Am 23.09.2021 um 15:01 schrieb John Lovda via groups.io:

Actually the most unusual thing I remember was the standard BLS ride
back to Neuchatel where the train stopped at a dead end in the middle
of nowhere and switched directions. Is this the standard route to
travel down the mountains?

Chambrelien is between La Chaux-de-Fonds and Neuchâtel. The line is currently closed for tunnel refurbishment. After that it shall be kept in service for another ten years or so and should then be repalced with a faster, more direct ... and steeper line.

https://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=en&topic=ech&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&E=2552340&N=1202025&zoom=6&crosshair=marker

The other possibility to travel down the mountains is the line from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Biel/Bienne. To/from Zürich this is the preferred connection.

The other switchback station in Switzerland is on the CJ-line from Glovelier to Saignelégier. That's Combe-Tabeillon.

https://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=en&topic=ech&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&E=2578735&N=1240283&zoom=7&crosshair=marker

It is interestingto mention that only in the Jura mountains you can find switchbacks but not in the Alps. Chambrelien was opened in 1859 and at that time there were no railways in the Alps.

Markus, Gürbetal