Tuesday 27 August - Classic Gotthard Route and the Susten Pass

The purpose of today's trip was to go over the classic line through the Gotthard tunnel which now sees a lot less use following the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. We had to take trains from Zurich to Arth Goldau (an ICN to Milan) and then to Erstfelt (a suburban). The train over the classic route via Goschenen was an old Suburban electric but it ran very smoothly and, although crowded with hikers destined for Goschenen, was practically empty in First Class. 

Paul and I have been several times over the north ramp to Goschenen but the only time I went through to Bellinzona was on Saturday 25 August 1962. 
The weather was excellent with high clouds and the views were stupendous on both sides of the tunnel. 

North Ramp

The north ramp is well known for the views of the church at Wassen which the railway passes three times at different levels

South Ramp

The south ramp, is as spectacular as the more familiar North ramp and there are several spiral tunnels.
In the Southern part the architecture is quite different The villages are mainly constructed of rough stone which is particularly noticeable in the church spires. Many of the fields have fences made of large stone slabs which are set into the ground. It must be quite a job putting them in but they will last for a long time without much maintenance. The fields seem to have a thicker, heavier grass, probably because the weather is milder this side of the mountains.

We spent a little time to grab a sandwich in Bellinzona and then took the train back as far as Goschenen.

MGB narrow gauge train for Andermatt at Goschenen

Train bound for Erstfelt leaving the tunnel at Goschenen

The Post Bus to Meiringen added another highlight to our day.  It runs over the Susten Pass which has never had a railway although a tunnel from Meiringen to Andermatt has been seriously considered in recent years.

The road starts out at Wassen and we passed the church at two locations on different levels. The road snakes upwards with the bus making good use of its loud tally ho horn on each of the many hairpin bends.  Eventually the glacier came into view and we made our way down the other side to a 20 minute rest stop where we could stretch our legs.

At the rest stop.

At the rest stop

There were plenty of storks to be seen in the fields this morning but there were a lot of cats around as soon as the sun began to go down,We eventually reached Innertkirchen and quickly arrived on time at the bus terminus across the street from the railway station. 

We had eight minutes to stroll over to the newly acquired GTW unit on the narrow gauge line to Innertkirchen (MIB) We took the train to the terminus at Innertkirchen where a lady accompanying the driver in the cab kissed him and said good bye. The train is a rebuild from an MOB train which formerly operated out of Vevey. They have done a thorough job with a completely new interior which includes a ticket machine and a departure screen - for a ten minute journey.

The GTW unit new to MIB

The MIB train was due to leave Innertkirchen at the same time as it arrived. There was a stop in the tunnel where a small family boarded and we arrived back at Meiringen on time with just two minutes to catch the narrow gauge rack train to Luzern.

The new trains on this line are an improvement on the old ones. The transition on and off the rack was very smooth,  almost imperceptible with non of the clunk, crash and jerk of the old trains.

At Luzern we walked the length of the IC 2000 train of eight double deck coaches and three single deck ones - nearly 1,000 feet. At least we were in the front of the train arriving at Zurich after a long but great day.

Pictures to follow.