Above:
The train arriving at Grund is a Wengernalpbahn train. The
Wengernalp Railway
is an 800 mm gauge rack and pinion railway (Riggenbach-Pauli system) and is the
longest cog - wheel railway in Switzerland.
It runs from Lauterbrunnen to the head of the Kleine Scheidegg pass where it
connects to the Jungfrau Railway. The line was opened in 1893 and electrified in
1909/10 using 1500 V direct current.
Wikipedia also has
some information pages on the railway.
The coach took us to Grund, already 943 metres above see level (that's somewhere
near 3,100 foot in old money!) where we boarded the train for the
Jungfraujoch.
Click the link on the left to go to the website. It also has some live
webcams where you can view the scenery and weather Otherwise known as "The
Top of Europe" and probably one of the highest places couch potatoes like me can
get to.
Above: The train
departs from Grund on its way up the mountain. In view from the station is
the engine maintenance shed. It employs a rack and pinnion system
(aka cog-wheel railway) to climb the steep gradients to get up the mountailside
and for some obscure reason the video clip is grossly overexposed. But
then we can't win them all. The video also shows the driver taking his cap
off. I came to the conclusion that he could see me filming him from my
reflection. A large proportion of the journey is carried out in tunnels
but there are two station in the tunnel, as well as the terminus at the top,
where you can get off the train and go to a viewing area carved into the
mountainside and enjoy the very spectacular views. I must confess to being
tempted to include some here. The problem with that being where do you
stop!
Above: Same day - different place! This is on the
return journey at Grindlewald. At the start of the clip the coach driver /
courier is comming to an end of a commentary by saying "This is the east railway
station where all the trains start and finish". Always helpful to know!
Apart from the fact that this is a Wengeralpbahn train I have no idea where it
was going although it was about 4.30 p.m. As the Swiss are so terribly
efficient I'm sure I could find a railway timetable to tell me. But I did
include the clip because it gives a good indication of the gradients these
trains travel up and down.
Above: The train in this video clip is a different company - its
the Berner Oberland Bahn.
It is also a wider gauge than the Wengeralp, reverting to the one metre gauge.
More information about the company can be found by following the above link.
The link is also has an index to a set of brief but comprehensive set of pages
about what appears to be all the train companies that run in Switzerland>
And when you see the list it's not surprising you get the impression that there
is a station round every corner. If these were all steam railways it would be
heaven. But then again they would also have probably been closed down long
ago in 'Beeching' style!
I always
wondered how rack and pinnion (aka cog wheel)
railways worked when it came to a set of points! Well now you can see for
yourselves. Although I still wonder how they line them all up accurately because
the train trip is very smooth.
Inside the
mountain at Eigerwand and 9,400 feet up. It's a bit difficult to tell on
this picture, but there are actually 3 trains all stopped to let the passengers
out and take in the views from a gallery carved out of the mountain side.
Very impressive views as well
Lo and behold! The 'Top of Europe' at, as
you can see, quite a few feet up from sea level. It also made us feel
rather light headed and a packet of crisps someone had taken up with them looked
as if they were about to explode!
A Jungfraubahn train number 212 ascends the hill
whilst we wait at a passing loop. The Jungfraubahn has an excellent web
site in English which also features live webcam views of the mountains.
Just click here
to access it
Waiting for duty this was immediately behind the
above right picture when the 212 train had passed. Unfortunately I dont
appear to have noted the company who were operating it. But the Jugfraubahn link
above right does list other railway companies.
Lastly back at Grund and Jungfraubahn train
number 208 awaits its next trip after we disimbarked. The person on the
far right of the picture in the dark blue jumper and white shirt is Chris
Knowles, the driver / courier, and the lady using the wheelchair a fellow
traveller on the tour.
