Retro Trains Tours in Bulgaria
For the railroad lovers and for our friends with adventurous spirit, who want to discover the beauties of Bulgaria in a unique way, we offer our retro train tours with different kinds of compositions of retro trains.
Travelling with retro steam or diesel locomotives or in the retro comfort of “Corona Express”, “Vitosha Express” and the French retro-coaches one can become familiar with the beauty and the variety of the Bulgarian nature as well with the cultural-historical inheritance of our nation. There is an ample opportunity to take photographs of the beautiful scenery by turning the locomotive cruise into a photo safari. Every adventurous guest will be completely satisfied.
Here is some information about Bulgaria’s active steam locomotives and compositions:
Steam locomotive 609.76 lets out its steam on Bulgaria’s last remaining narrow gauge line from Septemvri to Dobrinishte. The 125 km line takes the passengers on a truly attractive 5 ½ hour journey through the Rhodope and Pirin mountain ranges.
Steam locomotive 01.23 was built in Switzerland in 1935 in SLM Winterthur locomotive plant. It is a representative of the most numerous series of fast steam locomotives in the history of the Bulgarian Railway Company (BDZ). Nowadays the railway workers call it “star”, because it is extremely interesting from technical point of view and mainly because there are few preserved locomotives from this series around the world. In the summer of 2003 01.23 became part of BDZ’s the museum collection “Railway Inheritance” and since then it has been operating on many attraction journeys around Bulgaria.
Steam locomotive 03.12 is a machine produced in Henschel-Kassel, Germany. It is the latest jewel in the museum collection of BDZ. After a 2-year restoration 03.12 did its first attraction journey in May 2011.
Steam locomotive 05.01 is a representative of probably the most beautiful series of locomotives that BDZ has ever possessed. It was fully restored in the end of 2010 and now the retro train admirers can enjoy its unique steam sound during a picturesque entertainment tour.
The luxury train Corona Express consists of coaches specially produced for Tsar Boris III, Tsaritsa Ioanna and Price Kiril in 1938 in Germany, a salon-coach with 40 seats, a kitchen wagon, a dining car, a wagon for transporting cars and salon-coaches. The authentic furniture from the period before World War II has been preserved. With its perfect running potential, the train offers maximum traveling comfort.
The Vitosha Express luxury train offers: two luxury sleeping cars combined with a salon for accommodating and servicing 10 passengers; two coaches of the apartment type with a kitchen salon and the necessary equipment; a coach with special apartments with in-built bathrooms and toilets and a separate bed compartment for two people; a dining car with 36 seats with a working kitchen; a switchboard wagon for telephone conversations. The train has an autonomous electric power system, an air-conditioner, audio-video equipment and a wagon for the carriage of cars.
The Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) possesses another two interesting steam locos, which have been restored and operated on attraction journeys for some years. Unfortunately at the moment both locos are out of order:
Steam locomotive 15.215 was produced by Schwartzkopff locomotive plant in Berlin in 1943. It is a representative of the most large-scale produced war type locomotives during the Second World War. It has been operating in BDZ since 1962. In 2002, after about 9 years of inaction, 15.215 was restored and operated several steam train tours.
Steam locomotive 16.01 is a representative of the first freight locomotives in Bulgaria. It was restored in 2005 and for a few years it was a real photo attraction for tourists and railway fans.
We prepare our offers to completely satisfy your request by suitting all your requirements.
Yours,
Ulpia Tours team
Retro Trains GalleryBDZ Online Timetable