tram drivers' friends

RATB

Bucharest is unusual in not having a fleet of foreign trams. The only type we saw were these V3As. We also saw a lot of track reconstruction with some routes partially closed.

Bucharest

Part of Ceasuescu's 'palace' is now open to the public. Construction was not started when we visited in 1982.

Hostel Baneasa Parc

My plan was to spend the last two nights of our holiday in a large hotel in the northern suburbs of Bucharest conveniently situated on the tram route to Baneasa Airport. It was full as was the Ramada down the road. However the receptionist in the Ramada was very helpful and phoned round for us and found the Hostel Baneasa Parc.
This hotel is one bus stop north of Baneasa Airport just off the main road to Otopeni Airport and can only be accessed from the southbound carriageway. However as the pictures show it was well worth the hassel in finding it.
We would recommend it to anyone visiting Bucharest.

Trams from Berlin, Rotterdam and Nuremburg

1. Ex-Berlin KT4D.
2. Ex-Rotterdam Duwag artic.
3. Ex Nurembur bogie car built by MAN in 1959.

Braila

1. Trackwork.
2. Most points are in Romania are manually operated and missing point box lids etc are common.

Rotterdam, Berlin and Dresden.

1 & 2. These relatively modern cars from Rotterdam seem to be the latest arrivals.
3. Ex-Berlin KT4Ds.
4. 0084 from Dresden with offside doors.

Galati

1 & 4. The Hotel Galati where we have now stayed three times. Each time the standard of accomodation and the food has improved. In 1982 they couldn't offer us an evening meal - 'We are not rich in food'.
2. The minibuses vastly outnumber the trams and buses.
3. Very few of these span wires seem to be doing any work.

Trams from Bern, Halle, Iasi and Augsburg

1. A Swiss standard car from Bern.
2. A Tatra T4D from Halle.
3. A Tatra T4R delivered new to Iasi in 1977.
4. One of the unusual Augsburg cars of 1964 with the front section mounted on a 6 wheel truck and the rear on a 4 wheel bogie.

Iasi Hotels and views

1. The Hotel Unirea where we stayed this year and in 1982.
2. Sadly The Grand Hotel Train was fully booked.
3. & 4. Views from the top floor restaurant.

Iasi

A selection on metre guage cars from Switzerland and Germany. Note that all the tram have a licence plate in addition to a fleet number.
1. 149 from Bern.
2. 328 from Stuttgart.
3. 107 from Darmstadt.
4. 269 from Halle.

More horses

There are still vast numbers of simple horse drawn carts like this on the roads in Romania. A minority of the drivers now wear high visibility jackets. A few have reflective strips on the rear and we didn't see any with any form of lighting.