Wednesday 5 October - Rhein Falls, Stein am Rhein and Uetliberg

The Swiss railways have some interesting vinyls on some of their locomotives.

Another busy day today.  We caught a train to Schaffhausen and changed to a local for Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall  There was a big climb up to the castle then down the other side to cross the Rhine river above the falls.  There then followed a level stretch then more steps down to see the falls proper.  They are quite spectacular although the drop is not very great.  I enjoyed watching the ducks and a wagtail searching for food.

We caught a train coming over the bridge

A train took us back to Schaffhausen and after a quick coffee we caught a local to Stein am Rhein.  This is a pleasant little town with some wonderful old painted buildings in the centre.  The reason for coming here was to see the miniature railway which was operating today.

The railway runs in a pleasant riverside park for maybe a quarter of a mile.  The track runs around the main shops and shed and returns to the terminal station. The line is dual gauge with three rails.  At the junction for the loop around the shed area there is an interesting switch with no moving parts.  Trains run around the loop clockwise.

Having walked along the line we had a pizza at a restaurant close by and then walked into the town which provided a very pleasant surprise from the wealth of beautifully decorated buildings.

The buildings have all been painted, some of the scenes were very detailed and we wondered how frequently they would have to be repainted - the buildings are obviously several hundred years old.
I was just one of many tourists admiring the town when I was approached by three girls and a boy, about 14 years old.  They were from Zurich on a school trip by boat from Schaffhausen.  I explained that I spoke no German and they quickly switched to French and then English which they spoke perfectly.  They recorded my interview on a cell phone.  Where was I from? Why did I come here?  What do I think about the town?  It was a lot of fun.  I was particularly interested in the ease with which they switched between English and French when their mother tongue was German.

The local train took us Winterthur and we quickly returned to Zurich.

The Uetliberg Railway is part of the Zurich suburban network yet it is unusual in many ways.  It is the steepest standard gauge railway in Europe and the overhead electric wires are offset because these trains share part of the route with another railway which uses the standard Swiss railway overhead system.  The line climbs up to the summit through dense forest.  It is surprising to find such a dense forest so close to the city centre.  Paul and I went up the line two years ago but the summit was covered in thick fog and we did not venture off the platform.  (This was where we saw a cat sitting on a pole looking for prey). This time the weather was fine, if cold, and the views across Zurich were wonderful.  We could see the airport and follow the planes coming in to land.  Lake Zurich was very easy to pick out.

On the way back to the hotel we noticed the Fondue Trolley serving customers during the rush hour.

Another good day although there was a lot of stair climbing.

To see all pictures taken at Rhein Falls and Stein am Rhein click here

Tuesday 4 October - Lake Luzern and the Gotthard

Zurich on a sunny and bright day, like today.

In the Luzern market both sweet chestnuts and horse chestnuts were on sale

 

The Luzern bridge was well decked out with flowers.

As planned, this morning we took an early train to Luzern and caught a boat on Lake Luzern.  Our original plan was to get off at Vitznau and ride the mountain railway up to Rigi Kulm and back down again to Arth Goldau.  However it looked as if the Rigi summit was socked in by cloud and there were a very large number of Asian tourists who were more interested in selfies than learning anything.  Having been up to the summit last lime, Paul and I decided to stay on the boat as far as Brunnen where we thought we would be able to get a train through to Ersfelt on the Gotthard main line. The additional hour's cruise was peaceful after the tourists had got off and First class was very pleasant indeed.

Our plan worked out well.  It was about a half mile walk to the station where we had to wait about 15 minutes for a train to Ersfelt.  In the meantime there were a succession of trains to watch on the main line to the Gotthard Pass. The traffic regulation was interesting to watch.  The high speed train came first but the dispatcher stuffed a large freight in between it and our stopping passenger train.  This made sense although the stopper was delayed by a couple of minutes - otherwise the freight would have been slowed at every station to Ersfelt.

First an Italian 610 high speed train came through 

This heavy freight came through with four locomotives on the front, an amazing mixture of Re 4/4s and at least one Re 6/6.

At Ersfelt we caught the "local" to Locarno hauled by an Re 4/4

Many of these trains have one First class car with panoramic windows which I was looking out for. 

At Ersfelt we had a sandwich and caught the train up the old winding line to the summit at Goschenen.  We enjoyed good views of the loops as we passed the church at Wassen three times.

We took a quick trip up the narrow V shaped valley to Andermatt and back and then decided to return to Zurich, changing trains at Arth Goldau.

The narrow gauge MGB train ready to depart for Andermatt on the rack line.  These trains leave from the station forecourt, along with the buses.

A double headed BLS headed freight entered the tunnel with this 187 class Traxx locomotive painted for Railpool  but leased to BLS on the rear end.

A number of freights were headed by a Re 4/4 and a Re 6/6 making a 10/10.  The 4/4 invariable was in the lead, possibly because it was equipped with ETRMS signal capability.

It was a good day during which we sorted out how to get to good places around Wassen planned for Thursday.

Click here to see all pictures of the Luzern - Gotthard area

Monday 3 October - Appenzellerbahn and the Voralpen Express

Zurich not in the rail, but the rain started later.

We took the 0839 train from Zurich to Gossau and the narrow gauge Appenzellerbahn train to Appenzell.  We had hoped to spend the half hour or so walking in this pleasant town but the rain put paid to our plans.  The whole area is surrounded by rolling hills with green fields.  The grass is very short and a bright green.  I have seen some modellers create grass fields in the same way like using a salt shaker to distribute the scenic material.  This is very unrealistic for Canadian fields but around here it would be perfect.

Appenzell

We took the next train on to Gais and quickly found the train to Allstetten.  This is different in two ways in that it has a bicycle carrying car at one end, fitted with train brakes and automatic gates.  It is fitted with the Strub rack for going over the very severe gradients down to Altstetten. (The Appenzellerbahn uses the different Riggenbach rack on the section into St. Gallen - more about that later.)

The Gais to Altstetten train is distinguished by its custom made bicycle carrier fitted with air brakes and automatic couplers

Paul and I went all the way down the hill to Altstetten last time we were here and thought we would try something different this time.  The train from Gais runs down to Altstetten then comes back straight away up to Gais. There are several halts shown on the map, including one at Warmesberg which is actually on a rack section.  All instructions on the train are in German but I knew enough to realize that "Auf falangan" means "request stop".  Searching the compartment I found a button marked thus and pressed it when the stop was announced.  Straight away, a "stop" sign in red came up on the timetable screen and the train stopped for us.

Our train departing from Warmesberg

The pigs formed a welcoming committee

The station is on a bit of a gradient!

The cattle took no notice of us.

Warmesberg is really a road crossing.  There are no houses close other than a couple of farms.  It is evident that few people use this station by the warm welcome that some nearby pigs gave us.  They obviously hadn't had visitors for ages.  By this time the weather had improved and we had good views into the Rhine valley.

The train rounds the bend on its way up the hill

The train gave warning of its approach when the crossing bells started to ring.  However, there was no button to press or a flag to wave to let the driver know we wanted him to stop.  A wave produced a wave in return and we were ab;e to regain the train and return to Gais.

We then went on to St. Gallen in the Appenzellerbahn train fitted with the Riggenbach rack for descending into St. Gallen.  This goes around the steepest, sharpest curve in Switzerland but will be eliminated in a couple of years through the construction of a tunnel as part of the St. Gallen metro system.

We had a sandwich in the platform at St. Gallen while waiting for our train to Nesslau.  The station was busy with the normal diet of passenger trains with a few freights thrown in, including one hauled by a Re 6/6.

Paul's picture of the Re 6/6 at St. Gallen

This afternoon we took a train from St. Gallen to Nesslau - Neu St. Johann which is up in the hills close to the mountains.  The ride was through pleasant farming country, punctuated by high viaducts and long tunnels.  This is a purely local centre and there wasnèt a great deal to hold us so we took the first train back as far as Wattwil where we caught the Voralpen Express right through to Luzern. The name has been applied to a bunch of old passenger cars which have been renovated and repainted on the cheap in an effort to capture some of the business of the Golden Panorama express out of Montreux.  The SudOst Bahn  (SOB) has a long way to go.  The best that could be said was that the scenery was magnificent and the toilets worked.  We went through Rapperswil, over the causeway across Lake Zurich to Pfafficon then Arth Goldau to Luzern.  We arrived at Luzern about a minute late, the worst so far on the trip.

Nesslau - Neu St. Johann

We took the first train back from Luzern to Zurich.  A long, tiring day.

Click here to see all pictures taken on the Appenzellerbahn

Sunday October 2 - Bauma Steam Railway and the Dietikon to Wohlen Tram

Zurich in the rain

The weather was not too promising this morning but as this was the only day the Bauma Steam Railway would be operating during our time in Switzerland we felt we had no option. We took a train to Winterthur and had some 25 minutes to wait for the connection to Bauma.  In that time we saw an amazing variety of passenger trains.

The ride to Bauma was through gently hilly country with mixed farming and forest with a few small villages.  We were struck by the enormous freight shed at Bauma which is used by the steam railway. It is very long, has two platform roads with a lot of space in between.  The roof has recently been replaced.  Passengers can board their train in the dry and there were several stands selling drinks and meals, local produce and railway souvenirs. Our train was pulled by a small tank engine #2 Hinwil, a 2-6-0 built in 1903.  The ride was through pleasant country.  We had thought of getting out at Baretswil but a two hour wait in the rain put paid to that idea.  At Hinwil the locomotive quickly ran around its train and returned to Bauma.

The Bauma Freight Shed roof has been beautifully rebuilt.

The railway uses proper Edmondson card tickets

Brass plate on the side of one of the cars

Hinwil

Taking water in the steam at Hinwil

Click here to see all pictures of the Bauma Steam Railway

We caught a train to Wetzicon and from there went to Rapperswil on the southern tip of Lake Zurich.  This is a pleasant lakeside town.  We walked along the lake and enjoyed watching a grebe diving for fish.  The water was so clear that we could see it swimming underwater.

Street art at Rapperswil

The bowl of chilis certainly helped to spice up my pizza

Swiss Fire Hydrants are unique.

We caught a train back along the lakeside to Zurich Hauptbahnhof, while we were waiting for it to leave we saw the Voralpen Exress which we hope to ride tomorrow.  From Zurich we went on to Dietikon and rode the tramway to Wohlen.  This is metre gauge and is operated by the BDWM (Bremgarten Dietikon Wohen).  It runs mostly alongside the roads although there are some private right of way sections.  The line is now operated with 14 Stadler trains.  The views are great, the line traverses some severe hairpin curves to keep to the road.  We went through to Wohen and came back to Bremgarten to get a beer at a cafe with great views across the river.  Unfortunately the sun was in our eyes and pictures of the trains on the bridge didn't come out very well.

Running down the street on the approach to Dietikon station

Wohlen tram station across the street from the SBB station

Bremgarten

Bremgarten

Bremgarten

Bremgarten

Click here to see all pictures of teh Dietikon to Wohlen Tram

We returned to Zurich Hauptbahnhof and had a sandwich while watching a couple of excursions come in with Re 4/4s that sounded as if they had seen better days.

The Italian train was next to a grubby Austrian one

This Re 4/4 was working on empty stock trains.  It made a lot of noise when it moved as if everything was loose.

September 30 - October 1 - Travel with Paul to Zurich

The Air Canada flight to Zurich was miserable. Even though some of the crew tried to smile, many didn't bother.  We were glad to get off after the ride through the countryside around the Frankfurt airport.  We had a little time to wait for the train to Basel which turned out to be an ICE - 3 high speed train where passengers can watch the driver.  However, our first class reservations were very comfortable and we used the couple of hours to Basel to get a little shut eye.

The newer German high speed trains allow passengers to see through the front 

 It was raining heavily with very low cloud at Frankfurt but the weather improved as we moved south and there had not been any rain at Zurich. The train was very smooth even though we were running at 200 kmph virtually all the way

At Basel we had to change trains for Zurich and we let several go for half an hour or so in order to catch the TGV from Paris.  It arrived spot on time and we had a smooth run while we enjoyed the view from the top deck.

At Basel we actually found a dirty train.

Our TGV at Zurich alongside a 460

Zurich was very busy on a Saturday afternoon.  We took a number 14 tram to visit a model shop.  Some of the model locomotives were priced at around $1,200.

Neither of us slept last night so we are going to bed early this evening.