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Practical stackable beer cups.

Beer cups with handles that telescope into each other!

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Today's goal: Ski Flying! The Oberstdorf ski flying hill has a size rating of 235 meters: almost 100 meters more than the normal Ski Jumping events. Last photo featuring @luquipuks.bsky.social.

A wide view of the Ski Flying hill in Oberstdorf. 235 meters long!

A view from the bottom of the Ski Flying hill in Oberstdorf. The launch ramp is still too far away to see.

Myself and Lukas posing for a selfie at the bottom of the hill.

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Train two of the day was RE17 from Immenstadt to Oberstdorf. Served today by a trio of Alstom LINT 54s, offering a huge amount of capacity for very few passengers on this Sunday afternoon. These diesel multiple units are the workhorses of the non-electrified networks in our part of Bavaria.

The front of an Alstom LINT 54, painted in DB's Traffic Red. Blue skies dotted with clouds in the background -- just like the state of Bavaria's flag.

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We're passing through the village of Langenwang, which, according to my expert knowledge of German, translates to "big dick".

A sign welcoming visitors to Langenwang, in Bavarian dialect.

Grias di, Schi dass do Bisch
Welcome, we're glad to have you here

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It's another #TrainDay! And a flying day too, but we'll get to that later. Leg 1 was on this DB Class 612 from Augsburg to Immenstadt. I love these trains; loud, rattle-y, and diesel powered. Their secret weapon is the ability to tilt into corners. Well adapted to the curvey routes in the Allgäu.

A DB Class 612 diesel multiple unit pulling out of Immenstadt train station. The train is painted in DB's standard bright red. On the left and in the background are the hills of the pre-Alp area. On the right, the covered platform with a nice analog clock hanging from the roof.

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Just realized I didn't actually take any selfies today; anyway my TGV made it back to Augsburg on time, resulting in -1 minutes late on the day: fantastic!

It's me, Reilly, a 34 year old American looking guy in front of Augsburg Main Station, which is lit with lights with a very green color temperature.

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I didn't book a return ticket in advance; the best option is actually a French TGV - I've avoided DB trains completely during today's trip. The TGV Duplex trainsets are unfortunately a bit dated and really not as comfortable as the ICEs. The seats are almost entirely in sets of four, vis-a-vis.

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Secondary goal: Craft beer. 12 taps here at Kraftpaule, a fantastic amount for Germany. Everyone here is speaking English with an American accent - typical.

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After a break for coffee, time to go back down the hill. The U15 is also quite steep, up to 8.5%! They also operate heritage trams on this route; I will need to return on a Sunday some time to see them in action. The meter-gauge turning loop is in the foreground here.

The front of a newer Stuttgarter Stadtbahn vehicle. Sadly I don't know much more about it, but it looks sleek and you can walk between the two cars.

In the foreground, the meter gauge tracks intersect the standard gauge tracks at roughly a right angle.

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Here's a better look at the bike car. Three bicyclists using it on a Saturday afternoon.

The flat bike car at the front of the Zacke. There are various posts for securing your bike. One bike is already loaded; two more bicyclists are on the platform about to load.

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A look at the end buffer of the Zacke in Stuttgart. Seems a bit small for the end of a maximum 17.8% incline. #RateMyBuffers

The end of the rack railway, showing the red rectangular "end of track" sign. The mast for the catenary is directly behind the buffer.

The buffer itself has a rubber bumper with a Scharfenberg sized cutout. Some sort of hydraulic or spring system could cushion a blow.

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Here's goal #1 of my Stuttgart visit: the Zacke! A cog railway in the middle of the city that is part of the public transit network. A defining feature of the Zacke is the separate bike car that it pushes up the hill. 15 minute headways are a bit disappointing.

The Zacke cog railway at its end station, Marienplatz. An elevator provides direct access to the Stadtbahn platforms below.

A closeup of one end of the Zacke vehicle, clearly showing the toothed rail in the middle of the tracks. The Zacke is unusual in that the toothed rail is low: flush with the rails. This is due to street running portions later on the route (!)

The Zacke leaves me behind and heads up the hill toward Degerloch. In the front is a short open flat car with a couple of bikes.

The platform arrival/departure sign says I have 14 minutes to wait until the next #10 train to Degerloch, via Liststraße and Wielandshöhe. Considering there's one line here, a bit unnecessary details.

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Multi-gauge rail in the underground Stadtbahn station. No idea why it randomly starts here, but the old meter gauge infrastructure is for the heritage trams that run on Sundays. Here's my U1 - hope it's headed in the right direction.

A view of two platforms/tracks at the Stuttgart Hbf Stop of the Stadtbahn. The left track had three rails, supporting both standard and narrow gauge vehicles. The right track also has three rails, but the middle rail for meter gauge starts/ends suddenly along the platform. Perhaps it's in the process of being removed.

Front view of a Stuttgart Stadtbahn vehicle. I sadly don't know much about these, but they're relatively short - two articulated halves with one bogie supporting the articulation.

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Stuttgart Hbf is still a mess. The walkway to the S-Bahn and Stadtbahn is still a major detour. The old main building is on life support -- I understand the idea of preserving history but it's been just a facade for like 10 years now.

The beautiful walk from the train platforms to the city + subterranean local transit connections is a giant construction site. No fewer than seven cranes dot the horizon.

The facade of the old main station building is held in place with a metal exoskeleton.

A diagram of the path from the train platforms to the city / local transit connections. It's like an 8 minute detour.

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I think this is the first train I've used with separate men's/women's toilets. Even had a urinal! I triple checked to make sure it wasn't a sink.

The hallway between two cars of the Stadler KISS train showing bathrooms on either side: men's on the right, and women's on the left. The pictograms are clutching their crotch as if they have to pee really badly - tacky. In the background are the automated sliding doors to the next car.

A picture of the men's bathroom (from the toilet-side) showing the sink and urinal. Not fancy, but in good condition. A poster on the wall alerts passengers that the toilet is not a trash can.

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Some photos from along the way: On the bridge into Ulm, on the Filstalbrücke, the Coffee machine (I ordered a "Verlängerter" - which is essentially the Austrian equivalent of an Americano), and the adorable design on the coffee cups.

A view from the railway bridge over the Danube between Neu-Ulm and Ulm. In the background and dominating the "skyline" of Ulm is the Ulmer Münster, the tallest church in the entire world.

A view from the Filstalbrücke, a viaduct along the Ulm-Wendlingen high speed line. The village of Mühlhausen im Täle is nestled in the valley.

€3.50 for an Americano from the coffee machine; seems steep compared to the cost of my beer.

Detail on the bottom of the WestBahn coffee cup, showing an illustration of the Stadler KISS 200 train, along with some mountains and churches in Austria. On the napkin below is the Prater in Vienna, an amusement park within a bigger city park.

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Also they have vending machines with (Austrian) beer! €4.30 for the privilege of enjoying a Stiegl Goldbräu, brewed in Salzburg.

A 0.5l red and white somewhat retro looking Stiegl beer can on the fold-out seat-back table. One can see the rolling hills of Bavarian Swabia out the train window in the background.

The self-serve Bistro of WestBahn: A coffee machine on the left and a vending machine on the right, stocked with snacks, sandwiches, drinks, beer, and Radler.

A view of the 2nd class interior of the Stadler KISS 200 from the bistro, which is at the "mezzanine" level on one end of each car. A table is on the left, and stairs to the upper and lower level (where the door vestibule is) are in the middle.

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Reilly Hamilton @reillydotcom.com · 24/11/2024

I've abandoned Insta+Facebook, which has the plus side for followers here that you now get to enjoy my train travel updates. Today I'm headed to Stuttgart from Augsburg on this beautiful Stadler KISS 200, operated by WestBahn, a private operator from Austria.

The exterior of a Stadler KISS 200, a double decker EMU. The paint scheme is a pleasant white and baby blue, with a thick black frame around the windshield. Anti-climbers and a Scharfenberg couple protrude from the front. On the right, mostly obscured by the WestBahn train is the side of a Bombardier Twindexx Vario (DB Class 445) painted in DB's signature "traffic red" color.

The interior of the top deck of the Stadler, showing the (faux?) leather seats along with the curved roof and tiny (useless) luggage racks. I would have liked to get a better shot, but didn't want to include any faces in the image.

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Tonight's NFL beer in Germany is adorned by a "cup gnome" -- a "Tassenwichtel".

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Reilly Hamilton @reillydotcom.com · 22/11/2024

Kamala and Donkey pumpkins are still looking okay, even three weeks later! We had a couple inches of snow accumulation last night in Augsburg.

Two pumpkins sit on a small outdoor table on an outdoor rooftop deck. A dusting of about 5 cm / 2 in of snow covers the pumpkins, table, and an assortment of plants. Snowy rooftops peek over the wall of the deck. The left pumpkin features the carving ",la", which when spoken outloud sounds like Kamala. The right pumpkin is a donkey, representing the Democratic party. It used to have a row of stats through its body (as often pictured), but that part has already rotted away.

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Reilly Hamilton @reillydotcom.com · 10/11/2024

Milies, Greece, at the eastern end of the Little Train of Pelion. #RateMyBuffers

A small railway buffer (600mm gauge) composed of four horizontal rails, painted red and white, stands before a 50cm high stone wall.

A side view of the same buffer, showing that on the other side of the small wall is a vertical drop off into a gorge of at least 10 meters. A small restaurant with a terrace is in the background. The gorge has nice foliage, and a ruined brick building on the other side.

The reverse view of the buffer, showing the two tracks of the Milies station, and the switches creating the run-around track for the locomotive. The rear of the train is on one of the tracks, clear of the switches. A sign warns visitors not to park on the active tracks in Greek and English.

The Little Train of Pelion is stopped at its intermediate halt, Ano Gatzea.The diesel locomotive in the foreground is styled to look like a steam engine, but it's not fooling anyone. Four vintage wooden coaches painted brown are lined up behind the locomotive.

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Reilly Hamilton @reillydotcom.com · 07/03/2024

Put it on the board!! Apple reviewed our MacOS app update today in 4 hours and 6 minutes, which I'm pretty sure is an all time record in my entire history of dealing with the App Store.

A dry erase white board with the text "Fastest Apple Review: 4 Hours, 6 minutes -2024.03.07". The text is in red pen with bad handwriting, and is enclosed by a lumpy rounded rectangle. Above this is a similar field with the text "Cups forgotten by [illegible]", and below that four tally marks.

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Luzern was the goal today, but here's s bonus double-bendy-trolleybus in front of the main train station.

A doubly articulated electric Trolley Bus. It is white with red and blue stripes and says "RBUS" along the top.

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Leg 3: IR 71 to Luzern aboard a Bombardier TWINDEXX Express.

An SBB Bombardier TWINDEXX Express, in standard SBB white livery with red and black accents.

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Some other sights along the way: a Baureihe 215 at Lindau-Reutin, and some brand new Merseyrail class 777s outside the Stadler facility in St. Margarethen.

A deep red Deutsche Bahn Baureihe 215 Diesel locomotive, parked at Lindau-Reutin station.

Two new bright yellow and grey Merseyrail class 777s parked on a siding at the Stadler facility in St. Margarethen.

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Leg 2: ECE 198 from Buchloe to Zürich. It's fun to ride something different, but this route really doesn't let the ETR.610 stretch its legs much. Good workout for the tilting mechanism though.

An Alstom ETR.610 New Pendolino in SBB CFF FFS livery (white base, with a red nose and black window stripe) arriving at platform 4 in Buchloe.

The interior of the Alstom ETR.610. The seats are mainly blue, with a hint of green, and are somewhat weirdly narrow. The interior is a medium grey.

Reservation displays above the seats. The seat designator says "Window" in four languages: Italian, German, French, and English.

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