Swiss Findings − 01, Dual

I’ve little knowledge about the railways of Switzerland and Europe. However, fortunately, I enjoyed our summer vacation there finding interesting objects. Let me introduce what I found.


Dual gauge tracks would be familiar to enthusiasts in the United States. Switzerland has a vast network of narrow gauge tracks and also has several dual gauge sections. What I found is a kind of dual, but not in the familiar situation.

Found at Vevey is a little modified crossing of standard and meter gauge tracks. It could happen anywhere, but may not be so occasionally. We don’t have such a N or HO gauge crossing, too.

: Jul. 8, 2023. Vevey, Switzerland

Found at Zweisimmen is the gauge conversion section for the bland new GoldenPass Express (GPX) equipment[1]. GPX offers the run-through service between standard-gauged BLS Interlaken station and meter-gauged MOB Montreux station.

While rolling through this section with passengers keep riding on it, the wheel slides from standard gauge to meter gauge. You can see what’s going on on the monitor in the car.

Riding heights are also adjusted to each line’s platforms. It provides a very quiet and smooth ride for all this curvy alignment of MOB maybe because there is no axle. Locomotives are changed.

[1] Facts and figures about GoldenPass Express, MOB Press Office;

: Jul. 7, 2023. Zweisimmen, Switzerland
: Jul. 7, 2023. Switzerland

Found at Bern is not the dual gauge, but the dual catenary. The catenary on the right feeds the tram, and the other two catenaries on the left feed the trolley bus. They both use DC 600V.

Dual catenaries also feed the Gornergrat Railway (GGB) EMUs. Catenary-less Transports Montreux Vevey Riviera (MVR) cable car refurbished in 2009 is charged at the terminal.

: Jul. 6, 2023. Bern, Switzerland
: Jul. 9, 2023. Zermatt, Switzerland
: Jul. 8, 2023. Vevey, Switzerland

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Swiss Findings − 02, Cogs, Sleepers, Joints, and…

I’ve little knowledge about the railways of Switzerland and Europe. However, fortunately, I enjoyed our summer vacation there finding interesting objects. Let me introduce what I found.

Found at Gornergrat is the temporal buffer stop or derail for the cog railway: they just bent the cog rail a little. Maybe that’s enough for the cog equipment.

: Jul. 9, 2023. Gornergrat, Switzerland

Found along the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway (MGB) between Visp and Zermatt is the diagonal sleepers. They seem built of steel beams. I can’t guess why they do so.

: Jul. 8, 2023. Switzerland

Found at Bern are the welded rail joints for the tram. Welded rail seems used widely for tram tracks in Switzerland. It offers a quiet and smooth ride. However, curiously, this is the only welded rail joint for trams I found in Switzerland. The place may be the point; it was on a relatively long bridge.

: Jul. 6, 2023. Bern, Switzerland

Found at Basel are these little facilities inside of the tram tracks. They are also found on the abandoned industrial track on a paved road. Looking closely and you can see the opening at its flangeway. Accordingly, my guess is they are the cleanout of the drain. The design variation was interesting to me.

: Jul. 13, 2023. Basel, Switzerland
: Jul. 13, 2023. Basel, Switzerland
: Jul. 12, 2023. Basel, Switzerland
: Jul. 12, 2023. Basel, Switzerland
: Jul. 13, 2023. Basel, Switzerland
: Jul. 13, 2023. Basel, Switzerland

Japanese & Comments

Swiss Findings − 03, Cowls and Collars

: Sep. 6, 2019. Bellevue, OH
: Jul. 7, 2023. Zweisimmen, Switzerland

I heard that there is nothing inside the cab cowl of EMD GP30. I believe it's the same on the cab cowl of these locomotives in Switzerland like BLS Re465.

There may be some wirings or insulators, but I believe there is all but nothing under the cowl because its opening just fits the folded pantograph. The purpose of Cowling is unknown; it may be just a design like GP30.

: Jul. 6, 2023. Bern, Switzerland
: Jul. 6, 2023. Biel, Switzerland
: Jul. 9, 2023. Gornergrat, Switzerland

The contemporary trams and trolleybuses in Switzerland look great from the street level. But their inside heights are occasionally not so high as they look. If you see them from above, you will find a lot of devices formerly equipped under the floor filling the roof, hidden with stiff collars.

They put the devices on the roof to lower the floor for ease of riding and descending. It may also make it easy to maintain. The origin of the collar-style design may be found in advertising boards on vintage equipment.

: Jul. 13, 2023. Basel, Switzerland
: Jul. 13, 2023. Basel, Switzerland

Japanese & Comments

Fate of Cab Windows

: Durango, CO. Sep. 7, 2017

Here, a cab window means a window on the side of a cab, not the windshield. There used to be a large opening on the side of the cab where engineers would give waves to us on the trackside.

Today, in contrast with the cab windows of freight equipment, the cab windows of passenger equipment become relatively small.

: Sep. 10, 2017 Thompson Springs, UT
: Sep. 13, 2015 Santa Fe, NM

As you can see in the photo, GE P42DC first built in 1993 has a cab window with enough opening width for the engineer to hang out his arm. But MPI MP36PH first built in 2003 has a triangle window with only a small opening. Siemens Charger first built in 2016 has quite a little fixed window only to see the back mirror.

: Jul. 8, 2023 Vevey, Switzerland
: Jul. 8, 2023 Vevey, Switzerland
: Jul. 14, 2023 Basel, Switzerland

It seems the same in Switzerland. Black masking paints hide it, but the size of the cab windows of SBB equipment is getting small.

Not only SBB but narrow gauge tourist railways also introduce smaller cab window equipment. For example, as shown in the photo below, Gornergrat Railway (GGB) Bhe 4/8 with a wide cab window on the right was built in 1993, and Bhe 4/6 with a narrow cab window behind the mask on the left was built in 2022. MOB GPX equipment first built in 2020 seems to have a relatively large fixed cab window at a glance, but that’s maybe for the Prestige Class passengers right behind it.

: Jul. 9, 2023 Gornergrat, Switzerland
: Jul. 7, 2023 Montreux, Switzerland

In France, TGV Euroduplex first built in 2011 has a small fixed cab window, but TER 76500 series DMU first built in 2004 and TER 84500 series EMU first built in 2014 have no cab window.

I believe that the cab air conditioning and the conductor-less operation with a single operator at the center of the windshield brought about the decay of cab windows. Waving hands to and from trains may also decay in the near future.

: Jul. 12, 2023 Mulhouse, France
: Jul. 12, 2023 Mulhouse, France
: Jul. 11, 2023 Belfort, France

Japanese & Comments