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Third day: we just can't leave this place!
Originally we planned to leave Katowice this day, and go to Cracow. However we were just unable to do so, and went west instead, to explore the westernmost part of the Upper-Silesian tramway network. It turned out this was a good idea, because the section west of the Zabrze city limits was closed at the end of August 2009, but we were yet in time to see it.
We already saw the main tram corridor between Katowice and Chorzów, but there's another connection, although it was out of use during our visits. The result of the temporary closure can be seen above - fortunately, it was re-opened later, and is now in operation again. Hard to imagine, I must say :)
The photos of the grown-over tracks were taken on our way to Chebzie Petla by car. It seems this interestingly laid-out terminus had some kind of attraction on us, because this is where we returned to, to park our car before changing to the tram.
It's a long way to Gliwice by tram, so we took a break in Zabrze, which had a very decent main street (left). It was also where we saw fare dodgers running away when seeing ticket inspectors. Of course not all fare dodgers wanted to alight when caught, some of them tried to argue with the inspectors instead. By the way, Zabrze is where the last branches of tram lines diverge from the main line (right) - from here on it's just one sole line to the west.
Wójtowa Wie¶ Pętla was the westernmost terminus in the Silesian tramway network, and it has been used for the last time (at least to date) in the very early hours of September 1. 2009*. Although Gliwice is very urbanised, this vicinity looked rather like a forgotten small-village.
*A side-note: World War 2 has started exactly 70 years ago that day, because of a staged attack against a radio station near a town called Gleiwitz - now known as... Gliwice.
Because of the 20-minute headways, we had enough time to take photos while waiting for departure. This 105Na had a different seating than most others: note the lack of seats in the middle to the left.
The inner city of Gliwice is really nice - I think the nicest in the area.
On the way back we took a detour from Zabrze over Bytom with tram 5, then we changed to a tram 9 at Szombierki Ko¶ciół. The photo to the right shows a bit of latter - the ride was very bumpy!
Route 5 featured some very nice interurban sections, where the tram was really speeding!
Route 9 was not so bad, either, but there were too much track faults for my taste :)
And then we got back to Chebzie Pętla. Again. Maybe it's time to show a few photos of tramlife around here. The reversing loop can be used in all directions, with some more tracks for waiting/storage. Lines 1, 11, 17 and 18 terminate here, while tram 9 runs through the facility.
It was sunday noon, but the traffic was quite strong, so we took a couple of (dozens of) photos before departing.
Two photos of the signalling devices used on this network. Tram drivers can "lock" a section (the stretch between two passing loops) for themselves with a key used in the grey metal boxes on the overhead post (left). Interlocking is then signalled by the lamps high above (right). This system was used on line 1, 3, 11 and 17. The lines 14, 15, 18, 26 and 27 had registrators (sensors) on the overhead wires, while lines 9 and 12 were operated after a schedule, without using signalling devices. At least this is what NZA has noticed - I'm not very good at observing such details.
So, this is the end of this pictorial, I hope you liked it!
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