Notes

BLS is one of the oldest and most important names in the halls of swiss private railroads, but that does not mean it’s history has been anything even resembling steady. The current system can trace it’s roots back to sixteen distinct three-letter abbreviations, three two-letter abbreviations and one with four letters (the RSHB, Ramsel-Sumiswald-Huttwil-Bahn, to be precise).

Not only that, though, but in some reorganization, they also lost long-distance passenger trains to SBB, but in return got the S-Bahn (commuter rail) of Berne. The end result is that this Re 4/4^II, seen in Berne, is actually a former SBB machine and is attached to a set of SBB passenger cars. The new colors prove that you can make absolutely any locomotive ugly if you just choose the right paint scheme. Gray, blue and neon green actually do suit some newer vehicles just fine, but on the most classic of all swiss locomotive design? In addition to that, the locomotives lost the swiss crest they used to carry on their front.