From: cpalmer@dingo.rtp.dg.com ()
Subject: Re: Swiss Railroad Questions
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 21:03:43 GMT
Organization: Data General Corporation, Westboro MA

In article <1992Aug19.003036.2051@vitsemi.com> Rob Eccles writes:
>I will be spending a week in Switzerland in September.  What are some
>interesting railroads to see or ride?
>
I am not a "technical" railfan, but I enjoy travelling by train.
And Switzerland is great for that.
From my last trip there I would recommend:

Chur - St.Moritz. Very scenic, interesting tunnels etc.

St. Moritz - Bernina - Tirano. Absolutely spectacular ride and 
scenery, the descent into Poschiavo is unbelievably steep.
One sort of ends up stuck out there at Tirano, but I would
suggest then doing Tirano - Milano - Stresa the same day.
Spend a night in Stresa (very pretty) and next day take the
Centovalli to Locarno (ie. Stresa - Domodossola - Locarno).

Next day you can do Locarno - Bellinzona - Gottardo - Andermatt.
At Andermatt change to the BOB (Berner Oberland Bahnstrasse ?)
and do Andermatt - Oberwald - Brig. At Brig change and join the
train to Zermatt. This may sound like a lot, but it is actually
a fairly easy days ride. You get to see the best part of the
Glacier Express run (IMHO - because you've already done Chur -
St. Moritz at the start). If you don't want to go to Zermatt,
then from Brig take the Brig - Interlaken train. Once again there
is a spectacular climb from the Rhone valley up to the tunnel
(Lotschberg?) through to Kanderstag.
(If you want to break up this journey, stay overnight in Andermatt.
Rent a car for the afternoon and drive to the top of the Furka Pass.
There is a wonderful view from there, looking west down into the
next valley, with the Grimsel Pass road snaking its way up the 
mountains on the far side.)

In the Interlaken area there is too much to do. Some suggestions:
 - Interlaken - Grindelwald - Jungfraujoch
 - or Interlaken - Wengen - Jungfraujoch
 - Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen - bus to the Schilthorn cable car -
   take cable car to summit - easy walk down thru Murren to a
   funicular which takes you back down to Lauterbrunnen
(Actually, I prefer staying in Grindelwald to staying in Interlaken,
nothing like getting up in the morning and looking out at the Eiger.
All the above suggestions are just as easily done from Grindelwald.)


Some other notes:

 - I used the Swiss Holiday Card and thought it was a great deal.
   You only need Second class ( Swiss Rail is very clean and
   comfortable). With the Card you can hop onto basically any train,
   bus or lake steamer. You can change your days plans at a moments
   notice. And it provides some discounts (better than Eurail) for
   trips like the Jungfruajoch and the Schilthorn cable car.

 - If you are trying to make close connections, BEWARE of BOB!
   This is the only Swiss line I have encountered which does not
   run on time. It is always (in my experience) late. Generally
   in the 10 to 30 minutes range. This may not sound like a lot
   in the land of Amtrak, but when you are used to making two
   minute connections it can be quite a shock. Apart from BOB,
   you can pretty much rely on making any connections you see in
   the timetable.

 - Get a timetable! They are available from the Swiss National
   Tourist Office in New York (and San Francisco I think). Last
   time I got them there were three comprehensive volumes for
   trains, buses and International connections(?). If you get these
   well before you go you can do all your planning at home.

 - If you take advantage of the Swiss Rail luggage forwarding
   (ie. when you start the day, ticket most of your luggage through
   to your end of day destination) beware that it may take considerably
   longer to arrive than you do. eg. Zurich - St. Moritz may arrive
   two or three trains after you. When I did The Locarno - Andermatt -
   Zermatt run described above, my forwarded luggage didn't arrive
   until the next morning. Maybe I should just travel lighter.

Enjoy your trip.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Palmer                            "Ashes to ashes,
Data General Corporation                 dust to dust,
Network Systems Development Division     If Lillee don't get you,
cpalmer@dingo.webo.dg.com                Thommo must!"