World's Most "Crazy" Train Ride... Katakolo Port - Ancient Olympia Part 3/3

An 'Indiana Jones' trainscape. A cab ride with OSE Class 4501 Swiss Stadler GTW - 2/6 dmu... fighting with the reeds.
An upgrade of this line has been decided recently which is going to take place within the next couple of years. So, have a ride before it's gone forever.
A distinguished research with a great number of photos of this 135+ years old railway line is presented in Mr George Nathenas' book: Trains around Olympia / O Σιδηρόδρομος στην γη της Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας, from which the following small summary was extracted.
“ … The prefecture of Ilia is one of the most beautiful and most fertile areas of the Peloponnese and the whole Greece. Together with a beautiful landscape dominated by the Mediterranean plantation with its tall pine trees, cypresses, poplars, plane trees, olives, junipers, vineyards and many others, it has endless sandy beaches that reminisce the Caribbean. The tourist potential of the area has been increased in recent years due to the significant tourist flow being transported by the cruise ships that approach from the port of Katakolo the world class site of Ancient Olympia, the cradle of the ancient Olympic Games.
The main reason for the construction of the railway line connecting Pyrgos, the capital of Ilia, with the seaport of Katakolo, was to facilitate the export of currant by vessels in the western European territories. The Pyrgos - Katakolo Railway operated as a stand-alone company (SPK) from 1883 until 1951, when it was absorbed into the SPAP system.
Between 1890 - 1892, the railway connection of Patras - Pyrgos together with the branches to Kyllini port, Loutra (SPA) of Killini and Ancient Olympia were completed… “
You may also like to watch the related parts:
Part 1/3: Driver's View... Train Ancient Olympia - Katakolo [ 1882 - 83 line construction ]... • Driver's View... Train...
Part 2/3: Ancient Olympia... Train Hunting - MSC MAGNIFICA Katakolo... • Ancient Olympia... Tra...
Music credits: Broken Elegance - Postmortem
Video by Vlasios Giannakainas. My pleasure to subscribe to my channel. You are welcome to share any of my videos in social media. Thanks for watching...! Facebook Page: / sidirodromeas

[@josephinebennington7247]

What a blissful job. No signals, no passengers, beautiful weather, just the mesmerising clickety-clack. Aaaaaaah.

[@sidirodromeas]

Love your comment Josephine :-)

[@user-kx4vo1nf2o]

Спасибо за интересную экскурсию👍👍👍

[@Kairos318]

Wonderful trip, and that last station is a beauty! Thank you for creating and posting this.

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you A Z :-)

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

i enjoy looking at greece - it has a unique feel to being on its rail - bet its way better in real life

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you :-)

[@soc02052]

Σιδηροδρομέα για άλλη μια φορά καταπληκτικό βίντεο!
Εντυπωσιακή και η επιμέλεια!

[@sidirodromeas]

Ευχαριστώ για το ωραίο σχόλιο :-) Καλό Σ/Κ φίλε μου.

[@robertcoleman4861]

Hi sid,it really is a"CRAZY"train ride ,but i love it ,thanks mate cheer's bob.

[@sidirodromeas]

Thanks Robert :-) Have a nice day!!!

[@6or1]

Video #3 looks like it was shot on the return trip from video #1. #2 doesn't seem related. Thanks for posting them though. Enjoy them very much.

[@sidirodromeas]

Yes, thank you :-) #1 was shot with Sony AS200V action camera. This one (#3) with Nikon D3300 dslr. Both on 20th Aug. 2019. Have a nice day!...

[@rugosetexture2716]

What a joy.
Σας ευχαριστώ !

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you Rugose :-)

[@konstantinosvoulkos]

Φαντάζομαι ο καθαρισμός του περιτυπώματος και η ασφάλιση των διαβάσεων δεν ήταν στα πλαίσια την αποκατάστασης της γραμμής. Εξαιρετική παρουσίαση για άλλη μια φορά!

[@sidirodromeas]

Ευχαριστώ Κωνσταντίνε :-) 'Εχει ήδη αρχίσει ένα συνεργείο καθάρισμα στις καλαμιές τις τελευταίες βδομάδες αλλά η ουσιαστική αναβάθμιση / αποακατάσταση δεν έχει αρχίσει ακόμα απ' όσο γνωρίζω.

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

I reallyenjoyed this ride.. thank you

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you my friend :-)

[@aldoroberto4697]

Passeio de trem incrível, parabéns çelo vídeo👍☺

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you Aldo :-) Best regards my friend!!!

[@debeyes]

The horn sounds exactly the same as my 5yr old's fisher price tricycle lol

[@sidirodromeas]

:-) :-) :-) 🙂😃🤣

[@ravingcyclist624]

Excellent! Thanks!

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you :-)

[@joscallinet6260]

As I write this, it is now January 18, 2021, the Pandemic has hit the entire world, cruise ships are now viewed very unfavourably as powerful incubators and spreaders of disease. No one wants to travel on them - tourists will have to find other ways to travel to this area of Greece.
Have the plans for this railway's "upgrade" been changed or canceled since you posted this video in 2019? To me, it looks far more likely that this railway will be closed and abandoned. Greece, as a country, is in a very bad financial condition - will there be any money available to make repairs to this railway - and with no one riding it, why was it still in operation in 2019?
I am very glad you made this video whilst it was still possible to do so.

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you so much Jos for this precious comment!!! Fortunately this line will be upgraded and since this is partially supported by european funds. Please stay safe till this situation with the virus is over. I hope soon....

[@joscallinet6260]

@@sidirodromeas Thank you, sidirodromeas, for your reply! I am glad to hear the railway will be repaired and upgraded. It truly needs a lot of work - the growth of trees and shrubs must be trimmed back. I do wonder where the people will come from to ride it? When you made your video, it appeared that NO ONE at all was riding the train! And yes, I will stay as safe as I can, thank you! I am confident that you are doing likewise. The vaccine against the coronavirus cannot arrive too soon to protect us!

[@PanosSkarp]

@@joscallinet6260 when that video was made i think when the line was not open yet or some of its first days. This line was abandoned (or deactivated if you prefer). At some point a reopening along with funding for the line was decided. The video was shortly after the decision but before the funding. Thats why the line looks like that.

[@mousmous5524]

god bless you !!!!!!!!

[@sidirodromeas]

Thanks Solaire :-)

[@dfddwm]

Hi many thanks for the upload. I travelled this line in 1970 from Patras to Olympia. (Is the Youth Hostel still there?) I remember it well and the lamb souvlaki you could buy on the platform through the open windows of the carriage at various stops along the way! It's not so much the line upgrade that I fear, but what you said about the eyeing up of the whole area/coastline for commercial tourist development. Goodbye Olympia the sacred place! Once again much thanks for your time and trouble and enthusiasm! Is there a website for publications, including the book you showed, for the old Greek railways of the Peloponnese and Greece?

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you David :-) The writer is a good friend of mine. I' ll ask him and let you know my friend.

[@mitsosmitsaras]

Ας γράψω και εγώ μια φορά το πρώτο σχόλιο. Βλάση πάλι ζωγράφισες. Η αρχική εισαγωγή ήταν όλα τα λεφτά. Πρέπει να το σκεφτείς να γίνεις και σκηνοθέτης σιδηροδρομικών ντοκιμαντέρ ;)

[@sidirodromeas]

Καλημέρα φίλε μου και σε ευχαριστώ :-) Λατρεύουμε τον Ελληνικό Σιδηρόδρομο πάντα και σε όποια κατάσταση και εάν είναι...

[@mitsosmitsaras]

@@sidirodromeas Πάντως πρέπει να είναι μία από τις πιο "οικολογικές" γραμμές, αφού είναι "καταπράσινη"... (Τόσο σε επίπεδο υποδομής αλλά και πορείας)

[@setarcosg1653]

Όταν λέμε αναβάθμιση, εννοούμε ότι θα πάψει να υφίσταται ως μετρική γραμμή;

[@sidirodromeas]

Όχι, θα μείνει μετρική.

[@thomasbottcher3524]

Ist es Normal - oder Schmalspur?

[@sidirodromeas]

Narrow, 1m (metric)

[@frankanddanasnyder3272]

Need some brush cutting...

[@sidirodromeas]

Indeed :-)

[@lakshmansilva1582]

Need some comments on what’s going on .Just a train on a line is boring

[@sidirodromeas]

Please, have you read the video description? what else? thank you!

[@xarispappas1912]

Υou are exaggerated !

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you :-)