The double red arrow RAe 4/8 # 1021 of the SBB is 80 years old now. This elegant railcar was built in 1939 as Re 4/8 # 301 by SLM, SWS, BBC, MFO and SAAS for leisure journeys and exhibited at the Landesausstellung (National exhibition 1939). It was very few used during WW II, but in 1946, when Sir Winston Churchill visited Switzerland, it served for several trips of the former british prime minister. Since this time, the double red arrow is better known as "Churchill Pfeil" (Churchill Arrow). The maximum velocity is 150 km/h, an exceptional value at the time and thus the fastest SBB vehicle then. Today the maximum speed is limited to 125 km/h and for reasons of comfort it is driven in the 100 km/h range. From december 2018 to april 2019, the vintage vehicle got a large revision at the IW (industrial plant) Biel of the SBB and is now like new for the next years. The bogies and rail scrapers are now painted in a light grey shade and underline the elegance of the vehicle. The iconic "Churchill Pfeil" (the inscription on the train is "roter Pfeil Churchill" since a few years) with 112 first class seats at tables is on a charter run for a US company from Lucerne via Zofingen-Burgdorf-Berne-Fribourg to Lausanne near Bollodingen, between Herzogenbuchsee and Riedtwil. The engineer, who recognized the photographer from far, opened the window, waved and blow the whistle.
