Train signage at the Zurich main station

About a year ago I complained about the fact that SBB was replacing all the split-flap displays in the train stations. I liked the split-flap displays.

In October 2015, the enormous one in the Zurich main station was replaced by this electronic version. I have to say that I find the replacement quite acceptable -- easy and nice to read, and extra messages (such as service disruptions, seen here) can be accommodated well.

On a side note, I'm going to try a weekly posting schedule. Let's see how that goes.

Ads we like 2

Following on from yesterday:
The entire train was decorated; this is a shot of the locomotive.

Ads that we like

An advertisement for the Zurich Kantonalbank on the S12 train (shot in Brugg). That's the Grossmünster depicted, along with a swan on the Zurich lake. Looks like a special for the new year celebrations, given the fireworks shown.

Curve in the railway tracks

A view of how the railway lines curve into the Brugg main station. Following the tracks to the top of the image will get you to Baden and beyond.

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The little train!

From a distance, they look like model trains.

I'd like to pass on a link to a documentary film (in high definition video) by Yann Arthus-Bertrand titled "Home". It is a call to us, consumers, to consider the choices we make, and the impact they have on all of us, all over the planet. The film is freely available and the images are tremendous, even the awful ones and their geographical range is fabulous.

Home - A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

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Red locomotive

As I looked back at the last few posts I noticed that the color red appeared in all of the photos so I'm going to run with the theme.

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Emma, the little steam locomotive

The Schinznacher Baumschulbahn - tree nursery railway - is a 60 cm (2 ft) gauge steam railway that is incorporated into the Zulauf garden center in the town of Schinznach about 13 km (8 miles) away from Villigen. They celebrated their 30th anniversary this past weekend. Pictured here is Emma, built in 1925 in Munich. It was used in the construction of part of the Brugg train station among other things. Link to the website of the Baumschulbahn.

The garden center Zulauf is the most impressive nursery I've seen. Four million plants make up their nursery of fruit trees, conifers, etc. They also have an extensive bonsai collection I like to gawk at whenever I visit. Link to the Zulauf website.

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Track maintenance

Track maintenance crew at work at the Brugg train station earlier this month. What aspect of the tracks they were measuring, I don't know.

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Circa five minutes

Später = later. Sometimes, even Swiss trains are late.

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The oldest train station in Switzerland

Back to the Baden story. This is the oldest train station in Switzerland, built in 1847. The building hasn't changed all that much; take a look at a drawing from the year it was built. Unfortunately, the vantage point of the drawing, to the right of the station, isn't accessible to laypeople. One thing that has changed about the station is that the heart of the ticket sales operation has moved underground where there is now a shopping area.

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Do not cross the railway lines

Some readers asked about the languages spoken in Switzerland, hence this post. The simple answer, without getting into a discussion about Swiss-German, is that there are three official languages: Deutsch, Français and Italiano. The lower panel of the photo shows a detail of a locomotive with the name of the Swiss railway system in these languages (Villigen is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland).

SBB Schweizerische Bundesbahn
CFF Chemins de Fer Fédéraux Suisses
FFS Ferrovie Federali Svizzere

English is widely used in many areas, as evidenced by the sign in the train station in Brugg (top panel), the closest real town to Villigen. There are actually four national languages, the fourth being Rhaeto-Rumantsch which is spoken by some 50000 people and is not included on the sign. For more information, try these language related pages (in English) at swissworld.org and swissinfo.

Es gab ein paar Fragen bezüglich der Landessprachen in der Schweiz. Es gibt drei offiziele Sprachen (Deutsch, Français and Italiano) und ein vierte nationale Sprache Rhaeto-Rumantsch.

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