Colin Churcher 2020

This morning, Paul and I took an early train from Zurich through St. Gallen to St. Margrethen on the border with Austria. Here we were met by Ms. Elena Steinmann, a delightful Assistant in the Company's Human Resources Department (Stadler Rheintal AG) who introduced us to Ian (or Johann) who spent the morning with us explaining how the company operated and who then took us through the various production operations carried out there. For obvious reasons photography was not allowed. However, the work carried out was explained in great detail. This plant is one of many in the organization and it specializes in producing double decker trains, currently for SBB and then OBB. The aluminum shells are produced elsewhere and shipped here as are the trucks etc., here everything is painted, assembled, fitted out and tested. I was surprised to learn that each double decker car required about 160 kilometers of wire. The testing is thorough and rigorous. At the end of a wonderful, informative an...

Picture of the day - by Paul Churcher. An Re 6/6 620 016 crosses the viaduct at Huntwangen Wil to take up a gravel train. Our first objective today was to go to Bulach to see the collection of Re 6/6 powerful freight electric locomotives. These were built in the 1970s and are still active on gravel trains out of here as well as many oil trains. Their horsepower rating is over 10,000!  At the station there was one gravel train about to leave with a 6/6 which had only recently come from the main works.  Fresh from the works (Bellinzona) last week Evidence of the work done. These six axle locomotives have three trucks. The blazons with which they were originally named seem to have survived different paint schemes. In one stub end platform track there were six other 6/6 locomotives one of which left quickly to go to Huntwagen wil to pick up the next gravel train. Just as we were about to leave for Huntwagen wil a loaded gravel train came in hauled by an additional 6/6 locomotive. ...

  Picture of the day. This was one of the few pictures taken today when it was not raining. View over the Zurich See from the Rigiblick Funicular We decided to swap tomorrow's schedule and do it today because the weather looked to be worse today than tomorrow. The first order of the day was to ride the Rigiblick Funicular which rises up a steep hill close to the centre of Zurich . We took a tram to the base which appears at first sight to be behind a florist shop. The lower station is hidden behind what appears to be a Migros flower stall The funicular is not very long but it has intermediate stations both in the middle and on either side of the middle. The frequency is about one every 5 minutes - very convenient. The views from the top were interesting looking over Zurich and Zurich See. The funicular was well used both directions.  View from the top station There is a machine at the top selling a range of high quality snacks and cheeses etc. A superior Selecta From the base ...

  Picture of the day. It is a very rainy day but the plants are now flourishing after the heatwave. I found this weed with pink flowers at Killwangen. We set out this morning to see if we could find evidence of the SBB running in the Zurich streets near Escher Wyss. We found some cars of cereal that had been delivered but saw no SBB locomotive. We then wanted to sample the new Limmatalbahn, taking the n umber four tram to the terminus at Altstetten, walked along the underground walkway to ride the Limmatalbahn tram line 20. It starts out running along the streets and then onto an existing Zurich tram system and then it sets out on its own to go all the way to the Dietikon and finally Killwangen. At the Dietikon we changed to the local tram which runs down through to Bremgarten where we got off and then went on to Wohlen, the end of the tram line. Limattalbahn Tram Dietikon-Wohlen tram at Wohlen From Wohlen we took the tram directly back to the Dietikon and transferred back to the L...

Catch of the Day was the Churchill car in Zurich HB having returned from Olten where it attended the Depot Festival We took a somewhat convoluted route to get to Zurich. We took a stopping train to Aarau where we transferred to the narrow gauge line to Shoffland.  Our train at Aarau Sample screen which is visible throughout the train. Note the Swiss railway clock in the bottom right. At larger stations the transfer connections by train, bus, tram, Post bus etc. are also shown.  At Schoffland we transferred to a Post bus which took us to Triengen. The bus left precisely in time and arrived precisely on time. There were similar tv screens in the bus as well. At Triengen a short walk brought us to the platform where the once a month steam train runs to Sursee. The first order of business was to purchase a ticket. This is an Edmondson sized card complete with a consecutive number, The engine is an interesting 0-6-0. It was actually converted to electricity during the coal shortage...