Bremgarten, Uetliberg and Zurich Tram Museum - Saturday 24 August 2024

 

A Wohlen bound tram crossing the Reuss river at Bremgarten

We started our journey at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof. One item that always astounds me is the great length of most of the passenger trains. The Girounos running to Italy are eleven coaches and almost always run in pairs - 22 cars. The Twindexxs are only eight cars long but again normally run in pairs  - and these are double deckers.

We took a train to Dietikon and boarded the tram for the delightful ride to Bremgarten. It starts out running through the city streets but quickly runs into the farming area. There are some fearsome curves and steep[ grades. 

Tram at Dietikon

Dietikon is quite a centre in its own right. Just outside the SBB station there are six ranks for buses.

The trams run right alongside the bus station

The Swiss allow something that is strictly banned in Ottawa. They allow passengers to sit inside the bus waiting for departure. This way they can be out of the weather in a heated or cooled bus. Ottawa makes people stand at bus stop shivering in the cold while watching a warm bus standing waiting to depart.

Bremgarten is an interesting place. There is an active market on Saturdays while the medieval buildings are worth exploring. As well, there are the bridges over the Reuss river.

The market

The market

Something hanging in a tree.

These pictures show the medieval town of Bremgarten

The trams run through the town centre

Wool bombers have been at work

We came back to Zurich with a transfer at Dietikon - two minutes - just enough to make it by walking fast.

Lunch was at an extremely good Migros Restaurant in the centre of Zurich. It was on the fourth floor and there was a wonderful outside patio with many bushes and small trees. Not many people were outside today as it was very hot indeed.

The second item today was to visit the Uetlibahn which has been modernized since we were last there, particularly as the trains are now running on 15,000 V AC with a change of the pantograph arrangement. The ride up was very smooth and pleasant but it was so hot at the summit that we decided to come straight back.

A Uetlibergbahn train at Uetliberg

In both directions we stopped at Triemli. Paul took this picture several years ago of a cat sitting on a post looking out for rodents etc. The post is no linger there.

Finally today we decided to visit the Zurich Tram Museum at Burgweis. 

Walking to the tram stop we passed this Wallace Fountain which was donated to Zurich from Paris several years ago. They are quite a feature of the Paris townscape.

While looking for the tram T11 we came across heritage tram on route T21 which took us right to the museum.

It is very difficult to get pictures of the exhibits in the museum building.

Outside

Inside

However, there was a very good band concert going on. Some sat around while others climbed into the tram exhibits and enjoyed the show sitting in comfort.

We took tram T11 back to the hotel. On the way we saw many people floating down the Limmat river through the centre of town. The water was warm and there were many families enjoying the fun.