The Uetlibergbahn now runs fully on standard (for Swiss standard gauge) 15kV/16.7Hz AC. The side-mounted DC catenaries were removed a few months ago, following the retirement of the oldest rolling stock. All the replacement rolling stock was purchased with dual-voltage capability (with a sliding pantograph that can move into either position), allowing it to run on the DC power until the old stock was retired, then on AC without having to be replaced again or modified. Future rolling stock will, of course, be AC-only. But given that the new rolling stock was delivered in 2013 and 2021, that won’t be for a while! A friend of mine, who is a rail power construction worker here and worked on the DC-to-AC conversion, showed me video of a new catenary mast being hoisted into place by helicopter. :)
Genius! Obviously Rümlang would be a good cheap place to rest one's head, being quite literally the far side of the airport, where the jet fuel is bunkered! Clearly your dad is not distracted by touristic bells and whistles, a true travel veteran, and his observational talent has passed down to you with ease. Only detail he missed was the crossing halfway up the hill where a 600 Volt trolleybus crosses the S10 - still a system disparity even after the voltage change - maybe one for the inevitable revisit \m/
Yes, Switzerland is truly an amazing country - so central for people wanting to travel to other parts of Europe. I especially like the bright colors of the various trains' livery in contrast to America's predominately stainless steel. Nice to see your Dad providing his input - I can see his interest in trains has extended to you Thom & Bear. Another interesting & informative upload on why trains are awesome, thank you for sharing. Stay safe.
I really wish American trains wouldn’t be so boring in terms of their livery. Amtrak and the NYC subway look almost identical, but are worlds apart in terms of service! My dad is really into traveling, Bear and I just picked a mode we really liked. The passion for traveling is certainly something our mom and dad shared with us, and thankfully it’s an area of common ground I share with Lindsey as well. How are you? All recovered? Wishing you the best!
Fun fact: the underground tracks of Zurich HB are actually _below_ the river, with the river running through the station between the shopping level and the underground tracks. The Uetlbergbahn (SZU) tunnel runs beneath the river for a few stops (whose station elevators poke up through the water) before moving above ground.
Actually, it’s _almost_ perfect. The local language, Swiss German (the dialect of Alemannic, not the Swiss accent on standard German), pronounces quite a few things differently from standard German. For example, Triemli is not (using English notation) “treem-lee”, but “tree-em-lee”, and Uetliberg is actually Üetliberg (the lack of umlaut dating back to times when capital umlauts were rarely, if ever, written, instead using an extra e instead, but with double-e’s omitted), and in Swiss German it is pronounced ü-et-li-berg.
@@Thom-TRA In case you don’t know this, something I discovered through a rail-fan friend of mine who visited me here in Zurich: the SBB offers locomotive cab rides. They’re quite expensive (I think my friend paid something like $700 for a total 3h ride on two locomotive types), but you get to sit in the cab of a train, accompanied by a guide (in addition to the train driver). Your knowledge of German will come in handy since they rarely get tourists doing this. My friend said afterwards that it was an amazing experience that was worth every cent, and the guide was so impressed by such an enthusiastic foreign guest that he ended up buying my friend a coffee and chatting with him (in broken English) for another hour after it finished! (This same friend is one who, back when I was living in Maryland right next to the MARC line near the Halethorpe station you showed in another video, would hear the train in the distance from my house, look at his watch, and then declare which train run it was! :p)
@@Thom-TRA Do it! The name is Führerstandsfahrt or Führerstandsmitfahrt, and by the looks of it, it’s not just SBB who offers them; there seem to be many railways in Switzerland who offer them. Expensive (just saw a long one for 1200 francs) but truly unique.
Great video! Thanks for the explanation of the SZU's peculiarities. It was also great to see the S9 - my ancestors are from Glattfelden, which is a stop on the S9 between Schaffhausen and Zürich.
Another very enjoyable video. It's a few years since I rode these lines and the tunnels under Zurich Hbf were ONLY for the SZU back then. Great to see the changes.
I’m glad the extended the line from Selnau to HB back when they did. It improves the connectivity, and the weird situation with the overhead wires gives railfans like us something to talk about! Thanks for watching the video and leaving a comment!
The SZU platforms (21-22) are still SZU-only, since they’re only minimally physically connected to the rest of the rail network, and are needed as the terminus for both the S4 and S10. (These were originally built for the aborted Zurich U-bahn network, which is why they’re of a different aesthetic.) They entered service in 1990 with the opening of the S-bahn network. Underground platforms 41-44 (S-bahn-only, known as “Bahnhof Museumstrasse”) also started service in 1990 as part of the new S-bahn network. The newest addition, which entered service in 2014, are underground platforms 31-34, known as “Bahnhof Löwenstrasse”. Its much wider island platforms were sized to handle long-distance passengers with luggage, since it’s used for both S-bahn and long-distance trains.
The Uetlibergbahn now runs fully on standard (for Swiss standard gauge) 15kV/16.7Hz AC. The side-mounted DC catenaries were removed a few months ago, following the retirement of the oldest rolling stock. All the replacement rolling stock was purchased with dual-voltage capability (with a sliding pantograph that can move into either position), allowing it to run on the DC power until the old stock was retired, then on AC without having to be replaced again or modified. Future rolling stock will, of course, be AC-only. But given that the new rolling stock was delivered in 2013 and 2021, that won’t be for a while!
A friend of mine, who is a rail power construction worker here and worked on the DC-to-AC conversion, showed me video of a new catenary mast being hoisted into place by helicopter. :)
Genius! Obviously Rümlang would be a good cheap place to rest one's head, being quite literally the far side of the airport, where the jet fuel is bunkered! Clearly your dad is not distracted by touristic bells and whistles, a true travel veteran, and his observational talent has passed down to you with ease. Only detail he missed was the crossing halfway up the hill where a 600 Volt trolleybus crosses the S10 - still a system disparity even after the voltage change - maybe one for the inevitable revisit \m/
Yes, Switzerland is truly an amazing country - so central for people wanting to travel to other parts of Europe. I especially like the bright colors of the various trains' livery in contrast to America's predominately stainless steel. Nice to see your Dad providing his input - I can see his interest in trains has extended to you Thom & Bear. Another interesting & informative upload on why trains are awesome, thank you for sharing. Stay safe.
I really wish American trains wouldn’t be so boring in terms of their livery. Amtrak and the NYC subway look almost identical, but are worlds apart in terms of service!
My dad is really into traveling, Bear and I just picked a mode we really liked. The passion for traveling is certainly something our mom and dad shared with us, and thankfully it’s an area of common ground I share with Lindsey as well.
How are you? All recovered? Wishing you the best!
Fun fact: the underground tracks of Zurich HB are actually _below_ the river, with the river running through the station between the shopping level and the underground tracks. The Uetlbergbahn (SZU) tunnel runs beneath the river for a few stops (whose station elevators poke up through the water) before moving above ground.
Thank you for this interesting bit of train technology and this nice video. Your pronunciation of the local town names is perfect.
Thank you! I took German in high school
Actually, it’s _almost_ perfect. The local language, Swiss German (the dialect of Alemannic, not the Swiss accent on standard German), pronounces quite a few things differently from standard German.
For example, Triemli is not (using English notation) “treem-lee”, but “tree-em-lee”, and Uetliberg is actually Üetliberg (the lack of umlaut dating back to times when capital umlauts were rarely, if ever, written, instead using an extra e instead, but with double-e’s omitted), and in Swiss German it is pronounced ü-et-li-berg.
The freight trains look so cool! Were those cars around 2:37 similar to boxcars in North America?
Thank you for the great video. :-) Rekindles my time in Zurich, using the S bahn and trams. I need to return to Switzerland.
I need to return as well. I feel like I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the trains in Switzerland…
@@Thom-TRA In case you don’t know this, something I discovered through a rail-fan friend of mine who visited me here in Zurich: the SBB offers locomotive cab rides. They’re quite expensive (I think my friend paid something like $700 for a total 3h ride on two locomotive types), but you get to sit in the cab of a train, accompanied by a guide (in addition to the train driver). Your knowledge of German will come in handy since they rarely get tourists doing this. My friend said afterwards that it was an amazing experience that was worth every cent, and the guide was so impressed by such an enthusiastic foreign guest that he ended up buying my friend a coffee and chatting with him (in broken English) for another hour after it finished!
(This same friend is one who, back when I was living in Maryland right next to the MARC line near the Halethorpe station you showed in another video, would hear the train in the distance from my house, look at his watch, and then declare which train run it was! :p)
@@tookitogo wow, this is awesome! Thanks for the heads-up! This would be a dream come true
@@Thom-TRA Do it! The name is Führerstandsfahrt or Führerstandsmitfahrt, and by the looks of it, it’s not just SBB who offers them; there seem to be many railways in Switzerland who offer them. Expensive (just saw a long one for 1200 francs) but truly unique.
@@Thom-TRA th-cam.com/video/mgi_8qQ_sK8/w-d-xo.html
Great video! Thanks for the explanation of the SZU's peculiarities. It was also great to see the S9 - my ancestors are from Glattfelden, which is a stop on the S9 between Schaffhausen and Zürich.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video! The SZU certainly is a strange little network. Your family is from a beautiful area!
Another very enjoyable video. It's a few years since I rode these lines and the tunnels under Zurich Hbf were ONLY for the SZU back then. Great to see the changes.
I’m glad the extended the line from Selnau to HB back when they did. It improves the connectivity, and the weird situation with the overhead wires gives railfans like us something to talk about!
Thanks for watching the video and leaving a comment!
The SZU platforms (21-22) are still SZU-only, since they’re only minimally physically connected to the rest of the rail network, and are needed as the terminus for both the S4 and S10. (These were originally built for the aborted Zurich U-bahn network, which is why they’re of a different aesthetic.) They entered service in 1990 with the opening of the S-bahn network.
Underground platforms 41-44 (S-bahn-only, known as “Bahnhof Museumstrasse”) also started service in 1990 as part of the new S-bahn network.
The newest addition, which entered service in 2014, are underground platforms 31-34, known as “Bahnhof Löwenstrasse”. Its much wider island platforms were sized to handle long-distance passengers with luggage, since it’s used for both S-bahn and long-distance trains.
Great to see Dad has some fine sons and daughters.
Thank you! We’re a good group of globetrotters if I say so myself
What do you think is planned for the 100 million dollars upgrade for the possible Detroit people mover upgrade.
This is the first I’ve heard of it
@@Thom-TRA if you had to guess what is involved with upgrade.
@@favroitetiger2351 probably new trains and signaling. Maybe renovation of stations.
But I wish Detroit would also invest in a subway. The public transport is so bad there, even with the PM and the QLine.
@@Thom-TRA in the article I read. The current train set they have said it was designed to last 35 years. And they are currently about 33 years old.