European Railroad Discussion > Europe By EasyJet

This is the photographic narrative of my return trip from Lucerne, Switzerland, to Lyon, France last Monday. I continue my experimentation with witty and meaningless thread titles: the locomotive that pulled my train from Geneva to Lucerne on Saturday was wrapped with an ad for EasyJet, which I found odd and ironic. However, I had an ordinary red engine on the return trip, so the thread title doesn't mean much.

Photo 1: The tunnel-boring machine used in the construction of the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, outside the Switzerland Transportation Museum in Lucerne. I went into the Transportation Museum, but this was the only photo that my camera allowed before its memory card was full.

Photo 2: Later at the Lucerne terminal. This is my train to Geneva, with a cab car on the other end.

Photo 3: A train branded "République et Canton de Jura". Cantons are Swiss provinces.

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Photo 4: The variety keeps on coming at the Lucerne station.

Photo 5: Here's something else coming: a high-speed train. I didn't know that they had high-speed lines in Switzerland until I rode on one between Bern and Zofingen en route to Lucerne on Saturday.

Photo 6: A map of the entire Swiss railway network aboard my train to Geneva.

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Photo 7: The high-speed train boards beside us. Race ya to Bern!

Photo 8: 1 hour later in Bern. No sign of the high-speed train. If I saw it, how could I know? They all look the same.

Photo 9: A double-decker commuter train edges into the race by the Bern station.

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Photo 10: The many eyes of the cave-dwellers peer out from the darkness of the Bern station.

Photo 11: Many trains identical to mine in the Bern yard.

Photo 12: A cab car in the yard.

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Photo 13: We've been here before (see photo 27 of "Do Germanic Cultures Have Railfans?") but today there is one big difference: the mountains are showing.

Photo 14: Changing trains in Geneva. This is an old map of Europe in the Cornavin station atrium.

Photo 15: Inside Geneva station.

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Photo 16: A TGV Duplex glides into Geneva.

Photo 17: Hey! I know you! I saw you on Saturday, Class BB #522209! How does it feel to be UGLY?

Photo 18: The mirror inside this train car creates an interesting effect. A bit of an optical illusion.

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The windows of my train from Geneva to Lyon were not as dirty as those on the way from Lyon to Geneva, so I got some pictures.

Photo 19: These European trains are shameless! There's an urge, they do it, and it's done with! (See Photo 23 of "Lyon and Environs: Day Trippin' and Station Stops")

Photo 20: Arriving in Bellegarde, a small city across the French border from Geneva. Not to be confused with Belgrade, which "Bellegarde" got spell-checked to!

Photo 21: French and Swiss regional trains in the Bellegarde station.

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Photo 22: If Class BB #522209 doesn't like the "en voyage..." wrap, he can always wear the older scheme as is shown here. He can't just run around in naked metal.

Photo 23: Crossing under the highway bridge seen in the background of #20.

Photo 24: A lake.

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Photo 25: Passing by a hydroelectric station. At the Transportation Museum in Lucerne I learned an interesting tidbit: because of all the hydroelectric dams, Switzerland produces more electricity than it uses. It was for that reason that the Swiss railways were electrified: to give that unemployed power a job.

Photo 26: Stopping in Culoz, a small town but a major junction. Culoz's railyard is bigger than its village.

Photo 27: My camera turns night into day. It was actually a lot darker than it looks as we stopped at Virrieu-Le-Grand-Belley. I have no idea what a "Belley" is, but apparently there's a big one in Virrieu (Le Grand Belley means The Big ??????. Maybe inhabitants of Virrieu have large appetites.

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Photo 28: A graffitied and sodium vapor-lit regional train in Amberieu-en-Bugey, where the mountains abruptly and dramatically end.

Photo 29: The quiet Amberieu platform.

Photo 30: The voyage ends at Gare Part-Dieu. There's no place like home. Home is Oregon, where I return to next week, but I've gotten to know and love Lyon and I will certainly be back. Good night, everybody!

Tor in Only Lyon

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Oh wait! I forgot something! This poster was found in the Lyon Metro, advertising a music festival called ReperkuSound. These French band names crack me up: Acid Cheese Alliance, Far Too Loud, Infected Mushroom, I Am Un Chien (which literally means "Je Suis A Dog"), Birdy Hunt, and many others.

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Thanks posting all the photos. I've always liked those Althom-built class 22200's.

Posted from iPhone

Thanks for all the views from the trip!

The Easy Jet add is not that surprising, as adds are very well seen on Swiss trains. (Much better than they would be on EasyJet planes ;) I suppose SBB earns a lot each year by letting class Re460 locos carry adds.