Glorious NSE

Just putting reference pics out in case anyone does want to do the mod as looking closely both ends have been changed. This corner loses the passenger steps, but gains handrails and a shunters drop-step. The opposite side just loses the steps leaving a big void. The "blind" end has also gained a drop step and more handrails: These mods apply to all the 4 wheelers, i've only put pics of the style Kato is using tho. Interestingly comparing the images on Haribu with my own the bogie car (2111) has had its original sloping passenger steps replaced by new vertical steps! Another thought might be that when used on the BEX (they haven't been this year as the Landquart-Davos-Tirano that usually uses one hasn't run) this would mean the open car is only accessible from the panoramic coaches, and non-supplement passengers can't board it direct.

Looks very good. "Current" modellers will need to mod the footsteps, they don't have them anymore! (Comparing 2019-2020 shots, only a change this year...)

Current booked* train formations for the RhB (and lots of other places) can be found here: https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/?rok=2020 2019 formations are also on the same site, but nothing before that. (*Reality may intervene)

To bring this to a close - Saturday 29th we both left on the 8.02 departure towards Landquart, with 626 for power.... Our hosts had kindly dropped us at the station (more or less drove right onto the platform!) which was nice as the weather was very wet. Climbing over to Klosters we passed the heritage set, which must have gone to Landquart (or Samedan?) I presume overnight...we hadn't noticed it was missing at Davos Platz due to getting the lift across to the station, and we hadn't twigged the significance of them stabling it the "wrong" way round last night either - nice little tip there for anyone else that visits! Ah well... At Landquart Jon and I parted company as we had different routings back to the UK - I made a tight connection to the next fast Zurich service whilst Jon's plan was to visit a couple of places before an afternoon flight. Some Zurich Hbf shots...my inbound service was the left hand one of these two, and as I had a 37min connection here I had time to take a few shots: Nice to see the RE4/4 are still around. My outgoing service was EC8 bound for Hamburg Altona, which I would take as far as Cologne. And at my destination (which was not the Gotthard!) The next day, Cologne to Exeter St Davids by ICE/Eurostar/GWR - and that was that, I expect the RhB to look rather different if/when I get back again. RhB photo's are all filed here, in what is hopefully a usable way for modelers - I hope to expand out the locations and coaching stock in a similar way to the loco's and wagons/plant in time: https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/Non-UKrails/Switzerland/Overseas-Rails-Rhätische-Bahn The "locations" is a bit station-centric - On the Albula and Bernina in particular I shot some infra and general shots between stations and haven't tied those down the actual locations - they can be found in the days collections if you're searching for pics of those lines in particular. Master link for viewing by days is here: https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/Daybyday/2020

From tomorrow to the 18th there is a week of special trains connected to the above, railcar 501 will be running Filisur-Alvaneu shuttles, and the heritage rake will do a different and more intense diagram - I guess a bit of a dead loss from the UK this year but worth keeping an eye out to see if it becomes a regular week. Timetable attached: Web here: https://projekt-landwasserviadukt.ch/DE/erlebnistage.html

Just for fun as I hadn't uploaded these when I posted the shots from this day - on the 27th I tried a couple of mobile phone panorama shots from the train down to Tirano seeing if I could work in the front and back of the train in the same shot - they didn't quite work perfectly, but good fun, and worth a play if you find yourself in the middle of the train. The first is between Cavaglia and Cadera, the second is the Bruscio spiral.

Lovely model of 26 Chris! Ref the shots at Arosa, yes an optical illusion because of the layout of the pointwork. Track layout minus train: And the moves:

It's obviously not a full unit, but it must be a car split from one of the normally indivisible types judging from the coupler setup and lack of pipework. Another angle....

So having been lucky and the weather having held off so far, we decided on heading back to Davos Platz (via Landquart) to do a last round trip on the Krok... Approaching Landquart, with freights ready to depart in each direction... A quick glimpse of the roundhouse - view is often blocked by coaching stock rakes at present! 617, 605 and I think 647 visible, the other cab is a 528xx driving trailer, plus the back of something else - not sure whether it's a Capricorn car or one of the Alvra sets. Shunter 233 was working today, sister 232 and 20604 standing by. Back at Davos Platz the Krok was already waiting - as the rain hadn't hit yet we went for the open coaches on the outward journey... That sky though! The Pendelzug does a shunt move... As we came into Filisur it got properly wet... Luckily white loco's on the Albula trains helped - 642 and 643... I did sit in the open coach leaving Filisur.....but it didn't last long! The inside of one of the 2nd class bogie coaches... Arriving back into Davos Platz 415 stabled next to 704, which is about to depart on the daily freight (2 wagons, bins and Spar) We didn't twig that this had parked heritage rake the opposite way round to normal at the time... Looking the other way... With that done, a quick supermarket visit let me pick up this shot of the Pendelzug departing And a bit of Capricorn reflection - and that brings the last full day to a close. All the pics? - go here: https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/Daybyday/2020/2020-08-28-Davos-Platz-to-Arosa-and-Filisur/

....Meanwhile 3504 coupled on to the coaches left by the previous train (the set behind 3512 we shot earlier at Litziruti with the Arosa saloon,) pushes forward, and drops its 4 coaches in their place.... ...then returns to the station on the correct end of it's new rake of stock. A closeup of the "Barenwagon" from our train - there are 4 of these, one was on each of the 4 rakes of hauled stock on this day. (The operation uses 3x Allegra and 4x rakes of stock, with the stock swapping at Chur as above)

Departing Chur... "Go straight across the roundabout...." We meet 3506 on a Chur bound service at Luen-Castiel - the intermediate stations on this line are all gorgeous, and all in a very similar style... At St Peter Molinnis - siding or wagon launching platform? A nice old van anyhow... Approaching Langweis, with the viaduct. At Litziruti we pass the second opposing train, with ABB liveried 3512 in charge. This one also had a luggage van and the Arosa first class saloon. Somebody was asking about the tunnel at Arosa, which was closed for engineering works the month after our visit - here's some pics, definitely a lot going on! At Arosa, 3504 runs round the train - tractor 26 is based here as there's a steady stream of freight handled on the back of the passenger trains - there was evidence of oil, stone and coop traffic up here in the yard, as well as several intermodal wells in engineers use for the tunnel works. A nice surprise, we'd not managed to see either of these on the Bernina, but "Bi Mode" 802 was the power for the works train here, obviously only in diesel mode! Heading back on the train we came in on - 3506 waits for us a Litziruti, with a van for Arosa on the back. Presume the bus turning circle was being got ready for the tunnel closure! And at Luen Castiel we meet 3512 again, 3512's rake included one of the older driving trailers... ....and Gourmino car 3812! Passing the depot at Chur Sand, private owner van P10071 - I wasn't sure how useful the announcement of these vans in model form would be for a modern era modeller, but there's lots about, with lots of variety! Back in Chur, shunter 214 is now stabled with the Innotren car Looking at the standard gauge side, the local stopping passenger to Sargans departs And we get lucky with a third standard gauge freight! 420337-8 leads this one, presumably heading for Ems judging from the consist.

Here's the BLS shot I missed earlier - i'd remembered we'd been on the same train earlier in the week and saw the same train so i'd kept an eye out ready!

So - last full day, Friday 28th. The weather forecast was a dry morning but heavy rain/thunderstorms starting at 12. I'd only got Arosa to knock off the list so that was the obvious choice, I had wanted to do that by using the Parsennbahn from Davos to the ridge and then walking down to Langweis, but that would have taken me most of the morning and if the forecast had been on the optomistic side would have seen me getting pretty wet walking down the other side, so an all-rail routing it is... On the up-side, Landquart provided several treats on the way out which i'd have missed walking: Engineering diesels 23401 and 23402, plus tractor 84 were outside the new engineering depot The bar car was out and about - I think this was a Scuol bound service as it wasn't formed of push pull stock and had a tail load of vans too... 242 was busy laying new rail, I think this is where the Capricorn depot site is: Sersa tamper 210144 was loaded on a pair of standard gauge flats - not sure whether this was inbound or outbound. And we have a third Kirow - 99-85-9419-000-6 At Haldenstein we pass a standard gauge local (We also passed a BLS powered intermodal, which I don't seem to have uploaded yet - will add that later!) Into Chur, the next Albula sports a pair of Gourmino and a pullman car Whilst shooting the other side of the gourmino's, another standard gauge freight We cross to the forecourt for the Arosa connection, the Innotren car is stabled here... 3504 arrives from Arosa After unloading, it pulls its 3 coaches forward and drops them strategically to be picked up by the following train And pulls the 4 coaches for our departure from the yard (the 4th is hidden behind the canopy stantion) And as the weather isn't wet so far, this is our chariot for the next leg...

Never seen that one before - here's it's slightly bigger brother: http://www.railpictures.ca/upload/general-motors-diesel-hydraulic-switcher-600-a-gmdh-1-is-seen-here-on-trial-on-the-canadian-pacific-at-st-marys-ontario-in-1958-an-experimental-locomotive-concept-that-never-caught-on-a-tota

If it is modern it's really unusual to see it constructed of riveted angles and plates, albeit 'prefab', it did pique our interest earlier in the week which is why I shot a few pics of it. You can see the holes to presumably bolt in the longitudinal beams here on the one behind.

So as I'm back in Pontresina at 2ish, I easily have time to knock Scuol off my to-do list, so I stay on 619s train right through to Scuol this time... 702 had just arrived at Samedan with a freight Some grabs of Bever - only one track was in use here, and a new island platform was taking shape with a very meccano-like vibe - check out the rivets on those canopies - just being retro, or are they reusing an original from somewhere? 114 was on a work train... At Scuol, 619 departs back towards Pontresina from the bay - 111 was the Ilanz shunter last year and I'm glad to say has had a repaint since! I connect to 633 in the main platform with the Disentis departure, heading for Klosters Platz to change for Davos 620 at Sagliains - I must have hopped off and back on quickly to grab this! Departing Klosters, the next Scuol service climbs between Klosters Dorf and Platz on the other side of the valley... We pass Pendelzug 511 at Laret And the daily freight at Davos Dorf behind 652, double the length today compared to yesterday! Back to Davos Platz in time to shoot them putting the Heritage set away for the night - yum! With Jon still more than an hour away, I walked a little to the west. I'd scouted (via google) some nearby places to our accommodation to shoot when I'd booked it - my experience is that with a family holiday just disappearing for 10 mins to get a couple of shots is easy whereas spending a whole day shooting stuff isn't - but as it ended up being heavier railfanning I hadn't done much locally, so time to put the locations to use. 651 shoves into Davos Platz from Filisur 3510 returns a couple of minutes later towards Filisur With about 50 mins to kill I went private siding spotting - here's the waste transfer station for Davos (I take you to all the best places...!) The sun has dropped behind the mount as 3510 pushes back from Filisur - Hiya Jon! And that's the end of the 27th - pics here, but be aware not all are uploaded from this day yet, lots of infra ones included today if that's useful: https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/Daybyday/2020/2020-08-27-Davos-to-Tirano-and-Scuol-Tarasp/

So a very brief set from the run back over the Bernina - there's more on the website and I still have some to upload I think... Back to the station for the 11.41 departure - the tractor has had two new log flats delivered whilst I've been out... A heavy application of sun cream and I opt for the open coaches - time for a silly selfie from the back of the coach reflected in the station windows. Our first meet is a BEX (ex St Moritz) at Campocologno And the regular service train at Bruscio - the guy walking up on the right had got off the front door of the Allegra hoping to connect to our train but we were already moving by the time his door opened... On the street running section through Le Prese And meeting the second southbound BEX (ex Chur) at the loop at Cantoniera, just north of Le Prese We meet the opposing train at the loop south of Poschiavo (Pradei) rather than North this time 151 and the Coop vans at Poschiavo Climbing, climbing, climbing... And we meet 51 at Stablini A view through the Ozpicio Bernina snowshed... And just after Jon shot us - downhill towards Lagalp Back at Pontresina - the St Moritz-Tirano and Scuol-Pontresina arrive in parallel. And I'm reunited with 619 for my next leg - 3511 adjacent was our power up from Tirano

Agreed - it might not have been the angle you'd have chosen but that's a pretty striking image - shows off the crazy gradient there as well! Sadly by the time I'd read your text I had already changed at Pontresina - they must have come out of the sheds at Poschiavo after we'd been through as I didn't see them. Fabulous set of pics Jon! - And yes I think that was my train - I'd bagged the very back corner of the rear open coach.

Whilst shooting 619, 3514 arrived with my train for Tirano (don't fret, this one is timed for an 11 minute stop so I've time to catch it) - I'd also noted that the shunter was sat up on the lead with 2 log flats and 2 Coop wagons.... The St Moritz bound service was already in, they had just uncoupled a flat and a Coop load from the back of the allegra... I walked up the adjacent platform expecting to be able to shoot the shunter adding the wagons to the back of my train.....and then my train (with passengers already on) backed out of the station to go and pick them up instead! Oh well, the surprise let me do another "arrival" shot for this one! One of the Coop wagons stayed on the shunter to be taken by the following train, so we had 3 coaches and 3 wagons behind our Allegra to go south...and after a second station stop it departed on time! At Stablini, below Alp Grüm we pass Bernina railcar 54 leading a train uphill At the new passing loop just north of Poschiavo, 53 and 51 with a decent load 7 start climbing the grade on the following train... At Poschiavo, shunter 151 was positioned ready to remove the Coop load from the back - the logs stayed on to Tirano. 23201 on shed Time to take it to the streets... Best station bench award? At Bruscio we met 3502 heading North, seen here climbing away... And at Campocologno we meet the Northbound morning Bernina Express to St Moritz, 52 and 55 complete the set! Into Tirano, and shunter 162 moves the 2 log flats to the adjacent siding, before pulling the 3 coaches off and putting them on the other platform for the next departure. Tractor 22 moves the log flats round in the unelectrified sidings here. And finally, before going off to find some ice cream here's a bit of Italian freight - 652 132 waits in the standard gauge station next door with a mix of vans.

I've got the wagons and loco's collections split out to somewhere close to where I want them - I still need to do the same kind of split-by-type for RhB coaching stock, I think there's more I can do on the wagons (currently the X ones are just chucked in one place) - and will split identifiable locations out similarly when I get time. I've some bits still to upload, but it's getting there!

Mini-update...so, Thursday 27th, set to be another nice day, with the Friday forecast to have rain coming in. The only bits of the RhB i've not got to yet are Tirano, Scuol-Tarasp, and Arosa. So my plan for the day was to get to Tirano as early as possible, to get Scuol knocked off on the return. Jon was still trying to minimise risk of quarantine by excluding Italy, so he planned to do a walk near Ospizio Bernina and started later than me, we had a vague idea we'd meet up but nothing definate, and in the end we didn't. Trains towards Klosters start much earlier than the Filisur direction, so a 5am alarm call saw me walking to the station for the 6am departure, with 632 on a Disentis bound train, as the sky started to get a little lighter. Meeting another train at a moody Davos Laret Changing at Klosters Platz, 633 on a Scuol-Tarasp bound train... Bit of a crappy photo, but 649 was on the Vereina tunnel shuttles every time we passed, so this is the best one I got of it. Changing at Sagliains for the Pontresina service, just as the sun cleared the mountain. 619 was my power on to Pontresina, this surprised me by coming in from the West and terminating here - lots of odd moves this early in the morning! Ready for my close-up.... Zernez - 85 still shunting Coop flats! And into Pontresina just before 8am for my connection to Tirano...

I'll do this one out of order, we caught up with the Innotren saloon again on the Friday, it seems to spend time parked on the Arosa side at Chur when not being used or maintained. Here's a self portrait of Jon and I in the mirror glass.

Similar, maybe a little quieter and nippier but I'm aware that's subjective and they are also brand new so are at their best! *One 2nd class driving car so a forward view in 2nd class ought to be possible depending on direction, which you don't get on the 8/12 Allegra. *Occasional FFCCTV shown on the internal monitors is nice too, but you no sooner start watching it and it cuts away to an advert or somesuch. *Very similar in terms of fit and finish, right down to provision of alternate opening windows. *Excellent level boarding from any new platforms, impressive (way ahead of the UK) - can't recall whether the Allegra also had this too - I know they have low floor sections but I don't recall how level the low floor section was.

Last bit of the 26th - the 15.45 off Samedan towards Landquart, taken as far as Klosters Platz - more new trackage for me to knock off. At Zernez, 23403 which we'd seen earlier fails at hide-and-seek - Zernez looks to have been a major ballast loading point at this time. Tmf2/2 85 was busy shunting flats for Coop traffic. Through the Vereina tunnel, the cab car of one of the shuttle trains in the brief bit of daylight for the Selfranga car shuttle terminal. Klosters platz is being rebuilt at present with the island platform being extended virtually up to the river bridge, so the station is a bit chaotic. We'd gone this way to put ourselves in front of the Davos Platz to Landquart daily freight, and as I wasn't sure how the station shot would work out (especially when we didn't know how it would be routed through the station) I went for a walk outside... 3112 waits with the Davos Platz shuttle From the original river bridge, (now a road bridge,) here's the current rail bridge, it's got a bit of a Thunderbirds vibe going on... I walked down the path beside the line to find somewhere to shoot the freight - before that the hourly busy spell with two pairs of trains in each direction on the double track North of the station - the Scuol-Disentis snuck up on me whilst shooting 3513 coming the other way, but here's the rest: 3513 on a Landquart-Davos Platz NEVA cab car 1757 leads the Davos Platz to Landquart opposite number "Large logo" 647 rounds the curve with a Disentis to Scuol service Soon enough the freight appears, 705 comes down the hill with a single wagon - the Spar container from earlier. Back at the station, 633 arrives with the next St Moritz to Landquart, interestingly hauling a push pull set. And 3117 comes in with our connection back to Davos Platz Stabled at Davos Dorf today, Xmf 2/2 9921 That's it for Weds 26th - more photo's here: https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/Daybyday/2020/2020-08-26-MonsteinWiesenSamedanKlosters-Platz/

PS, well done for catching 707, that one didn't show up for us the week we were there.