About this event

For many years, John combined his interests of railways, photography and walking in the very attractive country of Switzerland. His interest focussed on the Gotthard mountain route, but extended to trying to record the entire route from Basel in the north to Chiasso in the south.

The first part brought us from the border at Basel to Erstfeld, where the route starts the North Ramp ascent to the summit tunnel at Göschenen. The second part of this journey left us at Gurtnellen, half way up the North Ramp to the Gotthard summit tunnel. The journey continues to cover the second half of the climb, including the town of Wassen, which the railway passes three times in an outstanding example of mountain railway design

The focus is very much on the railway, rather than the scenery, and to a large extent is more about freight traffic than passenger trains, although these do get a look-in. As the photographs were taken over a period of something like 40 years, they also reflect changes in the nature of both freight and passenger trains over time.

This is a hybrid lecture in person at Keen House and on Zoom – registration for Zoom opens in mid September.

Non MRC members are welcome with a suggested donation of £3 either in person or on our virtual coffee page