Wednesday 2 September 2026 - Chasing Ballast Trains

Our objective today was to see the ballast trains that originate in Huntwangen Will which is a little way north of Bulach

The lineup of 620s waiting for work in Bulach., all looking in good contition for a 40 year old machine Four 620s are the equivalent of 44,000 horsepower

First we took a train to Bulach to see what if anything was stabled there. We were happy to find four 620 locomotives obviously all waiting for a job. As we were there, a driver came along and picked up one and took it towards Huntwangen. We took the next train to Huntwangen but, as we expected, the locomotive was already coupled to a train and began to pull as we arrived in the station.

A 620 arriving at Huntwangen for its next duty

We contented ourselves by walking down to a place where we could see trains crossing the high single track bridge over the Rhine river. We hadn't been there more than five minutes when an old lady, who was doing her gardening, offered to let us stand on her lawn to get a better view of the trains on the bridge.

Plenty of trains crossed the bridge over the Rhine but we were not able to capture a gravel train

A second gravel train was ready to depart and we waited for almost an hour but no luck. We then decided to cut our losses and take the next train to Schaffhausen. Of course as soon as we got back to the station the gravel train departed.

Schaffhausen was very busy with tourists and locals enjoying the sunny weather.

We have visited Schaffhausen several times and we decided to get a quick, take out and eat it on the platform while waiting for the next train to Huntwangen. At least, this way we passed the Rhine Falls on this blazing hot day. At Huntwangen things were very quiet and after some explorations we decided to return to Zurich for some down time.