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    Mail bus now and in the past ...

    cleaning / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Mail bus journey to Interlaken

    Today we can join Kurt Schmocker Jr. in the mail bus to Interlaken and back. It is important to him that “his” mail bus looks good in the photograph. Before our picture appointment a lot of cleaning is going on.



    cleaning / Photo: Heinz Rieder





    Looking back / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    Looking back
    Time did not stand still 1891 - 2005

    Whether one PS or three hundred - the love for the cause has remained



    Kurt Schmocker Jr / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    ... we let pictures speak ...



    Train station Beatenberg / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Train station Beatenberg (Lake of Thun - Niederhorn)

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    Encounter on the narrow street in Beatenberg / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Encounter on the narrow street in Beatenberg
    Swerving onto the footpath cannot be avoided



    Photo: Heinz Rieder





    Photo: Esther Rieder





    Kurt Schmocker Jr / Photo: Heinz Rieder





    Photo: Heinz Rieder


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    Beatenberg in the background / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Beatenberg in the background



    View on to the Lake of Thun / Photo: Esther Rieder

    View on to the Lake of Thun and towards the Niesen



    Interlaken West / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Train station Interlaken-West



    Coffee break / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Coffee break in the station bistro



    Tickets / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Tickets for the return journey to Beatenberg



    Interlaken West / Photo: Heinz Rieder


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    Photo: Heinz Rieder





    Photo: Heinz Rieder





    Photo: Esther Rieder





    Photo: Heinz Rieder





    Kurt Schmocker Jr / Photo: Heinz Rieder

    Kurt Schmocker, Jr.




    Mail bus service in times gone by

    Four generations
    Grandfather Ernst Schmocker / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder Kurt Schmocker Sr / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder Kurt Schmocker Jr / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    Grandfather Ernst Schmocker, Kurt Schmocker Sr, Kurt Schmocker Jr.

    Report from the local newspaper “Drachebärg Zytig”: fmd. Many years ago a young boy wrote in his essay at school:”I want to become a mail bus driver”. No surprise as his grandfather, his father and his uncle were as well. – This boy was called Kurt Schmocker and has been driving the Beatenberg mail bus for 25 years already, just like his grandfather did.



    It all began with the mail being transported
    by horses Interlaken-Beatenberg
    Great-grandfather Schmocker / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    Great-grandfather Rudolf Schmocker - 1891



    Ernst Schmocker, A motorized taxi service / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    A motorized taxi service replaced the mail transport by horses
    Ernst Schmocker



    Bus garages and workshop / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    Bus garages and workshop of Ernst Schmocker and sons
    Mail bus from Saurer - in Beatenberg from 1936 onwards



    Beatenberg / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder





    Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    Because of the narrow bends and the wide turning radius of the mail busses, the downhill travelling bus has to swerve to the left to pass.



    Kurt Schmocker Sr / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

    Kurt Schmocker Sr in Interlaken West



    Hohlen 1951 / Photo editing: Heinz Rieder

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    The new mail bus generation (1993)

    The new mail bus generation (1993)

    » click on pics to zoom in !


    The many old pictures for this webpage were made available
    by chronicler Kurt Schmocker Sr. Thank you very much!

    Concept and pictures by Fritz Bieri and Heinz Rieder     copyright © http://www.beatenbergbilder.ch
    Language translation: Barbara Stephenson-Berger / Organization: Michael Künzi, Tourist-Center Beatenberg
    Website and image editing: Heinz Rieder

    The photos speak for themselves