Steamy Swiss Summer Sundays

In the 1970s Switzerland's main line railways had been mostly electrified for many decades, but there were steam locos to preserve from inside the country and elsewhere in Europe. The short - 3 kms - and steep - rising from 620 metres to 750 metres above sea level - Blonay to Chamby metre gauge line was up and running in summer 1973 when I visited and had collected some interesting locos.

The steam tram, below left, was made by SLM in 1882 worked on the Mulhouse Tramways. It employs the indirect Systeme Brown drive invented by an Englishman, Charles Brown. This gentlemen was very enterprising and successful. After working for Sulzer in Switzerland, he left to found the Swiss Locomotive & Machine Co - SLM - where he invented the aforementioned system and was involved in electric locomotive development. His son, also Charles Brown, co-founded the famous firm of Brown, Boveri and Co.

A Compound Mallet 0-6-6-0T running roadside is worth seeing. The loco came from Hanomag in 1925 and originally ran on the Zell im Wiesental to Todtnau line in southern Germany. Although only 19 kms long, it rose from 427 metres at Zell to 642 metres above sea level at Todtnau. The railway had an 0-4-4-0T Mallet which is also at the Blonay - Chamby museum.

The metre gauge electrified railway between Bern and Solothurn - the SZB - saw steam activity when I was there in summer 1973 using the 'Eurovapor' organisation's Krauss Maffei 0-4-0T of 1949 which was kept at Worblaufen, running specials to Solothurn and Worb Dorf.

Left: No. 101 waits for an electric train to arrive before departing. Not sure of the location Above: No.101 goes roadside. The electric service is following.

No.101 at its destination 30km from Worblaufen. Solothurn is a major railway junction served by six railway lines.There was just one round trip on this day.

Plenty of helpers as the loco takes water.

In summer 1973 immaculate ex Swiss Federal Railways standard gauge 2-10-0 2958 had recently been installed at Olten as a 'denkmal'. In later years it was acquired by 'Eurovapor' to provide spare parts for their working 2-10-0 2978.

Footnotes:

http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/lever/lever.htm has some information about Systeme Brown.

Prior to preservation locos 101, 104 and 105 were all owned by the Mittelbadische Eisenbahn AG in West Germany. 101 returned to Germany and is now on the Selfkantbahn in Nord Rhein-Westphalia