Where was Red Squirrel 18/11/2024

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

More locomotives than usual undergoing repair?

Well - both of the steam locomotives used on this railway are preserved, but the other one has duties to perform as a static exhibit at another museum. So it looks like they have the same issues as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)....

Do you have any further information about this? I searched online but failed to find anything.

[eightonedee]

Hi Tim

My source is Wikipedia - there's quite a good concise history of the Reykjavik harbour railway here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Iceland) and a picture of the second locomotive on the page relating to the museum where it is kept here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rb%C3%A6jarsafn). That second link may not work as it includes an "a" and "e" run together - and don't ask me how the museum's name is pronounced. If it doesn't, there's a link in the other entry.

It's probably quite sensible not to keep Minor outside at Reykjavik during the Icelandic winter. I had three winter trips there between 2011 and 2013 and never saw it in situ.

[Chris from Nailsea]

My source is Wikipedia - there's quite a good concise history of the Reykjavik harbour railway here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Iceland) and a picture of the second locomotive on the page relating to the museum where it is kept here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rb%C3%A6jarsafn). That second link may not work as it includes an "a" and "e" run together - and don't ask me how the museum's name is pronounced.

The second link worked for me - including a lesson in the correct pronunciation. 

The other engine is pictured there:



CfN. 

[Red Squirrel]

... I had three winter trips there between 2011 and 2013 and never saw it in situ.

Ah, OK, thanks. That explains the absence. I wasn't disappointed not to see Minør; foolishly I thought it would make for a more challenging 'Where was Red Squirrel'!

[TonyK]

 and don't ask me how the museum's name is pronounced.

Me neither. I spent part of a flight from Keflavik to Vancouver learning how to say "Eyjafjallajökull"* but didn't have time enough for any other Icelandic names.

(Much of the rest was spent watching Spongebob Squarepants, my first encounter with the yellow absorbent and porous chap.)

[Red Squirrel]

Seeing grahame's picture of a bus scuttling off into the Icelandic landscape reminds me that the country's transport system is more interesting than you might think.

Strætó operates 27 routes in the capital, and 18 routes outside Reykjavik, Most of the population lives around Rejkjavik and Keflavik, with the rest largely scattered in small communities around the coast. These rural routes have a pretty thin service, as you might expect, with often 1 to 3 buses per day. It would be interesting to 'do' Iceland by Strætó bus one day...

In the tourist-intense areas such as the Blue Lagoon and the Golden Circle, it sometimes seems like the most common vehicles on the road are Gray Line and Rejkjavik Excursions coaches, with 70 and 80 vehicles respectively. The logistics of these operators, who coordinate with multiple minibuses to pick people up and drop them off at the city's dispersed hotels, must give the operators a serious headache every single day!