On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail
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And I’ve made onto my second SOB RABe 526 of the day, the Treno Gottardo, departing from Arth-Goldau, and where I will spend the next 2 and a half hours.
I’ve given up on photos, but I am still enjoying the views, even through the rain. Surprisingly little in the way of snow so far, though…
There are adverts on the train for “Treno Mistero”, billed as the first escape room on a train, which is played in the hour and a half between Arth-Goldau and Bellinzona.
You can purchase the game online, and play it on any train doing the route. The train staff will hand you a box with physical items, and you need a phone or tablet to play it, view videos, and take pictures.
It’s only available in German though, and costs 30CHF for a single player game or 60CHF for a “duell” version. It’s a different way of doing this route, and maybe a wet weather alternative.
More info here: https://unterwegs.sob.ch/en/stories/trenomistero
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There are adverts on the train for “Treno Mistero”, billed as the first escape room on a train, which is played in the hour and a half between Arth-Goldau and Bellinzona.
You can purchase the game online, and play it on any train doing the route. The train staff will hand you a box with physical items, and you need a phone or tablet to play it, view videos, and take pictures.
It’s only available in German though, and costs 30CHF for a single player game or 60CHF for a “duell” version. It’s a different way of doing this route, and maybe a wet weather alternative.
More info here: https://unterwegs.sob.ch/en/stories/trenomistero
And we make it through the Gotthard tunnel, and all of a sudden: Snow!
Not massive amounts, but snow nonetheless…
Also, the train announcements are all in Italian now…
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There are adverts on the train for “Treno Mistero”, billed as the first escape room on a train, which is played in the hour and a half between Arth-Goldau and Bellinzona.
You can purchase the game online, and play it on any train doing the route. The train staff will hand you a box with physical items, and you need a phone or tablet to play it, view videos, and take pictures.
It’s only available in German though, and costs 30CHF for a single player game or 60CHF for a “duell” version. It’s a different way of doing this route, and maybe a wet weather alternative.
More info here: https://unterwegs.sob.ch/en/stories/trenomistero
@moof Cool! Thanks for the link!
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And we make it through the Gotthard tunnel, and all of a sudden: Snow!
Not massive amounts, but snow nonetheless…
Also, the train announcements are all in Italian now…
On the rails again…
Check out my next seat!
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On the rails again…
Check out my next seat!
@moof jammy fart
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On the rails again…
Check out my next seat!
In all seriousness, my next seat is literally at the front of the train, next to the cabin, so I can pretend to drive it.
And the childish glee does not end there! This train line is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, or FART. The is potential for a lot of obnoxious and poor taste jokes, much like my…
Or rather, there could have been, but this ABe 4/6 unit is actually operated by Società Subalpina Imprese Ferroviarie, SSIF.
That being said, I did leave from Locarno FART station, which took a long and slow journey to the exit of the tunnel before I could let my presence be known online, and will be arriving at Domodossola SSIF station.
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@partim Way too late, but frankly the weather was not with me back at Wassen. Have a picture of the church at St. Galen instead
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In all seriousness, my next seat is literally at the front of the train, next to the cabin, so I can pretend to drive it.
And the childish glee does not end there! This train line is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, or FART. The is potential for a lot of obnoxious and poor taste jokes, much like my…
Or rather, there could have been, but this ABe 4/6 unit is actually operated by Società Subalpina Imprese Ferroviarie, SSIF.
That being said, I did leave from Locarno FART station, which took a long and slow journey to the exit of the tunnel before I could let my presence be known online, and will be arriving at Domodossola SSIF station.
Italia, sono in te!
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In all seriousness, my next seat is literally at the front of the train, next to the cabin, so I can pretend to drive it.
And the childish glee does not end there! This train line is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, or FART. The is potential for a lot of obnoxious and poor taste jokes, much like my…
Or rather, there could have been, but this ABe 4/6 unit is actually operated by Società Subalpina Imprese Ferroviarie, SSIF.
That being said, I did leave from Locarno FART station, which took a long and slow journey to the exit of the tunnel before I could let my presence be known online, and will be arriving at Domodossola SSIF station.
@moof have you been on the #DocklandsLightRailway in London? The trains are robots that drive themselves, and you can sit at the front. The "driver's" seat is in great demand and it's not unheard of to see grey-haired suited commuters pretending to drive. A few years ago the operators even gave away inflatable toy steering wheels: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8273/8921671706_7cabf8e7a2_b.jpg
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@moof have you been on the #DocklandsLightRailway in London? The trains are robots that drive themselves, and you can sit at the front. The "driver's" seat is in great demand and it's not unheard of to see grey-haired suited commuters pretending to drive. A few years ago the operators even gave away inflatable toy steering wheels: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8273/8921671706_7cabf8e7a2_b.jpg
@DrHyde I have had plenty of journeys on the DLR, and managed to grab the front seat on many of them… I remember them fondly
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Italia, sono in te!
@moof buon viaggio!
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In all seriousness, my next seat is literally at the front of the train, next to the cabin, so I can pretend to drive it.
And the childish glee does not end there! This train line is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, or FART. The is potential for a lot of obnoxious and poor taste jokes, much like my…
Or rather, there could have been, but this ABe 4/6 unit is actually operated by Società Subalpina Imprese Ferroviarie, SSIF.
That being said, I did leave from Locarno FART station, which took a long and slow journey to the exit of the tunnel before I could let my presence be known online, and will be arriving at Domodossola SSIF station.
@moof at Locarno, it takes a long time to let out a FART.
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In all seriousness, my next seat is literally at the front of the train, next to the cabin, so I can pretend to drive it.
And the childish glee does not end there! This train line is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, or FART. The is potential for a lot of obnoxious and poor taste jokes, much like my…
Or rather, there could have been, but this ABe 4/6 unit is actually operated by Società Subalpina Imprese Ferroviarie, SSIF.
That being said, I did leave from Locarno FART station, which took a long and slow journey to the exit of the tunnel before I could let my presence be known online, and will be arriving at Domodossola SSIF station.
@moof remember, fart is Danish for speed, perhaps it aspires to be...
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In all seriousness, my next seat is literally at the front of the train, next to the cabin, so I can pretend to drive it.
And the childish glee does not end there! This train line is operated by the Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi, or FART. The is potential for a lot of obnoxious and poor taste jokes, much like my…
Or rather, there could have been, but this ABe 4/6 unit is actually operated by Società Subalpina Imprese Ferroviarie, SSIF.
That being said, I did leave from Locarno FART station, which took a long and slow journey to the exit of the tunnel before I could let my presence be known online, and will be arriving at Domodossola SSIF station.
@moof The enjoyment of this operator being Fartvergnügen?
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Italia, sono in te!
So… I went a bit quiet there. Let's try to summarise it.
Going down to Domodossola was entirely the right call. The weather basically cleared up as soon as we reached the end of the Gotthard tunnel, and all the prettyness started being shown off in glorious technicolour, and without rain in the way.
There was snow, there was greenery, there were waterfalls, there were so so many massive snow-capped mountains. And after Locarno there was the rickety train that kept turning and showing even more beautiful sights at every turn. Capped off with the descent into Domodossola. It may actually be in Italy, but this is very much the sort of alpine scenery I've come to associate with Switzerland.
After that, I decided to follow through with dining at an Italian restaurant, and on @patrick's recommendation, I went to Varzo. Whilst the restaurant that was recommended was unable to accommodate me, I dined at another one.
I'm now heading on to Geneva.
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Italia, sono in te!
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So… I went a bit quiet there. Let's try to summarise it.
Going down to Domodossola was entirely the right call. The weather basically cleared up as soon as we reached the end of the Gotthard tunnel, and all the prettyness started being shown off in glorious technicolour, and without rain in the way.
There was snow, there was greenery, there were waterfalls, there were so so many massive snow-capped mountains. And after Locarno there was the rickety train that kept turning and showing even more beautiful sights at every turn. Capped off with the descent into Domodossola. It may actually be in Italy, but this is very much the sort of alpine scenery I've come to associate with Switzerland.
After that, I decided to follow through with dining at an Italian restaurant, and on @patrick's recommendation, I went to Varzo. Whilst the restaurant that was recommended was unable to accommodate me, I dined at another one.
I'm now heading on to Geneva.
@patrick Since Mastodon limits me to four pictures, I’ve gone through my shortlist and picked out four I particularly liked. Whilst they are, incidentally, train-themed, the landscapes are what are fascinating to me. Hopefully they will convince you to come to the Alps sometime.
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@patrick Since Mastodon limits me to four pictures, I’ve gone through my shortlist and picked out four I particularly liked. Whilst they are, incidentally, train-themed, the landscapes are what are fascinating to me. Hopefully they will convince you to come to the Alps sometime.
@patrick And now, I head to Geneva, in a train that has a slightly cursed consist of two double-decker carriages followed by six single-deck ones. I'll arrive at 23:40, and thankfully my hotel is opposite the train station, and my first train tomorrow is not very early.
The day is going to end hours later than what I had planned originally, which was already a long day, but it was very much worth it, even the bit with the dreary weather. 14 hours of amazing travel.
I've updated the itinerary. It's still up at https://moof.space/trip/2026-02-12
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@patrick And now, I head to Geneva, in a train that has a slightly cursed consist of two double-decker carriages followed by six single-deck ones. I'll arrive at 23:40, and thankfully my hotel is opposite the train station, and my first train tomorrow is not very early.
The day is going to end hours later than what I had planned originally, which was already a long day, but it was very much worth it, even the bit with the dreary weather. 14 hours of amazing travel.
I've updated the itinerary. It's still up at https://moof.space/trip/2026-02-12
@patrick One thing I will say is that it's been a very flirtatious day.
I've spent all day in FLIRT variants, apart from this KISS and the ABe 4/6 down to Domodossia. I’ve had several opportunities to be in a FLIRT this past couple of weeks, and they've mostly been positive, even if I do find some of the choices made by the interior stylists of various companies a little baffling.
It seems difficult to find FLIRTs with full-sized tables, for example, or even seat-back tables in some cases. In an era when more and more people are working from trains, I thought having surfaces from which to work would be a competitive advantage...
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So… I went a bit quiet there. Let's try to summarise it.
Going down to Domodossola was entirely the right call. The weather basically cleared up as soon as we reached the end of the Gotthard tunnel, and all the prettyness started being shown off in glorious technicolour, and without rain in the way.
There was snow, there was greenery, there were waterfalls, there were so so many massive snow-capped mountains. And after Locarno there was the rickety train that kept turning and showing even more beautiful sights at every turn. Capped off with the descent into Domodossola. It may actually be in Italy, but this is very much the sort of alpine scenery I've come to associate with Switzerland.
After that, I decided to follow through with dining at an Italian restaurant, and on @patrick's recommendation, I went to Varzo. Whilst the restaurant that was recommended was unable to accommodate me, I dined at another one.
I'm now heading on to Geneva.
@moof And how was the food? Enquiring minds want to know ;).
