2003 Photo Contest, Science & Technology, 3rd prize
Photographer

Witold Krassowski

Network Photographers for National Geographic

01 May, 2002

A train driver tops up an OL-49 locomotive with oil before departure from Wolsztyn, Poland. The locomotives that ply the route from Wolsztyn to Poznan in western Poland form one of the last scheduled steam-train services in Europe. Huge OL-49 engines, more than half a century old, consume up to 18,000 liters of water, three tons of coal, and eight liters of oil on the 180-kilometer round trip. It takes one-and-a-half hours for the drivers to prepare the train for the journey, stoking up the boiler to build up steam.

About the photographer

Witold Krassowski

Witold Krassowski is a photographer, specializing in social documentary and reportage for over 30 years. His work has been widely published across Europe, especially in Britain. ...

This image is collected in