Thursday 15 February 2018

Tramway Transfrontalier Trois (1)

Problematic Puzzle Pictures
The rules of the game are this. No 3 son, who works here ...
... in Basel, Switzerland, (and yes, it is meant to look like that!), sends pictures to fbb and your chubby blogger is then challenged to identify the location using all the wondrous resources of the work-wide web. fbb is also allowed to use his brain, but that becomes harder as the years tick by!

Three snaps wended their winsome way over the word wide web last weekend. In the order received, this was the first.
Clearly a tram turning circle, but where? What does that sign read, over there on the bike shed?
"Country Border". There were two Basel tram routes that cross borders.
Rural route 10 nips into France at Leymen and out again ...
... but the line is very rural at this point - no sign of bike sheds.
Then there is line 8 which crosses into Germany at Weil-am-Rhein.
It opened in 2014 and has a very large turning circle, accessed after this bowstring bridge which is where the stop is located. Note the yellow red brick road path down to the station (bottom left).
No bike sheds, and nothing that looks at all like the buildings on the first puzzle picture.

Then there is line 11 which has a border terminus ...
... which is at a main road junction - not "round the back" like the test picture.
So is must be Tram line 3 which terminates at Burgfelden Grenze ...
... on line 3. But a prod at Google Streetview reveals the deserted border post ...
 ... but no sign of track, tram or stop. Google maps itself says it's there ...
... but, aerial-view-wise, it isn't. And anyway, the tram stop shown above has a different name.

Has No 3 son finally defeated his old man. Is this really "collapse of stout party"?

In desperation, fbb searches for Bergfelden Grenze pictures on the interwebnet and, lo and behold ...
... the light coloured building is there, the border post has a brand new shelter and there are trams turning! Google Streetview is, yet again, a little behind the times in this part of Basel.

The next problem is that Google Streetview, as well as not showing the tram terminus, goes infuriatingly blank along the main road.
But with a bit of over-enlargement, fbb does find a tram terminus back along Bergfelderstrasse ...
... and it has a turning loop. It is there on the aerial view but it is called Waldighoferstrasse.
Heeelp!

But then a weary and frustrated fbb finds an old article on-line - well, not that old - dating from August 2017.
That ribbed building on the right looks very much like the self-same erection on No 3's first picture.

It is all very unclear on-line; but fbb is prepared to stake his rapidly fading reputation on the following:-

In August 2017 line 3 was extended from the former terminus called Bergfelden Grenze to a new stop actually AT the border called Bergfelderhof. The old terminus, which was never AT the border, was renamed Waldighoferstrasse.

As if to confirm this educated (?) guess, the next stop towards the city centre was, and still is ...
... Luzernering also in a Streetview blank spot.

Cracked it!

And there are two more pictures to identify.
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The fbbs (plus son and grandsons) enjoyed a wonderful meal together on Monday evening - for the No 1 son's 43rd Birthday - at the Ship Inn Axmouth.
One menu item amused the old man.
Sheppards Pie? Food A+, Literacy C-?

Unless anyone can find a recipe for the bishop's or the artist's pie?
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 Next Switzerland blog : Friday 16th February 

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