Day 16 Thursday - Bex and the Swiss Steam Park
It stormed heavily overnight with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. The forecast was for this to continue all day. However on waking up the clouds seemed to be dispersing and we had good views of the mountains all around. This was one occasion where the weather forecast was totally wrong. It has been sunny all day with some cloudy periods.
The plan today was to ride the narrow gauge rack railway from Bex and visit the Swiss Steam Park at Bouvier. As bonusses we had a cruise on the classic steamer La Suisse and rode up the Rochers de Naye rack railway.
We took an SBB train to Bex a little way further east from Aigle and the train right up the hill to Villars sur Ollon. This is essentially a roadside tramway, single track with passing siding. The track is partly on the highway, partly on the side, and partly on private reservation. There are some very steep sections on which the abt rack is used. The villages passed looked pretty interesting and the views down into the Rhone valley are wonderful. Getting closer to Villars we passed by several cafes with people sitting outside chatting, drinking and enjoying the view. There are many tubs of flowers placed along the main street and the views from this skiing town are great.
There are several places in the journey where there is not enough room for cars and trains. The main street through Bex has a wicked corner and further up the Poste Van had to be moved quickly out of the way. Cars were running up on to the sidewalks to avoid us.
Coming back to Bex we passed the main shops at Bevieux, where there was a four-wheel tram in good view. The number of tracks into the large building seemed to be more than what would be required for an hourly service and most of the space is likely being taken up with bus repair and maintenance.
Four wheel historic car No. 9, built in 1915, at Bevieux
The Swiss Steam Park is located at Bouvier on the south shore of Lake Leman. It is served by a branch line from St. Maurice on the main line between Montreux and Brig. However, to get to St. Maurice from Bex we had to go back to Aigle and take a fast train from there. Although connection times were tight we managed to make everything successfully.
We had a good lunch at a restaurant close to the station and then walked along to the Park. We passed a series of moorings for small boats. There were a large number of grebes and tufted ducks in the calm waters.
The Park was crowded and the trains were very busy. The layout is complex and there were a large number of trains running, two rack railway and at least five regular trains. The signalling seems to be the standard Swiss railway system. To work this well I would think it is computer controlled.
Having ridden a couple of trains and had a good look around we eventually made our way to the ferry dock and caught La Suisse across the lake to Montreux, calling in at the Chateau de Chillon on the way.
Seeing this is our last day in Montreux we decided to ride the 800 mm gauge Rocher de Naye rack railway up to Glion. Montreux station is unusual in having three different gauges. The Rochers de Naye line is hidden at the back behind the MOB and can easily be missed. The line climbs out of Montreux with some tunneling and gives excellent views over the town and the lake. In the past Glion had some good restaurants but it seems to have suffered from the pandemic.
To get back to the hotel we took the funicular down to Territet and the no 201 trolley bus into town.
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