Harz Railway, Germany
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Alpine trains, trams and funiculars
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Appenzell

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Appenzeller Bahnen (AB)

The metre guage Appenzeller Bahnen serves the area around St Gallen.

Altstatten Rack Railway

The Altstatten Rack Railway connects Altstatten to the Appenzell Railway at Gais. The line once went on through Alstatten High Street, down the hillside and connected with the SBB at their Altstatten Station way below in the Rhine Valley. The gradient on some rack sections is around 1 in 4.

Around St Gallen

Between Sargans and St Gallen

A plinthed steam loco at Bruchs, the RHB standard gauge line to Heiden and the RhW 1200mm gauge line to Walzerhausen. Both lines are now part of the Appenzeller bahn.


Basel

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Basel Station

A 30 minute change of trains and the opportunity to watch the trams go by


Bern

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Bern trams on route 6

Route 6 is a long route to Worf Dorb, once a separate railway from the outskirts of Bern. It is operated by sets 81-89, 1987-built tramcars, rebuilt and extended in 2010. These are helped out by the more modern trams as required.

Bern trams on other routes

Routes 7, 8 and 9 serve Bern City routes using mostly modern sets, though 731-742 date from 1989. Trolleybuses are used in the city too.

Bern steam tram

The Bern Tramway Museum has a steam tram, '12', built by SLM in 1894, works No 863. No '12' worked until 1901 when the system was electrified. Luckily it was preserved and gets occasional outings around the city streets, creating a lot of attention. The trailer, '31', is a replica of the original 1894 stock, built c2000. It was quite an experience taking a tour round the city with it !


The Bern Lotschberg Simplon Railway (BLS)

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

The Bern Lotschberg Simplon Railway (BLS)

The BLS is the largest private standard gauge railway in Switzerland and operates the route from Thun to Brig, on the main line through the Lotschberg Base Tunnel, the old line through the original tunnel plus other local services towards Bern. It carries a lot of 'piggy-back' road traffic with SBB and German locos using the main line.


Blonay Chamby Museum and Railway

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Blonay to Chamby

The journey from Blonay to the museum at Chamby by electric tram and steam train

The Blonay-Chamby Museum

A huge collection of locos, trams and other vehicles,


The Brienz Rothorn Railway (BRB)

An unusual non-electrified line, mainly steam-hauled, with a huge difference in height between top and bottom station. I rode up by train, then walked back down to pick up a train at the half-way station at Planalp. Well worth the effort.

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

The route and the walk

Locomotives at Brienz

Going up the easy way - by train

Going down the hard way - by foot


Lake Geneva - from Martigny to Montreux

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Aigle - Transports Publics du Chablais (TCP)

Metre gauge line from Aigle to Champery and Les Diablerets.

Martigny - Region Alpes (RA)

The RA is a standard gauge system running services from Visp to St Gongolph and also from Martigny to Orsieres and Le Chable.
Martigny is the terminus of the metre gauge Mont Blanc line to Chatelard and Chamonix.

Montreux - Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) and Montreux Vevay Riviera (MVR)

The MOB is a metre gauge line from Montreux to Zweisimmen and Lenk and also from Montreux to Blonay and Vevay under the brand of 'MVR'. The MVR also operate the 800mm gauge rack / funicular line to Rochers-du-Ney.


Metre gauge railways in the South

The RhB, FO and MGB from Chur to Tirano, Arosa, St Moritz, Andermatt, Brig ansd Visp

Quick links to :-     Rhaetian Railways and the Bernina Express     MGB and the Glacier Express     Steam on the Furka Oberalp Railway

    Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Rhaetian Railway (Ratische Bahn - RhB)

Rhaetian Railway steam special at Chur

A steam excursion hauled by '107 Albula' takes refreshment at Chur on its way from Landquart to Reichenau-Tamins with an enthusiasts special. '107 Albura' is a 2-8-0 of class G4/5 built in 1906 by SLM, works No. 1709

Rhaetian Railway (RhB) Motive Power

The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) system and the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano

The Chur to Arosa branch

A miniature verson of the Glacier Express runs from Chur to Arosa. It's a great little line with tunnels, viaducts, street running and roadside stations in Chur.

Around and about on the Rhaetian Railway (RhB)

The rest of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) system and the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano

Quick links to :-     Rhaetian Railways and the Bernina Express     MGB and the Glacier Express     Steam on the Furka Oberalp Railway
    Back to the top

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB)

Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn from Chur to Visp on the Glacier Express

Quick links to :-     Rhaetian Railways and the Bernina Express     MGB and the Glacier Express     Steam on the Furka Oberalp Railway
    Back to the top

The Furka Oberalp Railway (FO)

Realp to Oberwald

The Furka Oberalp Railway (FO) is now run by the Dampfbahn-Furka-Bergstrecke (DFB) as a preserved steam-hauled rack railway from Realp to Oberwald, using the old line before the base tunnel was opened. The route includes the Steffenbach folding bridge and the Furka Summit Tunnel as it passes along the Rhone valley. It uses Swiss-built locomotives repatriated from Vietnam. Our train loco was No 704, built by SLM in 1923, works No 2940, for Vietnam. Crossing us at the summit was 'F.O.4', one of the lines' original locos, built by SLM in 1913, works No 2318.


Interlaken

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

The Beatenburg Funicular

The Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen–Mürren (BLM)

The Bernese Oberland Bahn (BoB) to Grindelwald

to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen

Furrer Frey

Furrer Frey are overhead line contractors. They own 4 locos, the other being No 50.

Interlaken

Jungfraubahn (JFB)

at Kleine Schiedegg Station. I didn't ride it, too expensive !!

The Schynige Platte Railway

The Wengernalpbahn (WaB)

from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen via Kleine Scheidegg

The Zentralbahn (ZB) at Meiringen

From Interlaken the ZB runs through Meiringen on its way to Luzern.


Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)

Locos and trains of the Swiss Federal Railways where ever they happened to be.

SOB - Sudostbahn

The Sudostbahn (SOB) now operates the Zurich to Locarno service through Belinzona instead of SBB.


Zurich Station

Quick links to :-     Appenzell     Basel     Bern     Bern-Lotschberg-Simplon (BLS)     Blonay Museum     Brienz Rothorn Railway
    Interlaken     Montreux and Lake Geneva     Metre Gauge Alpine Expresses     SBB CFF FFS     Zurich

2019

A 30 minute change of trains and the opportunity to watch the trams go by

2022

Just 15 minutes to watch the trams go by, then I had to run for my train to Bellinzona...


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All rights reserved - Phil Jenkins