OVERSEAS VISIT REPORTS

SLOVAKIA

Howard Forster August 2009.
Sunday, 02/08/09. Bratislava Transport Museum. It was was hot this day with the temperature at 42 C (107F). In this neat little museum the railway exhibits were:310.0107,434.128,534.0471, Ind 3679, 0-6-0F and T678.016. Vychodne. Plinthed at the entrance was 310.442. In service were 4x210,4x240,5xdiesels. Awaiting restoration/slowly deteriorating were:310.0123,310.507,331.019, 387.017/9, 399.005,486.008,555.3284 and being restored, 555.3008. Opposite the derelict locos, between the shed tracks and the main running lines, a ZSR museum has been established, with small exhibits in a building and rolling stock in the open. On show were: 310.097,310.433,331.037,T211.0823,T444.080 and T769.019. 781.312 although not restored presumably belongs to the museum also. Bratislava Hlavne. 18 electrics, 5 diesels and 2 BE locos were present as well as 498.104 being painted. A day ticket used on the excellent tram and bus services, enabled travel between the various locations to be easily organised.

SPAIN

Howard Forster May 2009.
Barcelona container terminal and Can Tunis Depot, an examination of the container terminal found no locos stabled. On passing the terminal on Tuesday, 12/05/09, the majority of the locos noted there on trains and at the depot were 269.0xx,7xx,9xx; two new TRAXX 253s were also on the depot.

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SWEDEN

Howard Forster July 2009.

Sweden 015 Nynas Store, Gavle. SWB Jvg 0-2-2 Railmotor /1892. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Nynas Store, Gavle. ELFKARLEO BRUK 1 0-4-0WT HH /1872. 04/04/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Sweden Nynas Store, Gavle. SJ W 1229 0-4-4T NH 1045/14. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Gavle Museum. SJ A 1001 4-4-2 Mot 378/07. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Sweden Borlange Depot. GC Rc1 1007 the oldest member of the class dating from 1967, awaits its next duty on the hump. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Borlange. Rc1 1007 dating from 1967, propels wagons over the hump. 04/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Sweden Kristinehamn. SJ Ra 847 Bo-Bo, was parked for the weekend with some other interesting locos. 05/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Sweden Hagalund Depot. SJ F 701 1Do1 which had been used on summer excursions, was stabled with its set of preserved coaches. 06/09/09 Photo by Howard Forster

SWITZERLAND

Visit Report. Continuing Alan Baxter’s report from September 2010
Friday 24 September: It was my intention to go to Mulhouse in France today to have a look at traffic there (460 055 Interlaken to Basel) but I discovered that the French unions were having one of their frequent hissy fits and regional traffic was disrupted.  The long-distance traffic seemed to be running as we passed a Zürich-bound TGV on the approaches to Basel.  My reserve choice was another visit to Weil-am-Rhein, and this turned out to be similar to my last visit, although there was one variation in that 185 585 of HGK turned up with a freight bound for Switzerland.  Mitsui (formerly Dispolok) 189 995 also passed through; this class of loco has a remarkable amount of numbering on its sides. 

The Platform 5 Germany Part 2 book, published in 2004, is badly needing updating. Eisenbahn Kurier published a book of German private locos and multiple units early in 2009 but a large number of new 185s, 186s and 189s have appeared since then.
On the passenger side an IC from Nürnberg passed through headed by 101 092, this is the loco which was rebuilt after a crash at Bruhl, near Bonn, a few years ago.  Return to Interlaken was with 460 011 (again).

Saturday 25 September.  A grand circular tour, Interlaken-Bern-Brig-Spiez-Interlaken, was on today's agenda.   460 011(!) to Bern. The Swiss Capital is in the process of taking delivery of a new batch of 7-section Combino trams, numbered 651 upwards (at variance with the Swiss Platform 5 handbook), while two trolleybus routes in the west of Bern are being converted to tram operation and there are also plans afoot for RBS Line G which enters the city over the urban tram tracks.

Then it was 460 029 to Lausanne and 460 032 from there along to Brig, single deck stock for the latter as DD is still banned from the Rhône Valley line.  An emu numbered 522 201 was sitting at Martigny, this is one of the new sets built for working into France, after SNCF refused the original 522s on grounds of crash-worthiness.  The original sets have had their 25kV ac equipment removed and they have been renumbered as Class 523.  The Martigny-Brig locals are being operated by refurbished Kolibri sets renumbered in the 560 4xx series.   

At Brig I was able to catch a train for Spiez over the old route, worked by BLS sets 535 102/106.  The old line is popular with walkers and we picked up a good crowd at the stations on the ascent who had walked down the Lötschberg trail from Goppenstein. I got out at Spiez and then, would you believe, it was 460 011 in charge again back to Interlaken!

Sunday 26 September: It was time to move on again, to Rapperswil on the Zürichsee.  There are a number of ways of getting from Interlaken to Rapperswil and I decided on the Brünig line to Luzern and then the Voralpen Express to Rapperswil.  Firstly it was a 5-minute run on an ICE set from Interlaken West to Ost.  The ICEs have always run with their 1st class vehicles at the rear going towards Ost and it is be probable that SBB have decided that their IR trains will now run the same way round.  Pity the poor 1st classers trudging to the end of a 14-vehicle train at West!  

At Ost 101 966 arrived with a train from Luzern and ran round to take the 1004 service out as far as Meiringen, where 101 963 was waiting to take the train over the pass and on to Luzern, an enjoyable run as always.  New stock is planned for the Zentralbahn to replace the loco-hauled Golden Pass trains, presumably the eight 101s will find a new owner.


The Voralpen Express is a joint SOB/SBB venture with SOB providing the stock in the form of its five-coach push-pull sets and also its class 456 for some of the diagrams.  SBB supply 2 Re4/4ii to the workings with 11143 and 11222 doing the honours during the time I was at Rapperwil.  It was the former loco which was at the rear of the train leaving Luzern, using the Lakeside line via Kussnacht-am-Rigi.  When the tunnels at Luzern were being improved in the mid 1990s these services were diverted to run via Rotkreuz but were put back to their old route as soon as the improvements were complete, however the Gotthard line trains, which were switched at the same time continue via Rotkreuz to this day. At Arth-Goldau a northbound freight with a Re20/20 combination ran in as we were leaving.


Then it was up the 1 in 20 and down the other side to Pfäffikon finally along the causeway to Rapperswil where arrival, needless to say, was on time.  Accommodation was four nights at the Best Western Hotel Speer, which is right opposite the station.
Rapperswil station has seven platforms, 1-5 long enough to accommodate 3x450 sets or 3 of the newer 514 sets, while 6-7, which is the island nearest the water, are much shorter. At the western end of the station the various lines coalesce into a single track making its way along the causeway towards Pfäffikon.  

The main service is the hourly Voralpen express, and the remaining services using the station are Zürich S-Bahn S5 which comes through from Pfäffikon to Rafz or Niederwenigen, and the terminating services S7 which goes to Winterthur via the lakeside through Meilen and S15 which runs to Affoltern-am-Albis.  The last two are both operated by SBB's new Class 514 which have now all been delivered.  In the opposite direction SOB runs a service to Einsiedeln using its batch of Flirt emus numbered 526 041-051.  A new batch of these are now on order which may displace the loco-hauled Voralpen Express. 

Another service goes to Ziegelbrücke and is worked by SBB Class 560 Kolibri sets, on this day two of the services were being worked by 561 001/003 which have lost their duties into Germany and will eventually be converted back to standard 560s. 

Monday 25 September: First part of the day's outing was a religious trip (!) to see the monastery at Einsiedeln.  SOB 526 041 was waiting at Rapperswil for the run across the causeway to Pfäffikon before taking to the hills to call at Wollerau and Samstagern (where one of the SOB depots is) and then the junction station at Biberbrugg. From there it is just a short run uphill to Einsiedeln.

Having seen what I wanted to see and taken a few photos (outside!) I took the other service to terminate at Einsiedeln, the half-hourly Wadenswil (SOB 526 047).  This goes back to Samstagern before turning left and plunging downhill at 1 in 20 max to Wadenswil which is on the Zürich-Chur line but one stop of the IR trains nearer Zürich than Pfäffikon. An S2 line train arrived at the opposite platform and I took this via the old line into Zürich HB. S2 is one of the two services (S8 is the other) which reverses in the main bit of the HB before going on to Effretikon near Winterthur, and uses platforms 51-54, which were created a few years ago when the main platforms were being reconstructed and extended, and are a positive country mile from the main concourse.  

Afterwards I decided to sample S14 to Hinwil which is the only one of the S-Bahn DD services to terminate in Zürich HB and has been converted to Class 514.  It leaves the HB and runs via Wipkingen and Oerlikon, where some massive reconstruction of trackwork is on-going, before branching off and going via Uster to a junction at Wetzikon. A short single-track branch then goes to the terminus at Hinwil, from where a tourist railway continues on to Bauma on the Rüti-Winterthur line.  Nothing much seemed to be happening here, perhaps this line only operates at weekends? 

I returned to Wetzikon on the same set (514 031) before transferring to an S5 service which is the traditional Class 450 plus stock.  These sets are looking a bit dated now, when seen alongside the 514s, but still form the majority of the services.  450 067/070 plus their stock have been sold to the SZU with six more sets to go there later.

Having reached Zürich HB low level via the 3-mile Zürichberg tunnel and Stadelhofen I decided to sample tram line 10 which was extended from its previous terminus at Oerlikon out to the airport in 2009.  This line uses the new 3000 series vehicles, some in an alternative livery.  The extension beyond Oerlikon uses reserved track for most of the way.  Methinks the Edinburghers should visit Zürich and see how that city builds tram-lines, in view of the imbroglio involving trams in Edinburgh! 

The trip out to the airport takes 35 min and from there I went downstairs to get S2 out to Effretikon before coming back on the S7 which goes to Rapperswil.  This line has single track sections in the Kloten area and again along the lakeside so cannot be an easy line to work.  I went across to Pfäffikon to watch some peak-hour workings, RJ162 (1116 209/210) passing Zürich-wards soon after I arrived and there was also some freight including two Ae 6/6 and HGK 185 586 heading west. This way be the return working of the train I saw at Weil the previous Friday, I presume it goes to Buchs as I have never seen class 185 of any description at Chur.

Tuesday 28 September: There are two narrow-gauge lines within the boundaries of Zürich.  One is the Forchbahn which exits the city from Stadelhofen via the urban tram tracks, and the other is BDWM Transport from Dietikon to Wohlen in the western suburbs.  I had decided to do the latter, and so started with a Line S5 train as far as Wetzikon, changing there to S3 which serves Dietikon on its way to Aarau. It calls at Ruti which is the southern terminus of a Thurbo service to Winterthur, then at a place called Pfäffikon in Canton Zürich which is not to be confused with the better known Pfäffikon in Canton Schwyz. 

It then goes via Effretikon and the Zürichberg Tunnel to the HB and thence parallel to the Zürich-Bern/Basel lines to Dietikon which is next to the eastern access to Limattal yard.  The narrow gauge tracks are on the south side of the station.  The BDWM used to have a standard gauge operation including some freight but this ceased in 2007.  A half-hourly service to Wohlen is provided using the new Stadler emus which are still being delivered, and the existing stock also runs shorter services to Bremgarten West.  It was unit 5003 providing this particular service and after leaving the station it goes along the street for a bit before taking to road-side running.  It follows the road religiously up hill and down dale as far as Bremgarten, this resulting in gradients as steep as 1 in 19, and a hairpin bend or two. 

At Bremgarten the standard gauge appears and the track is mixed gauge from here to the terminus at Wohlen.  The tracks leave the roadside and climb through the trees before descending to the terminus at Wohlen.  This is on the Lenzburg-Rotkreuz line and is passed by Gotthard line freight.  There is another service to Othmarsingen operated by Class 560 and I took this to its terminus. 

Othmarsingen is at the intersection of the Zürich-Bern and the line used by Gotthard freight, and is a busy spot for passenger and freight.  It is also not the quietest place in the world, the adjacent motorway junction sees to that!  A variety of motive power was seen including Crossrail 185 599 and Ae6/6 11426 before I took a train to Brugg and then to Olten.  540 019, which now belongs to the OeBB came past before 11111 arrived with the train to Olten.  It again is a noisy place but at least the noise is railway-related!  In the time I was there there was plenty of activity including some Ae6/6. 610 496 and 11495 sat at the head of Platform 8 for about half an hour before shuffling off, probably in search of some freight to haul. There were ICE sets and a Cisalpino ETR 610 set to add some variety to the predominance of Class 460 and again on the freight side two Crossrail Re4/4iii 436 111/115 went through.

Eventually time came to leave and I joined a service formed of a pair of Class 540 topping and tailing six vehicles.  There are still about 50 of these units in service working peak hour services around Zürich.  However there is a batch of DD Stadler emus on order for the Zürich S-Bahn to be known as Class 511 which are being delivered early in 2011, which may spell the end for the Class 540s.   I took this train to its terminus at Wettingen, one station east of Baden, before changing to an S12 to Zürich HB low level and finally S5 back to Rapperswil.

Wednesday 29 September: For my last full day in Switzerland I decided on a trip to Austria!! I had passed through Innsbruck in 1999 but not since, so I was going to make use of the Railjet service from Sargans.   460 088 was in charge of the 07.47 Basel-Chur from Pfäffikon to Sargans.  RJ163 arrived about 12 minutes later with 1116 204 at the head and 1116 217 in the middle of the train.  We left Sargans via the loop constructed in 1980 to eliminate one of the two reversals which Austria-bound trains then had to make within 20 minutes of each other.  

At Buchs we found that the Zürich-bound Railjet was 10min late so we had to wait until it cleared the single line and arrived in the station with 1116 205. We then left Buchs at the end we had come in at, turning sharp left and crossing the Rhein to enter Liechtenstein.  Poor Vaduz! The capital of the Principality doesn't even have its own station, sharing it with the neighbouring village of Schaan, and it is served only by local trains.  It takes about 10 minutes to pass through Liechtenstein and the first stop in Austria is at Feldkirch. 

We then continued on double track to Bludenz where there is a large allocation of Class 4024 and there was also a glimpse af a former Kolibri set in bright colours. From Bludenz the line singles and we progressed up a 1 in 40 gradient through ever-wilder scenery to the west end of the 6 mile-long Arlberg tunnel which is double track.  At St. Anton the route becomes single again descending steeply and passing from Vorarlberg into Tirol before Otztal where double track resumes for the remaining distance into Innsbruck.  We ran into Innsbruck past the junction for Italy and the shed after a journey of 2hr 12 min.  

Innsbruck Hbf has seven through platforms and four west-facing bays.  There is also an avoiding line coming from the shed which joins the main line at the east end of the Hbf.  Long-distance traffic is usually operated by the various varieties of Taurus locos although 1144 occasionally appears, while local services to such places as Wörgl and Brennero are the preserve of class 4024 which took over from class 4020 some years ago.  One service bound for Italy was hauled by Mitsui black 189 989.  There is also a DB presence in the form of RE/RB services to/from München which are operated by Class 111 at the Innsbruck end of the train.  The freight traffic seen was all to/from the Arlberg direction and again produced a mixture of Taurus/1144.  Freight bound for Italy leaves the main line at Fritzens-Wattens four stations to the east of Innsbruck and passes to the south of the city through the 8-mile long Inntal tunnel before joining the Brenner line at Unterberg-Stefansbrücke, the first station out of Innsbruck (I might have had time to go to Jenbach or wherever to see this traffic). 

Eventually it was time to go home, using an IC service to Bregenz double-headed by 1116 136/144.   It was a pleasant return trip in the late afternoon sunshine.  I decamped at Feldkirch to catch 4024 027 forming a stopper to Buchs, then it was 11140 to Sargans where I felt my way through the building site to Platform 2 for a train to Pfäffikon headed by 460 003.  Finally 450 002 was at the rear of an S5 back along the causeway to Rapperswil.

Thursday 30 September: Time to leave Switzerland and head for Konigswinter in the Rhein Valley. EC100 Chur to Hamburg calls at Pfäffikon at 10.19 and arrived on time with 460 047, and the 1st class coaches at the front.  This service makes all the stops of the semi-fast Chur-Basel as far as Zürich from where it then runs fast to Basel.  11157 was at the head of the train on this leg.  We were held up on the Olten avoider to allow 401 088, forming ICE374 from Interlaken Ost to Berlin Hbf, to get in front of us. 

At Basel 101 104 backed on to what had been the rear of the train before we set off into Germany.  Work on the new NBS between Basel and Freiburg is proceeding steadily.    Motive power seen on the way to Koblenz was much as expected except the sighting of a Class 145 in blue livery at Karlsruhe bearing the number 145 030-7 on its ends.  This loco belongs to the Pressnitztalbahn and has the computer number 7 to distinguish it from the real 145 030 which has the correct computer number 3.  The EVN of the false loco is 145 085.

We got into Koblenz on time and were able to catch the 1618 to Königswinter despite the Platform 4 escalator not working.  143 263 was at the head and we passed a private 146 520 besides a number of other things before entry into Königswinter on time at 1709. Accommodation was six nights at the Hotel Bergischer Hof.

Alan Baxter reporting on his journeys in September 2009.

Friday 18 September: 08.34 Eurostar London to Brussels. The Paris train leaves at 08.32 and was called at 08.06, with the Brussels 2 minutes later, so there were two sets of passengers on the ramps for platforms 7-8 at the same time. I don’t ever recall trains leaving from adjacent platforms so close together at Waterloo.


Transit of tunnel and on to Brussels uneventful with 3 min early arrival. A loco numbered 2802 was in the carriage sidings at Brussels, this is the second loco to have carried this number, the original being one of 3 locos built in 1949 and spent much of its time on station pilot duties at Brussels Midi before withdrawal in 1997 (and is preserved somewhere, I believe?). Then on to Namur in Break unit 406, much less opulent than the AM96 sets which work the services on the opposite half-hour. Single line working between La Hulpe and Ottignies. Arrival at Namur on time and then one night’s stay at the Grande Hotel de Flandres opposite the station.

Afterwards I viewed the passing traffic from Platforms 4/5. Platforms 10/11 were operating as bays accessible from the east end only, while the starter at Platform 5 has been relocated on the platform but the track still veers away from the platform 100 yards from the end. It was fairly busy with some freight on the Athus-Meuse line, the interesting workings occurring during the peak period when we get loco-hauled workings to Arlon, Jemelle etc. One train for Dinant was 2750 with 6 DD coaches which had 2755 coupled behind with 5 more DD coaches going to Liers,and so were split off at Namur. There were only 2 freight workings seen coming from Line 162.

Saturday 19 September: “One of our locos is missing”. EC91 has become a through train to Chur this year and duly turned up behind 2004 departing 08.41. Stockem Yard had 4xClass 55 in the main bit and a line of Nohabs adjacent to the depot. Arlon station did not have the usual collection of freight locos, there were 3x23, 2x77, 2x20 and 2x13. There was two-way working over the Luxembourg-bound track from Arlon to the border, while the other track is being re-electrified. At Luxembourg there was no sign of the SNCF loco meant to take over – normally EC91 gets the loco off EC296 but that had not been seen either. A delay ensued until they found an engine for us and eventually 26165 appeared and coupled up before leaving 52 down. Thionville was stacked out with 27000/37000, as it was a Saturday, including a Veolia example 37515. Slow running on right-hand pair of tracks from Thionville as far as the entrance to Woippy yard before crossing to fast tracks. No time was gained on the remainder of the French leg and at Mulhouse it was announced that we were terminating at Basel. No freight locos at Mulhouse Ville, and the loco-hauled 16500 sets have been replaced by some of the later examples of Z27500.
So I had to get out at Basel 50 late, but I could now sample the new accelerated service to Chur. At the last timetable change two through services were introduced to Chur, one leaving Basel at XX.33 and running fast to Zürich then stopping only at Sargans and Landquart to take 139 minutes to cover the 129 miles from Basel. The other service is a semifast leaving at XX.47 making 4 stops before Zürich and 7 afterwards, 176 minutes to Chur. Timings from Zürich are as last year. There are two exceptions to this, EC7 runs as per the previous timetable, non-stop Basel-Zürich and then semi-fast beyond, and EC100 is the same in the opposite direction. 460 115 did the honours with a mixture of SD & DD and a surprise was the amount of noise barriers which have been erected in the last year, not as tall as some of the DB examples. Arrival into Chur was at 1752, which was only 9 minutes later than if EC91 had run on time throughout! Then it was 4 nights at the Hotel Freieck in Chur’s Old Town.

Sunday 20 September: Still on the lookout for border crossings, I had discovered another one across the Rhein between Koblenz and Waldshut in the north of the country. To get there I had to take a Chur-St. Gallen train which was hauled by 11198, one of the six examples which had an ÖBB pantograph fitted many years ago to allow it access to Lindau. Buchs has become a weekend gathering point for motive power and there were several SBB and ÖBB locos sitting in the yard. At St. Gallen I changed to a Genève train hauled by 460 051 as far as Winterthur. Winterthur-Bülach is Zürich S-Bahn service S41, alternate trains being extended to Waldshut. This service is Thurbo-operated and another of this company’s tentacles extends north of Schaffhausen to Thayngen. 526 761 formed the 12.36 to Waldshut, which runs initially parallel to Winterthur-Zürich on the 3rd track which was laid a few years ago, before bearing off to the right, passing some suburban back gardens and some industrial premises before running into hilly country. It passes through the mile-long Dettenberg Tunnel before swinging round to enter Bülach, on the Zürich-Schaffhausen line. Bülach is another stabling point and a good collection of Re4/4 and Re6/6 were sitting idle waiting for Monday’s traffic – used to be Ae6/6 stabled here! From Bülach the Waldshut train continues towards Schaffhausen for two stops to Eglisau, where it bears left while the main line singles to cross the most impressive viaduct. Now also on single line we trundle along with the Rhein on the right and eventually enter Koblenz. As far as I can see the only thing it has in common with its much larger German namesake is that both are beside the Rhein. Once upon a time it was possible to continue on to Stein-Sackingen but this line is freight-only as far as Laufenburg, which is the terminus of Basel S-Bahn S1. To access Waldshut involves a reverse and swing to the right over a line which was electrified only about 10 years ago, then curving to the left through a tunnel, passing over the Eglisau-Koblenz line and then the Rhein, before rising to run alongside the non-electrified Schaffhausen-Basel Bad line terminating at a buffer-stop at the end of Platform 5, an extension of Platform 1. Customs were not operating and so I was free to wander about. Services are mostly DB class 641 single car dmus, helped out by Class 628 two car sets, all based at Haltingen. There is also a 2-hourly IRE service Basel Bad-Ulm which is operated by Class 611 tilting sets. These gave no end of trouble when introduced on Basel-Lindau in 1998, replacing a class 218+stock service, and from time to time emergency timetables had to be introduced to cater for tilt failure. From 2005 the service has run to Ulm instead of Lindau with passengers for the latter place having to change at Friedrichshafen. From Waldshut I returned to civilisation on 526 720, which goes back to Koblenz and then on to Baden. It joins the Baden-Brugg line at Turgi before running into Baden and an S12 service got me back to Zürich HB low level. Upstairs platforms 6-7 are currently out of use. A refurbished 560 set numbered 560 202, which is one of the Glarus line sets, was seen before EC101 arrived to take me back to Chur. A former RM set, 526 262, now under BLS management, was an unusual sight at Wadenswil.

Monday 21 September: To Tirano today, by ordinary train rather than the Bernina Express which as usual was fully booked. The train to St. Moritz was headed by RhB 641. At Thusis there was an Engineering train double-headed by701 and 243 the latter a shy beast which has escaped my notice until now. The Landwasser Viaduct is undergoing repairs to its structure and is shrouded in red material until the works are complete (end 2009 I believe). Similar work is going on at one of the Albula viaducts between the Tuoa and Zuondra Tunnels, this time the covering is white rather than red. Bergun/Bravuogn station is wearing its alternative name of Madruns again, which it was given for the film The Directrix which was shot about 10 years ago centred on the village. Could we be getting The Directrix 2? At Samedan I caught the connection to Pontresina (RhB622) where there was a train bound for Tirano, but with only one motorcoach(RhB55) and consequently a reduced loading which led to overcrowding, at least as far as Poschiavo. The trip was as wonderful as ever and was blessed with fine weather and I noted that the Bernina motive power was six pairs and two singles. No sign of 52, 54 or 801. At Tirano E633 208 was at the head of a freight train in the platforms in the FS station. The platforms form a kind of headshunt for incoming freight and they have to start from there in order to get out.
Return journey was in one of the motorcoaches (51) of the St. Moritz version of the Bernina express which acts more like a local train than either the Chur or Davos trains. 622 was again the Samedan shuttle and 619 completed the run back to Chur. Considerable tree felling has taken place at the bottom of the spirals and approaching the top portal of the Rugnux Tunnel it was possible to see away down beyond Muot loop on the other side of the valley, and a train approaching the loop from Bergun. We were still at the loop before it and sat quietly for 30sec while 705 passed on its way uphill. There was a new track machine numbered RhB92020 (is this the new numbering system) in the sidings at Reichenau-Tamins and back at Chur one of the SOB Re4/4IV sat at the head of a train of postal containers. The nearest point of the SOB to Chur is at Pfaffikon, 54 miles distant!

Tuesday 22 September: It was off to Weil-am-Rhein, near Basel, today, to see whether there had been any changes in workings since this time last year. 460 014 plus DD stock formed the 08.09 to Basel. At Basel I got an S6 (Class 521) round to Basel Bad, these services now run half-hourly before going off to Lorrach etc. Then it was a short hop in DD stock pushed by 146 110 to Weil. There appears to be less going into the yard nowadays and more passing by on the main line, much of this through traffic was SBB Class 482 and Crossrail’s fleet of Class 185. In the middle of this year, Class 145 was put on Rhein Valley freight, and several examples of this class, previously unknown in Basel, were noted. Other classes seen were Class 152 and DBs own 185s, mostly from the batch approved for Switzerland, and a 189 Dispolok, 189 998, also appeared. Curiously DB Class 189 has not been noted here although the Dispolok version is a regular visitor. No diesels were seen on containers, but it may have been the wrong time of day for these as they were certainly seen later on (see Konigswinter notes). Passenger traffic was ICE1 and ICE3, with the occasional Class 101, with Class 146.1 on the hourly Offenburgs and Class 111 on the occasional RB to Freiburg.
Return to Chur was in EC101 which I got on at Basel Bad, 101 121 as far as the SBB station and Re4/4II beyond.

Wednesday 23 September. Change of base today, using first of all the Glacier Express at 11.38 off Chur. 648 was in charge of the first leg, taking 12 well-filled vehicles non-stop to Disentis, where the train divided and MGN1, one of the former BVZ locos but identical to 101-108 which normally work this route, backed onto the front portion which then stopped only at Andermatt to pick/up set down, although there were other stops too, for crossing purposes. Again the weather was wonderful (I seem to have been lucky with the weather on this trip in recent years) and arrival in Brig, over the new faster approach, was on time at 15.23. That left me 13 minutes to catch the train to Spiez via the pass (who would ever want to go through the base tunnel except someone in a hurry), which was formed of 2 of the new BLS Class 535 emu stock. The pass route is a favourite one for walkers and a large crowd of them squeezed on board at stations such as Ausserberg and Hohtenn, so that we were quite full by Goppenstein at the top of the hill.
At Spiez there was a wait of about 15min until 460 014 showed up with the Basel-Interlaken, regrettably running the wrong way round as some trains on this route are scheduled to do. I got out at Interlaken West as I was going up to Wilderswil and the No 5 postbus is more convenient for the village than the BOB. Then it was 4 nights at the wonderful Hotel Baren.

Thursday 24 September: Although Interlaken West has a crossing loop, most trains use Platform 1 going east and west. The crossing moves are between stopping trains each hour, and the IR trains cross at the three other loops between here and Spiez. It was off to Olten today to see some freight, and the first bit of activity was a few minutes after leaving Interlaken. 11502, with Tm9656 on the other end, was heading a short freight at Darlingen. 460 053 was the motive power with Mark IV stock to Olten. This major junction has plenty of traffic, passenger and freight, going through it plus movements on and off the depot. Part of the carriage works seem to have closed and the two tiny shunters which operated at the traverser are no more. Anybody expecting to see long trains with Ae6/6 power would have been disappointed. Only one such, with 11469 in front, came through and only eight examples of the class appeared in the 4 hours I was there. Many of the freights have gone over to Re4/4 or Re6/6 haulage and some of the new BLS 486s passed. A pair of DB class 185 passed as did two Crossrail machines of the same class and two of Crossrails Re4/4III, formerly RM, were at the head of another freight. The passenger side was mostly class 460, with Re4/4II on trains between Basel and Luzern. Class 522, which SNCF refused to accept because of crashworthiness aspects (do they still have their 25KV equipment?) are sharing Basel S-Bahn services with Class 521, and a class 523, which looks identical to 521/522 but is only configured for working within Switzerland, arrived with a stopper from Luzern. Return to Interlaken was again in Mark IV stock with 460 076 at the rear. 11502 was now in the sidings at Thun, where it remained for the next 2 days.

Friday 25 September: Pratteln was the intended viewing place today to see what was going over the Gotthard. 460 076 was in charge to Basel and 610 508 was on a freight at Thun. Basel now has platforms numbered up to 17, the highest-numbered being east-facing terminal platforms next to the through freight lines. There was a reminder of Great Britain as the SBB staff tried and failed to get 522 004 and 521 026 to couple together, and eventually I left them and went to Platform 1 to get to Pratteln within 521 025. It must have been a quiet period because activity was hardly what might be called constant. There was some interest in a pair of Crossrail 186s, 902/903, and there was also 185 595/7 which have Crossrail branding, and one SNCF 37000, but no Ae6/6 so eventually I shuffled off to Olten again to see if there were any more of these venerable machines about. No such luck, but something even more venerable in the form of a 2-10-0 52 8055 which ran in from the Upper Hauenstein direction with a 3-coach special. There were only 4 Ae6/6 seen this time with 11480 at Langenthal on the way back to Bern via the old main line. 460 064 was the motive power to Interlaken.

Saturday 26 September: To Langenthal to ride the branch line of the ASM to St. Urban, having done the main line from Solothurn via Niederbipp at this time last year. 460 064 to Bern, and then after a visit to the bear-pits (currently closed while the new bears are being quarantined) and a bowl of soup from the underground restaurant, 460 079 with DD stock to Langenthal. The ASM island platform is on the north side of the station, and one of their new twin-car articulated sets 110 was forming the branch shuttle. The branch is so short (about 4 miles) that two return trips can be done in an hour. It leaves the platform and runs past the depot, and a short distance further on it branches off to the right. It passes an industrial estate then crosses over the top of the line from Olten, and leaves the built-up area behind, but only briefly as we enter Roggwil and then St. Urban, where alternate trains terminate. My train ran on a couple of hundred yards further to the terminus at Ziegelei where there is a stabling point.
Back at Langenthal there were two Ae6/6, 11453 and 11507, sitting in the station area, and I got on another DD set with 460 083 as far as Olten, to circle back via the Pied de Jura line. Normally the stopping trains on this line are Class 560 but this was hauled stock with 11299 which was going as far as Biel. ASMs standard gauge shunter numbered 837 826 was working at Oensingen and then at Biel a line of Ae6/6, headed by 11510, occupied the road in the yard nearest to the main lines. However there were some SBB Cargo liveried examples among the red and green locos, and it was deduced that these were working locos and they would be gone on Monday. From Biel another stopping train (560 048) got me to Neuchatel and a pair of NINA sets BLS 525 031/014 took me back to Bern. A stop at Kerzers added a third NINA in front of the other two, there are now 38 of these sets, some of them 4-section, after the BLS bought the two sets previously with the TRN. From Bern it was 460 044 back to Interlaken.

Sunday 27 September: Time to move on, next destination Luzern. After 5 minutes in an ICE set, 101 967 was at the head of the Golden Pass stock. Alternate through services to Luzern have this branding. It is a pretty run along Lake Brienz and I noted BRB12 in steam at Brienz. 101 964 came onto what had been the rear of the train at Meiringen for the rack section up to Brunig-Hasliberg, and down the other side to Giswil, another bit great for scenery, before some faster running past the bottom of the Pilatusbahn, through the tunnel to Hergiswil and finally down into Luzern. Accommodation was 2 nights at the Waldstatterhof (an Alkohol-frei establishment!) adjacent to the station.
A wee circular trip was done afterward, firstly on 523 014, one of a new batch of these sets which operate stopping trains to Brunnen, and to Sursee on the line to Basel. We went via the lakeside line stopping at the new station on the Wurzenbach loop which serves the Transport Museum, and then on to Arth-Goldau. This is an interchange point for fast and semi-fast Gotthard services. On alternate hours an ICN set comes from Basel via Luzern and exchanges passengers with a hauled set which has come from Zürich. The former then goes on to Lugano stopping only at Bellinzona while the latter has Locarno as its terminus, calling at principal stations en route. On intermediate hours the provenance of the trains switches. A train to Zürich was taken with 11116, and then on to Basel with 460 009, via Brugg and Rheinfelden., and to complete the circuit a fast train back to Luzern was headed by 11247. This was a through train to Locarno, which gets to Luzern in 62 minutes stopping only at Olten. There is a second hourly service to Luzern, which is an extension of the previous service from Basel to Zofingen which was provided in 2004 when the NBS opened.

Monday 28 September: I decided to do a trip to Lugano today, where I had not been for a few years, to see what the freight situation was on the Gotthard. 11152 brought in the train from Basel, and a sister loco came on the other end. The Gotthard line services leave the Luzern area via Rotkreuz, as they have done since 1996, although this is about 5 miles longer than the lakeside line via Kussnacht. Two new stations have opened before Rotkreuz, one of them with the enigmatic name of Root D4, which serves a technology park. At Arth-Goldau there was a delay waiting for a FS ETR470 set forming a train to Milano, the ICN to Lugano was behind that, and the Locarno, which I decided to remain with as I was not in a hurry, followed third in the queue. Freight heading north was not excessive. There were 2 of the BLS class 486 on shed at Erstfeld – since when has Erstfeld become a BLS shed? The mountain section via Goschenen was wonderful as always and one wonders what services will operate this route from 2017 when the base tunnel opens. There will obviously have to be something to cater for the walkers and cyclists who abound on this route. At Biasca there was the unwelcome sight of approximately 25 Ae6/6 in a line, awaiting a call to the breakers. In no particular order, I noted 11458/505/490/504/515/432/497/431/465/454/511/441/515/444/445/476/443 which makes 17 but there were others. Does anybody have the full list?


The train was about 20 min late into Bellinzona where I got out and awaited a connection to Lugano which was formed of one of the ICN sets which has been drafted onto this route from Biel-Konstanz. Lugano was hot and there did not appear to be much freight about, perhaps it was all going via Luino. Return to Bellinzona was in one of the Class 524 TILO sets which look exactly like Classes 521-523 but are fitted with a 3000v DC pantograph for working into Italy. Back at Bellinzona the first item to appear was single railcar 1021, the Red Arrow, which was on an excursion to Locarno. Sharing some duties with Class 524 were some of the most recent examples of Class 523, and Class 560, and 484 018 passed with a freight. No 474s were noted. 11116 appeared with the service to Luzern and waiting in the loop north of the station was a container train double-headed by a loco numbered E484 902 and 185 572. Again southbound freight was at a premium until we got to the Brunnen area where 610 447 was waiting to proceed. There was also a train double-headed by DB 185 and Ae4/7 10997 was sitting in a siding. Other freights were at Arth-Goldau and Rotkreuz.

Tuesday 29 September: My last Swiss resort was Lausanne, which is easy enough to get to from Luzern as since 2004 there is a through service to Genève Aeroport operating via Zofingen and the NBS to Bern. 460 050 was providing power to Mark 4 stock from the rear. An Ae6/6, 11456, was shunting at Sursee. At Puidoux-Chexbres, at the top of the 1 in 55 down to Lausanne there is the sudden panorama of the lakeside villages and the lake with the mountains of France behind, another of these views of which Switzerland has so many. Accommodation was 2 nights at the Hotel Ala Gare, a short walk from the station.
I sampled the new Metro on my way up to have a look at the cathedral. It is a very smart operation where there are doors to the platform and access is denied until the train has arrived and come to a stand. Later I took the standard gauge TSOL round to Renens, the stock on this DC line is similar to that operating Genève-La Plaine. I watched the traffic at Renens for a while and noted that none of the newly refurbished Class 560 sets are yet in traffic, although there are odd vehicles sitting in the sidings at Lausanne (and at Olten!).
Though most of the local services are Class 560 there are some peak-hour extras with Re4/4II and 11203, 11158 and 11180 were performing such duties.

Thursday 1 October: It was time to leave Switzerland and make for Konigswinter in the Rheinland of Germany. The first part of the journey, Lausanne-Basel was in an ICN set at 0845 off Lausanne. At Yverdon there was a newly refurbished Kolibri set sitting in the yard. This had TRAVYS logos and I assume that this is one of the two sets sold to the PBr in 1989 and renumbered 568 384/5, which I note have been returned to CFF stock and have acquired the numbers 560 384/5. At Biel the line of Ae6/6 which had been there on the previous Saturday had gone. A Dispolok 182 600 passed the other way with a freight.
At Basel 11143 eventually arrived with EC101 and I joined the train as 101 084 coupled to the other end before making off into Germany.

Visit Report June 2010. Roger Sanders reporting.
DFB : The final stretch of the original line, Oberwald-Gletsch, is advertised to be reopened 20/08. For the remainder of the 2010 season there will be no through services over the entire route. Instead Realp-Gletsch will continue to operate with one round trip per day FSaSuO, while Oberwald-Gletsch will offer 3 round trips per day also FSaSuO. Over both sections the season last day is 03/10. The Oberwald-Gletsch shuttles may be steam or diesel operated.

On 25/06 Roger Sanders took the Postbus from Oberwald up to Gletsch (beware Zuschlag added to Swiss Pass) which climbs, complete with hairpin bends necessitating the bus driver blowing the posthorn, alongside the line for most of the journey. The relaid track appears to be rack throughout. Its most spectacular feature is the climb through a spiral tunnel. Down at Oberwald the main works in hand were installing the level crossing with inlaid Abt rack across the busy Furka Pass road, also a new turntable was partially complete. As yet there are no buildings to house any DFB stock. The new service will terminate alongside Oberwald MGB Bf on the south side but at the time of the visit, 8 weeks to opening, there appear to be no facilities for DFB passengers.

Visit Report. Alan Baxter reporting.
Sunday 19 September 2010: Today's project was to have a look at the Koblenz-Waldshut border crossing.
First stage was Chur to St. Gallen. This IR service is one of the few not push-pull or operated by Class 460. 11220 was at the head opf thr train to St. Gallen. At Sargans the Buchs line platforms are being reconstructed following on from similar work on the Zurich line platforms a year or two ago. Beyond Rohrschach doubling is taking place towards St. Fiden.
460 108 plus DD stock was the train from St. Gallen as far as Winterthur.

The Waldshut trains are part of S-Bahn service S41 and go from platform 9. They are formed of Thurbo sets and 526 757 was doing the honours on this occasion. It leaves Winterthur running parallel to the Zurich line before branching off to the right, passing some suburban back gardens and some industrial premises before climbing at 1 in 40 to the mile-long Dettenberg Tunnel. Upon exit it then drops down to the junction station at Bulach on the Zurich-Schaffhausen line. A year or two back Bulach was a weekend meeting point for Ae6/6 but instead there was a gathering of Re4/4 and Re6/6. Alternate services from Winterthur extend to Waldshut and we continued a short distance to Eglisau on the line towards Schaffhausen, then going straight on where the main line turns right over the high viaduct across the Rhein.

We continued to Koblenz with the river visible on the right, running into the platforms at Koblenz where there is a meeting of Thurbo services every 30min. The train then reversed, continuing over a section of line electrified only ten years ago, swinging to the right then back left through a tunnel and crossing over the line we had just come in on, then crossing the Rhein and rising to run alongside Schaffhausen-Basel Bad before entering Waldshut where the line terminates at a bufferstop at the extension of Platform 1. There is an indirect connection between the line from Koblenz and the DB tracks.The DB bit of the station is not electrified and services are worked by Class 641 plus two-hourly IRE services to/from Ulm which are Class 611. Passengers for Lindau need to change at Friedrichshafen Stadt. Return to civilisation was in another Thurbo set 526 735 to Baden. Once upon a time it was possible to go from Koblenz to Stein-Sackingen but this line is freight-only as far as Laufenburg which is the terminus of Basel line S1.

Return to Zurich was in a 450 set on service S12, and then I caught EC101 back to Chur.
EC162 from Vienna was running through as we made our stop at Thalwil, this is now a Railjet service and was formed of two of OBBs 6 coach(7 coach?) sets in dark red livery with matching Taurus loco. 1116 207 was in the middle of the train with 1116 223 at the rear. At Landquart two of RhBs new Allegra sets 3506/8 were in the yard.

Monday 20 September: To Tirano today but not in the Bernina Express which was full as usual. I followed behind in the St. Moritz service which had 642 for haulage. On the way out of Chur we passed 3507 in the yard. These new dual-voltage Allegra sets will number 15 in the current batch being delivered and will take over Bernina services, the Arosa line and Landquart-Davos, thus allowing retirement of motor-coaches 41-49 and the Ge4/4 601-610. Another five sets, this time 11kV ac only, will run the Thusis-Chur-Landquart-Schiers S-Bahn service and allow motor-coaches 511-516 to be withdrawn.

There were none of the new sets visible as far as Pontresina. Bergun/Bravuogn is again wearing the alternative name Madruns which it had when a film was being made centred on the village about 12 years ago - perhaps a follow-up is being made? Beyond Bergun an amount of tree-felling has been done thus revealing some of the various levels of track on the way up to Preda. At Samedan the shuttle to Pontresina was formed of 608 and at this place 3504 was waiting at the head of six coaches forming a service to Tirano. These new sets therefore fulfill the function of a pair of the previous motor coaches and they still have to run round the stock at the terminals. I noted the first 5 of these new sets out and about, all except 3501 having a trailing load - this one was passed at Brusio. The remaining services were headed by two pairs of 41-49 and a pair of 51-56. The Allegras are not as noisy as the sets they have replaced!


Tirano FS station contained two ALe 803 emus running local services to Sondrio and a freight headed by E652 154 arrived before it was time for the return journey within motor-coach 49, paired with 44, at the head of the St. Moritz version of the Bernina Express. There was some late running on the way back and after the shuttle to Samedan (608 again) 626 was waiting impatiently at the head of the train for Chur but it made all the lateness up by the time we rolled into the capital of the Graubunden. There was an SOB class 446, which is ex SBB Re4/4iv, at the head of a train at the mail platform in Chur. A grand day out.

Tuesday 21 September: To Weil-am-Rhein, a suburb of Basel, to see some freight. 460 011 was at the head of a train of SD stock. On the way to Basel we passed a pair of ICN sets running in the timing of one of the xx33 services Basel-Chur. I took 521 030 round to Basel Bad and then DD stock with 146 112 the short distance to Weil. There is a proposal afoot to link Weil to the Basel tram system. When I first visted this location in 1997 the yard was busy with freight coming and going and comparatively little went through on the main line to/from Muttenz.

Nowadays most of the freight bypasses the yard and there is much less coming in to change locos. Much of the freight traffic was headed by Class 185 owned by Crossrail and there was also presence of class 145 which was not known in the area before December 2008. Class 145 has taken over the workings which were previously class 155 and some of the Class 151 workings too. There was also a brand-new Mitsui 189 286 , 185 684 with Railpool logos and Rail4Chem 185 563. Local passenger traffic was Class 146.1 but 146 239 appeared on one diagram. Back at Basel SBB later EC101 was adrift somewhere and so SBB had provided an Ersatzzug to run in the timings of the missing train, 1647 off Basel complete with 12 vehicles and Class 460 loco. OBB 1116 207/209 came past with RJ162 (formerly EC162) while we were making the stop at Wadenswil.

Wednesday 22 September: It was time to leave Chur and head for Wilderswil, using the Glacier Express as the first leg.
While waiting for the Glacier Express to arrive, I noted two ICN sets arriving on the 0733 ex Basel. One set then returns to Basel as the 1009, and the other sits at Chur until the 1509. The two sets then have another run to Chur at 1833, finally returning to Basel at 2216.
The 12 vehicles of the Glacier Express were headed by 650, and another pleasant journey ensued in magnificent weather.

At Disentis the train was split with the forward portion going on behind MGB105, which was originally an SBB loco on the Brunigbahn and sold to the FO in 1990. On the next stretch to Andermatt we went into 4 consecutive loops to await eastbound services, three of which were Glacier Expresses. Time had been recovered on the section to Brig, only for us to stop dead on the new deviation approaching Brig and we sat there for approx 10 min. By the time we got going again and arrived in Brig my train to Spiez via the Lotschberg Pass had gone and the only alternative to waiting for an hour for the next one was the 1549 Romanshorn via the base tunnel. 460 117 was at the rear of the DD stock. Before the base tunnel opened the DD stock was barred from reaching Brig because of clearance problems in various tunnels on the mountain section.

The trip to Spiez is certainly quick, 35 minutes with 13 spent underground including a false exit at Frutigen where a connection goes off and we then spent the next minute in tunnel before emerging into the Kander Valley. I detrained at Spiez to wait for the next Interlaken service and discovered that these trains now run with the loco and the 1st class coaches at the rear from Bern to Interlaken so that a long hike is necessary at Interlaken West to reach the exit. 460 063 was at the rear of the single deck stock and then I got the twice-hourly postbus 5 up to Wilderswil and the Hotel Baren which was my base for the next four nights.

Thursday 23 September: Leaving Interlaken West just before 0900, I found 11404 with a short freight plus Tm8793 in the loop at Darligen. 460 011 was in charge of the service. At Bern I opted for the 1037 to Luzern via Langnau, this was BLS stock with 465 007 at the head. This former main line has seen some double-tracking at the Bern end but the section beyond Langnau remains much as it was when I first travelled the line in 1980! the next leg was on to Olten to view some freight. Olten was busy as ever and there seemed to be more Ae6/6s about than there were at this time last year (is the dump at Biasca still there or have some locos been revived from it?).

Three Crossrail 185s came through at the head of a freight bound for Basel and then 11464 appeared with an incredibly long freight headed towards Zurich. BLS locos old and young were also much in evidence and one of the new shunting locos 922 015 was coupled to 540 059. Another of the 540s, 029, was propelling a coach labelled Securitas, I presume this is a bullion transfer or similar. Eventually I returned to Bern via the old Langenthal line (460 057 and DD) and then 460 011 was the motive power (again) for the last leg back to Interlaken

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TUNISIA

Howard Forster May 2009
Wednesday 06/05/09: A train was taken from La Goulette to Tunis Marine on the Tunis Goulette Marsa standard gauge light railway, which has a frequent service, and is electrified throughout. It was the first railway in Tunisia having been opened in 1872. Originally utilising horses, they were soon replaced by 2-4-0T locomotives, which in turn were replaced by electric units in1908, when the line was electrified at 600v DC by a 3rd rail supply, to form the first electrified railway in Africa. In 1989 conversion to 750v DC overhead supply took place. At present the service is operated by 36 Duwag – Man two car units. Tunis itself has a five line tram network served by 134 Duwag units and 39 Alstom Citadis units, with the possibility of a further 16 being supplied. The TGM depot and the two serving the tram network, are all located in the Tunis Marine area. At the SNCFT station the metre gauge platforms were on the east side and the standard gauge on the west. There were large notices proclaiming that Alstom was going to modernise the network, without any evidence of a start being made.

This may be due to the fact that it is a 15 year scheme costed at 15 million euros, which involves electrifying five suburban lines out of Tunis at 25kv, raising the platforms, renewing the signals and refurbishing the track. The first line to be modernised will be to Bord Cedra. In the platforms there were only narrow gauge locos present, 040-DK 89/98, 040-DM 265 and 040-GT 551. The main servicing facilities were about a mile south of the station. On walking to them, a new depot, presumably for EMUs, had been constructed at the northern end of the yard. Access to the depot was by a keypad gate, there was also a gatekeeper who kindly let us in.

Once inside we were able to see the Chef de Depot, who explained that as the depot was a working area, visits could only be made with written permission; however he did say that there was no restriction on photography by the lineside or on stations, including Tunis. 8 locos had been noted including 040-GE 405. On returning to the station, narrow gauge 040-DO 331 and 040-GT 563 had appeared together with standard gauge 040-DK 82.

Tunisia Tunis. GE built U6B, SNCFT 040-DM 265 had arrived on a local train. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Tunisia Tunis. A GM GT18, SNCFT 040-GT 551 had arrived on a long distance train. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Tunisia Tunis. A pair of MLW DL536Bs, SNCFT 040-DK 89/98 await departure on local trains. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Tunisia Tunis. Ganz-Mavag SNCFT 040-DO 331 pictured on arrival on a local train. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster
Tunisia Tunis. MLW DL536B SNCFT 040-DK 82, one of the standard gauge locos awaits departure. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster		Tunisia Le Bac. TGM Duwag-Man ERC A107 was pictured on a Marsa - Tunis Marine working. 06/05/09 Photo by Howard Forster

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Visit Report: Howard Forster reporting

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17.09.2010 BM &LP E60C 6001 50kVac Co-Co at Grand Canyon Railway shed Williams AZ	17.09.2010 AT & SF 3759 4-8-4 at tourist information centre Kingman AZ

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18.09.2010 GCR 4960,239 & 295 on 15:30 from Grand Canyon Depot AZ	20.09.2010 D&S NG RR 481 on 8:15 from Durango CO climbing through Animas River Gorge

20.09.2010 D&S NG RR 481 on 8:15 from Durango CO climbing through Animas River Gorge	20.09.2010 RGS 42 in the D&S NG RR Museum Durango CO

20.09.2010 Silverton Northern 1 railcar at Freight House Museum Silverton CO	20.09.2010 D&S NG RR 481 on 14:00 dep at Silverton CO

21.09.2010 D&S NG RR 486 at 32cd Street on 8:15 from Durango CO	23.09.2010 Mandalay Bay-Excalibur monorail (tram) Las Vegas NV

26.09.2010 AT & SF 3450 4-6-4 at Fairplex Pomona CA	29.09.2010 Ferromex C30-7 3539 shunting at Mazatlan Mexico

USA News. Ross Middleton reporting. The Federal Railway administration has released the first funds for High Speed Rail. Florida has received $66m which will enable design work and contract preparation for a design build and operate contract and land acquisition to commence.

The next biggest slice of funds is for California, but not for the high speed system, which remains bogged down in the planning process, but rather for improvements to the Oakland to Sacramento Capital Connection service. Most of the money is earmarked for Sacramento station to relieve congestion, but part of the money will also be spent on track improvements to reduce transit times.

Smaller sums of money have been released for planning the Madison to Milwaukee, Empire Corridor route in New York state and a rail plan in New Mexico. Meanwhile another plan has emerged to connect Vegas with Los Angeles. This is a rival high speed proposal to the current Desert Xpress proposal. Called Desert Lightning the proposal is for a line from Los Angeles to Phoenix with a branch to Las Vegas. The proposal also means that Palm Springs is served, which is an important source of wealthy customers for Vegas. However they are asking for federal funds to carry out a feasibility study, it is quite probable that Desert Xpress will have cleared the planning process and start construction before this happens, assuming of course that they are able to raise the required funds.