I remember seeing open auto racks on American railroads. One of my few pre-Conrail images is of a former Pennsylvania Railroad tri-level.
Open car trains are still common in Europe. I made this view last week of a train load of new cars climbing southward on the Gotthard route heading for Italy.
Its nice to see the cars out in the open instead of sequestered inside full-enclosed multi-levels.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
It is my understanding, SBB will retain the traditional crossing of the Gotthard Pass for an hourly regional passenger service, and possibly as a diversionary route. BS
Dear Brian
I have been following your Swiss Project with great interest now, Amazing pictures that capture the spirit of Swiss Mountain Railroading in all its glory! The Helix at Gotthard is magnificent and reminds me of Tehachapi loop, so is the scenery above
As I feel that one should travel to Switzerland just for savoring the Railway experience and perhaps understand their railway operations, can you tell me if they would retain the old route at least for tourist trains?
Certainly from my experience, other than the occasional graffiti tag, Switzerland suffers very little from vandalism as compared with the USA. BS
The open auto racks are interesting ! I thought that enclosed carriers were the norm everywhere. How does The United States rate enclosed cars ? Vandalism so different from country to country? One of the pleasures of train watching here was to see the new cars in their latest paint “schemes” . In any event the pics in Europe are superb !