Railway Excursions | Hellenic Railway Friends Association

Excursions

Excursions Organized by the Friends of the Railroad Association

Written by Panagiotis Kassaris

One of the activities of the Railway Friends Association is organizing excursions with the aim of promoting the concept of rail travel to the general public. Over the 40-year history of the Friends of the Railroad Association, numerous excursions have been organized, with the participation of both members and non-members, both within and outside Greece.

The excursions were conducted either using OSE’s scheduled services or via chartered trains, whether standard or museum trains. The fares charged by OSE for operating the trains were reasonable, and the availability and variety of rolling stock were satisfactory. On several occasions, OSE provided us with the railcars we leased either free of charge or for a nominal fee, due to the Association’s reputation and contributions to railway affairs. Thus, whenever the Association’s Board of Directors decided to organize an excursion, member participation was enthusiastic.

Here is how the process of organizing a train trip worked: Once the required number of participants had been reached, the association’s board of directors submitted a request to OSE for the allocation of a train on a specific date and route. If OSE approved the request, it would notify the SFS of its decision, and the SFS, in turn, would announce the cost of the trip and the exact date and time of departure.

A large group of our members and friends—often more than 100—would eagerly await the train’s arrival on the platform, either at Larissa Station or at Peloponnese Station. That’s where the photographers got to work. They photographed the trains at the station and, of course, the arrival of their own train.

The journey was beginning…. A lovely atmosphere prevailed inside the train cars, filled with pleasant moments. Endless conversations, innocent banter, laughter, and lots of joy. Many people enjoyed the ride with their heads sticking out the window to listen to the train’s engine—back when there were no air-conditioned cars. At every stop for photography, the club’s photographers would get off to photograph the train at various spots along the route that were ideal for this purpose. If the train was a museum piece, the photo session was a true ritual. The train would maneuver back and forth while the photographers positioned themselves so as not to get in each other’s way.

Every Wednesday at the Association’s headquarters on Konstantinoupolis Street—and later on Siokou Street at the Museum—the photographers presented their photos from the excursions and made suggestions and plans for future ones. The excursions were a way to attract new members to the club. When a member invited a friend or acquaintance to the excursions, or when the club invited a prominent figure, a journalist, or someone to whom it wanted to showcase the beauty of rail travel, the guest was usually impressed by the club and its goals and charmed by the railroad. On most of the excursions, quite a few new members joined because they were thrilled by their first experience. We often combined the excursions with events or discussions with local authorities and municipalities or with local railway organizations. We usually rented a dining car with two sleeping cars, where we ate, socialized, and slept during the trip. We often stopped at stations for a visit and a brief tour. When the museum train passed through villages or small towns, the residents watched it with amazement or even surprise, and the children in particular expressed their joy and enthusiasm, asking to learn about the association, its goals, and its activities.

Some of our excursions:

The S.F.S. during the three-day Holy Spirit holiday in the summer of 2019