Dobrinishte to Avramovo

Our third and final day on the Rhodope Narrow Gauge Railway started from the current terminus at Dobrinishte, six kilometres on from Bansko. Today, it all seems rather dead but I imagine it was a hive of activity in its day, with goods being transferred to the road for their onward journey to the communities aroundabouts. Services from Dobrinishte began operation in December 1945 but that’s as far as it would ever go. Plans were made to extend the line another 30km south, as the crow flies, to Gotse Delchev, but these were never realised.

We arrived at the station at Dobrinishte in time to see our train arrive tender first. The loco ran around and then entertained us with two sets of false departures. The real departure, with two carriages full of photographers, took place at 08:33. Over the next fifty minutes we were able to tackle another three runpasts at two crossings, before reaching Bansko (09:21) and trying a few false arrival/departure shots ahead of our real departure (09:53).

Steamy morning in Dobrinishte

The lineside vegetation has gotten out of control in many places along the lines we have travelled. It’s not unusual for photographers on these trips to bring secateurs and other gardening tools to help clean up the lineside, but on this tour someone had taken this to the next level with portable garden strimmers and a couple of chainsaws. It was all rather impressive and very much needed. Goodness knows how mad it looked to the locals as we set about strimming a platform before a runpast!

Our journey today took us to Razlog (10:04) and then on to Belitsa (11:35), with plenty of runpasts along the way, including two shifts to get a shot of a semaphore signal. After a lunch break we set off again (12:35), passing Dagonovo (12:48) and Yurukovo (12:52) on the way to the outskirts of Yakoruda. Somewhere along the way one of our group kindly killed a little scorpion like creature climbing up my back! Eek…

At Yakoruda we tried a couple of runpasts next to the local cemetery (13:30-13:45) before reaching Yakoruda station (13:50). A diesel-hydraulic locomotive, 75006.7, was connected to our train (14:00) here in readiness for the run towards the peak of the line, taking us on to Cherna Mesta (14:22) and then on to tunnel 35 (14:40).

The tunnel shot was always going to be very tight with such a large group and it was originally planned to attempt this twice, but in the end it was such a struggle that once was quite enough! On a first attempt the loco was on its way and then stopped, with only smoke emerging from the tunnel. Then on the second attempt, the loco made it out but incredibly slowly.

False arrival at Avramovo (take 2)

Finally, we reached the peak of the line at Avramovo (15:12). A diesel passenger service hauled by 75009.1 crossed shortly after (15:20), heading towards Dobrinishte. Afterwards we were able to photograph another false arrival. Shockingly, we didn’t get the light on our first attempt. It’s quite extraordinary that that we’ve had to wait till the end of our fifth day for cloud to block the sun on a shot – it really has been that good up to now.

After a bit of a wait the sun emerged from behind the clouds for a second attempt. Now our problem was two photographers behind a signal hut who were not quite as inconspicuous as they might have imagined. It was subtly suggested by someone that “Every part of your body that is sticking out will be cut down by chainsaw” which proved persuasive!

It’s lovely to have the shots in the bag after three days and I feel like I’ve done the line justice now, remedying my somewhat unsatisfying last visit. Now it is time to move on and join our tour buses ready for the drive westwards to Pernik.

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Onward to Bansko

Our second day on the Rhodope Narrow Gauge Railway would take us from Velingrad to Bansko, a ski and mountain resort located at the foot of the Pirin Mountains. Although the first stretch of the narrow gauge line opened in 1926 it was not until 3rd March 1943 that the railway reached Bansko.

In the early morning chill we assembled at Velingrad South and awaited our train. Upon its arrival (07:55) we learnt that the ash pan was full. However, the crew say they can’t drop it into the ditch at Velingrad, only at Septemvri or Bansko, so we set off on our journey (07:58) towards Bansko hoping that the heat wouldn’t get too much and melt the bars in the grate.

Catching the glint

It had been cold enough overnight for a frost to have formed on the fields a little further on, where we started our day’s photography in pursuit of a glint shot. Our journey on brought us to Tzvetino (09:07) where we crossed with a service train hauled by 75005.9 headed towards Velingrad (09:15).

Between Tsvetino and Avramovo (1,267 m above sea level) a diesel-hydraulic locomotive, 75006.7, was attached to the head of our train to take us along the madly winding line through loops, tunnels (this section contains 18 of the 35 tunnels on the entire line) and dense forest. The timing was tight – we needed to be at the top of the line at 10.44 to work around the service trains.

After departing Tzvetino (09:32) we continued on to Stoyan Mitov (09:56) where the diesel detached for a couple of runpasts, then re-attached so we could continue onwards (10:20). We made another stop for a shot at Pashovo (10:33), a stop closed in the 1950s, and reached the peak at Avramovo not long after (10:50).

After a lunch break we saw a service train arrive at Avramovo (12:30), hauled by 75009.1, headed in the direction of Velingrad. Once this was out of the way our train departed Avramovo (12:48) and continued on to Cherna Mesta where we enjoyed three runpasts near the mosque (13:15-13:45) just as the call to prayer rang out. The next stop was Yakoruda (14:02-14:05) where a rusting turntable sits in the yard, no longer connected to the track. A little further on we stopped at a traditional signal (14:15) for another shot.

The view from the hilltop at Yurukovo

At a spot just beyond Yurukovo we disembarked and climbed up the steep hillside for three false departures (14:35-15:10) in the most stunning setting with views across the valley before scrambling, slipping and sliding down the crumbly earth slope to get back to our train. There are plenty among us who must have been mountain goats in a past life, but not me. My descents are as ungainly as ever! Once all were safely back on board we headed on again, passing through Dagonovo (15:14) and on to Belitsa (15:28).

At Belitsa we paused, took on more water and waited for another train crossing. The service train towards Velingrad hauled by refurbished loco 77102.4 arrived at 15:35 and departed three minutes later. A railway official cycled down to the level crossing at one end of the station for the arrival and then cycled beyond the other end of station to operate another level crossing for the departure.

Bernd told us that we left Yakoruda with 9 bar and arrived at Belitsa with 4 bar. The air pump had stopped working. The crew said we would be ready to depart at 16:10. If we wanted to do a photostop then would have to wait until 17:10 as we would have to let another train cross, but the best positions had already been already done. Instead, Bernd recommended we go straight to Bansko and try some shots on the turntable there. There was universal agreement.

Departure from Belitsa

We departed Belitsa (16:10), headed straight through Razlog (16:40) and reached Bansko (16:52). It took a while to get the loco on the turntable and by the time it was in position (17:40) the light had already gone, with the sun having just dipped below the hills moments earlier. Still really interesting to see though.

For us it was the end of another brilliant day of photography, but the crew still had work to do. They needed to urgently clean the ash pan, have dinner and then sleep. Tomorrow’s crew shift starts at 4am. I don’t envy them!

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