Exploring Prague 5, Karlstejn Castle
Karlstejn Castle is a Gothic fortress commissioned by Charles IV, King of Bohemia, begun in 1348. It has served as a royal castle and vault for the Imperial Regalia, crown jewels and numerous holy relics. Matthias of Arras may have been the architect, but the structure is more notable for it's engineering achievements than it's design.
The elaborate multi-level fortifications and imposing towers are enormous, but fires and wars took their toll and the castle was reconstructed several times. The basic surviving structure is largely Renaissance in design, except for the wooden galleries which are in the French style and were added when the castle was restored in the last century.
The addition of these non-native details is typical of many European castles and palaces as they were restored over the last 150 years, (often by wealthy individuals). In this case, the addition of French details to a Czech castle prevented the monument from becoming a UNESCO site.
Czech Republic: 'Goggle' T478 3001 (753 001) reversing out of Turnov station
Goggle T478 3001 (753 001) reverses out of Turnov station whilst working train Sp1936, the 1641 Turnov to Praha Vrsovice additional summer service.
Goggle Class 754 007 is seen pulling out of Turnov station working train R1149, the 1552 Tanvald to Praha Vrsovice.
Both clips recorded 1st July 2017.
Turnov is a town on the Jizera river in the northern Czech Republic. It has about 14,500 inhabitants and lies in the southern part of Liberec Region. It is a traditional center for gemstone polishing, glass craftsmanship and arts. Turnov lies in the heart of the Bohemian Paradise (Český ráj) nature reserve which makes it a place for tourists and summer residents. The town is also an important traffic crossroads of three railways and the Prague–Liberec highway.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
České dráhy (ČD) or Czech Railways is the main railway operator in the Czech Republic. In 2010 its consolidated revenues reached CZK 41.0 billion (€1.6bn, $2.1bn). Revenues from passenger transport amounted to CZK 18.7 billion (65% transfer payments from the government, 25% intra-state transport, 10% international transport), revenues from freight transport operated by subsidiary ČD Cargo amounted to CZK 11.8 billion, revenues from traffic control invoiced to state-owned railway infrastructure operator SŽDC amounted to CZK 5.2 billion. With thirty-eight thousand employees ČD Group is the largest Czech company by the number of employees.
The company was established in 1993, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia as a successor of the Czechoslovak State Railways. It is a member of the International Railway Union (UIC Country Code for Czech Republic is 54), Community of European Railways and the Organization for Railways Cooperation (Asia and Europe).
Until 1 July 2008, České dráhy was the biggest employer in the Czech Republic. After experiencing regular losses and requiring government subsidies, the railway reported its first ever profit in 2007 although it receives government subsidies. Attempts to make it more efficient are currently ongoing and a recent plan to move passenger transport to an independent subsidiary was approved by the Czech government in January 2008.
ČD operates trains; fixed infrastructure (such as tracks) is managed by SŽDC. In December 2010, the Czech government proposed bringing SŽDC and ČD together in a single holding company. The government has also changed the subsidies available to ČD and SŽDC.
ČD Cargo, the cargo subsidiary, mainly transports raw materials, intermediate goods and containers. As of 2009, it is ranked in the top five largest railway cargo operators in Europe.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
The locomotives of the 753 series (the nicknamed brejlovec, sometimes the Trojans, the Trojansky ) are four - axle dieselelectric locomotives which, under the designation T 478.3, supplied the Prague locomotive ČKD to the Czechoslovak State Railways between 1968 and 1977 in the total number of 408 pieces and became one of the most numerous ranks of locomotives at all. Locomotives in the beginning of operation replaced steam locomotivesand later also older types of engine locomotives. They were designed for the passenger and freight transport and for the heating of the train sets served by the steam generator PG 500, produced in the Juran plants in Brno. Later, when personal kits were electrically heated and newly supplied passenger cars were no longer equipped with steam heating, the machines were mainly used in freight transport. After 1990 , locomotives were shut down for redundancy or serious defects. At present ( 2017 ) there is only one locomotive in the state runways, namely 753,301 for the ČD Cargo carrier . Other locomotives have been canceled or have been upgraded ( 752.6 , 753.7 , 755). However, several machines have been preserved for museum purposes or operated by private transport companies. More than 150 locomotives have also been modified to the 750 series by the introduction of an electric heating alternator. Several dozens of such machines are operated in freight transport at ČD Cargo and other operators.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
T 478.4 is a class of diesel locomotives designed, manufactured and used in the former Czechoslovakia and now used in the Czech republic (ČD Class 754) and Slovak republic (ŽSR Class 754). their distinctive cab design has led to the nickname goggles.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
@FrontCompVids - Follow us on Twitter!
More FrontCompVids clips are regularly added to so don't forget to Like and Subscribe!
Click for more details :-)