Saturday 8 October - Garden Centre Railway (Schinznacher Baumschulbahn)

We checked out of the hotel and rode a couple of trams first thing then caught a train to Brugg.  The bus to Schnitzbach Dorf Baumschule had just left so we had to wait half an hour for the next one. We were taken right out into the country which is pleasant with gently rolling hills.  Paul was following our progress with the GPS on his phone but the information system on the Post Bus was very good and put us down right outside this garden centre.

The whole place is immense with all types of garden and house plants and trees available in large quantities.  The railway is an adjunct of the garden centre and is one of the items that give the visitor an experience more than just buying plants.

The crew were getting up steam on the locomotive when we arrived and did not mind us wandering around the workshop.  I was amazed to see a South African Beyer Garratt locomotive.  It was not working at present. The working steam locomotive, an 0-6-0, then took off through the potted plants.

It was not apparent where the station was until some 30 minutes before the advertised departure when a whole bunch of signs and notices appeared and the ticket office appeared.

The engine then returned with a train.  The train has air brakes and there was a long and involved brake test before the conductor was satisfied.

At the station

Leaving the station

The garden centre is vast

Entering one of the greenhouses

Inside the greenhouse

The train took us on a 25 minute ride through the various sections of the centre, including a large lake.  The grades are quite steep in places and the route passes over itself in a couple of places.  An interesting feature is that the train runs through one of the large greenhouses full of plants. After the ride we had some time to spare before catching the bus back to Brugg.  There is a large, pleasant cafe where we had good cappuccinos.

The cafe was a good place to relax

Entering the station

The bus took us back to the station and we went on to Neuchatel with a break of an hour or so in Olton to see the train movements.  The passenger traffic was heavy but there were some four freights that had to be threded through the station layout in the time we were there.

We are familiar with Neuchatel but what is especially galling is that the funicular down the hill from the station was under repair - it was out of action last time we were here.  We took a taxi to the hotel but will be walking the hill most of the time on the future.

Click here to see all pictures of the Garden Centre Railway