The CityNightLine Experience

Station clock at Praha hl. n.

Destination card on my car

The trip from Prague through Dresden follows the Elbe River and taking the trip at night was really shorting myself of some incredible sights. Not only the river and architecture of Central Europe but also freight yards, switch towers and the other fascinations of rail buffs. Through the dim light I could see a little and at some of the stops I took a few pictures by opening the upper windows. But I really need to do the trip in daylight.

A photo taken out the window during a station stop, I think this was Bad Schandau

I had purchased a ticket for a couchette car. A shared sleeper compartment with washrooms and toilets at the ends of the car. Up to either four or six persons to a compartment. Kind of like a hostel on wheels. Couchette bunks are cheaper than sleeper compartments and would give me a chance to talk with fellow passengers. Apparently my car was broke. In its place was compartment coach with six seats to a compartment. But with only two people in a compartment I was able to fold up the armrests and sleep across three seats. I had to use my coat as a pillow as since it was no longer a couchette but a coach car there were neither blankets nor pillows. Originally I shared the compartment with a lady traveling only as far as Decin. Her ticket was stamped by a Czech conductor, when I said I was traveling to Amsterdam I was told somebody else would come by. At Bad Schandau what appeared to be two police officers came through the car, shining flashlights in the compartments, not a word was spoken and they walked by after shining a light on me. That was the extent of my interactions with any railway employees. I saw no more the rest of the trip.

I slept across the seats on the left

By now I was pretty sleepy so I made do the best I could; somewhere around Dresden I began dozing off for short periods. I gained a compartment mate then he left and I gained another in Berlin close to midnight, he stayed with me through Arnhem and sometime around eight in the morning we both gave up on sleeping.I followed the signs for food to the next car to find a canteen that was closed. As a frequent traveler I had prepared for this eventuality and ate a Clif bar for breakfast.

The man who rode with me from Berlin to Arnhem was a Dutch biologist who taught at Penn State University in the States for three years. We had a wonderful long conversation on rail and road transportation. As a European he is envious of the wide open spaces of the US and the incredible rail routes that did or do exist albeit for freight not passenger. 

A cargo train of hopper cars moves through Utrecht Centraal

At Emmerich we had a “lok change”, that is a changing of the locomotive from a Deutsche Bahn to a Nederlandse Spoorwegen locomotive. No pictures because it was very foggy and not quite light enough yet. A Railion (Now DB Schenker) cargo train passed  us going the opposite way while at the station. The DB Railion train had the effect of provoking some discussion on the importance placed on cargo/freight versus passenger service in the United States versus in Europe. It had been my fellow passengers experience with Amtrak to expect delays of upwards of several hours. On the contrary in Europe the rail corporations face fines for delayed passenger trains. In the US emphasis, with the exception of the Northeast Corridor, is placed on freight movement. In Europe it is passenger, with cargo trains having to wait. This lead to the construction of some dedicated cargo lines including a controversial one in The Netherlands that is not currently extended into Germany, upon entering Germany the cargo trains are back on rails shared with passenger trains and no longer on a dedicated right of way. A right of way that through Dutch countryside meant the buying up of farmland and property to create, as one had not existed there before. 

From Arnhem through Utrecht and to Amsterdam attempts at trainspotting were hampered by fog and low clouds but from time to time I was a able to take some decent shots. The lack of a compartment mate meant nobody was complaining about the open window and cold wind. 

The upper windows opened affording me the opportunity to take the photos and video shown here. But I'm still not sure if it's ok or not to climb out the window. The signs were a bit confusing.

Using my iPad I shot some video in Utrecht and coming into Amsterdam of the other action on the rails. Trainspotting from a train. Here are some photographs and video taken from aboard the CNL

Finally I arrived at Amsterdam Centraal on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. Sixteen hours on a train is far, far superior to Sixteen hours on a plane. But I was glad to be on non-moving ground. Several hours afterwards I could still feel the motion of the rails. Even though the experience isn't quite what I anticipated I feel that I'd give the CityNightLine another chance. In the summer time there would be some daylight movement of the train affording a chance at seeing some scenery. Maybe next time they'll be a bunk for me to rest on after a full day of walking around Prague.

End of the line