Harz

(All pics June 2017 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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Just a few random images from about 500 I took earlier this week in Germany of the amazing Harz narrow gauge line between Wernigerode and Brocken, just one of several lines in this 140km mainly steam worked metre gauge network.

Much more to follow over the next few days!

Climbing the Easy Way

Montreux

Funicular at Territet

The funicular trip to Glion

Glion-Montreux train (ex Rochers-de-Naye)

The view from the Buffer de Gare

The trip down from Glion to Montreux

Montreux station

(All pics 15.3.2017 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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We just spent a brilliant 3 days in Montreux, on Lake Geneva. On day one we did a short trip up the mountain, all was free using the City Card you get from the hotel. First stage was the short ride to Territet, although we could have gone by trolleybus. Then under the SBB station to the adjacent by separate funicular station. The funicular was waiting (there's one every 15 minutes) and we were soon climbing up the mountainside. The funicular station at the top (there is one intermediate station) was right next to the railway station. We quickly found the Buffet de Gare and spent nearly an hour there with cakes and beer before catching the next rack train down the mountain. After a nice run through the hillside old town of Montreux we reached the main station at Montreux. From there we had the choice of local train back to Territet, the trolleybus or a walk back. We chose the latter. In season there is also the option of a boat back to Territet pier.

All in all a nice two or three hours in unusual warmth and bright sunshine.

I took my very first Swiss photo back in Montreux in 1975. Rather than staying in a lovely four star hotel with a balcony overlooking the lake I'd been sleeping on the trains. Rather than a nice breakfast in the Buffet I'd had a loaf's worth of cheese sandwiches in my rucksack to keep me going for a week! Interrailing was fun but could be hard at times!

Shots from 1975

(All 20.7.1975 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Aigle to Leysin (Switzerland)

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Aigle–Leysin railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aigle–Leysin railway
Overview
Termini	Aigle Leysin, Switzerland
Operation
Opened	1900-1915
Owner	Transports Publics du Chablais
Operator(s)	Transports Publics du Chablais
Depot(s)	Aigle
Technical
Line length	6.209 km
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC
Highest elevation	1,047 m (3,435 ft)
Maximum incline	23 %
Rack system	Abt

All three narrow gauge lines start outside Aigle CFF station: here in 1979

The Aigle–Leysin railway (French: Chemin de fer Aigle–Leysin, AL) was the earliest of the narrow gauge line in the Chablais area of south west Switzerland. The line was opened on 5 May 1900, a1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in)-gauge cog-wheel railway using the Abt rack system.

Nowadays it is joined in Aigle's main railway station by express trains of the Swiss Federal Railways together with those of three other, local, narrow-gauge railways: the Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-ChampéryRailway (AOMC), the Aigle–Leysin Railway and the Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets Railway (ASD).

^[1]History

Compartment coach with compartment for lying patients CF² 21 at the Blonay–Chamby Railway (BC) in Chaulin at Summer 2010

• 5 May 1900 : opening of the section from Aigle CFF station - Grand-Hôtel des Bains (Aigle).^[2]
• 5 November 1900 : opening of the section from Grand-Hôtel des Bains - Feydey (Leysin)
• 1912 : The line between Leysin-Village et Leysin-Feydey is doubled
• September 1915 : Extension of the line to the current terminus at Leysin-Grand Hôtel.
• In 1946, the rolling stock was renewed, and the traction current voltage was changed from 650 to 1300 volts. This allowed the journey time to be reduced to around 30 minutes.

The route

The Aigle–Leysin railway line is 6.5 km (4.04 mi) long and rises 1,047 m (3,435 ft) from its terminus outside the main line station in Aigle to its summit at the Grand Hôtel at Leysin. The first 1 km of the route is through the streets of Aigle from the railway station to the railway depot where the train reverses to enable the powered vehicle to be at the rear of the train for the uphill journey, normal working on a rack (cog-wheel) railway. From this point the line climbs steeply through the vineyards, the steepest gradient being 1 in 4.3 (23%).

The operating voltage of the line has changed four times, increasing from 600 V DC at opening, first to 650 V DC, then in 1946 to 1300 V DC, and later to the present operating voltage of 1500 V DC.

Mergers

In 1975 the four local railway companies, Aigle–Leysin, Aigle–Ollon–Monthey–Champéry, Aigle–Sépey–Diablerets and Bex–Villars–Bretaye (BVB) merged to form a single operating company, known as the Transports Publics du Chablais (TPC). This brought about increased co-operation between the companies in the provision of community-based services.

Federal involvement

The line leaves Aigle as a street tramway

The route now operates as TPC line A

In 1985, the Federal Government informed the Aigle–Leysin Railway, and other privately operated railways, that it would cease all funding the following year, however they renewed a federal concession for a further period of 50 years. An agreement was signed between the Canton of Vaud, the communities served by the railway and the Aigle–Leysin Railway and its partners to renew rolling stock and upgrade the track.

In the mid-1990s, faced with greatly increased operating costs, the Canton of Vaud and the communities served by the railway petitioned the Federal Government to revoke its 1985 decision. The Federal Government did so and in 1996, recognizing the importance of this regional line as a public transportation carrier, awarded the line with a contract to provide a public transportation service. This brought about, in 1999, talks which resulted in the founding, the following year, of Transports Publics du Chablais as the parent body of local public transportation with the four local railway companies as founding members. The railway now operates as line A under the TPC banner.

Locomotives, railcars and rolling stock

The line owns just two locomotives. Their class He 2/2, built by SLM /SIG in 1915 was rebuilt in the company workshop during 2006/7, and has returned to service in near original condition and in its original red livery. They also have a 1949-built class Te 2/2.

The "automotrices" (railcars), painted in a light chocolate and cream livery, are, with the exception of No. 201 which is a class Arseh 2/4, of class BDeh 2/4. The company also owns 5 "Voiture Pilote"(driving trailers) of class Bt and retains 2 older coaches, class B2 for historic trains.

Details from official stock lists, May 2006 and personal observations 2006-2009.

No.	Name	Class	Builders Details.	Date Completed	Notes
12		He 2/2		1915	Static monument, En Chalex
101		Te 2/2	Reb. AL	1949	Rebuilt 2006/7, returned to traffic, 2008. Out of service, Les Diabrelets, Sept 2009.
201		Arseh 2/4	SLM/BBC	1946	Converted to 1st class Restaurant Car
202		BDeh 2/4	SLM/BBC	1946
203		BDeh 2/4	SLM/BBC	1946
301	Aigle	BDeh 2/4	SIG/SAAS	1966
302	Leysin	BDeh 2/4	SIG/SAAS	1966
311	Yvorne	BDeh 2/4	Vevey/BBC	1987	Ex-No. 303
312	Ollon	BDeh 2/4	Vevey/BBC	1987	Ex-No. 304
313	La Berneuse	BDeh 2/4	Vevey/BBC	1993	Ex-No. 305
351		Bt	SIG/SAAS	1966
352		Bt	SIG/SAAS	1966
361		Bt	ACMV/SIG/BBC	1987	Ex-No. 353
362		Bt	ACMV/SIG/BBC	1987	Ex-No. 354
363		Bt	ACMV/SIG/BBC	1993	Ex-No. 355
		B2		1900
		B2		1955

Abbreviations

• BBC : Brown, Boveri & Cie
• ACMV : Ateliers Construction Mechaniques de Vevey
• SIG : Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft
• SLM : Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
• Vevey : Vevey Technologies (previously ACMV).

Switzerland's Frauenfeld-Wil Bahn

Above Frauenfeld and (bottom) Frauenfeld Stadt

Wil

(All pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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A fairly typical Swiss light railway which connects two towns and two SBB stations is the unpretentious Frauenfeld-Wil Bahn. It runs through flat scenery with nowhere spectacular en route, but the section of street running through Frauenfeld is nice! In 1987 the station at Frauenfeld Stadt was a nice substantial building  hopefully it's still there!

The line is metre gauge.

Further information (from Wikipedia)

The Frauenfeld–Wil railway (German: Frauenfeld–Wil-Bahn, FW) is a metre gauge (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in gauge) railway line^[1] in Switzerland, which connects the town of Frauenfeld in the canton of Thurgau, to the town of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen, following the valley of the Murg river. The line is owned and operated by the Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn AG, forms part of the Tarifverbund Ostwind, and operates as service S15 of the St. Gallen S-Bahn.

Plans to build a tramway between Frauenfeld and Wil were first made in the early 1850s. The rail line opened in 1887, and was electrified in 1921. Around 1.25 million passengers use the line every year.

Locals call the train "Wilerbähnli" or "Wiler Bähnli".

Operation

Trains run every 30 minutes, requiring 3 trains in operation at once, with trains crossing at the stations of Matzingen and Schweizerhof.

In 2011 the railway company ordered five new ABe4/8 low floor trains from Stadler Rail, to replace the old trains. However, there are plans for a 15 minutes interval in future and therefore some of the old trains will be retained. The first train was delivered in March 2013 and was tested for 3 months. It went into regular service on 26 June 2013.

Stations

15 stations are served by the line.

Station	km	Altitude
Frauenfeld	17.44	404.6
From Frauenfeld there are trains to Winterthur and Weinfelden.
Frauenfeld Marktplatz	16.85	417	since 1996
Lüdem	15.13	423
Murkart	13.92	431
Weberei Matzingen	12.62	440
Matzingen	11.49	447
Jakobstal	9.81	460
Wiesengrund	9.01	465
Wängi	8.27	470
Wängi GB (Service Station)	7.95	474
Rosental	6.5	487
Münchwilen Pflegeheim	4.66	509
Münchwilen TG	3.89	516
Schweizerhof (Service Station)	2.66	530
Wil	0.00	570.8
From Wil there are trains to Winterthur, Weinfelden, St. Gallen and Wattwil.

Freight Traffic

Freight trains ran on the line from 1907 until the early 2000s. This included transporter wagons from 1977 onwards.

The line's own Facebook page (German)

swiss tragedy

SERNFTALBAHN FACEBOOK GROUP

Switzerland is generally regarded as being one of the most forward thinking countries in terms of transport, with a superb rail system reaching almost everywhere in the country. It's efficient and clean and does a superb job.

So how on earth did the Swiss ever allow a railway to close?

That's exactly what happened to the charming Sernftalbahn which ran from Schwanden to Elm in Canton Glarus in 1969.

It didn't close because it was losing money but simply because the military wanted to improve the road between the two towns. As the railway used the road for most of its right of way it had to go.

So Switzerland lost one of its most interesting railways and the towns and villages along the way were suddenly deprived of modern transport, not a great idea as the snowfalls in this area can be huge.

The line ran alongside country roads and through the heart of villages en route. It offered an excellent passenger and freight service the year round, and would surely be a huge tourist attraction if it still ran. There is a preservation/museum group and the line may of course return one day, but at the moment all is quiet along the valley.

A few other lines have closed in Switzerland, the Leuk-Leukerbadbahn was one. A few in Ticino also closed, the cantonal government there not being as forward-thinking as elsewhere in Switzerland. A few other short lines around Lake Geneva have also vanished, but generally most Swiss narrow gauge light railways are busier than ever and it would be hard to imagine many places without them.