European Railroad Discussion > Do Germanic Cultures Have Railfans?

Just experimenting with creative thread titles...today in Swiss rail stations many people stared at me as I took pictures, which made me wonder if railfans are alien to Switzerland.

Today, I rode French and Swiss intercity trains from my temporary hometown of Lyon, France to Lucerne, Switzerland. Lucerne is an awesome (by which I mean "awe-inspiring") town, in an incredible natural setting with mountains and a large lake, with medieval architecture that instantly brought to mind (for me) the Kingdom of Arendelle from "Frozen".

We start, once again, at Gare Part-Dieu in Lyon. Today, I had plenty of time to roam around the station and take photos before my train.

Photo 1: The façade of Part-Dieu station.

Photo 2: Two TER Rhône-Alpes local sets at the platform.

Photo 3: A TGV Duplex in the common blue and gray.

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Photo 4: The front (actually the back, as is shown by the red marker lights, but these things look the same on both ends) of the TGV.

Photo 5: A pair of Duplex sets.

Photo 6: The classic Class BB electric locomotives of France, which pull most trains that are not EMUs or TGVs, have, since 2004, been decalled in the very eye-catching "en voyage..." scheme, which has become as iconic as the TGV.

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Photo 7: Another type of TER.

Photo 8: A man rushes to his train as it begins to leave. Poor guy, the train was going to Italy, and there aren't too many trains there from Lyon.

Photo 9: At Part-Dieu, they have a special waiting room for large travelers. What this really means is a mystery.

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Photo 10: A Whale/Zeppelin/Sausage/Swarmandal pulls in...

Photo 11: ...and pulls out. Given that this is a major station in a major city, the dwell times or lack thereof are remarkable.

Photo 12: Part-Dieu is a very busy place, and has a very eclectic mix of traffic. You're never bored.

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Railfans are not at all alien to Germany and Switzerland. I've participated in numerous steam charters with various German groups and also two in Switzerland. Compared with U.K. and American groups, their passion with getting the perfect shot often boarders on obsessive. That said, rail travel there is such an integral part of daily life for much of the population seeing someone photograph it might seem a bit odd to the average commuter.

Photo 13: "I kissed a TGV in the old blue and gray! Now I'm going to hell!", thinks the TGV in the zippy new paint.

Photo 14: The cab car of my train to Geneva. As far as ugly cab cars go, I think I prefer the Oregon Talgo.

Photo 15: The interior of the train, which consisted of drab coaches with a Class BB on one end and a cab car on the other.

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Unfortunately, the windows of the SNCF train I took from Lyon to Geneva were criminally dirty. No photos were possible of the spectacular Alps, so our photographical journey now teleports 100 miles and 2 hours ahead, to Geneva Cornavin station.

Photo 16: The Class BB in push mode, showing off the characteristic inward-slanted windows. This engine did not have the "en voyage..." wrap.

Photo 17: One of many types of Swiss local trains.

Photo 18: This one had two levels.

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Oh yes, it appears that the lingerie ad appeared in the previous photo, at right. I swear, every other advertisement I saw in the Swiss railroad stations was that lingerie ad.

Photo 19: More EMUs. Muggles (non-railfans) will be confused when I tell them that I saw lots of emus in Switzerland.

Photo 20: A sleek quasi-high-speed train.

Photo 21: A locomotive-hauled train of the type my train to Lucerne was.

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Photo 22: A commuter train above the passage under the tracks.

Photo 23: The electronic display on one train. These electronic displays do not often show up on my camera (instead, they appear as cryptic lines).

Photo 24: Platform view.

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Photo 25: I notice a similarity in the Swiss railways' paint scheme and the new TGV paint scheme. Once all the TGVs are painted like that, Cornavin will be a monochromatic place.

At this point, I was surprised by the arrival of my train, so I had to get on. The actual terminus and point of origination of trains to/from Geneva from/to the rest of Switzerland is Geneva Airport, and the trains don't stop long at the downtown Cornavin station.

Photo 26: The interior of the Geneva-Lucerne train.

Photo 27: High above the Lake of Geneva near Lausanne.

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Photo 28: A TGV Lyria in Lausanne. Unless this was recently painted, the TGV Lyria scheme clearly inspired that which is being applied to the entire TGV fleet. It was probably the SBB (Schweizer Bundesbahn) applying their own colors to TGV sets.

Photo 29: Lausanne station.

Photo 30: Swiss countryside.

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Photo 31: Crossing a gorge.

Photo 32: A German ICE in the Bern station.

Photo 33: Fording a river in the center of Bern. After Bern, the train connected to a true high-speed line, composed mostly of long ear-popping tunnels, as far as Lucerne.

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Photo 34: Na-na-na-na-boo-boo, you're not streamlined!
Oh yeah? I bet I can get to Lucerne before you.
Nuh-uh. What's that orange box in front of you? It's a REAL LOCOMOTIVE! OMG!
In the end, the locomotive-hauled train outpaced the high-speed one, in this impromptu race near some town that started with a Z.

Photo 35: Passing some sort of fortress.

Photo 36: Freight cars in some city we passed through. I can no longer remember.

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Photo 37: Soon to arrive in Lucerne, the train rolls along a large lake.

Photo 38: An interesting work of found-object art in the Lucerne station.

Photo 39: I've heard of Railjets, but this is ridiculous. The engine that pulled my train across the Alps was branded "Europe by EasyJet". What an interesting medium for advertising!

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Photo 40: The lineup at the Lucerne terminal.

Photo 41: The first day of my weekend trip to Switzerland ends at Queen Elsa III Transportation Center in the Kingdom of Arendelle. (Seriously, Lausanne really does look like Arendelle, or some other Disney locale. Very Germanic.)

Keep an eye out for the next few days of my Swiss trip. Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm going to Meiringen, where Sherlock Holmes met his match.

Tor, which means "gate" in German

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So clean, so modern, so efficient but if these people are willing to suffer the oppression and lack of freedoms that Americans take for granted then so be it.

Thanks for this pics, seen the European Railways with American eyes

korotaj Wrote:
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> So clean, so modern, so efficient but if these
> people are willing to suffer the oppression and
> lack of freedoms that Americans take for granted
> then so be it.

I do not understand this. Who is
< willing to suffer the oppression and
> lack of freedoms
?

Erwin from Austria



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/15 16:32 by spandfecerwin.

Torisgod Wrote:
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> Just experimenting with creative thread
> titles...today in Swiss rail stations many people
> stared at me as I took pictures, which made me
> wonder if railfans are alien to Switzerland.

Yes, there are railfans in the Germanic sections of Europe. Here are a few places you might have a look at -

http://www.drehscheibe-online.de/startindex2.php

http://hobby-eisenbahnfotografie.de/

http://www.rail-control.de/stellwerke.htm

http://www.bahnbilder.de/

I use Google Chrome which has a built in translator feature. Right click on the page and select "Translate to English".

What freedoms would it be that the Swiss are lacking? Lausanne (a real place) predates Arendelle (a Disney movie for kids).

The fortress in picture 35 is the castle of Aarburg, a medieval structure now housing juvenile delinquents.

Thomas Eckhardt