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| BB7255 heads south towards Orleans with an evening service from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz. 25/05/22 |
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| HGe4/4ii 101 descends into Andermatt on the MGB. 29/04/22 |
It had been a while since a proper trip to France and
since I always enjoy them and I had the company of someone who had left it
rather late in the day to scoop their first BB67400 it was time to get on a Eurostar
once again.
Not really knowing where to head onwards once in
Strasbourg the news that the Engadine line on the RhB was to loose its loco’s
just a few weeks later at the timetable change sealed the fate of the second
half of the trip- Let’s be honest, it wasn’t going to take a lot of persuasion
to end up back in Switzerland on our favourite railway!
This trip had a few quite specific photographic aims- we
would just have to hope the weather (and the trains played ball:
-Classic SNCF ‘broken nose’ electrics on the route to Orleans.
-Blue SNCF BB67400 action – specifically a shot I had
found at Fouday on the line from Strasbourg to St Die des Vosges.
-Photos by the canal in the Saverne gap.
-‘The’ freight train shot on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn
at Neubrück.
-The elusive shot at Ardez on the RhB (which had eluded
us due to weather twice on the last trip)
-Standard gauge loco hauled trains by Lake Walensse on
the line from Zurich to Chur.
-A shot, any shot of Ge4/4ii 614… it is the only one I
have not seen and it seems to hide away every time I’m on the RhB!
 |
| Freight 'over the top' on the old Lotschburg route. BLS Re465 004 and 486 508 lead a 'rolling highway' over the Kanderviaduct near Fruitigen, 28/04/22. |
If all of the above could be achieved then three
photographers would go home very happy… of course, it was never going to be quite
as simple as that!
Monday 25nd April 2022
 |
BB7276 at Etamps working TER 860515 the 16:29 stopping
service from Parix Austerlitz to Orleans. |
The trip started with the 09:30 Eurostar to Paris.
Putting on the obligatory facemask seeming rather strange now having got used
to traveling on UK trains without them again.
I often wonder how quickly you could reach Paris if the
train actually did 186mph all the way, our non-stop journey seemed a bit of a
stagger, but still, an on time arrival was achieved.
After checking our bags in to one of the hotels just
across from the Gare du Nord we headed first to Gare du Lyon where the only
item of interest was one of the Italian FerricasiaRosa sets from the new open
access operation. Quickly on to the perpetual building site that is Gare
Austerlitz to pick up some lunch and try to find the signage to the RER
platforms. From the concourse the only sign appeared to be via a single lift
and I’m sure we were not the only ones to have missed our first choice train
because of it!
 |
| Vermillion 'Sybic' BB26013 heads south through Saint Michelle sur Orge on 25/04/2022 heading south west with corails. |
 |
| 'Concrete' BB7274 at Saint Michelle sur Orge on 25/04/2022 |
Saint Michelle Sur Orge has never been particularly kind
to me with freight traffic, and true to its form absolutely none were seen
during our hour plus at the station. Success was however achieved with the
passenger trains with two BB7200’s seen both wearing the traditional ‘Concrete’
livery in addition to a BB26000 Sybic. It is of note that the station platforms
are being extended here, which has changed the view a little from previous
visits. The construction work also avoided us the faff of trying to get through
the ticket barriers with our passes as these were in the process of being
replaced!
Reaching stations between Etamps and Les Aubrais
(Orleans) is less straightforward as there are virtually no trains between the
peaks, so any move has to be planned carefully. Fortunately ours worked rather well,
with another concrete in BB7276 producing for train 860515 the 16:20 Austerlitz
– Orleans, which was taken to Chateau-Gaillard, the first train to call here
since the morning and with no other passengers boarding or alighting!
 |
| Colas MAK G1206's 05 and 20 approach Chateau Gaillard with a southbound ballast train 25/05/22. |
 |
'En Voyage' is always a nice surprise to see on a Sybic, BB26001
heads towards Paris at Chateau Gaillard on 25/04/22. |
After a lucky patch of sun for a Colas worked freight we
battled the clouds for the first hour or so, seemingly everywhere else was
under clear skies except for our patch of the line! Eventually the cloud
cleared and our final hour of photography was excellent with several freights
and a good number of passenger services in both directions. The majority of
these hauled by BB7200’s, of which all bar two wore ‘concrete’ colours, the
other two being ‘ghosts’. Seemingly there are far more concrete BB7200’s active
on this route than I had anticipated- on a previous trip almost every loco in
France had been a ‘ghost’!
 |
| BB7255 with another southbound corail service form Paris Austerlitz near Chateau Gaillard. 25/04/22 |
 |
A familiar sight in France and the UK- Euro Cargo Rail's 66052
heads south towards Orleans at Chateau Gaillard. 25/04/22 |
Those trains not hauled by BB7200’s were in the hands of
BB26000 ‘Sybics’ all of which carried the new ‘Vermillian’ scheme applied by
vinyl, most of which is peeling and weathering very badly, doing nothing to
adhere me to this dreadful livery that I didn’t like in the first place!
While we could have stayed longer for the trains, the
last train of the day back to Paris was beckoning, again 860520 being hauled by
another concrete, BB7274. It was pleasing just ahead of it to catch the doyen
of the Sybics, 26001 which was refreshingly still in its ‘En Voyage’ colours,
one of just a handful to have worn the scheme.
 |
| Late night on the Paris Metro- Gare Austerlitz. |
Back in Paris it was a late night after food and a bit of
sightseeing- you can’t come to this city and fail to see the Eiffel Tower!?
Tuesday 26rd April 2022
 |
| 26076 with a freight along the canal between Saverne and Steinbourg. 26/04/22. |
Strasbourg is around 1h30 away from Paris by TGV… so of
course our move was to take the 07:36 TER and do the journey the classic way in
more like 5 hours, BB26144 pushing all the way.
Since the morning’s grey weather had largely cleared and
there wasn’t a lot to do in Strasbourg until the diesels came out in the
evening we broke the journey at Saverne which turned out to be a delightful
town for lunch and an ice cream. By the time we had walked 20 odd minutes to
the photo spot by the canal the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and to
add to our woes there were an army of orange track workers and their vans in
view as well! Between the rain showers there were some sunny moments to
photograph the trains, though never the interesting ones!
 |
| Orange men and clouds not idea- BB26152 heads west with Grand Est 'Fluo' service towards Nancy. 26/04/22 |
 |
| Push-pull BB22298 pushes away from Steinbourg. 27/04/22 |
Our onward journey to Strasbourg was on the local
service, conveniently BB22263 pushing its RRR set (the one that I had wanted to
photograph coming in, which naturally passed during a downpour!). On arrival at
Strasbourg two diesel push-pull set were spotted, one blue, one En Voyage-
there was just time to confirm the third set was not running on the Lauterbourg
route before crowding onto a DMU to Fouday for what was supposed to be the shot
of the trip; the blue push-pull set on the nearby viaduct working 831826 the
16:57 Strasbourg – St Die des Vosges.
This didn’t quite go to plan. Firstly we couldn’t find
anywhere to actually take the photo from, secondly it had totally clouded over
since our arrival and finally when the train did come it wasn’t the blue diesel
anyway! Well and truly bowled, and after the extra stress of recovering my
drone which had also managed to crash in the excitement we moved down the line to
Schirmek-La-Broque where we thought we had identified an open bar. Thankfully
it was!
 |
BB67511 shortly after arrival at St die des Vosges and
preparing to work back to Saales. 26/04/22 |
On to St Die des Vosges on the second diagram with blue
BB67511 on 831832 the 18:57 from Strasbourg which was at least an enjoyable
ride (if 25 minutes late), the line being very scenic. I was somewhat surprised
to see at TGV at St Die, which I had presumed to be the backwater at the end of
a rural branch… After a fairly disappointing evening we were pleased to find
the hotel and food.
Wednesday 27th April 2022
 |
| BB67511 approaches Strasbourg Airport on a very overcast morning with 831809 from Saales. 27/04/22 |
The earliest start of the trip this morning to ensure we
got away from St Die des Vosges loco-hauled. As expected it was BB67464 for 831807
the 05:46 to Strasbourg which was taken as far as the airport where we dropped
back onto BB67511 15 minutes behind on 831809 the 06:32 from Saales. The plan
had been to attempt a photo from the lineside here but the weather wasn’t going
to make it worth the run with all our bags!
 |
| BB22298 beside the Marne-Rhein canal approaching Steinbourg with a regional service from Strasbourg to Saverne formed of RRR vehicles. 27/04/22 |
Back at Strasbourg breakfast was required and without a
huge amount of railway excitement, we spent the next few hours exploring this
pleasant city. Back to the station to find that our next planned move was
cancelled so there was an opportunity to scratch in the station bar before
heading on to Steinbourg behind BB22301 for another attempt at some photographs
by the canal. This spot turned out to be much better (and much closer to the
station) than that at Saverne, though photography was still frustrating through
poorly positioned clouds, trains that simply didn’t turn up and then when
everything was finally looking good for the master shot of a Grand Est Sybic, a
unit going the other way appeared just at the wrong time! All the BB26000
Sybics working the passenger services in this area now appear to have received
the new ‘Fluo’ livery and branding which is being used by Grand Est. While I
still prefer the original scheme on the Sybics this does at least look a lot
better than the peeling ‘vermillion’ with black cab fronts that much of the
rest of the class now carry.
 |
| BB37040 with a short tank train beside the Marne-Rhein canal at Steinbourg. 27/04/22 |
 |
| BB26168 at Selestat with a 'TER 200' from Basel. 27/04/22 |
Back to Strasbourg again loco pushed (this time by
BB22298), as has been reported elsewhere the electric push/pull sets only seem
to be operating a couple of diagrams at the moment with most of the Selestat
turns not running. It was time to reconvene our group one of whom had gone for
the diesel turn to Barr, and head to our accommodation at Mulhouse for the
night via another comfortable TER200 Corail ride.
Thursday 28th April 2022
 |
| One of the shots of the trip- MGB meter gauge HGe4/4ii 5 'MOUNT FUJI' leads the midday freight from Visp to Zermatt at Neubrück. 28/04/22 |
Our final morning waking in France and after picking up
pastries we were on our way out of the country pushed by BB26150 to Basel
(which unlike Austerlitz has completed its makeover).
A fairly quick change here, and it was
pleasing to find that our journey south would continue loco hauled with
Re460-000 taking us forward to Visp via required track in the Lotschberg Base
Tunnel.
The day had dawned beautifully sunny for the first time
in the trip and now we were in the mountains I had finally developed a
confidence that it might stay that way as forecast. Now we just needed to get
into position and hope that the MGB freight actually ran! Despite being well
away from a station the shot at Neubrück was surprisingly accessible; a postal
bus runs from outside Visp Station every 30 minutes with a bus stop almost
exactly on the spot where you need to stand!
 |
| HGe4/4ii 1 'Matterhorn' works a train towards Zermatt between Visp and Stalden. 28/04/22 |
I’m pleased to say that the freight, timed to depart Visp
at 11:25, turned up exactly as expected and all three photographers were very
pleased to have that one of our objectives ticked off! Now we just needed to
work out what to do with the rest of the day. The line from Visp to Zermatt
does have some loco-hauled trains but is largely dominated by units, and we had
also now worked out that with locos typically on the Andermatt end of trains
running from Brig, we would now be largely shooting into the sun for these too.
The other option was to head for the standard gauge, either up towards Spiez or
to chance our luck on the old Lotschberg route – our mind was made up when we
spotted an Re10/10 heading up the south ramp above us… The old Lotschberg it
was, now we just had to hope we didn’t waste the best weather on the trip
seeing no trains!
 |
Railcare Vectron 476 541 attacks the south ramp of the old Lotschburg Pass at Hohten with a container train. 28/04/22
|
The Lotschberg line is very scenic, but is surprisingly
difficult to photograph! Almost the entire south ramp is on a ledge on the
valley side, meaning there are precious few positions to stand back from the
lineside. Added to this is the fact that barely any trains stop at Lalden, the
best spot for these few locations. We instead opted to take the local train to
Hohten where a little exploration revealed very few shots there either! With a
two hourly train service we were a bit stuck, but did see one freight in this
time, and it was at least heading in the right direction!
Back on the move we headed to a location that we knew
would be good if the trains turned up, the Kanderviadukt south of Fruitigen.
 |
| BLS 485 008 and Re465 005 cross the Kanderviaduct near Fruitigen. 28/04/22 |
 |
| MGB trains at Brig from the hotel balcony. 28/04/22 |
Fortunately, in little over an hour we had seen three
trains pass in the right (northbound) direction- more than we could really have
hoped for since this is now very much a secondary route for trains following
the opening of the Lotschberg Base Tunnel in 2007. The fact that we saw no
freight heading south all afternoon confirms we got fairly lucky here, even if
none of the trains were the SBB Re10/10 we were really hoping for!
Happy with that haul it was back to Brig for the night
where we had a room overlooking the station. This only acted to confirm that
there were very few locos (I’m including the baggage cars here) working trains
on the Brig-Andermatt section of the MGB.
Friday 29th April 2022
 |
| HGe4/4ii 105 'Oberalp' is about to cover the pass of it's name with a Glacier express seen here climbing from Andermatt (below left) towards Natschen on the MGB. 29/04/22 |
Today was our real day for MGB photos, and after much
deliberation over which of the glorious sections of the line to head to we
ended up travelling straight through from Brig to Andermatt. There were a
couple of reasons for this but the most notable was that we simply had no idea
which trains would produce locos (or baggage cars) and which would be units on
the sections of the line nearer to Brig, and from our observations so far it
looked to be mostly units- oh how some loco diagrams would have helped us here!
 |
| With a backdrop of snowy peaks, HGe4/4ii 101 'Sitten' begins the descent to Andermatt. 29/04/22 |
 |
HGe4/4ii 101 'Sitten' rises from Andermatt bound for
Disentis/Muster. 29/04/22 |
Of course, being Switzerland the unit we travelled on to
Andermatt was very comfortable, there was even some required track through the
Furka Base Tunnel having taken the steam over the top last time. At Andermatt
however we were pleased to see our train give way to loco and coaches for the
trip onwards to Disentis/Muster. Having decided to spend the next couple of
hours on the zig-zag out of Andermatt and up onto the Oberalp Pass I had one of
my better ideas of the trip to take the train to Nätschen at the top and then
work our way down- it would have been very hard going in the other direction,
especially with our luggage!
With the exception of one train in the afternoon which
produced a baggage car in the shape of Deh4/4ii 94 all the trains on this
section were loco hauled by HGe4/4’s including the two Glacier Express trips
each way as expected. Very few of the older Deh4/4i’s were seen in service with
the exception of the shuttles to Goschenen. After a final photo at Bugnei where
the light was just starting to be interrupted by high cloud, we continued on to
Disentis. It was time to re-join our favourite railway with Ge4/4ii 619 in its
blue livery taking us onto the Ratische Bahn.
 |
| Deh4/4ii 94 'Fiesch' provides some welcome variety in traction as it climbs out of Andermatt. 29/04/22 |
Having observed the trains in the past we had assumed
that despite our train being advertised to Landquart it would go all the way
through to our final destination on the RhB at Schol-Tarasp, a nice long narrow
gauge loco hauled journey.
 |
Deh4/4 51 'Disentis/Muster' departs from
Andermatt with a train to Goschenen. 29/04/22 |
We were slightly surprised therefore when the train
actually did terminate at Landquart, and even more surprised (as well as a few
other words) when we discovered our train on to Schol-Tarasp was a Capricorn
EMU! This was not in the plan, but we had to take it to reach our
accommodation. Looking a little more closely at the diagrams it appears this
was the only booked Capricorn to Schol-Tarasp all day! We were not amused… although
again, being Switzerland it is of course a thoroughly nice train just to make
it even more difficult to be upset about!
 |
| An HGe4/4ii descends from Nätschen, the view from above really showing off the typography of this incredible bit of railway. 29/04/22 |
 |
| Ge4/4ii 627 of the RhB arrives at Landquart 01/05/22. |
On arrival at Schol-Tarasp at around 21:30 we checked in
to the hotel, expecting to be able to get some food, as they had agreed on
their confirmation- unfortunately the chef had gone home and the kitchen was
closed! Not a position of strength since it was now fairly late in the evening.
Fortunately, since it was a Friday there was a bar in town serving food- I had
really feared a repeat of my first visit to the RhB where my dinner was a pot
noodle and some snacks from the vending machine on the platform at Filisur!
 |
| HGe4/4ii 4 'Taschorn' crosses the viaduct at Bugnei with a train from Disentis/Muster to Andermatt 29/04/22 |
Saturday 30th April 2022
Photos in the Engadine Valley was on the menu this
morning… well, it was until we woke up to find that it was raining in
Schol-Tarasp with low cloud hogging the valley. We all needed a lie in and as
it clearly wasn’t a morning for photography staying in bed for a bit became the
new plan!
 |
| Ge4/4ii 612 in it's striking new yellow livery brightens up a dull morning while shunting wagons on it's train from Schol-Tarasp to Disentis. 30/04/22 |
 |
| Reflections of Abe4/4iii 51 at Samedan. 30/04/22 |
We had come to this area because of the very immediate
threat to the loco hauled trains between Pontresina and Schol-Tarasp which were
due to finish just a few weeks later with the May timetable change. Keen to at
least get one more ride through the Engadine, after watching the rather garish
612 shunt some wagons on it’s train towards Landquart, we took 626 right through
to Pontresina.
The weather had not improved so a ‘rainy day’ plan was
quickly developed instead – the train would connect nicely with a pair of Abe4/4iii
railcars which I had never quite managed to travel on before up the Bernina
line. We could take their train to Alp Grum to connect into a train back down
to St Moritz which would place us perfectly for a trip on the Gormino dining
coach back to Chur.
 |
| Unexpected snow on the Bernina Pass! 30/04/22 |
55 and 51 produced for the journey up to the summit of
the Bernina line, where the visibility rapidly reduced as the dreary rain
turned to snow! By Alp Grum the weather was positively grim and unfortunately
the bars both here and at Ospizio Bernina had not yet opened for the season!
We were reminded of the obvious reason not to travel via
St Moritz when heading from the Bernina and down the Albula line- you get stuck
there for ages! This did put us in position to stake our claim to a table in
the Gormino coach though… not that we needed to as it was virtually empty!
 |
| The wood paneled interior of the Gormino dining car |
Lunch and a few beers were enjoyed as we descended the Albula, even catching a
nice patch of sun around Bergun! This was so encouraging that rather than
heading straight to the usual Hotel Post in Chur we thought we would instead
head to Malans to try a few photos there- of course dispite some great patches
of blue sky the hauled trains, now only hourly, didn’t catch it and the only sunny
picture I came away with was of a Capricorn. Better luck tomorrow maybe?
 |
| Not what we had come to see- but an irresistible photo in the conditions nether the less, Abe 4/16 'Capricorn' EMU 3131 arrives into Malans following a downpour. 30/03/22 |
Sunday 1st May 2022
Another fairly dull day on the RhB, weather-wise at
least! There was certainly no point in heading back to Ardez on the Engadine…
 |
| A surprise by Lake Walensse in the shape of BLS BCFe 4/6 736 EMU working a special to Landquart. 01/05/22 |
 |
Booked Re4/4, the 15:37 Chur - Zurich is in the hands of
Re460 002 seen departing from Landquart. 01/05/22 |
What was worth doing though was scratching another Ge4/4i
with 605 being allocated to one of the first ‘Rheinschlut’ runs of the season.
The return was photographed a Trin, another location I had wanted to try for a
while and actually fairly easy to get to- unfortunately again the station bar
had not yet re-opened for the season.
 |
| In somewhat less favourable conditions than I was hoping for, Re460 065 rounds Lake Walensse with the 18:37 Chur - Zurich, again booked Re4/4ii. |
There were some patches of light back down the valley and
one option would have been to attempt Malans again as the rest of the group did-
I however stuck to my guns and if only for a rekkie more than anything else
headed onto the standard gauge to set up next to lake Walensse for the evening
Re4/4’s. Not that I was convinced they would show up, two Re460’s were in the carriage
sidings at Chur and neither were booked to be there!
 |
| Ge4/4ii 618 'Bergün/Bravuogn' crosses the new bridge at Reichenau-Tammins with a Glacier Express from St Moritz. 01/05/22 |
 |
Re420 (Re4/4) 345 was seen several times on
freight duties at Chur. 30/05/22 |
As it turns out both the evening Re4/4 turns produced Re460’s
as has already been reported and the weather didn’t get much better either. I
did however confirm the shots as viable and managed to catch a surprise railtour
with BLS BCFe 4/6 736 EMU which was working a trip to Landquart.
Monday 2nd May 2022
 |
| Ge4/4ii 615 'Klosters' is seen in the Rhein Gorge on the approach to Trin with a Disentis train. 02/05/22 |
 |
| Gmf4/4 23401 outside the workshops at Landquart 02/05/22 |
Just two of us left today as one of the party had to fly
home for a gig in London. The two of us left were certainly pleased we had
stayed- the morning dawned to a clear sky and as an added bonus the elusive 614
was booked to be out on Schol-Tarasp to Disentis runs- the first time it had
been allocated since we had been on the MGB!
 |
| Quite a remarkable train, Ge6/6i 'Rhaetian Crocodile' 415 is working a revenue earning freight train from Ilanz to Landquart, seen approaching Trin in the Rhein gorge. The locomotive was commissioned as long ago as 1929 and had worked on the RhB all its life. 02/05/22 |
The first target of the day was the Ilanz mixed which was
turned up a bit of a surprise by being led by a control car with Ge4/4ii 611
sandwiched between the coaches and the freight wagons. This could perhaps have
looked better!
 |
| Re6/6 11666 with the morning standarg guage SBB freight from Ems Werk on the dual gauge line at Felsburg. 02/05/22 |
The big target (in more ways than one) was to catch some
standard gauge freight on the dual gauge line which continues from Chur to the
factory at Ems Werk. We had passed Re6/6 11666 heading into Ems Werk so just had
to hope that it would re-appear as booked for our shot now!
 |
| Ge4/4ii 612 heads towards Landquart as 'Crocodile' 615 dan be seen taking its freight train towards Ilanz. 05/02/22 |
 |
| A trip working form Felsburg employs Graf 2/2 20601. 02/05/22 |
There was certainly plenty of freight traffic on this bit
of line on both gauges, including an appearance by shunter Geaf 2/2 20601 on a
trip working from Felsburg, a short freight with Ge4/4iii 641 as well as SBB’s
MAK1700 843 063 and BLS Vectron 475 407 (we don’t even talk about the fact that
this would most likely have been a ‘Brownie’ a year ago!). Finally we were rewarded
with what we had been waiting for, 11666 appeared with its mixed train out of
Ems Werk.
 |
Ge4/4ii 621 'Felsburg' arrives at Trin amidst the spring blooms
with a train for Disentis. 02/05/22 |
There were some interesting allocations on the Ilanz
freight turns today with Ge6/6i 415 (yes- that’s the Croc!) allocated to the
first turn, Ge4/4ii 619 (in blue) the second and finally Ge4/4i 605 to the
afternoon train. Obviously despite its garish pearlescent livery we had to seek
out the Croc working a scheduled freight service and this was duly achieved with
a much better lit version of yesterday’s shot at Trin. While working out where
to go next we were taken somewhat by surprise by 605 turning up at what was
most likely a very early running ‘middle’ turn, which should have been 619!
There was now an opportunity to get into position for the return of this and
therefore we stayed in the Rhein Gorge, also photographing the Disentis trains
as well as the Glaicer Express’ which were now appearing. After 605 took us rather
by surprise on its return as well, it was time to start thinking about our
retreat from the valley and ultimately our journey home. We were pretty pleased
with the shots overall- oh, but did I mention that the elusive 614 had morphed
into an Allegra unit!
 |
| More spring flowers, this time on the approach to Malans where Ge4/4ii 618 approaches. 02/05/22 |
 |
| Ge4/4ii 613 'Domat/Ems' heads west in the Rhein Gorge 02/05/22 |
There was time to pop in once again to the field at
Malans, where a couple of very pleasing final RhB shots were taken.
Onto Landquart and it was just a touch early for our
train back to Zurich, the 17:37 from Chur which is booked for an Re4/4. I had
worked out the previous day that you could fill in the time quite nicely by
taking the hauled Disentis train to Zizers to pick up the reverse train back to
Landquart and still make a comfortable connection- that gave us a final bit of
Ge4/4ii action with 611 and 615 (almost 614, but not quite!).
 |
| A Glacier Express is hauled through the Rhein Gorge towards Trin by Ge4/4ii 623. 02/05/22 |
 |
420 381 working for Widmer Rail Services is parked up with a
tank train at Landquart. 02/05/22 |
The comfortable connection at Landquart is obviously made
more difficult when there are both Re4/4 and Re6/6 sitting in the yard on freight
trains! It was nice to actually see Re4/4’s on the turns they were booked today
and 11153 was to become our last loco of the trip, a celebratory beer and crepe
being enjoyed in the very pleasant dining car on the way back to Chur. It was
very useful that SBB announce connections at major stations- since we arrived a
few minutes late into Zurich I don’t think we would have made our connection to
Basel on an ICE had we had to waste extra time looking up were it was! As it
was, we jumped in pretty much the first door and discovered just how long these
trains are as we trekked through most of it for another dining car beer!
 |
| 620 068 (Re6/6) in the attractive SBB Cargo livery also waits its departure from Landquart. 02/05/22 |
 |
11153 is our last loco of the trip and would take us back to
Zurich on the 17:37 from Chur. 02/05/22 |
As is so often the case on these trips getting to the
final destination, home, is never as easy as the foreign travel. A small delay
to our flight and engineering works (Victoria Re-signalling) that we had not
catered for (it wasn’t a bank holiday in Switzerland!) put us into Gatwick just
in time to miss the last connections home to South West London (it wasn’t even
late). Expensive miserable taxi it was then to finish the trip!
Conclusions
 |
| BB7276 with TER 860515 the 16:29 stopping service from Parix Austerlitz to Orleans which is paused at Chateau Gaillard. 25/04/22 |
A rather mixed week not always helped by the weather (I’ve
been rather too lucky in that respect with recent trips) and certainly plenty
of those aims from the beginning that were not quite achieved. But then again plenty
of achievements that were not on the list!
However, as always it was great to be away and despite
some of the usual frustrations it was wonderful to be back in France after what
feels quite a while, on a serious railway expedition at least. It is amazing
that Strasbourg has managed to cling on to some BB67400 turns and long may it
continue despite how difficult they are to photograph!
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| BB26047 heads south on the Orelans line near Chateau Gaillard. 26/04/22 |
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| A busy meter-gauge scene at Brig. 28/04/22 |
The narrow gauge railways of Switzerland are great, and
it was good to spend a bit more time on the MGB where many of the loco hauled
trains are due to be replaced by new units which are now starting to roll off
the production line. The lack of diagrams here made catching up with the right
trains difficult, but knowing that it is 100% hauled between Andermatt, Disentis
and Goeschennen certainly is a help.
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| HGe4/4 4 climbs out of Andermatt with a Glacier Express bound for St Mortiz. 29/04/22 |
Returning to the RhB after several fantastic trips of
wall-to-wall sunshine was always going to risk disappointment and that was
certainly felt the first few days when things just didn’t quite go right. The
final day of course threw some positive surprises and once again the RhB was on
the map as the best railway anywhere!
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| Ge4/4ii 618 approaches Trin in the Rhein Gorge with a train from Disentis to Schol-Tarasp. 02/05/22 |
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HGe 4/4ii 'Matterhorn' at Neubrück with a train from Zermatt
to Visp on the MGB. 28/04/22 |
Loco haulage is now vastly reduced on the RhB since my
last visit with the Capricorn invasion now very much in full swing. With more
loco turns due to go over to the EMU’s it is unclear how many locos will be
retained and some of the Ge4/4ii fleet must be under threat, not to mention the
Ge4/4i’s which were first withdrawn around 10 years ago! Will I be back again?
Undoubtedly.
Back to locomotive reductions and it is now very
noticeable how few Re4/4 hauled passenger trains are being run by SBB- how long
can those survivors last now? While the older locos are still widespread on freight
this traffic too is seeing more and more modern locos replacing the venerable
old.
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| BB26148 beside the Marne-Rhein canal at Steinbourg pushing a TER200 service to Strasbourg. 27/04/22 |
Covid while obviously still prevalent in France (enough
to enforce mask wearing on public transport at least) was forgotten about as
soon as we got over the border to Switzerland and never really thought about
again. Even the flight home did not require masks. Very refreshing and it is
nice to see much more normality
thankfully returning.
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| HGe4/4ii 105 'Oberalp' climbs from Andermatt onto the Oberalp pass with a Glacier Express. 29/04/22 |
