photo(s) / video(s) LARGE PHOTOS! - Photos from my trip to Slovakia (Bratislava)

[ttcsubwayfan]

I warned you all in the title, so don't complain (I don't know if the resolution I chose to link them in changes anything, but some of these photos are 2-3 MB each.)

 

So as you may or may not know, I was in Slovakia from July 1 - August 20 this summer. I was in Bratislava multiple times during this period, and true to my nature made a point of getting as many photos of everything there as I could - I literally photographed every vehicle I found. Here is a selection of the best shots I took while there - with around 240 photos to my name, there is no way I could put up every single one, lest I melt down all your computers.

 

Additionally, some of you may remember a thread I posted a while back in which I shared my older photos - if you go there now, you will notice there is barely anything there anymore. This is due to the fact that I reorganized my streetcar galleries a few days before I left, thus the old links are now invalid. After I returned, I opted to create a Flickr account to host my photos instead, so anyone wishing to see the full selection of the photos I made in Bratislava, ever, can do so by going to this link ----> http://www.flickr.com/photos/100607361@N06/ I will be uploading my Canadian and US photos once I have uploading photos from Prague, which should find their way into a thread soon enough also. Now, enough of my rambling, onto the transit system itself. Here are some thoughts:

 

Trolley bus and streetcar fleets are a little dated, but replacements are underway, and from what I gather the old Tatra PCCs continue to be reliable, despite their age. These actually look quite good still, especially compared to the old Škoda trolleys, which look like they have seen much better days. Some of the newest bus fleets are the only ones with air conditioning - fault with the transport company, not the vehicles themselves. Here are some of the best photos I took - please click on them to see the full resolution.

 

DPB 6631 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

 

DPB 6283 - 03 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

 

DPB 6604 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 6244 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 6275 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 4910 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 2864 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 1637 - 03 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

(This is not a revenue vehicle, it's operating a touristy tour service)

DPB 38 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7722 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7727 - 03 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7602 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7783 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7704 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7843 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7844 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7841 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7821 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7828 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7921 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7917 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7943 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7951 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7952 - 02 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7952 - interior 1 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7085 - 04 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7120 - 03 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

DPB 7135 - 01 by t6a5iii, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

[Turbo19]

Nice to see something different now and then.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[mtattrain]

Great ones! Slovakia's transit system looks real interesting.

[ttcsubwayfan]

Thanks everyone!

 

Great ones! Slovakia's transit system looks real interesting.

 

Slovakia has other cities than Bratislava,

 

But yes, it is a very interesting system. You have way more oddball vehicles than you do in North America for a start - and this isn't due to accidents either, the transport company willingly made them like that. Plus, there's the mix of different vehicles from different eras, that's always good.

[FamousNYLover]

Excellent shot. Does car drivers on shared-road with trolley have to stop behind trolley when it's unloading or loading passengers at stops?

[ttcsubwayfan]

Excellent shot. Does car drivers on shared-road with trolley have to stop behind trolley when it's unloading or loading passengers at stops?

 

Thanks!

 

At most stops, the trams are in their own dedicated right of way with private islands. On streets that are not wide enough to accomodate this, they have one lane for trams and one lane for traffic (seperated), but the stop is still located at the sidewalk and passengers have to walk across one lane of traffic to board the car, much as it is done in most of Toronto. Cars are required to stop, and are forbidden to stop right in front of the tram stop (there is a big, reddish coloring over the lane reading "TRAM" to avoid any confusion), but given how bad Slovakian drivers are, I wouldn't be surprised if they dashed right past! If there were more than two lanes in between the tram and the stop, I'm sure they'd overtake those intelligent to stop.

[realizm]

+1. I dig pics like this, gives me a glimpse of the world outside NYC life. Thank you sir.

Resolution looks fine to me, pics are fantastic.

[ttcsubwayfan]

+1. I dig pics like this, gives me a glimpse of the world outside NYC life. Thank you sir.

 

Resolution looks fine to me, pics are fantastic.

 

No problem. When I was talking about, was that the photos themselves on my computer are 2/3 mb each, and that I didn't know if linking them from Flickr in a lower resolution changed anything, i.e. if the photo being smaller meant that less MB had to be downloaded. I know absolutely nothing about this kind of stuff though!

[overclocked]

At first I was like, "wait I've seen this before".Very similar looking vehicles I've found in Russia esp. trolleys and trams.

[ttcsubwayfan]

At first I was like, "wait I've seen this before".Very similar looking vehicles I've found in Russia esp. trolleys and trams.

Yep. Out of the over 10,000 T3 cars that were built a very small portion of them actually remained on Czechoslovakian metals, with a huge amount going to Russia. Trolleys too, though I haven't heard of the buses being sent into Russia.

 

Do those things still exist in Russia in large amounts? I was under the impression that they have all but eliminated the T3 from their streets.

[overclocked]

Yep. Out of the over 10,000 T3 cars that were built a very small portion of them actually remained on Czechoslovakian metals, with a huge amount going to Russia. Trolleys too, though I haven't heard of the buses being sent into Russia.

 

Do those things still exist in Russia in large amounts? I was under the impression that they have all but eliminated the T3 from their streets.

No, T3s are long gone, only few left and those in my memories, there are plenty of T5-T7 looking trams made locally. There are a lot of Skoda trolleybuses. Buses are my fault, most of them are local production.

[ttcsubwayfan]

No, T3s are long gone, only few left and those in my memories, there are plenty of T5-T7 looking trams made locally. There are a lot of Skoda trolleybuses. Buses are my fault, most of them are local production.

 

T5-T7 trams? Who built these? The only manufacturer of T series trams I know of is ČKD, who built all of the streetcars seen in the photos I posted, but they (were) a Prague based company.

[overclocked]

T5-T7 trams? Who built these? The only manufacturer of T series trams I know of is ČKD, who built all of the streetcars seen in the photos I posted, but they (were) a Prague based company.

Of course, I sometimes forget that Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore and the two countries are separate entities. Nevertheless those trams I've mentioned are indeed CKDs and not tatras.

[ttcsubwayfan]

Of course, I sometimes forget that Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore and the two countries are separate entities. Nevertheless those trams I've mentioned are indeed CKDs and not tatras.

Tatra was just a subsidiary of ČKD.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8CKD

[overclocked]

Tatra was just a subsidiary of ČKD.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ČKD

Yep, tatra by itself produced only trucks.

[ttcsubwayfan]

Yep, tatra by itself produced only trucks.

 

I believe that they are seperate. If we go to the page of Tatra itself, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_%28company%29 then it makes no reference to tram manufacturing. I might be reading it wrong, but it seems that the subsidiary Tatra was not related to the truck manufacturer.