Prague/Czech Republic Railways

A quick information appeal to any enthusiasts who have visited the Czech Republic.

I am thinking of taking a look around some of the major stations in Prague in a few weeks time whilst visiting the country, and wanted to check before I do so what the railway/enthusiast "culture" is, especially with regards photography.

Useful information would be things like if access is (generally) restricted in any way (ticket barriers?) and staff attitudes to photography etc. I have one or two evenings free over a week and don't really want to get arrested trying to take pictures!

I've never photographed the non-UK scene before so any advice on the practicalities would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

The Czech railways are quite interesting and very cheap compared to Britain to use. I lived in both Prague and Brno for a year in 2010 so I used them a lot. Out in the rural areas they are quite un modernised with water columns and sidings etc everywhere. There are no ticket barriers and you can photograph anywhere. ( they are not paranoid like Britain)

In Prague there is only 1 big main railway station "Hlavni Nadrazi"
There is an historic steam wooden roundhouse at Luzna u Rakovnika see Muzeum ?D | Homepage. It is like a Czech "Barrow Hill" but in the forest.

It is well worth a trip which is about 1 hour (approx) by train from Prague and there are lots of steam Engines + coaches and museum there, they have steam trips in Summer from Prague to Luzna u Rakovnika, or you can get the normal train which runs about every 1 to 2 hours approx. You catch the train there from a smaller terminus ( not the Halvni Nadrazi) which is close by about 10 minutes walk from the main one but I cant recall the name of it.

In Brno ( the second city after Prague) the local depot maintains a big 4-8-2 "Beast" (see Skoda steam locomotive 475.101 - YouTube
( there is also some of the same type at Luzna u Rakovnika) and this is used for regular trips in summer starting from Brno central and out to different places of interest on different days. The trips are real cheap, something like £12 for a days main line trip in old wooden coaches at 70mph + not bad, everyone hanging out of the windows taking pictures, no high vis, walk on the track if want !
You dont need to book ahead, the Czech railways staff run the trips and stand next to the coaches and you just buy a ticket and get on ! I saw the posters in the city about the trips so not sure if there is a website advertising them, but they seemed super popular with many families using them for a day out.

In all the cities the trams are very good and in summer in Prague there is historic trams running on route 91 in summer , they run through the city to the tram museum. In Brno I even saw a steam tram but from a distance, missed it !
Also there is a quite an interesting Steam restaurant chain, where the drinks etc are brought to your table with LGB trains to each table, with many drinks. Vytopna restaurant Praga - YouTube

 

Thank you very much for the information, most useful.

 

The steam scene is excellent, if a little repetitive year on year. Details of enthusiast events can be found under 'Event Calender' on Aktuality a ?lánky - ?elPage [www.zelpage.cz]

There's a transport museum on the hill overlooking the city, the tram system still uses classic Tatra trams and there's a funicular up Petrin Hill, all goo stuff. Photography is no problem, wondering off the end of the platform seems acceptable at all but the largest of stations. It's worth visiting Praha Masarykovo to soak up the atmosphere of a somewhat down at heel termini station - and there's a railway book shop on the platform!