The Brienz Rothorn Railway (, BRB) is a tourist

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...

in Switzerland, which climbs from Brienz, at the eastern end of

Lake Brienz Lake Brienz (german: Brienzersee) is a lake just north of the Alps, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It has a length of about , a width of and a maximum depth of . Its area is ; the surface is above the sea-level. It is fed, among others, by ...

, to the summit of the

Brienzer Rothorn The Brienzer Rothorn is a mountain of the Emmental Alps, in Switzerland. With an elevation of above sea level, the Brienzer Rothorn is the highest summit of the range. To its west lies the Tannhorn, whilst to its east are Arnihaaggen, Höch Gumme ...

. 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 locomotives. 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 The Jungfrau ( "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Ju ...

Gornergrat The Gornergrat ( en, Gorner Ridge; ) is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south-east of Zermatt in Switzerland. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway i ...

, and

Bernina railway The Bernina Railway (german: Berninalinie; it, Linea del Bernina; rm, Lingia dal Bernina) is a single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the canton of Graubünden, Switze ...

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 Carl Roman Abt (16 July 1850 – 1 May 1933Herring, Peter (2000).) was a Swiss mechanical engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. He made groundbreaking innovations in rack-and-pinion railways, giving his name to one of the most widely used systems ...

, 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 The Brünig railway line (german: Brünigbahn) is a Swiss narrow gauge railway line that links Lucerne, in central Switzerland, with Interlaken, in the Bernese Oberland. The line runs via Alpnachstad, Giswil, Meiringen and Brienz, and passes ...

, which had been opened in 1888 from Brienz eastwards towards Lucerne. 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 The Schynige Platte Railway (german: Schynige Platte-Bahn, SPB) is a mountain railway in the Bernese Highlands area of Switzerland, which connects the town of Wilderswil, near Interlaken with the Schynige Platte Alpine Garden, famous wildflower g ...

in 1895 and the Jungfraubahn in 1898. Train service was suspended on 1 August 1914 as a result of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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 Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

, from a terminus opposite the Brienz station of the

Zentralbahn The Zentralbahn is a Switzerland, Swiss railway company that owns and operates two connecting railway lines in Central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland. It was created on January 1, 2005, with the acquisition of the independently owned Luze ...

company's Brünig line. Also nearby is the quay used by the BLS AG shipping services on

. 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 The Brünig Pass, at an altitude of , connects the Bernese Oberland and central Switzerland, linking Meiringen in the canton of Bern and Lungern in the canton of Obwalden. It is on the watershed between the upper reaches of the Aare, which flows ...

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) of

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria ...

. 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 Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...

in 1995 as their Number 4. New Diesel locomotives were constructed by Ferdinand Steck Maschinenfabrik 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