Pontresina, Switzerland, 1998

Switzerland

I have so far visited Switzerland twice, in 1998 and again in 2011. The Alps are maybe the most spectacular mountain range that I've been to, although I'm also including the Austrian Alps when I say that. However, Switzerland and Austria are both beautiful countries in many other respects as well. My iPernity photo collection of Switzerland is nowhere close to the size of my offline photo colle…  (read more)
Grindelwald, Edited Version, Interlaken-Oberhasli, Switzerland, 2011

Grindelwald, Edited Version, Interlaken-Oberhasli,…

17 Apr 2012 277
The end of the first leg of my trip, which involved a ride on the BOB narrow-gauge (which I have video of but no photos on the way in) ended in Grindelwald, in Switzerland. This was only my second visit to the Swiss Alps, as the Alps are spectacular but expensive. On the left is one of the many hotels in Grindelwald, which is a tourist town, and then of course the church on the right. I don't know the name of it.
Grindelwald, Picture 2, Edited Version, Interlaken-Oberhasli, Switzerland, 2011

Grindelwald, Picture 2, Edited Version, Interlaken…

17 Apr 2012 246
Also speaking of unknown names, I don't know the names of these mountains, so any help in identifying them would be welcome. As always, the view was hard to match anywhere.
BOB Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 2, Edit 2, Near Grindelwald, Interlaken-Oberhasli, Switzerland, 2011

BOB Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 2, Edit 2, Near Gr…

22 Sep 2012 151
This is on the train out of Grindelwald, which is run by the Berner Oberland Bahn narrow-gauge railway, which connects to the BLS and the SBB in Spiez and Interlaken.
BOB Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 6, Edit 2, Near Grindelwald, Interlaken-Oberhasli, Switzerland, 2011

BOB Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 6, Edit 2, Near Gr…

22 Sep 2012 139
This is another of the shots I took along the way. I don't know the name of the river.
BOB Narrow-Gauge, Picture 7, Edited Version, Interlaken, Interlaken-Oberhasli, Switzerland, 2011

BOB Narrow-Gauge, Picture 7, Edited Version, Inter…

22 Sep 2012 167
This is Interlaken, where we ended up changing for the SBB to Spiez.
BLS #465018-0 Heading Freight Train through Spiez Bahnhof, Picture 1, Edited Version, Spiez, Frutigen-Niedersimmental, Switzerland, 2011

BLS #465018-0 Heading Freight Train through Spiez…

22 Sep 2012 171
Spiez bahnhof hosts trains from SBB, BLS, and DB (Deutsche Bahn, of Germany). BLS run a considerable number of freight trains through the passenger station. I didn't get the number of the trailing unit, but these both appear to be Re465 Class electric locomotives.
Old BLS Train, Picture 1, Edited Version, Spiez Bahnhof, Spiez, Frutigen-Niedersimmental, Switzerland, 2011

Old BLS Train, Picture 1, Edited Version, Spiez Ba…

22 Sep 2012 151
This appears to have been a historic charter for railfans. I don't know if the BLS have their own heritage fleet, or if this train was owned by a historical society, and allowed to run on BLS.
Old BLS Train, Picture 2, Edit 2, Spiez Bahnhof, Spiez, Frutigen-Niedersimmental, Switzerland, 2011

Old BLS Train, Picture 2, Edit 2, Spiez Bahnhof, S…

22 Sep 2012 123
This shot may be composed better than Picture 1, but I've included both because I think Picture 1 has more detail.
View from BVZ Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 4, Edit 2, Unknown location, , Frutigen-Niedersimmental, Switzerland, 2011

View from BVZ Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 4, Edit…

22 Sep 2012 167
Judging by the other photos that I have, it doesn't look like I had any good photos between Spiez and Visp on the SBB, and I can tell from the shape of the train that this was the narrow (1-metre) gauge BVZ that would take us the rest of the way to Zermatt. If someone could identify that mountain, it might help verify the location. We were headed to Zermatt, ultimately, but I'm assuming this was too early in the trip for it to be the Matterhorn. It isn't steep enough anyway.
View from BVZ Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 5, Edited Version, Unknown location, Frutigen-Niedersimmental, Switzerland, 2011

View from BVZ Narrow-Gauge Train, Picture 5, Edite…

22 Sep 2012 147
This appears to be the same mountain, so this location would also be roughly the same.
View from BVZ Narrow-Gauge Train Picture 9, Edit 2, Kalpetran-Embd, Frutigen-Niedersimmental, Switzerland, 2011

View from BVZ Narrow-Gauge Train Picture 9, Edit 2…

22 Sep 2012 140
I'm taking the location from the sign on that building, which may be the station, although I can't really tell. If it's not, the station would have to be behind it, as you can see the platform clearly.
Rack Railway Track on the BVZ, Picture 1, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

Rack Railway Track on the BVZ, Picture 1, Visp Dis…

24 Sep 2012 215
Many cog (or rack) railways in Switzerland, and for that matter the world, only use cog technology for banking, running conventionally. The BVZ Zermatt-Bahn is one such railway.
Rack Railway Track on the BVZ, Picture 2, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

Rack Railway Track on the BVZ, Picture 2, Visp Dis…

24 Sep 2012 229
Here's a look at one of the more moderate grades in the world to use a cog. I took this seconds after Picture 1.
View from BVZ Train, Picture 14, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

View from BVZ Train, Picture 14, Visp District, Sw…

24 Sep 2012 137
I'm not certain, but this may in fact be one of the less-known faces of the Matterhorn (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I make this assumption based on the fact that we were approaching Zermatt by this point.
View from BVZ Train, Picture 18, Edited Version, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

View from BVZ Train, Picture 18, Edited Version, V…

24 Sep 2012 253
This is one of my better shots of the train, which was an EMU like most of what the BVZ runs.
View from BVZ Train, Picture 19, Cropped Version, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

View from BVZ Train, Picture 19, Cropped Version,…

24 Sep 2012 156
This shot portrays a rockier part of the area we were in.
BVZ Train in Zermatt Station, Picture 1, Cropped Version, Zermatt, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

BVZ Train in Zermatt Station, Picture 1, Cropped V…

22 Sep 2012 278
This EMU is, if I'm not mistaken, a ABDeh 8/8 Class, although the Wikipedia page seems to lack a comprehensive photo collection to go with the list of classes. For that matter, the Wikipedia article lacks even a roster.
Electric Taxis, Picture 1, Cropped Version, Zermatt, Visp District, Switzerland, 2011

Electric Taxis, Picture 1, Cropped Version, Zermat…

22 Sep 2012 225
Zermatt isn't the only city I've been to with a lot of electric vehicles, but it is the first I've been to where other motor vehicles are banned (with the exception of the fire department, who have Land Rovers). Most of the existing electric vehicles aren't private cars, though, but taxis like these. In overall terms, though, even these are unnecessary, as Zermatt is small enough to be walkable in its entirety, and has good rail connections to just about everywhere Switzerland.
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