Brienzer Rothorn Bahn Summer 1983

[MrTea]

In summer 1983 I travelled with my family to Switzerland for an amazing holiday in the mountains.

 

We were fortunate enough to stay in a number of locations close to rail lines including Stans on the LSE metre gauge line and Grindlewald with access to the Jungfrau railway.  Here are a few scanned slides from the brilliant day we had on the Brienzer Rothorn Bahn.

 

I'm not sure if the operating practices are still the same but in when we went the line had a mix of steam and diesel locomotives and dispatched 2 or 3 trains to the summit at a time.  The diesel locos and larger steam locos tended to take up two carriages whilst the smaller original locos were limited to 1 old-style coach.  This was possibly more to do with siding and loop capacity than locomotive power but it certainly made it interesting.

 

The line itself is pretty steep and you can see that from the angle that the boiler is pitched on the steam locomotives.

 

Ascending the mountain with diesel power

 

Steam loco being examined part way up the journey

 

Panorama shot showing two trains climbing up the line

 

Oiling up before the descent from Rothorn Kulm

 

Managed to catch a steam service (with one of the line's original locos - No.3) for the way down!

 

Taking water on the descent, passing a train climbing the mountain

 

Me and my brother posing with the loco after our journey down

 

Hope you enjoy these pictures.  I'd really like to go back there one day!

 

Ian

Edited January 2, 2019 by MrTea

[Satan's Goldfish]

Not tried the BRB yet, but the little red LSE trains will always be a favourite as my first Swiss holidays were winters in Engelberg. Lovely pictures.

[eastwestdivide]

Nearly did it a couple of years ago, but the cloud was down, and usefully, there's a TV monitor at the bottom showing live pictures from the summit. That, combined the fact that they were running a reduced service due to poor demand, swayed our decision to leave it for another day. Maybe this year.

[MrTea]

Not tried the BRB yet, but the little red LSE trains will always be a favourite as my first Swiss holidays were winters in Engelberg. Lovely pictures.

 

 

Here's my only photo of an LSE train:

 

The speed whisker markings on the front are pretty cool.

 

I'm not quite sure where this is but I have a feeling we caught the train from Luzern back to Stans where we were staying one day.

Edited January 3, 2019 by MrTea

[Satan's Goldfish]

They do have a nice character to them...

 

A lots changed over the years but I get the feeling that's Stans from the track layout and LC at the end. (Looking towards Engelberg)

Edited January 4, 2019 by Satan's Goldfish