European Railroad Discussion > A few days in Switzerland

During July, I enjoyed a holiday in Switzerland, based in Lucerne. We probably travelled on about 35 trains, of which one was 4 minutes late, with many apologies. All others were within 30 seconds of booked time. Since my last visit, 25 years ago, loco haulage on the passenger trains has really reduced, with single and double deck units taking over, but superb to travel in.
1. At Chur, on the Rhaetian Bahn, the metre gauge comes through the streets with the train for Arosa.
2. At Fluelin, on the Gotthard route, a modern Swiss articulaated Stadler unit comes through.
3. Frick, in north east Switzerland, a couple of SBB cargo locos head through.
 

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4.  Thunder storms are great in Switzerland! A typical Swiss unit arrives into Lucerne.
5. Landwasser viaduct, on the line out of Filisur. There is now a regular shuttle service from Filisur to a new station for the viewing area of this viaduct. Brilliant!!
6.  During the summer season, there are steam trains on the Furka Steam Rack railway to Oberalp. Here's one departing Realp.
Enjoy - chris UK.
 

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Wonderful images !!

Lovely Chris

You didn't say you were visiting a model railway as well!
That fifth shot is fantastic.
Cheers from Down under.
Graham.

all great, big fan of the street rring

Thanks for those!

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

4745 Wrote:
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> You didn't say you were visiting a model railway
> as well!
> That fifth shot is fantastic.
> Cheers from Down under.
> Graham.

Many thanks all. The shuttle train to Landwasser has open coaches for photos. The viewpoint is above the tunnel, with the station the other end of the tunnel. chris uk.

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Nice shots, Chris! Did you see any freight on the Rhaetian? I'm considering going for that soon but wondering how much freight you might see in daylight. The overlook is great. For a guy like me who blew a knee a few months ago some easy access like this now takes on a whole new meaning.

Mike Derrick

Posted from Android

Hi Mike. Many thanks. We did not see any freight on the Rhaetian, but I have since learnt all their freight workings can be found on their web site. If travelling by train, I can recommend the SBB app. 4G available everywhere.  Chris.

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
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> Did you see any freight on the Rhaetian? 

In one RhB cab video, three flatcars of logs are attached to a Bernina Pass passenger train at Pontresina for delivery to Tirano.

Ray

Sounds as if that is the future-- Add the freight to the rear of EMU passenger consists. If I have it right, loco-hauled trains will be a rarity there in a few years.

Posted from Android

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
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> Sounds as if that is the future-- Add the freight
> to the rear of EMU passenger consists. If I have
> it right, loco-hauled trains will be a rarity
> there in a few years.

The use of mixed trains on the RhB are in decline, as the new Capricorn multiple units have automatic Scharfenberg-type couplers that are not compatible with freight cars, which use chain-and-hook screw couplers. The Bernina Line and Arosa Line are exceptions to this.

This is noted in the article on the RhB in the July issue of Trains magazine, pages 37-39.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/25 07:49 by railsmith.

Interesting, thank you. There was a UK publication which ran an article earlier this year which seemed to say the opposite unless I misread something or missed that it was limited to particular lines. I'm far separated from that article at the moment but will revisit when I can.

Posted from Android

Any idea why there is a locomotive at the rear [ ? ] of the train in photo 5 ?  I presume the blue car is a restaurant car ?

Excellent photos !

Best, SZ

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
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> Nice shots, Chris! Did you see any freight on the
> Rhaetian? I'm considering going for that soon but
> wondering how much freight you might see in
> daylight. The overlook is great. For a guy like me
> who blew a knee a few months ago some easy access
> like this now takes on a whole new meaning.
>
> Mike Derrick

Locomotive allocations and freight timetable can be
found here;
https://www.rhb.ch/en/company/treasure-trove-for-railway-fans/locomotive-allocations

Steinzeit2 Wrote:
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> Any idea why there is a locomotive at the rear [ ?
> ] of the train in photo 5 ?  I presume the blue
> car is a restaurant car ?
>
> Excellent photos !
>
> Best, SZ

The nearest car is an unmotored cab car that's coupled to loose coaches and is there to facilitate push-pull operation. Those cab cars were being introduced at the time of my visit in September 2018, and are in the same style as the Allegra multiple units delivered from 2009 through 2011. The idea was that an Allegra unit could provide the motive power and haul a train of loose coaches, and with a cab car at the other end of the coaches, there would be no need to wye the train at the end of the journey. The same would apply if a locomotive was providing the motive power -- no need for a run-around move at the terminus in St. Moritz.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/25 21:32 by railsmith.

Railsmith,
Thank you for the information -- I didn't realize pushpull had been adopted for the full length 'conventional' trains on the main [ Stammnetz ] lines.  I take it from the photo that the Ge 4/4 II's have been upgraded to a later type of MU / pendelzug control;  if you know, does all of the RhB operate on one unified Vst system of a modern TDM / ZWS type ?

Things have certainly changed over the years.......

With best rgds, SZ
 

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Steinzeit2 Wrote:
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> Railsmith,
> Thank you for the information -- I didn't realize
> pushpull had been adopted for the full length
> 'conventional' trains on the main [ Stammnetz ]
> lines.  I take it from the photo that the Ge 4/4
> II's have been upgraded to a later type of MU /
> pendelzug control;  if you know, does all of the
> RhB operate on one unified Vst system of a modern
> TDM / ZWS type ?
>
> Things have certainly changed over the
> years.......
>
> With best rgds, SZ

I'm sorry, I don't know what communication system is used.  

For what it's worth, which might be nothing, on close inspection there is another cab car at the other end of the train, coupled directly to the locomotive. It's not clear whether it's one those "Allegra look-alike" cab cars or an older type of driving trailer.

I should clarify that I've never before seen (in photos or in person) one of the Allegra-style ones working with the older style of coaches. They are in exactly the same design as the six-car Alvra fixed-formation coach sets that were introduced shortly before the cab cars. When I saw several formations of these fresh from the factory in September 2018 at Landquart in the stabling tracks, along with the cab cars, I mistook them for new Allegra sets, which of course they were not.

The cab cars come in two variants, one has first-class accommodation (At578), the other is second class (Bt528). 

This photo I took at that time from the Landwasser overlook on the south side of the bridge illustrates the concept. It shows a northbound train with a three-car Allegra set leading and providing the motive power, with an unpowered six-car Alvra coach set behind. This was before the cab cars were commissioned. Once those were in service, such a train would have a cab car at the south end, enabling a quicker turnaround at St Moritz.



 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/25 00:57 by railsmith.

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Some of those viaducts next to tunnels look like scenes right out of the movie "Von Ryan's Express".

A great set of photos here.  Thanks!

Hakk