Reilly Hamilton
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Reilly Hamilton
@reillydotcom.com
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Full-stack Engineer & Pub Quiz host based in Augsburg/Munich. On the hunt for good IPAs in 🇩🇪. PNW born and raised. RPI '12, lover of ice hockey, Mariners, sports car racing, trains/transit, and more. 🏳️‍🌈
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This weekend's adventure: took the train over the Brenner pass to Bologna for a weekend of sports car racing at Imola. Tough luck for Cadillac Team Jota so far today. #WEC #Imola
The subject, me, pictured enjoying an Austrian beer on a train. Out the window, we see vineyards and rolling hills in South Tyrol. Myself and Lukas posing for a selfie in front of the two leaning towers in Bologna. A view from the grandstand at the Tosa curve at the Imola circuit. The picture shows a significant elevation gain up the hill towards the Acque Minerali complex. Myself, posing for a selfie in front of the Acque Minerali corners. I'm wearing a Cadillac Team Jota hat and an IMSA 50th anniversary T-shirt.
April 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
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My local grocery store in Augsburg, Germany couldn't afford the NFL license and is simply selling "American Football" branded junk.
An aisle end-cap at a grocery store selling several different sizes of bowls and a cutting board, branded with a low-budget Clipart logo that says "American Football".
January 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM
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Insane sport.
January 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM
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Practical stackable beer cups.
Beer cups with handles that telescope into each other!
January 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
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Today's goal: Ski Flying! The Oberstdorf ski flying hill has a size rating of 235 meters: almost 100 meters more than the normal Ski Jumping events. Last photo featuring @luquipuks.bsky.social.
A wide view of the Ski Flying hill in Oberstdorf. 235 meters long! A view from the bottom of the Ski Flying hill in Oberstdorf. The launch ramp is still too far away to see. Myself and Lukas posing for a selfie at the bottom of the hill.
January 26, 2025 at 1:09 PM
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Train two of the day was RE17 from Immenstadt to Oberstdorf. Served today by a trio of Alstom LINT 54s, offering a huge amount of capacity for very few passengers on this Sunday afternoon. These diesel multiple units are the workhorses of the non-electrified networks in our part of Bavaria.
The front of an Alstom LINT 54, painted in DB's Traffic Red. Blue skies dotted with clouds in the background -- just like the state of Bavaria's flag.
January 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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We're passing through the village of Langenwang, which, according to my expert knowledge of German, translates to "big dick".
A sign welcoming visitors to Langenwang, in Bavarian dialect. Grias di, Schi dass do Bisch Welcome, we're glad to have you here
January 26, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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It's another #TrainDay! And a flying day too, but we'll get to that later. Leg 1 was on this DB Class 612 from Augsburg to Immenstadt. I love these trains; loud, rattle-y, and diesel powered. Their secret weapon is the ability to tilt into corners. Well adapted to the curvey routes in the Allgäu.
A DB Class 612 diesel multiple unit pulling out of Immenstadt train station. The train is painted in DB's standard bright red. On the left and in the background are the hills of the pre-Alp area. On the right, the covered platform with a nice analog clock hanging from the roof.
January 26, 2025 at 11:09 AM
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Just realized I didn't actually take any selfies today; anyway my TGV made it back to Augsburg on time, resulting in -1 minutes late on the day: fantastic!
It's me, Reilly, a 34 year old American looking guy in front of Augsburg Main Station, which is lit with lights with a very green color temperature.
January 18, 2025 at 10:03 PM
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I didn't book a return ticket in advance; the best option is actually a French TGV - I've avoided DB trains completely during today's trip. The TGV Duplex trainsets are unfortunately a bit dated and really not as comfortable as the ICEs. The seats are almost entirely in sets of four, vis-a-vis.
Pictured is a TGV Duplex operated under the TGV Inoui brand. The front car is a power car, without any seats. TGV/SNCF is one of the few operators that still use locomotive hauled trainsets instead of distributed traction EMUs.
January 18, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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Secondary goal: Craft beer. 12 taps here at Kraftpaule, a fantastic amount for Germany. Everyone here is speaking English with an American accent - typical.
A 0.5l beer glass, roughly 20% of which has been consumed. On the glass is the logo of Kraftpaule, a brewpub in Stuttgart. The logo features a sailor/weightlifter type in a wifebeater with a gigantic handlebar mustache. In his outstretched hand is, naturally, a beer. In the background, heavily blurred due to the photographer's use of portrait mode, is a set of 12 tap handles.
January 18, 2025 at 4:06 PM
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After a break for coffee, time to go back down the hill. The U15 is also quite steep, up to 8.5%! They also operate heritage trams on this route; I will need to return on a Sunday some time to see them in action. The meter-gauge turning loop is in the foreground here.
The front of a newer Stuttgarter Stadtbahn vehicle. Sadly I don't know much more about it, but it looks sleek and you can walk between the two cars. In the foreground, the meter gauge tracks intersect the standard gauge tracks at roughly a right angle.
January 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
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Here's a better look at the bike car. Three bicyclists using it on a Saturday afternoon.
The flat bike car at the front of the Zacke. There are various posts for securing your bike. One bike is already loaded; two more bicyclists are on the platform about to load.
January 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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A look at the end buffer of the Zacke in Stuttgart. Seems a bit small for the end of a maximum 17.8% incline. #RateMyBuffers
The end of the rack railway, showing the red rectangular "end of track" sign. The mast for the catenary is directly behind the buffer. The buffer itself has a rubber bumper with a Scharfenberg sized cutout. Some sort of hydraulic or spring system could cushion a blow.
January 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
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Here's goal #1 of my Stuttgart visit: the Zacke! A cog railway in the middle of the city that is part of the public transit network. A defining feature of the Zacke is the separate bike car that it pushes up the hill. 15 minute headways are a bit disappointing.
The Zacke cog railway at its end station, Marienplatz. An elevator provides direct access to the Stadtbahn platforms below. A closeup of one end of the Zacke vehicle, clearly showing the toothed rail in the middle of the tracks. The Zacke is unusual in that the toothed rail is low: flush with the rails. This is due to street running portions later on the route (!) The Zacke leaves me behind and heads up the hill toward Degerloch. In the front is a short open flat car with a couple of bikes. The platform arrival/departure sign says I have 14 minutes to wait until the next #10 train to Degerloch, via Liststraße and Wielandshöhe. Considering there's one line here, a bit unnecessary details.
January 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
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Multi-gauge rail in the underground Stadtbahn station. No idea why it randomly starts here, but the old meter gauge infrastructure is for the heritage trams that run on Sundays. Here's my U1 - hope it's headed in the right direction.
A view of two platforms/tracks at the Stuttgart Hbf Stop of the Stadtbahn. The left track had three rails, supporting both standard and narrow gauge vehicles. The right track also has three rails, but the middle rail for meter gauge starts/ends suddenly along the platform. Perhaps it's in the process of being removed. Front view of a Stuttgart Stadtbahn vehicle. I sadly don't know much about these, but they're relatively short - two articulated halves with one bogie supporting the articulation.
January 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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Stuttgart Hbf is still a mess. The walkway to the S-Bahn and Stadtbahn is still a major detour. The old main building is on life support -- I understand the idea of preserving history but it's been just a facade for like 10 years now.
The beautiful walk from the train platforms to the city + subterranean local transit connections is a giant construction site. No fewer than seven cranes dot the horizon. The facade of the old main station building is held in place with a metal exoskeleton. A diagram of the path from the train platforms to the city / local transit connections. It's like an 8 minute detour.
January 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
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I think this is the first train I've used with separate men's/women's toilets. Even had a urinal! I triple checked to make sure it wasn't a sink.
The hallway between two cars of the Stadler KISS train showing bathrooms on either side: men's on the right, and women's on the left. The pictograms are clutching their crotch as if they have to pee really badly - tacky. In the background are the automated sliding doors to the next car. A picture of the men's bathroom (from the toilet-side) showing the sink and urinal. Not fancy, but in good condition. A poster on the wall alerts passengers that the toilet is not a trash can.
January 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
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Some photos from along the way: On the bridge into Ulm, on the Filstalbrücke, the Coffee machine (I ordered a "Verlängerter" - which is essentially the Austrian equivalent of an Americano), and the adorable design on the coffee cups.
A view from the railway bridge over the Danube between Neu-Ulm and Ulm. In the background and dominating the "skyline" of Ulm is the Ulmer Münster, the tallest church in the entire world. A view from the Filstalbrücke, a viaduct along the Ulm-Wendlingen high speed line. The village of Mühlhausen im Täle is nestled in the valley. €3.50 for an Americano from the coffee machine; seems steep compared to the cost of my beer. Detail on the bottom of the WestBahn coffee cup, showing an illustration of the Stadler KISS 200 train, along with some mountains and churches in Austria. On the napkin below is the Prater in Vienna, an amusement park within a bigger city park.
January 18, 2025 at 1:17 PM
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Also they have vending machines with (Austrian) beer! €4.30 for the privilege of enjoying a Stiegl Goldbräu, brewed in Salzburg.
A 0.5l red and white somewhat retro looking Stiegl beer can on the fold-out seat-back table. One can see the rolling hills of Bavarian Swabia out the train window in the background. The self-serve Bistro of WestBahn: A coffee machine on the left and a vending machine on the right, stocked with snacks, sandwiches, drinks, beer, and Radler. A view of the 2nd class interior of the Stadler KISS 200 from the bistro, which is at the "mezzanine" level on one end of each car. A table is on the left, and stairs to the upper and lower level (where the door vestibule is) are in the middle.
January 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM
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I've abandoned Insta+Facebook, which has the plus side for followers here that you now get to enjoy my train travel updates.

Today I'm headed to Stuttgart from Augsburg on this beautiful Stadler KISS 200, operated by WestBahn, a private operator from Austria.
The exterior of a Stadler KISS 200, a double decker EMU. The paint scheme is a pleasant white and baby blue, with a thick black frame around the windshield. Anti-climbers and a Scharfenberg couple protrude from the front. On the right, mostly obscured by the WestBahn train is the side of a Bombardier Twindexx Vario (DB Class 445) painted in DB's signature "traffic red" color. The interior of the top deck of the Stadler, showing the (faux?) leather seats along with the curved roof and tiny (useless) luggage racks. I would have liked to get a better shot, but didn't want to include any faces in the image.
January 18, 2025 at 11:59 AM
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Tonight's NFL beer in Germany is adorned by a "cup gnome" -- a "Tassenwichtel".
A plastic pint glass full with beer stands in the foreground. On the cup is the logo of Spezi, a mix of cola and orange soda unique to Germany. On the lip of the glass/cup is a small gingerbread man, with a relatively large gap between his legs allowing him to straddle the edge. In the background, one can slightly make out my husband Lukas and an NFL game on the TV.
November 24, 2024 at 8:16 PM
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Kamala and Donkey pumpkins are still looking okay, even three weeks later! We had a couple inches of snow accumulation last night in Augsburg.
Two pumpkins sit on a small outdoor table on an outdoor rooftop deck. A dusting of about 5 cm / 2 in of snow covers the pumpkins, table, and an assortment of plants. Snowy rooftops peek over the wall of the deck. The left pumpkin features the carving ",la", which when spoken outloud sounds like Kamala. The right pumpkin is a donkey, representing the Democratic party. It used to have a row of stats through its body (as often pictured), but that part has already rotted away.
November 22, 2024 at 8:46 AM
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Milies, Greece, at the eastern end of the Little Train of Pelion. #RateMyBuffers
A small railway buffer (600mm gauge) composed of four horizontal rails, painted red and white, stands before a 50cm high stone wall. A side view of the same buffer, showing that on the other side of the small wall is a vertical drop off into a gorge of at least 10 meters. A small restaurant with a terrace is in the background. The gorge has nice foliage, and a ruined brick building on the other side. The reverse view of the buffer, showing the two tracks of the Milies station, and the switches creating the run-around track for the locomotive. The rear of the train is on one of the tracks, clear of the switches. A sign warns visitors not to park on the active tracks in Greek and English. The Little Train of Pelion is stopped at its intermediate halt, Ano Gatzea.The diesel locomotive in the foreground is styled to look like a steam engine, but it's not fooling anyone. Four vintage wooden coaches painted brown are lined up behind the locomotive.
November 10, 2024 at 2:46 PM
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Put it on the board!! Apple reviewed our MacOS app update today in 4 hours and 6 minutes, which I'm pretty sure is an all time record in my entire history of dealing with the App Store.
A dry erase white board with the text "Fastest Apple Review: 4 Hours, 6 minutes -2024.03.07". The text is in red pen with bad handwriting, and is enclosed by a lumpy rounded rectangle. Above this is a similar field with the text "Cups forgotten by [illegible]", and below that four tally marks.
March 7, 2024 at 1:06 PM