2018 week 25: The bus stop at the Gemeindehaus

Here is a photo of one of the three bus stops in the village, this one opposite the Gemeindehaus ("town" hall). On weekdays, the bus comes by twice an hour in both directions. On weekends it's once an hour.

Week 7: Solarstrom

Strom = electricity.

There's not much sunshine to be had at the moment, but let's consider the possibilities anyway.

This is a shed at PSI where people can plug in their electric bikes to charge them up while they work. What you can't see in this photo is that the roof is made of solar cells AKA photovoltaic panels.

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.

73. Electric, 2 ways

A No. 8 tram and a Tesla Model S in Zürich. Vroom!

61. Red tram, blue tram

The alps in the distance over Lake Zurich. 
The Quaibrücke with two trams on it.
Boats docked in the foreground.

It's a pity I didn't get a better exposure.

58. Long vehicle

Loosely following my Friday language feature, today I give you a "Long vehicle" sign on a trolley bus in Zurich. Apparently, it's universally understood in the English form?

The ad for the BMW reads:
Don't (just) look. Test drive.

55. Construction near the Windisch FHNW

A new bus terminal will show up here eventually.

54. Bicycles

No campus would be complete without bicycles. Here they are, parked at the train station. The buildings in the back belong to the Neumarkt 2 shopping center in Brugg.

38. A ticket by any other name

As it is language Friday: The labelling on a ticket vending machine at a train station.

Fuel cell bus

There are a couple of buses running on fuel cells on the PSI-to-Brugg route. They're of the type Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid. More information (in German) here.

The project is funded by the following groups:

• PostAuto Schweiz AG
• Die Schweizerische Post
• Europäische Union: Projekt CHIC (Aargau, Bozen, London, Mailand, Oslo)
• Kanton Aargau
• Bundesamt für Energie
• Empa
• Daimler Buses: EvoBus GmbH Mannheim und EvoBus (Schweiz) AG
• Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen
• IBB Holding AG, Brugg
• Carbagas AG, Gümligen

Polybahn funicular

There's a entry on Wikipedia about the Polybahn funicular in Zürich:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybahn_funicular>

The angel at the Hauptbahnhof

Guardian Angel by Niki de Saint Phalle (Wiki) at the main train station in Zürich.

In memory of PT-P.

20100312

Escher and the SBB

Alfred Escher (1819 to 1882) was instrumental in establishing the Swiss railway system among other things (such as Credit Suisse). A little about him can be found here swissinfo and here Credit Suisse.

20100308

Cow motif everywhere

Even on motorcycles around Gruyère.

20070323

Lucerne Museum of Transport: Cogs

Bits and pieces of a mountain rack-and-pinion railway system at the Verkehrshaus in Lucerne.

Link to the museum (pages in English)

20070303

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.

20090910

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

20090614

An even older mode of transportation

Another photo from Rigi-Kaltbad. You can hire a horse-drawn carriage to take a little ride around the village.

20090605

Bus 374 to Brugg

The Postbus from a neighboring village heading to Brugg. In the background is the village of Rüfenach. The ad on the rear of the bus is for a steel cable manufacturing company called Brugg.

20090307

Bern Bahnhofplatz glass canopy

I took this photo of the new Bern canopy (Baldachin) from the second level of the Hauptbahnhof (as seen in yesterday's photo), with a fiercely bright sun backlighting the scene. So again, not a very good photo. However, I'm quite enamoured of the construction and this is about the extent of what I could manage photographically. I hope you are not too bored as I document this for myself. A different photo is at my overflow blog (link here): please feel free to vote on your preferred one. I actually like the other one better, but I thought this would do better as a thumbnail.

combination of marchwell/BSR architekten/Atelier 5 projects chosen
2006 approval granted for the construction
January 2007 ground-breaking
400 construction workers involved
120 tonnes of glass in the canopy
2350m² glass surface
85m long, (11 to 41)m wide, and (3 to 10)m high framework
230 tonnes of steel
500 days for the entire project
2300m of replacement tram tracks
500 bicycle parking spots underground

Source: Ankommen in Bern, by Bernhard Giger and Hansueli Trachsel.
Additional photos and information at: bern.bahnhofplatz.ch (in German). Check out some of the movie clips, such as that of the glass installation (link here).

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