Snow at Brenner

Brenner station (Brennero in Italian) is right on the border between Austria and Italy, and as the highest point on the famous mountain line, sees some heavy weather. This was taken only one day after :thumb515524871:, which may sound reasonable. However, it was also taken the very same day as :thumb546383266:, maybe three hours prior and less than 100 km away. Alpine weather can be very fascinating at times.

The row of locomotives parked here are all different freight machines built by what is now Bombardier, with very similar characteristics. Nowadays Bombardier considers them part of the Traxx platform as well, though they actually predate that name. Why so many different designs? The front one was apparently first built for Poland, but then sold to Trenitalia, for reasons that Wikipedia won't list (though PKP defaulted on payment for other Bombardier electrics which likewise ended up in Italy, so that's my guess). The rear ones were actually built for Italy to begin with. In terms of performance, they're roughly equal as far as I can tell, but the E405 in front can only run on DC electrification, while the others can also run on the AC electrification of Austria and Germany. You often see them all the way up in Regensburg, actually.