Virtual Railfan Tour of Switzerland - Monday - Meiringen to Innertkirchen
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Meiringen is a stub ended station on the narrow gauge line from Interlaken to Luzern. All trains have to reverse here and many formations are changed because although Interlaken to Meiringen is level as it skirts the shores of Lake Brienz, the line from Meiringen to Luzern is steeply graded and several rack sections are used. The real interest at Meiringen, however, is from a short platform at the stub end. For it is here that the Meiringen Innertkirchen Bahn (MIB) makes an end on connection.
The single car MIB train at Meiringen. Zentralbahn trains to Luzern and Interlaken at the back
The trip to Innertkirchen is very short. Although the track gauge is the same, the electrical system is 1,200V DC whereas the Zentralbahn trains use 15,000V AC.
Innertkirchen is a Hydro-electric generating station and the turnround time her is short, usually less than a minute so there is always a rush to see what there is to see.
Preserved railcar #5
This Gem 4/4 #12 of 1953, was purchased from the CF du Jura (#402) has been fitted with a diesel generator
The livery has changed over time
This is short video of a cab ride from Meiringen to Innertkirchen. It is well worth watching, especially the tunnel section. As we go through the tunnel you will hear an announcement for a station at Aareschlucht Ost. This video goes through without stopping but the station appears on the right hand side at about 5.30 on the tape. We rang the bell and the train stopped for us to get out into complete darkness. Then doors opened and we made our way out into daylight.
The other side of the station. Passengers can press a call button for the train and the doors open when the train is at the very short platform. The tunnel walls are very thin here, not more than a meter.
From here we can climb up to a cafe-visitor center, pay a small fee and walk through the Aare Gorge.
At the end of the gorge we can cross the river and catch the next train. We were going to Meiringen but this one is going to Innertkirchen and would be the next one back so we rode through the tunnel twice again.
On our last visit we were able to sample briefly a new two car train just acquired.
There is a central power unit between the two cars
MIB #4 is preserved at the Swiss Transport Museum near Luzern. There is more time to take a look at it here than at Innertkirchen.
The MIB is an interesting diversion, for an hour or half a day.
Zurich Hauptbahnhof Paul has prepared some extensive notes and photos of the Zurich Hauptbahnhof. This will be in several parts. The busiest station in Switzerland is Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Zurich HB) which is used primarily by the SBB. It has 26 tracks serving almost 3000 trains daily and it is one of the busiest stations in the world. It was built in the 1870s and is a main shopping destination as well as a transport hub. There are three levels for platforms and the "Shopville" shopping plaza. The river Sihl river passes right through the station with platforms passing above and below the river. This shows the general layout of the station with the surrounding tram tracks shown in purple Tracks 3 to 18 are terminal tracks located at ground level, served by two side platforms and seven island platforms. These are used by long-distance trains from throughout Switzerland, and by international trains. Tracks 21 and 22 are underground terminal tracks, served by a sing...
This video, by Noel Wyler, shows what we have just missed. Last Saturday (14 September) the Oensingen Balsthal Railway organized an event to commemorate 60 years of the Re 4/4 locomotives. They brought together 24 of them and ran them as one train. Paul and I flew home on KLM from Schiphol Airport. We took a train from Den Haag directly to the airport. The trip back was marred by a couple with a young boy who was obviously teething. He cried almost continuously for the full six hours. I found I could tune him out when I dug deep into the KLM sound system and found a treasure trove of classical music. Bach violin concertos, Mozart piano concerto No. 23, Beethoven symphonies, Schuman etc. We survived the stupidities at the entrance of the Montreal airport and caught the KLM bus back to Ottawa where we arrived precisely on time. A good ending to a wonderful, tremendous, trip
Today we left Yverdon-les-Bains and traveled back to Zurich in preparation for return to Canada tomorrow. In the morning we took an ICN through Neuchatel to Oensingen. We left four minutes late but with a tight throttle and the banking on these trains we left Neuchatel on time - it was an exciting ride. At Oensingen there was quite a lot to see. As well as the main line freight a single manned diesel switcher went across the main line a couple of times to pick up empty cars. The two narrow gauge trams from Solothurn and Langenthal came in and reversed. Main line freight The standard gauge line to Balstall was using an SBB train with TPN markings. In addition there was a magpie poking around on the ground, and a couple of kites flying around. We went on to Olten for lunch at the M igros restaurant. After lunch we took a short trip to Daniken on the main line. Just after we got there we saw three freight trains with Re 420s on them and a further SBB Vectron o...
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