Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Saturday - Appenzellerbahn

The Appenzellerbahn is a progressive narrow gauge railway that runs out of St. Gallen. It was formed from a number of smaller concerns and this consolidation is still going on today.  In the past there was a separate railway that ran from St. Gallen to Trogen with  views across the Rhine valley.  This line has now been absorbed into the Appenzell network.
A Trogen train at Trogen.  These trains have now been replaced by new Appenzell trains and are beginning a new career on the Neuchatel tramway.
This is a former Appenzelerbahn train at Appenzell. These trains have all recently been replaced with new units

The old CTC panel at St. Gallen has now been replaced with computer based dispatching

Until recently trains out of St. Gallen had to climb through this very sharp curve, reputed to be the sharpest curve of such a heavy gradient in Europe. Notice the rack rail in the center and the check rail on the left hand side. This has now been replaced with a tunnel on a grade, but the rack equipment has been dispensed with.
This is one of the new trains which now run straight through from Trogen to St. Gallen, Gais and Appenzell

At Gais we change trains for the exciting ride down to Altstatten.  The "wagon" on the front is for bicycles as there is a very steep grade down into the Rhine valley.  The side doors drop down at the press of a button  and the doors lift up when the doors of the train are closed
We will take a ride in the cab down the hill to Altstatten

As we approach the drop off we can see the beginning of the rack section


This part is a little scary as we approach the rack and listen for the bell that tells us that the Strub system rack equipment had been engaged. 


An examination of the timetable found a station called Warmsberg on the rack section. It is a request stop but we thought it would be fun to see what was there.

Warmsberg





We found that most of the inhabitants were pigs.

This is the train coming back up the hill preparing to stop at Warmsberg

Continuing down to Altstatten

The first time I traveled over this route we went down to Altstatten. we were in a party of about 30, many of them did not walk well and we had to get across town to the SBB station.  I asked the guide how we were going to get across town. He said he had a reservation o the local town bus. Believe it or not the bus turned up at the appointed time and the lady driver said, I"I have been expecting you, just get in."  Imagine trying to get a reservation on an OC Transpo bus for a short ride through town.

The Appenzellerbahn also runs a short rack railway from Rheineck
Rheineck
There is another rack line, the Rorsach - Heiden - Bergbahn which we have yet to explore.

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