On April 10, 1990, a few employees of the Swissair got together, who thought there had to be more than aircraft. As real railroad fans, they founded a new railway club within the Swissair leisure organization. 
The Eisenbahnfreunde bassersdorf currently  consists of 26 active and 21 passive members (as of November 2017). 
We're not a collection of rivet counters and buffers, but quite simply a group of fans who enjoy the railroad.Our members therefore cover the entire range of all known tracks. We have lovers of American railways as well as fans of the narrow gauge and of course the European standard gauge.

The purpose of our association is the promotion of camaraderie, the transfer of knowledge in modeling in general and the big and small train in particular to the comrades and comrades. It is also our goal to bring this demanding hobby closer to young people.

Interested new members are invited to visit us at one of the construction and driving trips. Although we have been able to welcome youth members to our club in recent years, we would, of course, be very happy if we could expand this age group. We always have open doors for children and young people and would be happy to welcome young people to our club.

Our hobby covers large areas such as technology - electronics, electrical engineering, metal construction, computers, etc as well as creative activities such as landscaping, landscaping. The model railway hobby not only promotes the technical, but also the creative and artistic sides. 

Club House

Our clubhouse is located in Bassersdorf right at the entrance to the village from the direction of Kloten. The former construction area is divided into three rooms. Of course, the largest part of our H0 / H0m system claims.

In the clubhouse there is also a rich library of books and magazines about railways from all over the world for those members who want to do something different than build for a change. Of course, this also includes a glass of wine.

The Story of Our Club Car

The History

The name Clubhouse 2000 and the corresponding idea comes from our President. As so often before, in the Jubilee Year he has confronted the rest of the board with a "crazy" proposal (we call it popularly "President's Wife").

The plant is growing steadily, the space in the plant room is reduced. At the traditional Chlausabend we sit like the sardines in the lounge. Even the General Assembly was held outdoors this year.

Well, the suggestion was that we should get an old railroad car and place it next to the clubhouse. Hard-working as our president is, he has also requested several train companies. During a visit by a group of railway friends, we were made aware of the MEC Einsiedeln, which had a C2 favorable to give.

Immediately the President and the Bauchef set out to visit this car. This car was okay when the symbolic P pulled traveling from a nozzle into consideration. However, it required greater Frondienstleistung indoors as well as outside. Also some hidden defects were to be expected. Nevertheless, we let the car reserve times. Unfortunately, we did not receive a building permit for this car to set it up on our site to be able to . He was simply too long for the sixty possible location. However, our president did not put his head in the gravel, but kept looking for solutions.

After some time, the BLS reported with the note, they had to offer us a Rottenwagen. A similar type was taken over shortly before by the Kandertalbahn and furnished as "Salon Bleu". The car would take us to Kloten for a fixed price. Greater work was not expected since the box was rebuilt in 1984.

The car with the number X9415 Erlenbach home station is queued at the Spiez-Erlenbach-Zweisimmen (SEZ) train and could be visited in Ferenbalm-Gurbrü. The general condition could be described as very good. The car has a small entrance hall (cloakroom), a small kitchen with gas stove and a gas stove (propane gas). Also, connections for electricity (220 / 380V), drinking water and sewage could be made out.

Chronicle of The Car

1905: Commissioning by Spiez-Frutigen Bahn as C561, manufactured by Waggonfabrik Bautzen in Germany.

1913: Takeover by Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon Bahn. Renumbering in C594.

1954: New use as a service vehicle. Renumbered in X2 9151.

1975: Total conversion of the car with standard body. Designation in X 50 63 9415 545.

2000: Takeover by Swissair Eisenbahnfreunde. 

2001: the wardrobe was removed, as well as the partition and the sliding door on this side. The corner seat combination from the old lounge was shortened and installed. A used shelf was set up to accommodate our library, the TV and the video player.

2002: The old stove and refrigerator were torn out and replaced with the existing kitchen parts.

2002/3: The old kitchen was torn out and replaced with new kitchen parts. New we now have two refrigerators, egg nem stove with oven and a sink.

2005: The electrical connection has been re- created . The car has now a n own connection .

2005 to 2008: re-grinding in the Orient Express colors.

The Track

October 7, 2000.   The trackbed was excavated with an excavator. The hole has a size of 12 by 3 meters and is 50cm deep. So around 18 cubic meters of earth were moved. On the ground about 10cm of gravel were laid out and rolled. 

October 14, 2000. With eight men we started on Saturday morning with the track construction. Right at the beginning the gravel, old washed DB gravel, was delivered. The sleepers and the rails were delivered the day before by the company C. Vanoli from Immensee. After laying out a first layer, the sleepers were laid out and the rails mounted. Then it went to the cramps and the remaining gravel had to be introduced.

The Transport

October 16, 2000. Punctually in the morning at 05:08 the car arrived in the station Kloten. In the afternoon the Pneukran and the transport van of the company Piatti rolled on. After some time, the car weighing around 15 tons was loaded onto the special transporter and secured.

After a short drive from Klotener Bahnhof to Grindelquartier, the transporter was positioned next to the previously placed crane. From laps the crane had to be placed very close to the squash hall. The car could only be brought to the track by hoisting it over the roof of the squash hall.

Before lifting the car, additional support for the crane supports had to be brought, as one of the supports sank right next to the squash halls wall.

After this mishap was repaired, the car was lifted, hoisted over the squash hall and precisely set at 18:18 clock on the track. The wheeled vehicles of the BLS have a special undercarriage with rollers and winches. This could be used to move the cars on special rails next to the track or from track to track. We have folded down the windlass and today secure the car from rolling away. Of course, the brakes were tightened.

After securing the car and cleaning up the area, the car was immediately inaugurated with a small drink.

Renovation

As early as 2005, the first rust spots were visible, especially near the windows. In the following year, the rust spots were processed and brushed with a rust-red paint similar to the red brown. The car did not look nice afterwards.

Various discussions and wishes for a new painting therefore did not remain. A vote on the body color should therefore bring clarity. The choices were (selected by the board): Original red brown, brick red, ruby ​​red, walnut, grass green and forest green.

The winner was the color ruby ​​red with one point ahead of the forest green. In other words, the vote had done nothing. There were voices that said the car must be reddish brown because it is still a Rottenwagen. Well, the board says the car is our pickle, bar, salon, etc. and should get the colors we like. A Rottenwagen he is no longer. Fidelity or not, we have the right to make it so that we like it.

In autumn 2007, it was decided at a board meeting, the car in the summer of 2008 to prepare. We still had no decision on the color. The chosen red came into conflict with the red wine of the squash hall.

The Vice Bauchef made the suggestion to paint the car in the Orient Express colors. Finally, a new club member was the rage. Approximately Two weeks before the first day it was decided to paint the car in the Orient Express colors.

Preparation

The car body had to be prepared. On a building Saturday in July, the railings and gutters were dismantled, all rust stains ground away and treated.

We knew now that the car was beige above and blue below and the writing yellow, the roof was silver. The painter who had to deliver the colors needed a bit more information.

Surprisingly, the information about the color types were hardly to be found. The Bauchef was already as far as the CIWL write as he found on the Internet and in a book. 
So we chose the beige RAL1001, golden yellow RAL1004, steel blue RAL5011 and white aluminum RAL9006 and for the chassis graphite black RAL9011.

The Painting

The first stage of the new painting concerned the car body. Our painter, Adi Feierabend, painter master in Bassersdorf, supplied us with the necessary colors and various painting utensils. Likewise, he assisted us with words and deeds. Thank you, Adi!

The necessary scaffolding was kindly provided to us by the company Hinnen in Rümlang. The two-component paint had to be applied twice. On the first day in the morning we put on the first beige, in the afternoon the steel blue was added. The next day the second and final coat of beige. On Wednesday after then the second coat of steel blue was applied.

The Conclusion

Car body, roof and roof front sides are now painted. The railings are painted in the colors steel blue and golden yellow. The car underbody was painted 90% last summer. (Anthracite). Logos and labels are appropriate. During this summer, the rest under the car will be completed.

Further Work In The Interior

The old bookcase has now been removed and replaced by another corner seat. Two new tables were built. The two tables can be connected with an intermediate plate. On the front wall, a new flat screen TV for our DVDs was hung.

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