Had one of my best days bashing only last Sunday, and it started out with a "bowl out" - in Switzerland of all places.
Caught a train from Baar to Luzern, intending to try and find my last passenger sector Re4/4 for haulage that had been recently reported on the "Voralpen Express" circuit between there and Romanshorn and my last Zentralbahn class 101 loco.
Two miles down the road, we were unceremoniously turfed off the train at Zug due to some sort of electrical farce at Rotkreuz, couldn't determine whether it was signalling or OHL related. Straight to plan B which was the local unit to Arth-Goldau and a long fester in the minus temperatures for our intended train to catch us up.
Whilst waiting, the 0611 Chiasso to Zürich appeared with an Re4/4 on it; out of habit I checked the number, not expecting it to be 11132 but,even better, it was freight sector 11331
En route to Zürich, I texted a friend (who, as it turned out also needed 11331!) and in reply was told what the elusive 11132 was doing and what the two freight sector Re4/4s were on the Zürich / München ECs were, both required as well.
Much thumbing of the timetable enabled a move to St. Gallen to be sorted to claim one of the EC locos and 11132 to be headed off at Brugg, but en route to St.Gallen I spotted two of my last 5 Re460 locos
Once safely behind 421 384, more frantic shuffling of loco diagrams and timetable followed and a move was worked out to get the other Cargo Re4/4 and the two 460s I had seen. Fortunately the latter were on fairly short runs which could be intercepted, if they had gone off to somewhere like Geneva Airport or Brig things would have been a lot more difficult to work out.
Just as I was thinking things could not get any better, another text arrived with gen of what two of my, by now, three remaining 460s were doing and they could be got by a short return journey to Winterthur - one out for the other back
460 087 was duly scored after a rather rushed meal, but the last move of the day let me down as what should have been 460 099 turned out to be 066
It turned out that my mates gen had been correct, but 099 was running late into Zürich and had been replaced by an alternative set, proved on arrival back at Zürich when we were all told to change to the train on the opposite platform which was worked by 099, patiently waiting to carry on with the last part of it's diagram for the day.
Unfortunately, it was right-away Bern and, had I jumped on board, I might not have got back to my hotel that night. However, it was a fairly easy matter to pick the loco up a couple of days later by following the diagrams round.
TBH I have had days when far more locos have been scored, but few to match this one when everything fell nicely into place after a forced change of direction blew my plans apart on the first move of the day.
