The Brienz Rothorn Railway (, BRB) is a tourist rack railway in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, which climbs from

Brienz Brienz ( , , ) is a village and municipality on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, and in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienz, the municipality includes the sett ...

, at the eastern end of Lake Brienz, to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn. The railway is 7.6 kilometres (4.7 mi) long, is built to 800 mm gauge ( gauge), and uses the Abt double lamella rack system. Unusually for Switzerland, the line is not electrified, and most trains are operated by

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. The Brienz Rothorn Railway reaches a height of 2,244 metres above sea level and is the fourth-highest railway in Switzerland.After the Jungfrau, Gornergrat, and Bernina railway

History

The railway was opened on 17 June 1892, after a two years construction period. The two designers, engineer Alexander Lindner and contractor Theo Bertschinger were supported by the mountain railway pioneer Roman Abt, who had responsibility for equipping the line with his newly developed Abt double lamella rack system. The line connected at Brienz with the Brünig railway line, which had been opened in 1888 from Brienz eastwards towards

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

. However, the Brünig railway was not extended westward to Interlaken until 1916, so many early travelers to the Rothorn had to arrive by boat service on Lake Brienz. The line was quickly in financial difficulties. The line was designed to carry 25,000 passengers per year, but only managed 5,000 passengers in the first year. Tourist traffic was further affected by the opening of Schynige Platte Railway in 1895 and the

Jungfraubahn The Jungfrau Railway (german: Jungfraubahn, JB) is a mountain railway in the Bernese Alps, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. The railway, which uses a and racks, runs from the st ...

in 1898. Train service was suspended on 1 August 1914 as a result of the First World War, but did not resume when the war ended. Essential maintenance was carried out and a small amount of timber traffic was carried from Planalp in 1918. Carriages were hired to the Schynige Platte Railway in 1924 and 1925, providing funds for the maintenance work. The line was finally re-opened on 13 June 1931, the first train to reach the summit in 17 years having run four days earlier. The railway was in good condition because of the continued maintenance. Unlike other Swiss mountain lines, the BRB was not electrified and this made the railway a special attraction as from 1953 to 1990 it was the only steam-operated line in Switzerland. Although other Swiss mountain railways offer special "steam" trips, this is the only line to offer a full steam service, the Diesel locomotive only being used for additional trains and for light traffic periods.

Route

The BRB is long with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%) and includes five tunnels. It begins in Brienz at above sea level, from a terminus opposite the Brienz station of the Zentralbahn company's Brünig line. Also nearby is the quay used by the BLS AG shipping services on Lake Brienz. The railway is single track with three passing loops. The first passing loop is at Geldried, above sea level. The halfway passing loop of the line is at Planalp station at above sea level (the only stop on the line). The older steam locomotives stop to take water. The third passing loop is at Oberstafel, above sea level. The upper terminus of the line is at Rothorn Kulm station at above sea level, a little below the summit of the mountain. A popular hiking trail runs between the summit station, and the Brünig-Hasliberg station at the point where the Brünig line crosses the Brünig Pass.

Locomotives and rolling stock

All steam locomotives are Class H2/3, indicating that two of the three axles are driven, giving a wheel arrangement (Whyte System) of 0-4-2. The older locomotives are a side tank, "kneeling cow" design of a standard SLM product. The modern steam locomotives use an efficient "light oil" fired steam technology and were built by SLM (former

Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

) of Winterthur. A prototype Diesel locomotive, class Hm2/2, number 8, was delivered in 1973, but sold to the Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye in 1995 as their Number 4. New Diesel locomotives were constructed by

Ferdinand Steck Maschinenfabrik Ferdinand Steck Maschinenfabrik AG is a Swiss manufacturer of specialist road building and railway equipment. The company is based at Bowil in the canton of Bern. The company was founded in 1938 at Langnau im Emmental by Ferdinand Steck, who had ...

and are of (Whyte System) 0-4-0 wheel arrangement to a "kneeling cow" design.

Timetable

The Brienz Rothorn Railway operated 7 days per week from June 4 to October 23, 2016, all the way up to the Rothorn. They tried to ensure that all their services are steam-powered.

References

External links