Great info, Mike. This is a valuable reference for Swiss train enthusiasts.

One question - Are there any problems involved in mixing different manufacturers coaches? I'm thinking in terms of roof heights and colour variations here, not so much about couplings.

Thanks,

Ray

I thought an Re 6/6 or a double headed Re 4/4 II can sometimes be used for this consist?

Thanks for posting the list, Mike.
I desperately need more EW II and EW IV coaches.

SUPER helpful! Especially since I have a lot of these models :)

I have not had any problems with mixing most brands of coaches. For example, I have a few trains that mix Roco EWII and EWIV, Lima EWI, Hag EWI and Liliput Lightsteel coaches. I have also used the new Maerklin lightsteel coaches.

I have also combined Roco, LSM, RailTop, ACME, Heris and other coaches without problem. I was disappointed to see that the Tillig/Sachsenmodelle DB Era V ICE livery coaches had the wrong height of the red stripe. That is really visible.

Tim: The Re 6/6s came into service starting in 1972. By 1975, it was common to see Gotthard trains being pulled by these loks as well. I have several Hag and Roco models, and they pull trains like my DB IC and FS Intercity Trains or a non-pendelzug set of EWIV coaches.
The double headed Re 4/4II consist is more something that I have seen on more recent trips, so with a Cisalpino or modern EC consist.

Guus: The SBB leases a few Re 421 from SBB Cargo to pull the EC trains from Zuerich to Lindau and back. The reason for this is that the trains travel from St Margrethen to Lindau over OBB and DB tracks, requiring the German pantographs. The SBB no longer has it's own loks with this equipment. I guess that you could model an earlier version (with IC and blue beige coaches) if you have the Hag model of the Re 4/4II 11196, which was at the time equipped with a DB slider.

Jacques: Sorry, I forgot to mention the 'Sputnik' for the freight train with the Crocodile. I do have one of the Roco ones that I use with the 26730 Set. AFAIR (1971) the Sputnik used to be inserted into the train about 2/3 of the way back. This allowed the staff to see the middle and end of the train. I noted this because it was not in the back like in North American freight trains. As electronic control became more common, these cars did end up later being used at the end of the train, as the electronic 'train end' equipment could be permanently mounted in these cars. Having the car at the end of the train also meant that it was easier to uncouple than having to take the whole train apart.
You may also wish to remember that even in the earliest days, international freight travel on the Gotthard was largely composed of German, Italian and other European cars travelling north to south and back. Trains within Switzerland would have seen a greater number of Swiss cars with a foreign car inserted here and there.

Another interesting source of information (for me) was the book "Die Gotthardbahn" by Marti & Trueb. AFAIK FKM modeltrains still has a copy for sale. There are editions from 1969, 1972, 1976 and 1984, so you can see how train consists have changed over the years. The books can be found on ebay (.com and .de) from time to time.

Make sure that you check out LS Models for info on the new production of SBB UIC-X Coaches, including restaurant and baggage coaches.

Regards

Mike C

Thanks Mike,
Very useful.

Roger

Gustavo,

Jocadis.com still has the RT/LSM Cisalpin 86101-86103 Sets listed as in stock. If you want to model the Arbalete (1969-1972), you can use the LSM Sets 41109 and 41112. After 1973, the color of the dining coach was different and beginning in 1974, some of the coaches were replaced by more modern Mistral 69 coaches (see RT/LSM Set 86101).

Both the RT/LSM and Maerklin/Trix coach series are exact 1:87. I have not seen the Maerklin models so I don't know if they offset the bogie to reduce overhang like they have done with most models over 26cm.

Regards

Mike C

That coach has the generator aboard, which powers aircon/heating and lighting on the train. It seems to have been a peculiarly French thing, the later Grand Confort stock also had one and there was at least one design of standalone one. I would guess that it was intended to avoid any problems with different power availabilities from locos that might be encountered while crossing borders.

LS Models have definitely released it, it would have been part of one of the coach packs as it's essential for any train of this stock.

Another nice collection, Lutz.

The photo on the cover of the 1976 edition of Die Gotthardbahn is one of the Re 4/4II TEE (11158-11161) pulling the TEE Roland on the Upper Meienreuss bridge at Wassen.

The actual TEE Roland is being recreated in 1:93 this year by Trix under number 23477. The set will include 12 coaches, two consists of six coaches each, one with destination signs for the northbound and the other for the southbound trip between Germany and Italy.
Some dealers have announced that the coaches in the set will be available in subsets of 6 and other dealers may sell as individual coaches.

The book "TEE Zuege in der Schweiz" by Peter Willen has some nice photos of this and other TEE trains.

For TEE buffs, the Re 4/4II 11158-11161 were based in Basel and Luzern and were used to haul the Roland on the Gotthard line. These loks were also used to pull the Arbalete and Helvetia from Basel to Zurich and back. The Re 4/4II 11249-11253 were based in Lausanne and were used to haul the TEE Cisalpin (after 1974) and TEE Lemano on the Rhone/Simplon route. (Prior to that those trains had been operated by either the RAe "Gottardo" and Italian trainsets.)

Regards

Mike C