Tellenburg

Tellenburg castle, a mile south of Frutigen in Switzerland, is a superb place to watch trains when the weather is good. It affords a splendid view of the kander viaduct on the north ramp of the Lötchberg line, with a steady procession of passenger and freight trains grinding up and down the 3% grade. For most of the afternoon, the sun is right behind your shoulder, making the light perfect for photos of the viaduct. It's ideal if you're an N gauge modeller, because the trains appear to be N gauge sized from this vantage point as they head up and down the valley.

As you should be able to seem from the pictures, there are actually two viaducts. The elegant masonry structure in front dates from the original construction of the line in the early years of the 20th century. The uglier concrete bridge behind dates from the late 1970s when the route was widened to double track in order to handle the ever increasing volumes of traffic. The line is now very busy indeed, with a train every 10-15 minutes at busy times.

One of the hourly "Pendelzug" trains from Brig, propelled by an SBB Re460 locomotive. This is the only train I saw with the entire formation in the new black and white livery. From the most recent timetable change, SBB have taken over all passenger workings on the line from BLS, and BLS blue and cream trains are a thing of the past on the Lötchberg proper.

Despite losing the passenger traffic, BLS continue to operate plenty of freight. Here, a pair of their "Browns", the BLS's distinctive Re4/4s head a northbound "Hangartner" Intermodal.

The Reggio to Limburg clay empties headed by a pair of DBAG class 185s. These locomotives have four pantographs to enable them to work under both German and Swiss electrification.

An SBB Re10/10 combo (one Re4/4 and one Re6/6) head a southbound wagonload freight made up mostly of steel wagons.

One new type of train in 2005 is the international workings to Italy operated by Cisalpino, with coaches in a striking blue and silver livery. This six coach train appears to need the power two SBB Re4/4s

BLS's Re485s are much in evidence in the attractive lime green and silver colour scheme. Here a pair of them slog up the grade with a southbound wagonload freight, made up mostly of timber wagons.

The "Rolling Road" trains are a great success, carrying lorries (and their drivers) across the Alps, keeping their vehicles off Swiss roads. It's headed by the odd-looking combination of an Re465 and a "Brown", which was the power on all rolling road trains I saw that day.

Larger versions of these pictures can be found on my fotopic site