Friday 3 October - Zurich to Martigny

Polybahn

We left the hotel early to ride the Polybahn a short funicular close by. However there was a big line up of school kids so we contented ourselves by photographing it.
The train to Bern was the usual double decker and we went over the only high speed line in Switzerland.
It was cloudy in Zurich with a trace of rain but the sun was out by the time we had reached Bern.
Time between trains at Bern for tram and train watching. Bern is very busy with an interesting curve at the north end of the station.
We decided to take the slow train on the Bern Lotschberg Simplon railway because it went on the Lotschberg pass, the faster trains go underneath on a long tunnel. This turned out to be a good decision as the weather was very sunny and the views superb. As we anticipated the rooms were not ready anyway so there was no point in getting to Martigny earlier. There is a distinct change between Brig (German) and Martigny (French).  Martigny is untidy and grotty and there is nowhere as much pride in the place as we experienced further east. This is much more like France.

Martigny

We took the opportunity this afternoon to ride up to Le Chable and Orsieres, a standard gauge line into the mountains to the south. Leaving Martigny the train was full and standing.  However there was a fair on the outskirts of town with free transportation. After the first stop we had practically the whole train to ourselves.

Le Chable

This is grape growing and fruit growing country and the steep mountainsides are heavily cultivated in many places to a high level. Martigny has a reputation for strong winds, as evidenced by several large windmills on the valley bottom. The Saint Bernard Express took us to Le Chable and back to Sembrancher where we transfered to the train to Orsieres and waited for the connection from Martigny. The valley to Orsieres is very pleasant, well forested with mixed growth deciduous trees, tending to change to coniferous as we approached Orsieres which is too high for fruit.

Orsieres

Orsieres

Orsieres

Supper this evening was horsemeat steak, horse being cheaper than beef.

Thursday 2 October - Zurich Trams

We decided to stay in Zurich today and see the city. Paul devised this way of seeing a large part of Zurich.
Uetlibergbahn Hauptbahnhof to Triemli (where we saw a field cat sitting on a post which was a good vantage point)
Uetlibergbahn Triemli to Uetlinberg
Uetlibergbahn Uetlinbergbahn to Selnau
Sihtahlbahn Selnau to Giesshubel
Sihtahlbahn Giesshubel to Saalsporte Halle
Tram 5 Saalsporte Halle to Kirche Fluntern
Trolleybus 33 Kirche Flutern to Klosbach
(Walk) Klosbach to Romerhof.
Dolderbahn  Romerhof to Bergstation
Dolderbahn Bergstation to Romerhof
(Latte)
Tram 15 Romerhof to Bucheggplatz
Tram 11 Bucheggplatz to Auzelg
Tram 12 Auzelg to Bahnhof Stettbach
Tram 7 Bahnhof Stettbach to Schwamendingerplatz
Tram 9 Schwamendingerplatz  to Werd
(Visit model shop)
(Fish and chips and Guinness)
Tram 9 Wiedikon to Patadeplarz
Tram 7 Paradeplatz to Wollishofen
Tram 7 Wollishofen to Paradeplatz
Tram 2 Paradeplatz to Bahnhof Tiefenbrunnen
Tram 2 Bahnhof Tiefenbrunnen to Farbhof
Trolleybus 31 Farbhof to Hauptbahnhofplatz
(Salad)
(Watch trains at the Hauptbahnhof)

After yesterday's rain this morning started cloudy and foggy but the sun was out by noon and it was hot in the afternoon.

Cat on a pole

Uetlinberg

Sihtahlbahn at Giesshubel

Dolderbahn

Hauptbahnhof

Wednesday 1 October - Chur and Rhaetian Railways

As expected, it was raining when we left the hotel this morning. After a false start in which we nearly went to Luzern, we caught the double deck multiple unit train to Chur. The weather seemed to improve as we moved towards Sargans and Landquart and the rain had stopped by the time we had reached Chur.

Train from Arosa arriving at Chur

The train to Arosa leaves from outside the front of the Chur station and runs up the road until it reaches the country outside town.  We were in one of the new Allegra trains which are very comfortable and could watch the lady driver. The Arosa line is spectacular with very deep V shaped valleys and tall trees. There are some thrilling  prospects and a couple of impressive viaducts. As we approached Arosa small patches of meadow with houses began to appear in the forest and there is a good view down over a lake with many different shades of green, blue and yellow.

Viaduct on the line to Arosa

Arosa is nothing to write home about. It is just a lake with a few buildings on the other side which flourishes through skiing. The railway platforms and buildings are being expanded and trains are threading their way through a building site. We were not inclined to linger. The two trailing coaches were switched to the other end of the train and the lady driver brought us back to Chur under improving weather conditions. We were about three minutes late because of a discussion with control and it was a bit of a rush to get to the RhB train to Filisur. In this way I missed an opportunity to photograph an RE 6/6 at the head of a freight train with a couple of tanks on flatcars next the engine.

By this time it was quite sunny and one or two field cats, who had been absent in the morning, made an appearance. We had an excellent view of the Landwasser viaduct which was announced over the train intercom.
At Filisur we had a tight connection with the train to Davos Platz. However, it was a cross platform connection so we made it with ease.
There must be at least ten stations in Davos, all bur Davos Platz are request stops and most of them with typical Swiss log construction.
At Davos there was time for coffee and a pastry - an Apple Strudel and something similar which might have been almond.
While we were eating the train we came in on, which had a locomotive in the rear, was strengthened by adding more cars in the rear so the locomotive was buried in the middle. Regardless this was a very comfortable ride.

Davos Platz

Goats were standing on the sloped roof of a house and a horse was on the balcony.
The ride back from Landquart was very quick with just one stop at Sargans. There were good views of the Wallensee and the Zurichsee. There were many curls of mist hanging in the hillsides.

Zurich

Click here to see all Rhaetian Railway pictures

Tuesday 30 September - Appenzellerbahn and Horse Meat

Zurich

 The weather has not been as good as earlier and we had a little rain in the afternoon. It was a good decision to go on the Brienze Rothorn yesterday. We took the double decker to St. Gallen via Winterthur and Will. The cats were out in full force prowling the fields. We also saw a couple of storks in the fields presumably searching for frogs.
Paul thinks that Switzerland looks like a one to one model railway. The colors of the grass are too vivid and regular. The buildings and trees are set down perfectly and there is no garbage or mess. Even the cattle look to be placed directly.
At St. Gallen we took the tram to Trogen which runs in the street in St. Gallen and on the side for most of the way. It climbs all the way and there were misty views over the Bodensee.

Trogen

Trogen

On the way back we were joined by an old man with an enormous bright purple shopping bag with wheels. In this bag was a battered tuba complete with a smiley face sticker. He walked with a stick and had a necklace with chicken feathers. He was hobbling to the gardware store to ge vsome Brasso for his tuba.
Back at St. Gallen we took the Appenzell train up the very steep grade (Riggenbach rack) to Gais. There was a bus for Appenzell but we waited for the train to Amstetten. Lunch was a couple of sausages. I also bought some Swiss whiskey made in the Appenzell area, not bad.  It is aged in beer barrels, is well rounded and has a sweet, smooth finish. 

Train for Amstetten at Gais with a bicycle car on the front

 The line to Amstetten drops into the Rhine valley on formidable gradients and the Strub rack is used. Quite an amazing descent. Our train had an open wagon for bicycles in front. There was a button like the coach door opening buttons to let the side down then wheel the bike in and secure it.
At Amstetten we had to get to the SSB station. The driver of the no. 800 city bus let us on with the Swiss pass and we were quickly at the station where the buses stop right adjacent to the platform.
The train to Rheineck was one of those funny ones with a short power section on each sides of which are hung trailers with one truck only. Rides smoothly enough.

Rheineck

At Rheineck the tram  to Waltzenhausen was on the platform - literally. There is only one tram which makes frequent trips the 2 km or so up the hill. A flock of sheep were in someone's front garden making short work of the dahlias and begonias.
There was a two minute wait at the top where a post bus made a connection.
Our final stop was at Will for the Frauenfeld Will railway. This has new trams with a red and white color scheme toned down from the earlier in your face scheme. The line runs through pleasant country and finishes up running through the middle of Frauenfeld to reach the station where it stands among the post buses.

Frauenfeld

Click here to see all Appenzellerbahn pictures
Click here to see all Frauenfeld Will Bahn pictures

A pretty interesting day with many cats working their fields sometimes among cattle and even horses. We made 14 trips, train, tram and bus and each one ran precisely to time.

This evening Paul and I both had horsemeat steak. It was quite good, very tender but I am not sure I could tell the difference between horse and cow.

Horsemeat steak

Sitting at the table next to us was Foul Ole Ron. He had long hair in filthy ringlets. He probably had a beard but we couldn't see because of his long hair and he spent most of his time with his head in his hands. Every so often he would mumble "bugrig" in German, put his hand up and twirl his fingers. He had drunk a beer and knocked back some chocolate flavored creme with a glass of white wine. He didn't have a talking dog.

Monday 29 September - Brienze Rothorn and Innertkirchen

We decided to change the schedule today because the forecast is for rain later in the week. This morning we left early and changed at Luzern for Brienze. A quick dash to the Mountain railway station and we scored a couple of the last seats on the train to the summit. This is the only steam mountain line in Switzerland. I had a dog sitting between my legs. He was very good but became a little restless towards the end of the hour long trip. This is a very different ride than the Pilatus of yesterday. It climbs much higher first through wooded country and then mainly grass. The weather was wonderful and there were great views over Lake Brienze.

 

 

We spent about half an hour at the summit which is not so well appointed as Pilatus. Rough paths instead of pavement.

The trip down was in a pretty empty train. The steam engine was worked hard on the way up but had it easy on the way back. There was just one man on the engine, it being oil fired.

I loved the moss on the roof

At Brienze we watched the steamer arrive and its passengers transfer to the train and Post buses.

Meiringen

A quick ride to Meiringen and we transferred to the single electric car of the Innertkirchen railway. We got off at the station in the tunnel. The platform is about 6 feet long and when you get off two doors open to let you out. There is a small waiting area open to the sky where intending passengers can signal for the train to stop.

Aareschulcht Ost station. The platform is very short and the doors are only opened when a train is stopped there.

We crossed a suspension bridge over the Aare river and could look into the gorge. A stiff climb up many steps brought us to a snack bar which controlled entry to the walkway through the gorge. We paid 8.50 francs and started out. The walkway is well maintained and is placed almost entirely on the south wall of the gorge. The river is rushing below and at one place the gorge sides are about 3 feet apart.

At the west end we made our way out through a gift shop and just missed the train from the little station back to Meiringen. We had a beer at a restaurant and caught the next train which went in the other direction to Innertkirchen and then came right back to Meiringen. The entire line takes just about ten minutes with one man and one electric car.

Innertkirchen

Click here to see all Brienze Rothorn pictures
Click here to see all Innertkirchen pictures

Direct trip back over the Brunig to Luzern with great views in the evening sun. The train to Zurich was a standard double decker, very comfortable.

Sunday 28 September - Pilatus and Swiss Railway Museum

We were out in good time this morning to catch a train to Luzern and on to Alpnachstad. It was misty and very foggy in places.  We didn't have to worry because the ride to the top of Pilatus was in full sun although we could see the early mist hanging in some valleys.

I don't know what to say about Pilatus. It is the steepest rack railway in the world at 48%. However they have been operating for 150 years so they know what they are doing. The trains are run in flights, we passed a group of five at the half way point. The first part was steep alpine meadows with tiny yellow and purple flowers and tiny butterflies. There are many cows and their bells make quite a din.   There were a number of walkers and the up trains were all full, it being Sunday.

The second, upper, part was more stark with several patches of bare rock and a few tunnels.  There was time to look around at the top but photography was difficult because of the haze. There was hardly any wind and I didn't really need my fleece.

As we descended into the base station we could see the steamer approaching and we wondered how we would be able to get there in time across a busy two lane road. Of course there was an underground passage so that we made it with plenty of time to spare.

Click here to see all pictures taken on Pilatus

 

Our pass allows us to go in the first class lounge on the steamers.

Steamer arriving at Alpnachstad

The Museum of Transport was good. The exhibits were quite interesting and well captioned. What impressed us the most was the great variety of neat things for children to do. There was a building site where kids could shovel gravel into dump trucks and move it around. There was a sailboat lake which had been fitted out with fans to make a breeze. There was a complete container system where gravel or wooden blocks could be loaded and then winched on to a rail vehicle, then transfered to a barge. Many kids were working hard together at this. There were radio controlled boats, scooters - things kids could do rather than press a button. At the end of the day many of the kids would be very tired indeed.   

This Climax steam locomotive was giving rides

There was even a train simulator that Paul and I tried. We didn't do too badly until it came time to stop when we both stopped short and were told to speed up.

To get back to Luzern we had a choice of a trolley bus, a suburban train or a steamer. We chose the steamer and there was just time to have a beer in the first class lounge.

We caught the first train back to Zurich and had dinner sitting on a bench on the platform enjoying the sun and the trains - at one point six trains arrived in 5 minutes. A train of old coaches came in hauled noisily by a CARGO locomotive in need of attention. It had made a round trip to Munich. I hope the coaches ride better than the locomotive. Maybe the locomotive was used because it is equipped to work in Germany. It seems Octoberfest starts in September.