Sunshine, bright, clear sunshine and good visibility from dawn to dusk. It’s taken its time coming but today was perfect, weather wise. It wasn’t bad train wise either with 20 freights recorded in seven hours. The passenger trains were a bit of a disappointment with many more class 460s than Re4/4iis. it was also noticeable that the 460s tended to be on the trains that were right for the light.

I started off trying to find a spot to photograph the high viaduct that crosses Maderanertal above Amsteg village. The light was almost on the east side of the bridge when I arrived shortly after 09:00. After an hour exploring the various options for a photograph the light was still almost on the bridge. I gave up and moved down to Büchholz, south of Erstfeld. Among the trains seen here were an SBB cargo 482 or 484 hauling a couple of green Ae6/6s north. The locos looked complete and in reasonable condition. Were they in line for a return to service or on their final trip to the scrapper? After a couple of hours I returned to Amsteg where the light was still almost on the bridge. A shot for high summer methinks.

Next spot was the Intschitobel Viaduct, a good 20 minutes slog up the hill from Amsteg. The problem here was that there was no warning of trains approaching from the north with traffic noise from the motorway drowning out any sound they might make. A southbound IR and an intermodal were both missed due to a moment’s inattention. Thankfully class 500s look the same whichever way they’re going and a northbound ICN saved the day. Why the countryside is being disfigured by noise barriers to stop train noise is beyond me. Compared with road traffic noise, trains are almost silent and any noise they do make is far less irritating.

The day’s final destination was Gurtnellen where the activity was intense. More than half the day’s freights were seen in two hours here in the afternoon. Preserved SBB BDe4/4 railcar 1646 also put in its third appearance of the day, the only time I was able to see it close up. Overall, not a bad day with plenty of light and plenty of trains to photograph.

Göschenen

Loco	Train No.	Train Details	Notes
470.009	EC13	07:09 Zürich HB - Milano Centrale	08:35
54-MGB	618	08:28 Andermatt - Göschenen	08:42

Büchholz, S of Erstfeld

Loco	Train No.	Train Details	Notes
460.008	IR2165	08:04 Basel SBB - Locarno	10:31
11144	IR2276	08:45 Locarno - Zürich HB	10:32
185.136-DB 185.129-DB		SB Intermodal	10:46 (Winner)
11325 620.074 banked by 420.165		SB Intermodal	10:52 (mixed)
11682 11345		NB Intermodal	10:57 (ESS + DHL)
420.387 11662		NB Intermodal	11:15 (Hoyer + Bertschi)
500.024 500.020	ICN669	09:04 Basel SBB - Lugano	11:17
11183		NB Light Engine	11:18
460.001	IR2267	10:09 Zürich HB - Locarno	11:32
11137	IR2174	09:45 Locarno - Basel SBB	11:35
185.135-DB 185.122-DB banked by 185.106-DB		SB Intermodal	11:40 (Winner)
420.165		NB Light	12:00
11128	EC14	09:10 Milano Centrale - Zürich HB	12:07
11128	EC14	09:10 Milano Centrale - Zürich HB	12:07
500.007	ICN10017	11:01 Zürich HB - Lugano	12:14
470.008	EC17	11:09 Zürich HB - Milano Centrale	12:16
482.xxx Ae6/6x2		NB Light Engines	12:17
11131 11689 banked by 420.165		SB Intermodal	12:21 (Bertschi)
460.006	IR2169	10:04 Basel SBB - Locarno	12:28
11196	IR2280	10:45 Locarno - Zürich HB	12:30

N of Intschi

Loco	Train No.	Train Details	Notes
1646		NB Special	13:04 (preserved SBB BDE4/4 motor coach)
420.165		NB Light Engine	13:07
500.xxx	ICN675	11:04 Basel SBB - Lugano	13:19
460.077	IR2178	11:45 Locarno - Basel SBB	13:26
Re4/4	IR2271	12:09 Zürich HB - Locarno	13:33
500.xxx	ICN10016	12:10 Lugano - Zürich HB	13:41
185.xxx-XRAIL 185.xxx-XRAIL		SB Intermodal	13:42 (GTS)
470.xxx	EC16	11:10 Milano Centrale - Zürich HB	13:46
1646		SB Special	14:06
182.xxx-DISPO 189.xxx-DISPO		NB Intermodal	14:09

Amsteg

Loco	Train No.	Train Details	Notes
460.xxx	IR2282	12:45 Locarno - Zürich HB	14:27
Re4/4 Re6/6		SB Intermodal	14:35

Gurtnellen

Loco	Train No.	Train Details	Notes
11663 11334 banked by 420.165		SB Intermodal	15:11
500.xxx	ICN679	13:04 Basel SBB - Lugano	15:22
460.xxx	IR2182	13:45 Locarno - Basel SBB	15:22
11285		SB Track Machines	15:26
11144	IR2275	14:09 Zürich HB - Locarno	15:35
186.903-XRAIL 186.907-XRAIL		SB Intermodal	15:39 (TTS)
185.138-DB 185.130-DB		SB Steel Coil	15:46
182.xxx-DISPO 189.xxx-DISPO		NB Intermodal	16:17
500.xxx	ICN10021	15:01 Zürich HB - Lugano	16:22
460.xxx	IR2286	14:45 Locarno - Zürich HB	16:25
470.xxx	EC21	15:09 Zürich HB - Milano Centrale	16:25
185.104-DB 485.xxx-BLS banked by 185.109-DB		SB Intermodal	16:29 (origin NL?)
460.077	IR2177	14:04 Basel SBB - Locarno	16:34
185.134-DB 185.100-DB		SB Intermodal	16:41
11689 11331		NB Intermodal	16:44
185.127-DB 185.116-DB		SB Steel Coil	16:48
1646		NB Special	16:54
11341 11673		SB Intermodal	17:02
11340 11685		NB Intermodal	17:08 (Bertschi + DHL)