Visited Appenzeller region in 1990 and 2001, stayed with a Swiss family in 1990 and attended the last cantonal male only election with the father and young son from the farm that I was staying at. We walked back to the farm stopping at local drinking houses along the way. It was very much less touristy than St. Gallen. Have been back to Switzerland many times since, but this part of Switzerland will always be remembered fondly.
Some updates on Appenzeller Bahnen after this movie was produced: The Trogenerbahn became part of AB in 2006 alongside the Rorschach-Walzenhausen mountain railway and Rorschach-Heiden mountain railway, both rack railways but with differing gauges (RWB is 1200mm, while RHB is standard gauge). Due to a different electrical system, passengers from Trogen had to alight in St. Gallen central rail station for journeys towards Gais, Altstätten, or Appenzell, though after the fusion both TB and SGA lines shared the same forecourt still beside the SBB station. AB also used different rail stock for each portion, with Be 4/8 three-car trainsets used for the St. Gallen-Trogen line inherited from the Trogenerbahn, and the SGA line using the shown rail stock in the documentary. This all changed in 2018 when AB decided to make a through-line (Durchmesserlinie) from Trogen to Appenzell as part of the S-Bahn St. Gallen transport conglomeration. The following changes were then made: the Trogenerbahn's electrical system was then changed to the 1500V DC standard sans the downtown St. Gallen station which had to use 600V DC (since the electrification was provided by the St. Gallen city transport for their trolleybuses), the rack section after Riethüsli was replaced with a tunnel section (to the dismay of many AB fans) and some stations along this section were relocated or closed, and AB bought new Stadler Tango ABe 8/12 EMUs with special modifications that allow it to run on different sections of the line which had different rail profiles (the Appenzell section had higher rail dimensions than the Trogen section) and could use the two mentioned voltage systems. The Gossau-Appenzell-Wasserauen section now uses Stadler ABe 4/12 "Walzer" three-car units alongside the various BDe 4/4 cars. Finally in 2021 the almost 18 km Frauenfeld-Wil railway between the two mentioned cities in Canton St. Gallen fused with AB, making it the most recent fusion in a railway company that was created due to fusioning. AB also made a feasibility study on the continued operation of its rack railway lines, promoting them to transform the Rorschach-Walzenhausen rack mountain railway into a Level 4 ATO automated railway, the first of its kind in Switzerland when it starts automated operations in 2026. Sadly the same study also suggested that AB would cease the Altstätten-Gais rack railway line by 2035 due to shrinking passenger use and the end of life of the ABDeh 4/4 and BDeh 4/4 electric units.
May I add that the Bodensee region of St. Gallen and the Appenzell (Ausserrhoden) cantons were some of my favorite places in Europe. I spent two days enjoying the region with my goal of visiting the Appenzeller demonstration cheese factory in Stein AR, being a fan of their cheese. Sadly the Durchmesserlinie was being made during my visit so I was not able to ride the AB (Stein AR was also out of reach of either AB line anyway, and was only accessible by road through Postauto or private car).
I loved trains as a kid, and my grandmother recorded this episode for me one day while I was at school. It's been decades since I've seen this.
Really beautiful scenery in Switzerland the train is the best way to seeing it
Visited Appenzeller region in 1990 and 2001, stayed with a Swiss family in 1990 and attended the last cantonal male only election with the father and young son from the farm that I was staying at. We walked back to the farm stopping at local drinking houses along the way. It was very much less touristy than St. Gallen. Have been back to Switzerland many times since, but this part of Switzerland will always be remembered fondly.
I love rural Switzerland 🇨🇭
A beautiful canton, Appenzell is a must visit.
Some updates on Appenzeller Bahnen after this movie was produced:
The Trogenerbahn became part of AB in 2006 alongside the Rorschach-Walzenhausen mountain railway and Rorschach-Heiden mountain railway, both rack railways but with differing gauges (RWB is 1200mm, while RHB is standard gauge). Due to a different electrical system, passengers from Trogen had to alight in St. Gallen central rail station for journeys towards Gais, Altstätten, or Appenzell, though after the fusion both TB and SGA lines shared the same forecourt still beside the SBB station. AB also used different rail stock for each portion, with Be 4/8 three-car trainsets used for the St. Gallen-Trogen line inherited from the Trogenerbahn, and the SGA line using the shown rail stock in the documentary.
This all changed in 2018 when AB decided to make a through-line (Durchmesserlinie) from Trogen to Appenzell as part of the S-Bahn St. Gallen transport conglomeration. The following changes were then made: the Trogenerbahn's electrical system was then changed to the 1500V DC standard sans the downtown St. Gallen station which had to use 600V DC (since the electrification was provided by the St. Gallen city transport for their trolleybuses), the rack section after Riethüsli was replaced with a tunnel section (to the dismay of many AB fans) and some stations along this section were relocated or closed, and AB bought new Stadler Tango ABe 8/12 EMUs with special modifications that allow it to run on different sections of the line which had different rail profiles (the Appenzell section had higher rail dimensions than the Trogen section) and could use the two mentioned voltage systems.
The Gossau-Appenzell-Wasserauen section now uses Stadler ABe 4/12 "Walzer" three-car units alongside the various BDe 4/4 cars.
Finally in 2021 the almost 18 km Frauenfeld-Wil railway between the two mentioned cities in Canton St. Gallen fused with AB, making it the most recent fusion in a railway company that was created due to fusioning. AB also made a feasibility study on the continued operation of its rack railway lines, promoting them to transform the Rorschach-Walzenhausen rack mountain railway into a Level 4 ATO automated railway, the first of its kind in Switzerland when it starts automated operations in 2026. Sadly the same study also suggested that AB would cease the Altstätten-Gais rack railway line by 2035 due to shrinking passenger use and the end of life of the ABDeh 4/4 and BDeh 4/4 electric units.
May I add that the Bodensee region of St. Gallen and the Appenzell (Ausserrhoden) cantons were some of my favorite places in Europe. I spent two days enjoying the region with my goal of visiting the Appenzeller demonstration cheese factory in Stein AR, being a fan of their cheese. Sadly the Durchmesserlinie was being made during my visit so I was not able to ride the AB (Stein AR was also out of reach of either AB line anyway, and was only accessible by road through Postauto or private car).
a lovely video on a lovely country