Category: 2024 Spring – Copenhagen – Paris

Schwebebahn Monorail, Wuppertal, Germany

In 1903, an overhead monorail transit system was completed in Wuppertal, Germany, an industrial town in the Ruhr Valley. The Schwebebahn monorail has been recently restored, with all new carriages and control sytems. It carries 20,000 passengers per day, and is the main mode of transit for the people of Wuppertal. Most of the monorail is suspended over the river that passes through town. The Schwebebahn is elegant, efficient, smooth, comfortable and perfectly quiet.

Why don’t more cities adopt this obviously wonderful transit solution?

Vienna to Domodossola, Italy

Since parting with Rob Mee in Berlin, Ben and I have travelled south through Poland to Poprad, Slovakia, and west through rural Slovakia to Vienna, Austria. We saw fantastic model train layouts in Poznan, Poland and at the Pratern Park in Vienna.

We then had a lovely day in the countryside north-west of Vienna visiting an incredible model train layout in Schiltern. Returning from Schiltern we followed the Danube River, enjoyed chips and sausages at ‘Captain Otto’s’, a rustic pub on the banks of the Danube on the northern edge of Vienna. From Otto’s we took the ‘D’ tram all the way through the middle of Vienna to our hotel. No need to hire a guide in Vienna – just get on a couple of tram lines. Fabulous!!!!

Since then we’ve had two very long train days. Vienna, Austria to Chur, Switzerland, and Chur to Domodossola, Italy.

There are several train routes through the Austrian Alps from Vienna to Chur. Ben orchestrated undoubtedly the most scenic. The rails connecting Villach, Innsbruck and Chur are breathtaking, especially the approach to Innsbruck. The single track line climbs high into the Alps, hugging cliffsides and affording views of impossibly high snow-capped peaks. We spent a good portion of the eleven hours in the almost empty dining car, which allowed us to easily move from side to side as the train entered different valleys.

We rose early the next day in Chur to ride the Bernina Express south to Tirano, Italy. This famous train line was built over one hundred years ago and features many iconic arched bridge connections over deep gorges between tunnels. Here’s a good tip – you don’t need to book the official one-a-day expensive and crowded ‘Bernina Express’ because the train actually runs once every hour, albeit without a snack and an announcer. Ben and I had the 6:30 am train all to ourselves.

From Tirano we took the Italian train south to Monza (the home of Formula 1 racing) to get the northbound train around Lake Como to Locarno. From Locarno we boarded the scenic Centovalli narrow-gauge train westward to Domodossola. The little train twists and turns through imposibly deep and narrow gorges, passing innumerable waterfalls and stomach-churning dropoffs.

The attached video starts with a variety of views from the train leaving Vienna, with the Alps increasing in height as we travel west. You’ll see a few arched bridges on the Bernina express, and the view from the front window of the Centovalli train. There’s a short clip showing the driving blizzard we encountered on the Bernina at the top of the pass. Howling winds, driving snow and a complete whiteout, with snow still two metres deep around the train.

Tomorrow we get an early train for the trip north to Wuppertal, Germany, in the Ruhr Valley, to ride the famous Schwebebaun monorail.

Bratislava, Slovakia to Vienna, Austria

A long travel day yesterday in drizzly rain and fog from Poprad to Bratislava, Slovakia. So – no post yesterday. Interestingly, though, we saw many tanks and artillery pieces loaded onto train flat beds along the way. Perhaps heading toward neighbouring Ukraine?

Bratislava is now the capital of Slovakia, but during the Czechoslovakia days it was a provincial seat. It has some interesting architecture, and is a stopping point for river cruise boats on the Danube River. Bratislava is a major car manufacturing centre. Ben and I enjoyed the fantastic collection of restored ship, car and train hardware in the Slovakia Transport Museum.

Frequent trains make the one hour journey to Vienna. After a morning walk around the Bratislava old town centre we boarded the 12:30 train. We dropped our stuff with the front desk and had a great afternoon. Took the S-baun to Pratern, the city amusement park, and looked at their model train exhibit. Excellent. A recreation of the city of Vienna. Then caught the ‘ring’ tram that circles the inner old city. Saw a lot of the sights from the tram. Wow. Big old architecture here. Got off and walked up the shopping street, had a beer, then got back on the tram for the ride back to the train station and our hotel. Checked in, and went out for dinner. Found a little schnitzel restaurant. Perfect. Schitzel, and struedel for dessert. So good. Tomorrow we go by train to a model train layout in a very small village outside of town.

Please enjoy some of Ben’s pictures of Slovakia.

Krakow, Poland to Poprad, Slovakie

Quick post today. Ben and I left Krakow on a morning train south to Zakopane, near the border with Slovakia. Zakopane is a seasonal tourist destination – skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. The town is full of lovely chalet-style lodges. Zakopane is the end of this train line; the Tatra mountains, which define the national border, rise dramatically close by.

We continued south on a twisty pot-holed road through the mountain pass into Slovakia. The bus was state-of-the-art modern – the latest from Mercedes-Benz. The Tatra mountain peaks towered over us to the right, up to a 3000m elevation. Many ski runs adorned the slopes.

The bus let us out on the southern side of the Tatras in Stary Smokovec, a small mountain village in the foothills. A narrow gauge railway joins all of the small towns in this area together. Ben and I rode the entire route (some sections twice – oops) enjoying the friendly crowds of hikers and boisterous school children. A real treat. A few years ago the county improved the road through this area and threatened to shut down the railroad. The railway workers got together, raised the funds, and completely restored the track infrastructure and modernized the engines and cars. Thank goodness. It is a treat.

The final leg of the railroad is a steep descent into the Poprad valley with a cog-equipped engine. Stunning views of the Tatras to the right, and eye-popping views of the valley far below on the left.

Overnight tonight in Poprad, Slovakia, and a 4:20 am departure towards Bratislava in the morning.

Rob Mee is venturing south in Germany, and took these pictures today in Bayreuth at the home of the opera composer, Richard Wagner.

Frankfurt (Oder) to Poznan, Poland

After a very delayed train yesterday south to Berlin, we had to change our plans to stay overnight in Poland. We made it to the Polish border at Frankfurt, on the Oder river. Stayed in a nice old hotel. Ben and I shared a Domino’s (!!) pizza and hit the sack.

We caught the early morning train to Poznan and hailed a cab to take us a few kilometres south to ‘Makieta’, a fantastic model train layout created by Robert and his wife Renata. They were excellent hosts, opening specially for Ben and I for a small charge. Robert and Renata have been working on the model for almost twenty years, with about twenty employees and volunteers. They have about $250k invested in the project, and charge admission on the weekends. The taxi ride was very entertaning. Our driver knew no English, and he obviously couldn’t believe where he was taking us. The last kilometre to the model train was on a very narrow and poorly maintained dirt road.

Renata kindly gave us a ride back to the Poznan train station and we continued on our way to Krakow. Both Poznan and Krakow have train stations that we in Canada can only dream for. Many platforms and tracks, wonderful eating facilities, and connected to huge shopping malls.

Krakow is famous for its Old City square. with a long beautiful market building dividing its two halves. We enjoyed a delicious Polish meal of cabbage rolls, perogies, mutton, veal cutlets, and potato latkes, washed down with Polish white wine.

Tomorrow south to Zakopene, then a bus over the high Tatra Mountains, followed by thrilling cog trains south to Poprad in Slovakia.

Copenhagen to Frankfurt (Oder)

A big travel day, so very little video and just a few pictures.

Rob Mee and John (me) have been travelling in Norway for the past week. I met Rob at Scarborough Music Camp in 1971. Rob was first trombone in the band, and I was first trumpet. Great friends ever since.

Ben Pon joined us this morning in Copenhagen. Ben grew up in The Netherlands, and I met him at the back of the first Physics class in University of Toronto Engineering Science in 1973. Again, great friends ever since.

The three of us rode the trains from Copenhagen to Berlin today, with a change of trains in Hamburg. In Berlin, Rob set off by himself for another week of travel through Germany and Switzerland. Rob will continue to entertain us with his wonderful photographs.

Ben and I had planned to get to Poznan, Poland after Berlin, but long delays heading into Berlin made the connection impossible. Instead, we have made it eastward as far as we could, to the Polish border in Frankfurt (Oder). Tomorrow morning we’ll board the early train to Poznan.

Notable today were the beautiful wooden arch structure of the old Copenhagen train station, and the recently opened very modern station in Berlin. Incredibly, this station has three vertically stacked levels of incoming and outgoing trains, with Berlin’s subway system running underneath all of that. The trains enter from various directions. It’s like a scene from the old cartoon The Jetsons.

Copenhagen

A very quick post tonight because it’s late! Rob and I left Oslo at 8:10 this morning for Copenhagen. The trip was in two legs, with a change in Gotenberg, Sweden. Both trains were comfortable and perfectly on time. The scenery was basically exactly like Ontario Canada. Lakes, forests and granite south from Oslo, and more farms and fields as we proceeded south through Sweden.

The Oresund bridge / tunnel connects Sweden to Denmark. Finished in 1998, it consists of an 8 km bridge from the Sweden end and a 5 km tunnel to Denmark.

We checked in to our hotel and walked to the Copenhagen Castle. The area is closed because of a large fire a few days ago at the old Copenhagen stock market. The wreckage is wrapped in twisted scaffolding as the building was undergoing renovations when the fire broke out.

We continued walking through the old part of Copenhagen to the lovely gardens around the Rosenborgc Castle. The blossoming fruit trees were a welcome sight after our last few days north of the Arctic Circle.

Drage the video around with your mouse if you like!

A few more pictures of Copenhagen will be included in tomorrow’s post.