Tuesday 29 August Rainy Tuesday

 

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 station
Coming back down we took the number nine tram to Stadelhofen to find the Forchbahn which took us initially to Forch. This runs on the Zurich tram system within the city and then on its own private right away in the country. In the country it is essentially a roadside tramway. 

Forchbahn train at Stadelhofen, Zurich

Forch depot
At Forch we changed to another train to take us on to Esslingen which is the end of the line. We were climbing high into the clouds and there was more rain. 

At Esslingen we had to take a route 842 bus to Uster and of course the bus arrived just as the train arrived so there was a very quick transfer. We rode through pleasant countryside. At one point there was one field in which there were 20-40 storks, but they were not in any adjacent fields.  Presumably the eating was good here. The arrival by bus at Uster was a little surprising. Of course the bus station is right next to the train station. However there was stands for about 8 buses and eight buses all seemed to arrive at the same time and they all left at the same time some five minutes later.

From Uster we took the train to Rapperswil through very pleasant open countryside with mainly arable farming. At Rapperswil we walked around the town then took a short bus ride to the Migros restaurant in a very new small shopping center. 

Outside a cafe in Rapperswil

From Rapperswil we took the S15 train in the rain all the way through from Niederweningen and then back to Glattbrugg where we watched an empty oil train leave.

With the rain still coming down we decided to make it back to the hotel taking the number ten tram into town.

Weed of the day - seen growing at the platform edge in Zurich Hauptbahnhof


Comments

  1. MarkAugust 29, 2023 at 10:30 AM

    Concrete sleepers with spring clips - that's what I would expect for a modern track system, obligatory weeds not withstanding. Ballast looks nice and clean. Of course, wikipedia says Switzerland railroad has a total of 5,323 km and Canada has almost 10x that at 49,422 km.

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