On the rails again… #Interrail #CrossBorderRail
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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 sightas 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 sightas 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. I’ve tried to keep them train-themed, but 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. I’ve tried to keep them train-themed, but 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 sightas 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 ;).
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@moof And how was the food? Enquiring minds want to know ;).
@patrick It was... ok? Somewhat overpriced for what it ended up being.
I may be biased because I can’t eat cheese, and both the dishes had to not get cheese sprinkled over them, but it just seemed a little on the bland side, as if the cook didn't know how to compensate for that. I'd expect this price level to have someone behind it that knows how to cope with this.
The setting was good. It was basically a wine shop that also sold food, and so you were surronded by bottles for sale. The waitress was attentive, and service was very correct, if monolingual.
But I can't help thinking the other place would likely have left me more satisfied. Or the pizzeria in the other direction, which would at least have been cheaper.
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@patrick It was... ok? Somewhat overpriced for what it ended up being.
I may be biased because I can’t eat cheese, and both the dishes had to not get cheese sprinkled over them, but it just seemed a little on the bland side, as if the cook didn't know how to compensate for that. I'd expect this price level to have someone behind it that knows how to cope with this.
The setting was good. It was basically a wine shop that also sold food, and so you were surronded by bottles for sale. The waitress was attentive, and service was very correct, if monolingual.
But I can't help thinking the other place would likely have left me more satisfied. Or the pizzeria in the other direction, which would at least have been cheaper.
@moof Requires further research so. My stay in Varzo was short, but it is a quirky little village, just a tunnel away from Swiss train goodness so I am determined to return ;).
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@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...
…and I’ve made it to my hotel, where I am going to flomp and wind down, after a glorious day.
Join me tomorrow for (hopefully) my return to Spain. https://moof.space/trip/2026-02-13
Bonne Nuit, Fédi, à demain !
