O Comboio do Fogo, a photo from Algarve, South

Photographer's Note

O Comboio do Fogo
(The Fire Train)

Faro station, June 11, the Alfa Pendular after its high speed dash from Lisbon. It’s standing there as an glowing extension of the setting sun. After getting out we waited for the connecting local DMU to Tavira.

After travelling to Lisbon on the Sud Express the classic way, riding the Alfa Pendular is an entirely different experience. The top speed of this train on the Lisboa-Faro stretch is 220 km/h. Its tilting technology allows the train to negotiate curves at higher speeds then conventional trains. The combination of the resulting high cornering velocity and the tilting movement of the carriages ensures a thrilling experience.

The Alfa Pendular high speed train are closely derived from the Giugiaro designed Italian Fiat ETR 460 ‘Pendolino’ train. It’s a 6 unit EMU (electrical multiple unit). The traction engines develop 4,8 MW. The bogies had to be redesigned for operation on Portugal's broad gauge track. The trains were assembled at the Portugues Adtranz Amadora plant.
In the ws a pic of the speed/temperature info display in a carriage.

The European high speed trains offer short journey times and a high level of confort. The downside is that the introduction of these trains often are accompanied by a withdrawal of local traditional train services with can have dramatic consequences for the communities that depend on them. The very bleak outcome this, and the privatising of the other modes of public transport, had for the Alantejo region, are described here by Jose Elias.

This is posting #200. When I posted the first one almost two years ago, I never thought that participating on TE would be so involving, that I would learn so much, befriend members and even get to meet some of them. Thanx a lot for all, my dear friends.
This will also be this last posting for a while - in a few days we’ll again be off to our Sotavento retreat in Santa Luzia. I’ll be back from there with a New Year’s greeting.

Happy holidays and Christmas, Prettige Kerstdagen, Frohe Weihnachten, Feliz Natal, Joyeux Noël, Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, Καλά Χριστούγεννα, Весел Коледа, Glædelig Jul, God Jul, to you all.

The usual PCS2 tech: slightly cropped, adjusted levels, contrast, saturation and curves differentially; USM-ed , added a frame added and saved for the web.

Rinie_Hoff, Galeota, Fixfocus, nwoehnl, carper, digi-mom, Xalkida, Tue, cherryripe, kclai, jrj, mlopes, HNIK, FORJP001, Didi, hitesh, ktanska has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

RGatward (20108) 2005-12-19 2:06

Congratulations on your 200yj post Bert, and a fine one to have saved for it. Lovely light ot have caught it in, and a good PoV.

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2005-12-19 2:43

Oh yeah, make me jealous again ;-)Congratulations with your number 200, Bert. It's been a great time. No time for drinks anymore this week, I guess. Have a very nice holiday, say hello to W. and enjoy it.
Very attractive shot, with a lot of depth and beautiful light and reflection. Wow, I would like to be on this train, take me awayyyyyy!
Prettige kerst, en een goed oud/nieuw. CU in 2006

besnard (59196) 2005-12-19 3:03

Bonjour Bert
Très belle photo avec la pureté des lignes et des couleurs.
Merci pour le partage.
Nicole

Galeota (10352) 2005-12-19 7:05

Hello Bert. I used to spend my holidays in Algarve when I was a kid, and I remember it was a long 7-8h journey from Lisbon down to Vilamoura, which is more or less 20km from Faro. A real surprise for me to see this high speed train...no more time to appreciate the golden fields of Alentejo during thr trip, then.. congratulations for your 200th post. All the best for the new year.

jhm (211734) 2005-12-19 7:29

Hoi Bert,
Mijn felicitaties voor uw 200ste foto op TE, en daarbij werken is een hele opdracht. Altijd leuk uw foto's te bekijken omdat er een grote diversiteit in terug te vinden is.
Zoals deze hier met de trein, de diepte in compbinatie met het perspectief, zelf maakt u gebruik van de lage zon om weerspiegelingen te creëren op de mooie trein, ik denk dat het allemaal verdoken robotten zijn, want niemand is hier te bespeuren.
Mooi werk Bert, "Prettig Kerstfeest"
Groeten uit Vlaanderen met 6,7° C. met 1/8 bewolking.
John

nwoehnl (122) 2005-12-19 11:48

Happy anniversary, Bert - and what a grand and squeaky clean photo to celebrate the occasion. The sense of perspective along the train is splendid, and I do enjoy the reflections of sunlight and railway stations details off the train's surface. Beautiful mood with the lights and a nice topping with the fluffy clouds. Well done. Happy holidays to you, and enjoy Christmas time in the south.

carper (96) 2005-12-19 12:25

mooie foto Bert.
een uitsekende uitvoering kan ik wel zeggem de kleuren zijn goed, de compositie is zeer mooie genomen, ja werkelijk prachtig plaatje, mooi werk.
gr. jaap

xavshot (69835) 2005-12-19 13:37

Belles perspectives avec des lignes superbes
la netteté est également au rendez-vous et la lumière (du matin ?) donne des couleurs très agréable
Bravo
Xavier

DLM (6479) 2005-12-19 15:17

Hi Bert,amazing POV with such crispness,well done.
TFS
Dave.

Xalkida (11744) 2005-12-19 16:55

Hi Bert

What an impressive view of this impressive also train! Excellent depth, great colors and atmosphere! Marvelous work! Bravo!

Tue (91648) 2005-12-19 17:28

Hej Bert,
Gefeliciteerd met deze 200ste foto! Het is weer een mooie met het perspectief van het perron en de trein. Het licht is ook prachtig. Goed werk. Jij ook alvast een glædelig jul! :-)
Groetjes,
Lars

cherryripe (21033) 2005-12-19 17:31

Hi Bert
I like the tight framing, POV and sharpness which renders this shot very dynamic. The train is balanced on the left by the lamps. Very pretty light and interesting reflections on the train itself.
Nikki

kclai (2267) 2005-12-19 23:30

Hi Bert
The background sky have created a dramatic atmosphere feeling for the super fast bullet train.
The shinning body of the train give a good luminous effect. And the angle, making the head quite an impreesive one, are well captured.
Well done, Bert.
Eric Lai

ktanska (44492) 2005-12-20 1:50

Strong diagonal lines disappearing into distance.
Good timing with the low setting sun. Nice reflections on this clean machine. And efficient wide angle.
Kari

Fixfocus (9385) 2005-12-20 2:23

Hoi Bert,
Your dynamic composition gives justice to the dynamic lines of the train.Excellent capture from the "blue hour" in beautiful colors.
Prettige week,
Hermann
Gefeliciteerd met de 200de foto,prettige Kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuw jaar!

jrj (34843) 2005-12-20 8:42

Ahh..
The alfa I know well, not least from the drivers place on tour to Lisboa from Porto:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Portugal/photo142555.htm

Nice moody shot of this fine train. Also congrate with the 200th.. lot's of good work..

mlopes (494) 2005-12-20 14:28

We want TGV :P kidding, there's a huge project to built a TGV train beetween Lisbon-Oporto and Lisbon-Madrid... but that should last more than 10 years, maybe when everyone else have better than the TGV we might experience the sensation of traveling at 300km/h!!!
Great photo Bert, the reflexion in the window is great... he looks like a shark resting at the bottom of the sea ;)
Mário

john_c (24666) 2005-12-22 17:03

Hi Bert,
Congrats on your 200th post. Great clarity and definition rendered with the sleek looking train. I also like the POV and our view into the distance. Superb shot. All the best.
John

HNIK (1104) 2005-12-25 11:07

Hi Bert!
Very Great POV ,excellent perspective and very well composed,totally perfect.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Best Wishes to you

sarju (5324) 2005-12-26 2:14

HI Bert
First I would like to congratulate you your 200th post ... and than I would like to thank you for posting this photo ... the bullet trains have always fascinated me as we don't get them over here in the North America ....
but I had never known the drawbacks of such trains ... so my thanks to you and Jose for the informative stuff ... btw fantastic blue sky you have captured over here ...
tfs ... regards ... sarju
PS: I hope you are having fun in St Luzia ... good symbolism of posting a photo of train that does 200 km per hour ... and your 200th post

Steft (6109) 2006-01-01 15:51

Ook deze is weer helemaal in de bertolucci-style met een goede kwaliteit. Wat ik mooi vind is de strakke cropping rechts, de trein rijdt er nog net niet uit. Ook de lichtreflecitie op de flank van de trein is mooi.
Ik heb nog even in je collectie gekeken, maar je hebt vaak rood en lilla-tinten, ook hier weer, dit zien we met name vaak in jouw luchten... geeft je foto's vaak een warme gloed.
Groeten en gelukkig 2006 met veel foto's!
Stef

FORJP001 (3819) 2006-01-10 22:38

Hi Bert,

I prefer your modern DMU (diesel multitiple unit) of CP built by the Portuguese Sorefame company.

However this futurist train looks great at sunset time.

Jean-Pierre

Didi (61589) 2006-01-21 13:15

Bonsoir Bert
Intéressante composition qui ferait une belle publicité sur les trains Portugais; vous méritez des royalties:))
Les couleurs et la perspective sont très appréciables.

ksoloduc (324) 2006-02-10 16:28

wow! from teh thumbnail I though teh perspective is the stongest point of this pict, but u have so much going on here! The light is just awesome + the reflections. I love it!
Kasia

Voltri (1777) 2006-04-29 6:41

I like colors very much! It looks like the train will depart in next 5 seconds..
Excellent photo!!!

sergio1 (12152) 2006-07-24 4:25

Hi Bert
nice shot to the train and sunset. Wonderful sharp and perspective. I like the compo and clear image.
Nice job and congratulations
Thanks for all.
Sergio

hitesh (594) 2006-09-29 4:24

Hi Bert,
Excellent shot of the train which looks like a time machine.The evening rays which falls on the train is making a drama to the picture and also the sky is very beautiful.
Regards,
Hitesh