Day 11 Saturday - Heritage Operations at Erstfeld and Hochdorf

The catch of the day has to be this Ae 8/14 No. 11801 built in 1931

The hotel has an amazing breakfast buffet. It even included scrambled egg and bacon.

This morning we took the Gottardo from Olten right through to Erstfeld. We saw a number of large birds in the fields, not sure whether they are cranes or storks. At Erstfeld once a month the local historic society runs some preserved locomotives up and down a short siding. We were able to get very close and enjoyed an Ae 6/6, an Ae 8/14, as well a small switcher. The 8/14 is an incredible machine, being built in 1931. It is all wheels.




Ae 6/6 11402 of 1951 




After watching the club members exercise their locomotives we took a short walk through the town. There were a surprising number of churches, each having a slightly different tower and architecture. 





We caught the next Gottardo back to Lucerne and changed to a train to take us to Hochdorf. The Seetalbahn Society had an open day and were running their Krockodile and a 3/3 side rod switcher.

This railway entertained the children

This band entertained while people had their lunch and drinks

No 3 Beinwyl of 1884

 456 ex Nordostbahn, 1894

This railcar was running between Hochdorf and Luzern


No 465 was built in 1962

No 15301 was built in 1926

There was also an number of interesting model layouts.







From Hochdorf we travelled all the way to Lenzburg. This is a scenic route which follows a long lake at one point. There are many farming communities with cattle, sheep and corn. There are a large number of orchards - the apples will be ready for picking shortly. A number of kites were flying around at one village.

A train to Aarau and a connection to Olten finished off a great day

To see all pictures taken at Ersfeld click here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinchurcher/albums/72177720301799212

To see all pictures taken at Hochdorf click here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinchurcher/albums/72177720301839647


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