Tag Archives: #Golden Pass

Eight Years Ago: MONTREUX-OBERLAND-BERNOIS RAILWAY’s Golden Pass.

April 22, 2017, I made this photo of MOB’s Golden Pass Panoramic streamlined train rolling through lush fields near Gruben, Switzerland.

A photo from this sequence appeared in my Railway Guide to Europe, published in 2018 by Kalmbach Books (now Firecrown Media).

To make this image, I used a FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens set to 70mm. By working with a small aperture (f13) and low angle, I’ve captured a perspective that make the scene appear like a model railway. (The scrubbed clean ballast helps too!)

Photographing the MOB—Part 1.

I’m not talking about surreptitiously documenting nefarious underworld dealings of Sicilian criminals, but rather the trains and operations of Switzerland’s Montreux-Oberland-Bernois railway line.

This narrow gauge line famously operates via the Golden Pass route offering hourly long distance trains as well as local services to communities along its lines.

In April, it was among the routes that Denis McCabe and I explored.

We were fortunate to have clear blue skies, which when combined with stunning Alpine scenery makes for great photographic possibilities.

I’d researched a variety of potential locations, and opted to photograph around Gstaad and Gruben, where open Alpine meadows, tall bridges, and distant mountain peaks made for great settings.

Traveling to Gstaad, we hoped off a train that had 14-minute pause in its schedule, and on the recommendation of photographer Barry Carse, immediately set out to find the high viaduct beyond the station.

We found it easily enough, and went charging up a steep slope to position ourselves above the bridge, only to find there was a well-established trail already there! This made getting back to the station much easier.

Here’s a small sample of my digital efforts at Gstaad. My primary focus was exposing color slide film with my Nikon; and those images are en route to the lab now.

MOB’s Belle Époque eases across the multiple span bridge near Gstaad. (Ye Auld Tyme painted carriages at the back).

Working toward Gstaad and Montreux is MOB’s Golden Pass Panoramic. Exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.

MOB’s Golden Pass Panoramic carries glass lined observation cars to allow passengers better views of the Alps.

MOB’s Gstaad station offers only a prosaic view compared with those from the Alpine meadows a five minute walk away.

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