While on a business trip, spent a bit of time at the Geneva-Secheron station, a mile or so north of Geneva, Switzerland. This is a fun place to rail fan, since between 5-6pm, you can see 23 passenger trains, watch trolleys on a nearby bridge and see cool looking electric side rod steeple cab switchers work a nearby coach yard.
Over the course of a day, there are at least 100 passenger trains and perhaps 20 freights. The freights tend to be clustered during the afternoon and nights. While all the passenger trains are electric, the freights can be powered by diesels that sort of look like Alco RS units. The freights are usually short - from 5 to 40 cars. You can see tanks, two axle box cars and quite American looking flats that carry what appear to be 15 foot containers. During a short ride up to the Geneva station will show you the coach yard as well a number of freight cars in sidings in the area. Geneva is the end point of a French SNCF TGV line from Paris, so you can often catch TGV's being serviced in the yard.
I live near the NEC near Washington, DC, one of the more dense passenger lines in the US. Geneva makes Bowie State seem boring.
Bob
