esngblog

Day 9

Another very hot day. Set off by bus to Rotkreuz changing at Kussnacht. We then took train to Zurich and following a couple of train journeys we took a boat down Lake Zurich to Rapperswil for train back to Kussnacht.

Drama on the journey back. We saw a man lying on his back by a level crossing and then the train came to a stop. The driver and guard walked down the outside of the train before extracting a mangled bike from under the train. The train then continued on its way. We were late into Kussnacht and were pleased to seen our connecting bus waiting for us.

Zurich

Kussnacht on Lake Zurich

Rapperswil

Day 10

Still no rain but overcast today and breezy on Lake Lucerne.

First thing today we headed by bus via Schwyz to the recently reopened Stoosbahn, which is the steepest funicular in the world. It was an experience! Shortly after leaving the valley station it is like going up a wall in an outside lift. After visiting Stoos we descended and caught a bus to Schwyz Bahnhof for trains to Luzern charging at Arth Goldau. In Luzern Allan settled down to do some grieving [not more grieving? Ed.] whilst Ron went into town to walk round.   We returned to Vitznau by boat. Now have to repack our cases for transfer tomorrow to Filisur.

Stoosbahn

Stoos

More pictures of the Stoosbahn next time, from Allan.

Luzern

Day 8

By Allan…..

Sitting here on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon watching trains.  Sitting in platform one is the Gothard Panoramic Express. Or us old farts remember it as the William Tell train. You start your journey in Luzern on a paddle boat then you change at Fluelen to the train over the Gothard.

When the five coach train left today you could have got every one in one coach.  Todays paddle boat for the trip was Stadt Luzern, the flagship of the fleet. She will be withdrawn at the end of the year for major work. They hope to have her back in service in 2021.

Have included a photo of one of the paddle boats as I didn’t see Stadt Luzern today.

And by Ron…. (hope they agree where they’d been)

Another hot day.

Caught bus to Kussnacht only to see our connecting train to Arth Goldau standing in the platform. By the time we got onto the platform the train had left. We had to wait 30 minutes for next train and luckily on arrival we got an immediate connection on train through the Gotthard Base Tunnel to Bellinzona. We then returned over the old Gotthard route to Fluelen with a change at Erstfeld. We left Fluelen on boat back to Vitznau.

Fluelen

Bauen

Schiller Stone

Tribe

M&S Weggis leaving Beckenreid

Beckenreid

Day 7

Another hotel – moved from Lauterbrunnen to Vitznau by train via Interlaken to Luzern and then boat to Vitznau. Having put our cases in our room we caught bus to Brunnen. Returning an hour later by train to Kussnacht via Arth Goldau for bus back to hotel where we watched most of the second half of the England game in the bar.

Luzern

Brunnen

Female alpenhorn player. Hotel Terasse Vitznau. [Just what you need to brighten up your day? Ed.]

Sunset photos over Lake Lucerne.

Last boat of the day coming into Vitznau.

Our hotel in Vitznau.

Day 6

Good evening from a wet Lauterbrunnen. Our first wet day but we only got wet walking back from station to hotel.

Today we travelled via Interlaken, Bern and Fribourg to Neuchatel. Where we took the funicular and trolleybus into the centre for a return journey on their only train line which runs along the lakeside before heading inland. There were only 3 trams running on the whole route. We then took trolleybus back to station for direct train to Bern. Here Allan did some grieving [????? Ed. Must have been the day when Switzerland exited the World Cup] while Ron did some shopping in town. We then returned via Interlaken to hotel.

Neuchatel

Bern

Just walking by hotel. [Not sure what is going on here! Even zooming into the photo leaves me lost.  Greek Urn Formation Marchers???? Ed.  Please put your answers on a postcard and send them to any blog except this one…]

Back in the UK Simon got as far north as York without a visa….

Meanwhile, back in Earlswood, it was a boiling hot afternoon, and perhaps not ideal for playing trains.  However, we got a large circuit up and running, including Paul’s modules – then had a little rest.  Though no-one (except Phil) could face a curry afterwards.

High level bullets….

And Graham’s locomotive had a most realistic accident!

And in Switzerland…..

Day 5

Rather mixed today it has been overcast, rainy and hot and sunny.

Had a day travelling around today so not many photos today. Took train via Interlaken to Thun where we took a train through the Emmental to Solothurn. We then headed South to Lausanne where we took a round trip on the metro to Ouchy on the shore of Lake Geneva. The ships were like London Buses none for ages and then 3 came in within 5 minutes. We returned from Lausanne changing at Bern, Spiez and Interlaken.

Views of the Emmental taken through train windows.

Ouchy on Lake Geneva.

A wet evening in Lauterbrunnen.

Day 4

Left hotel this morning in heavy drizzle but within a few hours it turned into another hot day. We travelled by train via Interlaken to Meiringen. From there we took postbus over the Grimsel Pass, where we had a 30 minute break, to Oberwald. We then returned by train to Brig for train over original Lotschberg route to Spied and then back to hotel via Interlaken.

ZB train at Meiringen

Meiringen Postbus station

Grimsel Pass

Oberwald station

Glacier Express at Brig Bahnhofplatz

Who said Swiss trains always run on time

These new platform displays are very good as they change between the two displays at a very slow & readable speed.