was the last REGULAR, commuter steam train not primarily tourist focused in the continent and the Polish government killed it right after the founder passed.

[@lmm]

It was already limping long before Howard went. We'll see what happens next. There is a growing interest in not letting it disappear.

[@adalbertbuchaniec1199]

If the D&RG-W K-37s are trying to get to Alamosa, then the OKz32 is threatening to return to Zakopane

[@TheMofRider2]

21:25 These are definitely SA139, not 132 😉

[@lmm]

My bad

[@HaydnsRailways3205]

Has this finished for good now?

[@artu927]

Not really. Daily steam service was moved to a shorter Wolsztyn - Zbąszynek line, with one return service running on workdays. Steam on Wolsztyn - Leszno line is said to return only when Wolsztyn shed will have two operational steam locomotives (so no sooner than half a year from now, or possibly even later). I guess running the Leszno service reliably with only one steam locomotive available was quite an annoyance. And since there are quite some people traveling on these trains, mainly school students, they decided to temporarily move loco driven trains to a way less busy line.

[@TylerEaves]

Who really knows? We've been hearing that this was it seemingly every year for a decade+.

[@Pentium100MHz]

@@artu927 I wonder how long steam will hold out in Wolsztyn without the Experience, as I understand they paid quite a bit of money to the shed for locomotive maintenance. Since the ticket price for the steam-hauled trains is the same as for the modern trains, I wonder when the people in charge will decide that this loses them money.

[@jimsmowingofficial]

@@Pentium100MHz tbh I wouldn't be surprised if the experience was revived in some form in the not-too-distant future

[@Pentium100MHz]

@@jimsmowingofficial Well, one can dream and it would be nice, though I doubt someone will want to take over all the problems.

[@ianhudson2193]

Ahem...... ........last regular "standard guage" steam in Europe...

[@lmm]

Ah yes. I have a video on the Hartz to release at some point

[@ianhudson2193]

@@lmm Love the HSB.....❤️

[@trainswithnickyt]

I'm curious about the coaches, can anyone identify them?

[@bahnspotterEU]

They are the PKP 120A type, a series of coaches with very similar counterparts in many different countries.

[@trainswithnickyt]

Thanks, they do seem very generic and very like the type available in HO scale@@bahnspotterEU

[@JaSaMvUkOjE]

i perfer you to visit the sarganska osmica in SERBIA!

[@Morganstein-Railroad]

Shame that they're switching over to those boring Railcars. Still, That's progress for you - out with the interesting, in with the crap.

[@lmm]

Really is. They don't look right with all the old stations

[@altbau-e-lok-pfeife]

So you can have either steam or good conditions.. Both is not possible.🥲