Might as well keep on posting these instalments as they come in!
A very hot day. Took train changing in Interlaken and Berne to Lausanne where we took the metro down to Lake Geneva at Ouchy. We spent 45 mins by the lake before boarding a paddle boat for a tour of the east end of the lake. We came ashore and came back via Brig. Just outside Visp Ron thought he saw an outside thermometer showing 40°!
Boats….
On descent to Lausanne
Views from metro going down to Ouchy
Lausanne from paddleship
St Gingolph
Chateau de Chillon
And trains (plus a bus and trailer).
The BLS Metze train is at Interlaken Ost. Bus is in Lauterbrunnen. Rest taken at Montreux
Further to earlier emails weather has now broken. We are now in middle of thunderstorm with lots of wind and hail stones the size of pennies. Expect the storm to last for some time as they get stuck in the valley.
It’s been a very lazy June that seems to have just drifted by. Not many exhibitions to visit, and no real incentive to get on and do some modelling. On a personal note, it was an auspicious month for the Bartlett’s, though – eldest daughter Ruth got engaged in Berlin (I’d better start saving), and Maxine and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. Not entirely sure what the secret of our success is, though – model trains probably have something to do with it!
But July usually brings relief to this poor blogger, as Allan and Ron head for Switzerland (you could set your watch by them) and send back some holiday snaps – hopefully with some trains in some of them, and not just Ron’s exotic meals!
We caught the late running 0842 from Purley direct to Gatwick Airport. We dropped our bags off two and a half hours before our flight and was told by the machine that the flight was delayed 30 mins.
Our scheduled 1155 flight eventually took off around 1250. Instead of scheduled arrival of 1430 we touched down in Basle at 1500 and were told by flight crew that the temperature was 38°. We bussed in but had a tour of the airport before reaching terminal. Having cleared passport control we found our cases already going round on the carousel.
We walked outside the terminal to find a bus into town waiting. We managed to get to the station in time to catch the 1559 Interlaken train and thus reached Lauterbrunnen at 1825. Only pictures today are those taken from our balcony.
Hydrogen-powered trains are said to be the greenest trains out there. “Mini power stations on wheels”, is how a University of Birmingham researcher describes them, as they give off zero emissions and their only by-product is water.
Trains powered by hydrogen could be a reality in the UK by the “early 2020s”, according to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
They’re seen as a cleaner – but pricier – alternative to diesel trains, as the exhaust emission is pure water.
The BBC’s Roger Harrabin reports from Germany, where hydrogen trains are already running.
A power cut that disrupted rail traffic on a Japanese island last month was caused by a slug, officials say. More than 12,000 people’s journeys were affected when nearly 30 trains on Kyushu shuddered to a halt because of the slimy intruder’s actions.
Its electrocuted remains were found lodged inside equipment next to the tracks, Japan Railways says. The incident in Japan has echoes of a shutdown caused by a weasel at Europe’s Large Hadron Collider in 2016.
Beat our leaves on the track anyday….
And reminds me of this post from a couple of years ago…
A quiet club night. Just the seven of us, and not that many trains. Derek discovered that his old goods train on Peco chassis wouldn’t stay coupled, whilst Paul had yet another new bulley on display.
None the less, a pleasant evening, though I spend some time checking the Women’s World Cup scores on the phone, to see England winning, and Scotland snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Well, I’ve given in and we’ve committed ourselves to NGSE 2020. The show will be on 4 April 2020, and it will be at a new site, Reigate College.
The show will be a little smaller than Riddlesdown this year, but still a good size with around 15-18 layouts. This facility does look as if it could be a regular home for us, access is a lot easier (it’s just behind Reigate station), and a slightly smaller show will be more sustainable as an annual event (at least for the exhibition manager).
The hall is a large single facility (no long walks between exhibits), using the two halves of the College refectory. It’s a modern, airy, space. Access to public transport is good, train or bus, and there is plenty of car parking on site.
I appreciate being supported for next year by a larger team, so I hope that life won’t be quite as pressured coming up to the event – and the slightly smaller size will help.
Pacers could also become community spaces or cafes once they are finally replaced by new trains, according to the government, one year after the northern rail meltdown
This popped up in the press a couple of weeks ago, and was well discussed on the usual forums. I liked this response in the linked article.
Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds responded with bemusement, however.
“I am not sure my constituents will agree that this is an ‘exciting opportunity’, unless one of them is turned into a museum dedicated to highlighting years of under-investment in Northern transport,” he said.
“My personal suggestion would be to invite my fed up constituents to dismantle them piece by piece, a bit like when the Berlin Wall came down.”
Still, the Dapol Pacer is reported to be a bit inclined to blow its lights and strip its gears, so perhaps a village hall conversion is just what we need!
Back to the normality of a club night, with 9 attending. A particular welcome to Paul, visiting for the first time.
It was ‘Terrier’ night again. Simon was running a second hand ‘Brighton Works’ and I test ran my three new Terriers. I’ve been waiting for a couple of years for these models from Dapol, and they are all a treat to own – ‘Brighton’ in LBSCR livery, then Terriers in SECR and LSWR greens. All the liveries are very well done.
A more usual train from Simon….
Bullet trains in the fiddle yard – though the one on the left won’t get any further than the Kent coast (it’s just a 4-CEP, really!)
Back from a pleasant long weekend in Berlin. We did less tourism than usual, but 34C temperatures does rather discourage trudging the streets, and encourage ice cream and beer and polite conversation. But here are a few railway (and other) shots…..
An ideal hotel room overlooking the U-1 line. The trains are remarkably quiet, even at night. More than can be said for the emergency services, with full sirens at all hours.
Having climbed up to the top of the Berliner Dom (too many stairs) it was worth the view.
Next day, we did another boat trip – the ideal way to relax and see the city – and a few trains if you are lucky.
I saw some new liveries on trains crossing the bridges, but none close enough to get a picture. This picture of the new Flixtrain cut-price service comes from their website, but is taken from a boat on the Spree.
A visit to my daughter’s partner’s craft brewery (good product) and the old and disused Witenau station building on the S-bahn.
Queuing for Sicilian ice-cream – and U-bahn spotting…
Back to the U-bahn. Looks like we’ll carry on visiting Berlin, as Ruth went for an interview at the immigration department in Berlin and to her great surprise came out with a permanent resident’s visa. So she’s B**x** proof for a while, and doesn’t have to apply for German citizenship.
The area around the Warschauer Str. terminus is of both railway and historic interest. Behind the station itself is this small maintenance shed, and a large carriage shed. I don’t think Lidl are now operating trains! Although I didn’t see any trains enter the shed, I suspect the trains are on the elevated level and there is a Lidl store underneath. At least, I hope so…..
Leaving the terminus, the train crosses the River Spree by the Oberbaum bridge. This was a Cold War crossing point from east to west, and trains were unable to cross the river to the Warschauer Str. terminus. Old aerial photographs show all the tracks lifted. But with reunification, the terminus came back into use. The 3 photos below are taken from where the Berlin Wall and crossing point would have been. The longest remaining section of wall, decorated with murals lies behind me as I took the photos.
After crossing the bridge the line curves away to the right. This location is very model-like, and would make a fine scene for a model railway. The second shot comes from Wikipedia, I’m afraid, as we didn’t manage a boat trip on the Spree (Ruth was worried that they would be full of Barcelona and Juventus supporters – not a nice thought in a confined space), and this is such a good shot of the attractive bridge structure.
The next station along the line, Schlesisches Tor, is a fine piece of railway architecture (as is the next station along). Many of the other stations along the line are simple train sheds, perhaps indicating war-time bomb damage.
To close out our Berlin adventures here’s a video of the U-Bahn, an alternative form of transport of the Spree (I love float planes, but you wouldn’t catch me on anything smaller than a Sunderland), and the family at the amazingly OTT Russian war memorial at Trepnow Park.
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