Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Thursday - Schinznacher Baumschulbahn

The Schinznacher Baumschulbahn is a garden center which has a railway running through it.  It is open at weekends but is used for horticultural purposes during the week.  The best way to get there is to take the hourly Post Bus from Brugg railway station.  
There is an impressive workshop, crammed full of two foot gauge locomotives.
A tram locomotive
The steam locomotive of the day is on the ready track

The afternoon crowds can be heavy so several diesels are also available to haul trains.
Nice Edmondson card tickets are used

The garden center takes up a lot of room and the layout is very complex



Let's go for a ride behind this Henschel steam locomotive

Trains start and finish at this station




An interesting part of the ride is through the greeenhouses

Just imagine having lunch in a greenhouse and watching steam trains pass.

With lunch finished you can come to the lake and watch trains meet and pass each other

We have saved the best until last. An earlier picture in the shop showed a glimpse of a South African two foot gauge Garratt. It was difficult to photograph.

South African narrow gauge Beyer Garratt locomotive tucked away out of use


Although #60 has been used here it was found to be too big for the severe curves and too powerful for the small trains used.  A couple of years ago it was sold to the Vale of Rheidol Railway at Aberystwyth, Wales where it has been refurbished and it was planned to have it in service on the Devils Bridge line this summer.

Happily this video was made of #60 in 2000

For additional videos of this garden center railway search Schinznacher Baumschulbahn on youtube

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