High speed lcoal
The wide plains north of Strasbourg allow straight tracks and fast trains. Here we see a local train that can ride 200 km/h. I’m sure this local doesn’t stop in every small village though. Continue reading High speed lcoal
Category: Landscape
Along the Marne – Rhine canal
The opening of the TGV-Est, planned for december 2016, would meant the end of the Eurocity trains between Brussels and Basel. Following all logic of French railways, passengers from Brussels to Switzerland have to use the TGV and pass through Paris… We love these classic trains, allowing cheap and relatively fast travel. That’s one of the reasons we were chasing them in the Vosges on … Continue reading Along the Marne – Rhine canal
A busy breakfast
When travelling around often, you get to know your favorite places. Whenever I travel between home and Switzerland, I try to include a stop at “Boulangerie Bernard” in the center of Mommenheim. Their butter rolls are de-li-cious and more than worth the short detour! On the morning of january 29th I had no effort convincing my fellow traveller to stop over at Mommenheim. We were … Continue reading A busy breakfast
Flat valley
An impressive train, consisting of 12 coaches and led by a heavy duty Ge 6/6 II engine has just left the station of Bever. The powerful engine is justified by the climb up the Albula pass – between Bever and St. Moritz the trains run run in a relatively flat valley. The backdrop is what makes the view. Flat valley and beautiful surroundings are probably … Continue reading Flat valley
Almost there
When shooting freight trains, we usually look for locations that show a lot of train. Same for this train, but it turned out pretty hard to combine sunlight and a good view… it turned out not to be necessary; 3 cars easily fit within the frame. The train on the photo comes from Chur and has almost reached Pontresina, it’s final destination. Continue reading Almost there
Proportions set straight
A bit of looking around usually does the trick. Shot from almost the same location, with a tele instead of a wide angle lens, this view is something quite different compared to the previous photo. I prefer this one, by far: it reduces the train more to it’s real size compared to the giant mountain in the background. Look closely and you’ll see that the … Continue reading Proportions set straight
Side view
We stayed around Bever for the next freight train, but decided to head to the beginning of the Albula line. First train we got was this RE to St. Moritz, hauled by a Ge 6/6 engine. Notice the mail car at the rear of the train. In the background, the town of Bever. We were a bit late, resulting in a “panic shot” from aside, … Continue reading Side view
Rare in red
Switching back and forth between locations – this view was too nice not to make a photo of it. Most of the Ge 4/4 III engines carry promotional liveries – consider this red one a lucky catch. Notice the blue Gourmino restaurant car in the middle of the train. Continue reading Rare in red
The accident – and a wise lesson
Before yesterday evening, I had never sat on a serious sledge before. Down in Bergün we had decided to first do the hard track, considering the elevator was about to shut down for the night. After that, we could ride the easier, and lit, track, with the Schlittelzug as many times as we wanted. Not so sure this was a good decision: in one of the curves of the hard track I lost control of the sledge and continue the story on the blog
Living the moment
Seeing the sledges slide off the hill earlier, we decided that we had found the perfect evening activity. We weren’t sure of opening times of the tracks though, and in the meanwhile we had gotten quite far from Bergün. That’s the moment you decide to call it a day, make the last photo and turn around.
The last photo of the day was this RE train to St. Moritz, hauled by RhB’s most recent locomotive: the last one of the Ge 4/4 III series.
Back in Bergün, we were right on time for click to continue reading
Railscapes 