Tag Archives: #Wengernalbahn

In the Shadow of the Jungfrau—One Year Ago Today!

On this day (23 April) 2017, I was photographing at Grindelwald, Switzerland while researching my Railway Guide to Europe. (Just published by Kalmbach Books).

See: https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/book/01304?

I made these views from the station platform at Grindelwald, where the Bernese Oberland Bahn (BOB) meets the Wengernalpbahn. The Wengernalpbahn drops into the valley toward Grindelwald Grund, where the line reverses for the steep rack-aided ascent toward Kleine Scheidegg.

Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 18-135mm zoom lens. Bright morning sun made for perfect lighting on this dramatic mountain scene.
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 18-135mm zoom lens. A Wengernalpbahn train descends toward Grund.

This was among the many lines Denis McCabe and I photographed in Switzerland that week.

In my book, I offer a variety of useful and practical advice for traveling European railways, while highlighting scenic journeys, interesting routes, and some of Europe’s most interesting cities and towns. The book compiles more than 20 years of European travel in to just over 400 pages.

Click here to order Brian Solomon’s Railway Guide to Europe.

I exposed the cover photo in Germany’s Rhein Valley using my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens.

Tracking the Light posts Daily!

Unexpected Extras at Grindlewald-Grund.

Extra trains are always a bonus; but an unexpected extra using antique equipment is a real treat!

Three weeks ago on our exploration of Swiss railways, Denis McCabe and I were photographing the steeply graded rack railway on the Wengernalbahn near Grindlewald-Grund where the scheduled passenger trains operate on half hour intervals.

In between the regular scheduled trains, we caught a wire train-extra and this passenger extra with heritage equipment.

All in the metaphoric shadow of the Eiger and the Jungfrau, two of the most famous Swiss mountain in the Swiss Bernese Alps.

When two trains really are better than one: A wire train ascends toward Kleine Scheidegg from Grindelwald-Grund, while in the distance a passenger train climbs in the opposite direction toward Grindelwald.
Special bonus, a Wengernalbahn heritage train works the rack on its way up the mountain. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.

Tracking the Light posts every day.