Goodbye NOHABs
A virtual tour from Budapest to Székesfehérvár.
Many railfan in Hungary noticed, that Budapest became poorer with
one noise: the noise of the NOHAB (M61 class) locomotives.
The Gigant Club tried to be at the last NOHAB trains at Budapest-Déli
railway station, and just a couple of days before the last NOHAB train departed
we could take a trip on the board of an M61 to
Székesfehérvár.
We would like you to come with us and enjoy that beautiful
locomotive on the 30a rail line.
M61 just arrived from Tapolca with a passenger train. As one can
see, not only the Gigant Club took photos at that times.
The M61 pulled the train to the storage station.
We are preparing to leave Budapest-Déli...
The engine driver operated in the back cab.
The fifth longest railway tunnel in Hungary is on the line from
Budapest-Déli to Kelenföld. It is 361m long.
It was built in 1861. We were arriving to the end of the tunnel.
Budapest-Kelenföld as the engine driver see it. This is the meeting point
of 4 major rail lines: Hegyeshalom-Wien, Pécs,
Székesfehérvár and towards the Danube bridge, this
is the railway gate to the eastern part of Hungary.
We have stopped before the Budafok-Háros railway station.
It's interesting that the singpost is rather long. There is no repeater
signal in the curve, and because of the better visibility the singnal is
on a very long singpost.
The other picture represents a RoLa terminal there.
Érd-Elágazás. At that point the rail line to Pécs
and to the lake Balaton separated. Forward one can go to Pécs.
We have choosen the right direction. At that point the train can go
with 80km/h to right direction. The green line under the green/yellow light
informs the driver of that.
Acceleration...
The village and the station of Martonvásár from the locomotive.
We were overtaking a passenger train at Velence. Look at the mirror!
The locomotive of the passenger train can be clearly seen as we were leaving
it.
The end of that good run. We have stopped at Gárdony. A high
priority international train overtaking us...
and we had to wait for a passenger train as well.
Ah... We are going again. A tipical picture on the coast of the Velecei
lake.
Dinnyés... the last station before Székesfehérvár.
We met V43 1183 with a passenger train towards Budapest.
The crossing with the M7 motorway just before Székesfehérvár.
We were arriving to our end station to
Székesfehérvár.
And the really last NOHAB train from Budapest-Déli:
M61 019 with passenger train to Tapolca (9718).
On the nose of the locomotive the following can be read:
"Az utolsó NOHAB-os vonat Bp. Déli Pu. és
Fehérvár között"
That means that this was the last HOHAB pulled train on the line
Budapest - Székesfehérvár.
On the yellow table (below the MÁV label) the retired
NOHAB engines were listed:
IN MEMORIAM:
M61 003
M61 005
M61 007
M61 009
M61 011
M61 012
M61 015
M61 016
M61 018
This is not the end of the NOHAB story, because these locomotives
remain in service on the north coast of the Balaton and on the
Szombathely-Kaposvár line, but the future is uncertain.
These engines have steam heating and MÁV decided to
stop the trains with steam heating next winter, but that means
cleanly the end of the NOHAB pulled passenger trains.
We don't know the real plans... The 019 probably will run as
a nostalgia locomotive, the 004 will go to a rail museum... but the
others? Nobody knows the future of them...
Some NOHABs were fitted with a remote controller for electric heating cars.
However, one can see passenger trains pulled by a NOHAB with steam heating.
The 008 and the 014 were retired in January 1997.
If you have some questions, problems, suggestions or additions,
please contact the V63 Gigant Club.
Last update: Wed Apr 16 1997
The village and the station of Martonvásár from the locomotive.
Ah... We are going again. A tipical picture on the coast of the Velecei
lake.
And the really last NOHAB train from Budapest-Déli:
M61 019 with passenger train to Tapolca (9718).
On the nose of the locomotive the following can be read: