Zagreb

Our drive from Belgrade to Zagreb and Ljubliana was on the last Saturday in August - a very busy day for holiday traffic. With a right-hand drive car, I simply decided not to try to overtake and just to follow the vehicle in front. Kath saw two fatal accidents during the course of the morning. The next day the car was loaded onto the train in Ljubliana and we travelled overnight to Holland arriving in time for the mid-day boat to England.
1. My first blue Tatra.
2. Local built bogie car.
3. Another Tatra.
4. Finally are of these 4-wheel cars still running in Zagreb odr have the new low floor cars replaced them?
This post marks the end of this blog. Thank you to the various people from Romania, Germany and Hungary who have e-mailed me - I am glad you enjoyed the pictures. We are now planning a trip to Romania in May 2007 flying with Whizz Air and hiring a car. We hope to visit some of these tramways and also to stay in some of the same hotels.

Belgrade Trams

 

To Belgrade

The next morning we drove to Belgrade without any problems at the border with Yugoslavia. We found a central hotel with a large family room very easily. Yugoslavia seemed very rich and prosperous compared with Romania and we could buy beer and ice cream without queueing.
1. Some Belgrade trams carried advertising. This was the first time I had seen a Tatra tram with adverts - for Coca Cola of all things! We didn't see any over advertised western consumer goods in Romania.
2. This is the view from the hotel bedroom window.

Ronat

Our last tram ride in Romania was to Ronat in Timisoara. This route ended with a single track section in an unpaved road and was operated by an elderly 4-wheel tram and control trailer or perhaps it was a close coupled set with one motor in each unit Hungarian style. I can't remember - perhaps someone will add a comment with details of theses cars.
Kai has e-mailed to tell me that these two cars were built in 1928 in the Timisoara workshops. In 1935 they were modified to operate back to back as a coupled pair of cars with new motors from Germany -each car having one motor. They were known as 'gemene' in Timisoara which translates as twins. Kai remembers their distinctive sound and running to the garden fence to watch them pass. Perhaps he saw me standing on the front platform on an August evening in 1982.
Rather surprisingly there was a timetable at Ronat and as I recall it said first tram 5:30 or similar and then every 29 minutes until late evening - not exactly user friendly.
Next morning we set off for the Yogoslavian boarder and Belgrade.

Timisoara

 

Beer, roads and cars.

1. Draught beer was difficult to find in Romania in 1982. It was always sold in half litre mugs and was unfiltered and unpasturised. It was always dispensed with the aid of a cylinder of CO2 but usually cool and refreshing.
2. Constanta railway station.
3. A village scene. Most of the roads we drove on were quite good and there was very little traffic. The main problem was overtaking ox carts with a right hand drive car. Village streets often had loose chippings and the side roads were not surfaced at all.
4. RTV 604X - the Ford Cortina that made the journey and a wayside inspection ramp.

Arad

We then continued northwards to Arad. I was feeling ill with a stomach bug and could only sit on a bench and took three pictures in the centre of the city.

Rasinari

There was only one tram route in Sibiu - a suburban service to the small town of Rasinari. I think this is still the case.

To Sibiu

Leaving Bucharest we drove northwards to Sibiu. I was fined 40 Benson & Hedges cigarettes for changing lanes without signalling on an empty road.
1. Dracula's castle.
2. Socialist constuction methods.
3. Sibiu has a number of old buildings like this one. (We think the queue was for a delivery of soap which had just arrived). We are looking forward to visiting Sibiu in its new role as European Capital of Culture 2007.
4. Typical rural transport.

Farewell Bucharest

We leave Bucharest in 1982 with a few pictures of the articulated cars. Some of these may well still be in service. Kath and I returned to Bucharest in 1994 not long after 'regime change'. We are now looking forward to our flight with WizzAir to Bucharest on April 30th this year.
1. Car 173. For more recent view see http://ratb.stfp.net/Data/T/3/173-32:4.jpg
2. Car 227. For more recent view see http://ratb.stfp.net/Data/T/3/227-46:1.jpg
3. Car 284 and its driver. For more recent view see http://ratb.stfp.net/Data/T/3/284-Dp:1.jpg

Points

Most of the tram points in Bucharest were manually operated. At busy city centre junctions there were small metal huts with a seat and a point lever usually occupied by an elderly lady. Otherwise the drivers simply got off their trams and used a point iron.