Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: metre-gauge

This was the only photo that I took on the way to Zurich, as far as I know, as we were leaving Chur. There seems to be a train made up of various mismatched heritage equipment on the other side of the platform. Unfortunately, I don't know very much about it.

This is the Chur railway station. The tracks in the front are for the Bernina Line, while the other tracks are behind the station.

This is Rhaetian Railway #3505, one of the newer trains on the Bernina Express (and the Bernina Line generally), a Class ABe 8/12 Allegra EMU, built by Stadler Rail sometime between 2009 and 2011. These units were among those which replaced the ABe 4/4 II Class EMU's that had been in service when I rode the line in 1998. The Class ABe 4/4 III EMU's remain in service, being newer. There are also a few locomotive-hauled trains, using Gem 4/4 dual power locomotives (electric or diesel). This photo gives a hint, but doesn't show clearly that the Bernina Line leaves Chur via the streets, much like a tramway.

Here's another shot that I got of the train.

The next part of our tour was going to be on the Glacier Express, so here it is waiting in the station. The Glacier Express is arguably even more famous than the Bernina Express, and is one of the slower "express" trains in the world, although probably not the "slowest," as its advertising claims. The large windows wrapping around the roof indicate its real purpose, as a scenic, but modern, tourist train. It is jointly operated by the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn and the Rhätische Bahn, who also operate the Bernina Express, connecting in Chur. We ultimately took the Glacier Express to Chur, but skipped the Bernina Express on this trip.

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.

This is one of my better shots of the train, which was an EMU like most of what the BVZ runs.

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.

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.