ST44
878 and SM42 067 with a train
to Lithuania, leaving Suwalki at 8.15. The line to
Sestokai was reopened in 1991. This is the only direct
raillink between Poland and Lithuania. Its importance may
grow because it avoids the territory of Byelorussia. |
ST44
878 has 'lost' SM42 067 and is busy with
shunting in the Lithuanian borderstation of Mockava
(Lith) / Mackowo (Pol), where LG exchange freight wagons
with PKP. Here the night train with PKP-coaches with
flexible axles changes the gauge. This train departs from
Warszawa Zachodnia on uneven dates, the train from
Vilnius departs on even dates. Two daily trains in each
direction completes the service between Suwalki and
Sestokai, one of them with a post wagon (91021/91002). |
The
former DR 120 304, a gift from Germany
in connexion with the withdrawal of Russian troops from
there, has kept her number but looks LG-green now. In
1994 I saw the same loco in Svencioneliai (Lithuania) at
a scrapyard in German red livery. So she must have been
rescued from there. This 'M62' is one of the very few
Lithuanian diesels for 1435 mm gauge now and is doing the
shunting and tripwork between Sestokai and Mackowo, where
she can meet with her Polish sister ST44. On the
background an installation for transferring chemicals: on
the left the normal gauge, on the right the broad gauge. |
'Crossplatform'
in Sestokai: the leftside is for broad gauge to
Vilnius/Alytus, the rightside is standard gauge. SU45
060 is ready for departure with train 91020 to
Suwalki. Today I'm the only passenger. You may get a
VIP-feeling: I guess at least fifteen officials from
customs, borderpolice and railways have been busy with
checking me... The reason for this is quite simple: there
is no Lithuanian train connecting to the 91020. But in
the opposite direction (train 91001) the two coaches (one
A and one B) are well filled because a train with M62 and
three coaches connects to Vilnius. |