Railway Herald
Vladaya situated to the southwest of Sofia has a somewhat unusual if not bland looking station to say the least. Major renovation of the track work through the station was carried out relatively recently as is evident by the clean looking ballast. This is the direct main line from Sofia to Kulata, the latter just one mile from the Greek border. BDZ PP Electroputere LE5100 Class 46 No. 46-205 is caught in the morning sunshine of 19th October 2024 while working FAST train service 5612 (06:05) Petrich to Sofia Central. This locomotive still carries the post-modernisation livery of two-tone blue and yellow with large body side number and company logo applied using the cyrillac alphabet. Unauthorised and unwanted graffiti is also visible, the latter rarely seen on locomotives in Bulgaria. Coaching stock, well, that is a different matter altogether!.
Stephen Ginn
