Snowdon Summit #2
Once upon a time, there was a grand summit building atop the summit of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa.) It was built in the 1930s by the noted Welsh architect, Clough Williams-Ellis, whose Portmeirion village is famous the world over. By the 1990s had become something of a disreputable place and the…
Noah & Federer ride the GPX!
On the heels of the launch of the Goldenpass Express (GPX) late last year came the revelation that Roger Federer had been lined up for a publicity stint on behalf of the Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB). Previously Federer had done other Swiss tourist publicity films including rail based ones and…
Gauge change – Zweisimmen
The Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) and the Bern Lötschberg Simplon (BLS) railways have begun through services between Montreux and Interlaken. The project to provide a single train service between the two destinations was put on hold mostly due to the pandemic that took hold of the world in 2020 and…
Snowdon summit
Wales’ highest railway station is at the summit of Snowdon (3560 feet/1085 metres) where for many years there was essentially a proper station with ticket office and waiting rooms, plus semaphore signals and point rodding, levers, etc, all the ‘mod cons’ needed to make the site every inch a true…
Montreux Oberland Bernois (2)
The second part of the Montreux Oberland Bernois special. The first part looked at the line and its history, with coverage of the route from Montreux to Les Sciernes. In this instalment we take a look at the line from Montbovon to Zweisimmen. There’s four further posts coming soon, these…
Montreux Oberland Bernois
The Chemin de fer Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) n Switzerland first opened during December 1901 between Montreux and Les Avants – a climb of about 1866 feet or 575 metres in a mere 3km (just under two miles) distant as the crow flies. The line was originally planned to go…
Sixty years since the last train to Cwm Prysor #3
The next location of major interest was Trawsfynydd station and formerly this was an important one. It was here the railway’s locomotives were stabled. There was a substantial goods yard and a passing loop. The station’s importance was all the more essential as army camps were numerous around this part…
Sixty years since the last train to Cwm Prysor #2
The second part of the ‘Sixty years since the last train to Cwm Prysor’ feature. Previously it had been mentioned the line closed because of a new reservoir, that is true of course however in terms of passenger traffic it had in fact been closed some time earlier. The only…
Sixty years since the last train to Cwm Prysor
You know how we Brits bang on about our ‘fantastic railway summits’ being at Ais Gil or Drummochter but in fact there were many lesser and equally if not more, dramatic summits to be had and there’s practically none these days. Its because we don’t like the idea of railways…
New cableway for Piz Gloria
The Schilthornbahn has been in operation for 55 years. The first stage from Stechelberg to Mürren/Birg opened on 20th June 1965. That to the summit of the Schilthorn opened in 1967 and it was soon made famous because of 007! The summit facilities had been left incomplete due to shortage…