Hello all,

This one is IMHO a **must see** for anyone coming to visit Europe / Switzerland!

I just returned from a one week trip to Switzerland to take yet another good look at the last months of the Gotthard line as we know it, a ride on the Brünig line and the beautiful Chemin de Fer du Kaeserberg in Fribourg.

The Chemin de fer du Kaeserberg had long been on my list of "not to visit" , because of the way (" our way or the highway") I was greeted when I tried to make arrangements for a visit by overseas visitors when it originally opened.

But things have drastically changed today to be **exactly the opposite**. We had planned to be there at 11h30 AM for the last morning "departure", but we arrived 3 minutes late..and the next "trip" would normally have been 14h30. "But no problem, monsieur, we understand! We'll schedule another departure, just for you at 12:00, and you can even select the language of the documentary."

Very friendly, very accommodating, very professional.

The place is as well organized and clean as anything you could imagine for Switzerland ...enough said!

The layout is **absolutely spotless**, both technically and visually.
The (analog) trains are operated by computers , with many individual track sections allowing a truly fine control of the whole set-up.
We were given extensive explanation on these choices, and quite frankly, considering the problem at hand, this was the best approach to choose in this case.

We did not witness a single incident, hick-up or otherwise abnormalities.

The train dispatchers converse in a subdued voice tone over headsets, and control switches and itineraries via large panels , just like the real thing.
The atmosphere is very quiet,(I guess everybody goes "speechless" when they enter the large room...) and the soft rolling noises heard come from the trains traveling through the magnificent landscape.

We were even treated to a behind the scene tour of the layout, inside the gigantic spiral bringing trains from the huge double decked shadow station in the basement to the first floor.

Special mention goes to the narrow gauge section...simply unbelieveable and very ...Swiss!

We were also shown intimate details of all the various construction techniques used over the 17 years it took to create this marvel.

I have seen many large layouts, but for my own taste, this one is definitely the best I have seen : enough trains, but not too crowded with still a lot of landscapes. perfect operation, prototypical trains, perfect lighting with natural colours.

Perfection!

Don't miss it!

NB: I will soon add a short video to this post as soon as I 'll have it uploaded !

http://www.kaeserberg.ch/en-us/home.aspx

Actually, I visited the layout shortly after it opened some years ago, and at that time my impressions were very, very "hybrid" (I'm trying to find a suitable expression ). "The rigid, sterile and bloodless concept is the result of what happens when a rich guy wants to throw around his money", was one of my nicer comments then... BTW, even photography on the premises was strictly forbidden at the beginning.

But since then I have heard quite a number of reports similar to yours; things really seem to have improved. I guess I'll give them a second chance this summer and investigate.

Hi Jacques,
Thankyou for showing the layout, it is extremely impressive.
A couple of questions, if I may.
1. What scale/gauge is used?
2. Is it 2 rail or 3 rail?

regards
Kimball

Very big giant layout, thanks for sharing the pictures.