ROLL BB. Nuremburg-Prague, 19th September 1978. Prague, 20th September 1978. Banská Bystrica, 21st September 1978.

 

All photos © Les Brown. Not to be used for Publication.

 

Help with identifying the locations shown would be appreciated.

 

BB-01. Schirnding, West Gemany-Czechoslovakian Border Crossing. The fifth wagon from the engine was a British Railways Van. I wasn’t expecting BR to travel into the “Iron Curtain”.

 

BB-02. T679.1294. Schirnding, West Germany-Czechoslovakian Border Crossing. The locomotive was built by the Soviet Union and classified M62. Members of the class, first produced in 1964, were exported to Cuba, Mongolia and North Korea as well as the Eastern Bloc countries. The class designation was later changed to 781 and worked in the Czech Republic and Slovakia until 2002.

 

BB-03. Wenceslas Square, Prague. Note the big black soviet-era luxury car. They were for the use of senior Communist Party apparatchiks.

 

BB-04. Mira. Mustek Station, Wenceslas Square, Prague. All my memories of Prague in those days were dismal – the weather, the economy, the people. We went back 36 years later and we couldn’t believe our eyes. It’s a “Cinderella City”. It’s a fairy tale city and visually stunning. 

 

BB-05. Wenceslas Square, Prague. No trams run down this street now.

 

BB-06. E458 Class loco. Main Station, Prague.

 

BB-07. E499.1038. Main Station, Prague.

 

BB-10. Old City. Prague.

 

BB-11. Prague Castle.

 

BB-12. Prague Castle.

 

BB-13. Prague Castle.

 

BB-14. Jewish Quarter. Prague. The 18th Century Chevrah Kadisha or Burial Society’s building. The deceased was brought in here for preparation for burial. Access to the cemetery, which was free in 1978 but not in 2014, is just to the left of the building. The place is full of tourists in summer.

 

BB-15. Jewish Quarter. Prague. Nothing has changed in the last 36 (or 136) years, except the buildings are better maintained.

 

BB-16. Old City. Prague.

 

BB-17. Old City. Prague.

 

BB-18. Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. “Roco”, a European Model Railway manufacturer has a major manufacturing plant here that made models of Victorian Railways F-Class locos, which is a copy of a British Rail 08-Class. Mira’s father was born here and his family lived here for many years but most left during the War.

 

BB-19. Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.

 

BB-19. Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.

 

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