5″ Gauge Model Steam Experience
Just back from a few days in Switzerland which included a day at the Swiss Vapeur Parc annual fesitval at Le Bouveret. What an extraordinary place. Well worth a visit for those of a model steam persuasion. This link takes you to their webcams.
The annual festival attracts around 150 x 5″gauge model engines from around Europe including the UK. The Parc track layout is extensive and the infrastructure the members have built is quite amazing. You can sit and watch locos going past you in all directions and a full ride around the site takes around 20 minutes or so. We arrived at 10 am and didn’t leave until late afternoon such was the changing interest as more engines were brought into steam. This included a Darjeeling from Leatherhead Club.
We also spent a day on the Bex to Bretaye railway. This is a two hop route up to the mountain tops. The first section is from Bex to Villars where you then change trains for the section up to Bretaye. Both locomotives use a rack and pinion funicular traction drive mechanism. At Bretaye we took the chair lift up to Chaux Ronde at 1987m altitude. This revealed some stunning views of snow covered peaks including Mount Blanc.
A few interesting days with very warm sunshine. Well worth the trip.
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