After four days of grim overcast weather the skies cleared and temperatures plummeted to -20°C on the night of Saturday 21 January 2006. Sunday morning dawned crisp, cold and brilliantly clear, ideal conditions for photography. At Vermerovice, east of Letohrad, 749.008 got the morning off to a good start as it rolled past on R757, the 05:10 Plzen - Jesenik passenger.