Railroads of Greece 10: Tripolis (Greece 2019-06)

Morning coffee, central plaza, Tripolis, Greece (Moto G5 digital file)

In this short article, I want to continue exploring the former train stations of the Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways (the Chemin de fer du Pirée-Athènes-Peloponése), which was founded in 1882. It owned and operated the 1 m (3 ft 3⅜ in) (metre gauge) railway system connecting Piraeus and Athens to various destinations in the Peloponnese region of Greece. The center of communications in the Peloponnese was Tripolis, the largest town of the nome of Arcadia and a busy agricultural and manufacturing hub. The railway connection with Athens, completed in 1892, was a major boost to trade, and Tripolis experienced rapid development.

Tripolis is a cheerful place, and I stopped for a coffee at a cafe in the main plaza near the cathedral during my summer 2019 trip.

Map of Tripolis from ArcGIS Online

1890 main train station, Al. Soutsou 2, Tripoli 221 00, Greece (Moto G5 digital file)

The handsome 2-story train station was built in 1890. This and other original railroad buildings throughout the Peloponnese shared an architectural design with rock facing, stucco, and clay tile roofs - very appropriate to the locale.

The building is is good condition and is used for something, but there were no occupants the day I was there. The platform was clean and not marred with graffiti. The doves cooed in the trees, all quite sleepy. It looked like the afternoon train from Athens might trundle in any minute.

The water tanks for filling steam locomotives have been preserved. A similar complicated triple tank arrangement is in the coastal town of Myloi.

This little shed shares the same stone facing and arched doorway as the main station.

South of the passenger station, a rail yard contained a lot of rolling stock. Unfortunately, a guard service was on duty and I could not go too far. Note the unused new track on near bundles.

This graveyard (or parking place) for old rail stock was off limits behind a fence. I took this frame while standing on a step leading up to a porch.

The next article will follow the rail line downhill to the east towards the coast. Most of these photographs were from Fuji Acros film exposed in my Leica M2 rangefinder camera. I used a yellow filter on some frames to darken the sky.

Railroads of Greece 9: North Coast of the Peloponnese (Greece 2019-05)

The Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways (known as S.P.A.P., or in French, the Chemin de fer du Pirée-Athènes-Peloponése) was founded in 1882. It owned and operated the 1 m (3 ft 3⅜ in) (metre gauge) railway system connecting Piraeus and Athens to various destinations in the Peloponnese region of Greece.

Peloponnese system map, from poster in rail museum in Diakofto

Service on the 1-m system was abruptly discontinued in 2011 during the Greek economic crisis. Small towns in the central Peloponnese were abruptly left without train service. My family and I were fortunate to take the old train in 1997 from Kato Achaia to Athens. It was slow and rather smelly, a throwback to an earlier era.

Currently, the Athens Suburban Railroad runs from the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH) through the northern suburbs of Athens, across the Corinth Canal, and as far west as the town of Kiato. This full gauge rail system is being extended to the western seaport of Patras. In mainland Greece, the new rails use a different right-of-way, but along the narrow Peloponnese coastal plain facing the Gulf of Corinth, the new tracks have buried many stretches of the old single-track line.

During my 2019 visit to Greece, I tried to follow the old 1-m line and see how many railroad stations and work buildings were still standing. In 2011 and  2018, I photographed the railroad station in Corinth, so there was no need to revisit. For this survey, I started further west, near the town of Nerantza, and drove west along the coast.

This was a workshop or possibly a small station near the town of Nerantza. In 2005, the 1-m track was still in regular use and I was lucky to photograph a diesel work car chugging along the line. In 2019, the building was still standing and still intact, but slowly being covered with vines.

In the main town of Xilokastro, I could not find a depot or rail yard. But further west, in the little resort town of Lycoporia, I stumbled on the former depot. It was clean and well-painted.

Diakofto rail yard, 1998 (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Leica M3 camera, 20mm ƒ/5.6 Russar lens)

Workshops at Diakofto, Greece

Unused water tower for steam locomotives, Diakofto, Greece

The town of Diakofto (Greek: Διακοπτό) is the lower terminus of the popular Diakofto–Kalavryta Railway, an 1880s 750 mm gauge Abt rack system that threads the dramatic Voraikos Gorge and ends at the mountain town of Kalavryta. I wrote about the ride in 2012. The 1950s or 1960s-vintage depot is still in use for the 750 mm tourist train, but much of the rail yard has been dug up and rebuilt to accommodate the new full-gauge railroad.

750mm gauge steam locomotive, mgf. by Cail in 1891, in poor condition, Diakofto, Greece

Workshops with 2009-vintage diesel electric Stadler Rail cars on the left and 1960s Deaucaville trainsets on the right 

One traditional stone workshed at Diakofto was clean and fresh. I found neat little workshops or storage sheds like this throughout the system. Many were freshly maintained before the system shutdown in 2011.

A few miles west of Diakofto, I tried to trace the rail line using Google maps. At the town of Elaion, I found the old depot, but the tracks and bed were completely gone. A dirt road that had once been the railroad right-of-way went off to the west, but it was not suitable for a sedan.

Elaion was my westward limit on this excursion. Below a photograph of the former Patras rail station in 1997, when the 1-meter system was still in use. The station was a bit grungy but active. I have not been there recently.

Patras railroad station, 1997 (Kodak Tri-X Professional film, Rolleiflex 3.5E with Xenotar lens) 

The 2019 photographs are from Fuji Acros 100 film, which I used in my Leica M2 camera with 35mm and 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron lenses. I added green or yellow filters on some frames to lighten foliage or enhance the sky. The photograph of the Patras station was from my old Rolleiflex with a 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens.

The next post is about the handsome train station in Tripolis.

Orthodox Church, UFOs, NATO, and Develis Cave, Mount Penteli, Athens (Greece 2019-03)

Dear Readers,
Happy and prosperous New Year to you all! Thank you for your continued support. This is Part 3 of the summer in Greece series.

Mount Penteli is a triangle-shaped mountain north of Athens. When I was growing up in the 1950s, Penteli was out in the country. Ater a winter storm, Athenians drove to Penteli to play in the snow. Now the urban sprawl of the city goes up to and partly up the flanks. The summit is still crowned by the remains of radar antennas, but I do not know if they are used or manned any more.

The mountain has a long history. In antiquity, miners quarried the clean and pure marble for some of the monumental architecture that you still see around town. Most of the marble in the Parthenon came from Penteli. Scars of ancient and contemporary quarries can be seen from a distance. Followers of Pan (the guy who looked like a goat and played pan pipes) and the nymphs (mythological minor deities (ladies) who lived in the woods and did not wear sufficient clothing) worshipped at the cave.

My nephew told me about a cave to visit. It had been once occupied by an infamous bandit, one Develis (whose real name was Christos Natsios). The cave is also known in paranormal circles for unusual energy, strange lights, and UFOs. Also, some military group, possibly associated with  NATO, did some construction in the cave in the 1977-1983 period. Guards prevented civilians from visiting the site. They dug tunnels to nowhere. In 1983, the workers abandoned the effort and slinked away mysteriously. Well, this was too good to miss, so on a blazing hot August day, we drove up the mountain roads to a gravel road a short distance from the cave. A quick walk took us to the opening. I was surprised to see a Byzantine church under the rock overhang. As of August of 2019, the church was locked and we were unable to see inside. One of the best descriptions of the church interior is from a blog, Churches in Greece (click the link).

The interior of Develis' cave was surprisingly cool and damp, and water dripped from the ceiling. But we did not see lights or UFOs, and neither of us detected energy. Oh well, it was fun.

The black and white photograph is an Acros 100 frame from my Leica M2 camera with 35mm ƒ/2.0 Summicron-M lens.

Return to the Village in the City: Anafiotika (Pláka), Athens (Greece 2019-02)

Dear Readers, this is Part 2 of my summer series. Even if you are surrounded by snowdrifts, you can take a mental journey to the sun and the Mediterranean.

Every time I visit Athens, I like to check out the Anafiotika district, the cluster of tiny village-like houses percheded below the east slope of the Acropolis. It can be considered part of the Pláka (Πλάκα), but the Pláka is larger, encompassing more commercial and archaeological parts of the city. Anafiotika retains its 1800s Cycladic architecture in the form of little whitewashed houses in a tumble of narrow lanes and alleys. It is an oasis of peace in the bustling and noisy urban mess that comprises modern Athens.

This is a telephoto picture taken from Lykavittos Hill (also known as Mount Lycabettus) showing the Acropolis and Faleron Bay in the distance. The Anafiotika is the cluster of small houses just under the Parthenon.

In the Anafiotica (Moto G5 digital file)

The narrow alleys are fun to negotiate. They are popular with tourists working their way from the new Acropolis Museum towards the Pláka, often on their way to find a good lunch.

Doors are a popular but now a cliche photographic topic. Somewhere in the house, we have a book titled Greek Doors.

Graffiti and old windows are also pretty interesting.

The next time you visit Athens, make time to visit Anafiotika and the Pláka in general. In my opinion, Athens in August of 2019 looked cleaner and more cheerful than in 2016 and 2018. After ten years of economic austerity, political turmoil, and inundation by refugees from Middle East war zones, Greece may have turned a corner and be on the path to recovery. Tourism has increased, the locals are welcoming, and prices are low compared to northern European countries. The police seem to have controlled the refugees in the Monasteraki area, but I can't comment on crime.

I photographed the Pláka area in 2012 and 2013, and my dad photographed Athens and the Pláka in 1953 (click the links).

The 2019 photographs are from Kodak Ektar 100 film taken with a Yashica Electro 35CC camera with a fixed 35mm ƒ/1.8 Color-Yashinon lens. I scanned the negatives on a Plustek 7600i film scanner. This roll was disappointing, and some frames displayed odd colors. Low-contrast settings looked best.

By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea* (Greece 2019-01)

Stomio, Greece, with Gulf of Corinth in background. Kodak Ektar 100 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera 

Dear Readers, winter has descended on much of North America. Ice storms covered the eastern states with perfect timing for the Thanksgiving Holiday. People are thinking of Christmas (and another storm). While the snow is swirling and wind is howling, thoughts wander to summer. What could be more summer-like than a vacation by the sea? What could be better than the sea in Greece? This will be the first of a series of posts about my August 2019 sojourn to the 'Med.

Beware: "pretty" pictures follow (I warned you all some time ago that I might start posting more pretty snapshots. But do not despair, grunge and urban decay will be following).

Vouliagmanis west of Loutraki, Greece. Kodak Ektar 100 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera

Fresh octopus and lemon juice - what could be better (maybe a Greek coffee?)

The Limni Vouliagmani (Λίμνη Βουλιαγμένη Λουτρακίου (Κορινθίας) is called a lake but is really a sea-water bay west of the city of Loutraki on the Perachora peninsula. The bay is almost completely enclosed by limestone cliffs and has a narrow opening facing the Gulf of Corinth. The bay has become a popular destination for Athenians, who come here to swim, water-ski, and eat at seaside tavernas.

If you drive around the head of the Gulf of Corinth and continue along the south shore, you reach the little town of Nerantza. Here the beach is mostly cobble, but there is sand offshore. Time to sit and have a Greek coffee - and read a law book(?).

Lunch at Kogia Restaurant, right at the beach. Yes, the ingredients are locally-sourced. Yes, the chef prepares and grills or roasts everything to order. Yes, it is delicious. No, there is no vile corn syrup or other crap in the food. Why do so many American restaurants serve such offal while the most modest Greek restaurant will prepare a delicious and healthy meal from scratch for you?

Stomio, Greece

Mixed salad (not refrigerated, made fresh), Stomio, Greece

A few kilometers further west along the south shore of the Gulf of Corinth is Stomio. Purely by chance, I stopped at a small taverna after a few hours of exploring and had another superb meal.

This is the Gulf of Corinth from the Monastery of Panagias Korifis, situated on a spectacular cliff overlooking the coastal plain and the town of Xilokastro. The light color water contains silt from stream runoff. So much rain fell during the winter of 2018-2019, streams overflowed and farmers experienced local flooding. The sea inshore was more turbid this summer than usual.

This ends our short overview of summer at the sea. More Greek articles will follow.

Another visit to the Farmers' Market in Vrahati, Greece (with Ektar 100 film)

Whenever I travel anywhere, I try to check out local markets. My brother-in-law took me to the farmers' market in Vrahati, near Corinth, in the Peloponnese region of Greece. We have been here before, but this time I had a film camera (my little Yashica Electro 35CC) and, of course, I could not resist. The light was glarey and unforgiving, but the automatic exposure system in the little Yashica handled the conditions well.

Map from ESRI ArcGIS software

The market is set up on streets in town. I am not sure if the stands are here every day of the week or if the vendors need to take their umbrellas and tables away on certain days. Parking is a real mess - typical Greek village.

Most shoppers buy vegetables and fruit. I did not see as many vendors this time with inexpensive plastic goods, utensils, and clothing as I did in 2008. Then, I saw more Roma and Albanians selling miscellaneous inexpensive goods, but maybe they have moved on.

 The fish looked good. Some is locally caught, some comes in frozen from the Atlantic Ocean.

The tomatoes are locally grown in the rich soil of the Peloponnese. All the vegetables here taste like they are supposed to.

I have written before about other markets. If you are interested, type "market" in the search box, or try the words Athens, Kathmandu, or Rangoon.

I took all these photographs with Kodak Ektar 100 film in my little Yashica Electro 35CC camera with its fixed 35mm f/1.8 lens. The color balance tended towards red because of the many orange umbrella covers. Better color balance is one big advantage of digital capture, but I still derive more reward from film.