Schynige Platte Railway
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The Schynige Platte Railway or Schynige Platte Bahn (SPB) is a mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland, which connects the town of Wilderswil, near Interlaken with the famous wildflower gardens of the Schynige Platte.
An impressively varied natural landscape unfolds on your journey: fertile forests, Alpine pastures and breathtaking views of the Bernese Oberland with Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. Then a sudden change of scenery to the almost overwhelming view of the glistening giants of the Bernese Oberland, directly opposite, the imposing peaks of the Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau.
The Schynige Platte Railway connects with the Berner Oberland Bahn at Wilderswil. The line is 7.25 km (4.5mi) long and has a rail gauge of 800 mm (2ft7in). It is a rack railway, using the Riggenbach design to climb 1420 m (4659ft) to its summit with a maximum gradient of 25% (1 in 4).
The concession for the line was given in 1890, the line opening on 14th June 1893, and was electrified in 1914. The line still operates 4 of the original electric locomotives, numbers 11 to 14. Passage of the line is often impossible in winter, and so it only operates in summer months, generally from the end of April to the end October.
The line is electrified using a 1500 volt dc overhead supply. Much of the rolling stock is quite historic, and formerly ran on the Wengernalpbahn.
[edit] Locomotives
| No. | Name | Builder | Date | Livery (2006) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | SLM | 1894 | Class H2/3, 0-4-2T, Steam. | ||
| 11 | Wilderswil | SLM / BBC | 1914 | Red / Cream | All electric locomotives, Class He2/2 |
| 12 | SLM/BBC | 1914 | Green,Panel lining | ||
| 13 | Matten | SLM/BBC | 1914 | Red | |
| 14 | Gundishwand | SLM/BBC | 1914 | Red | |
| 16 | SLM/Alioth | 1910 | |||
| 17 | SLM/Alioth | 1910 | Rebuilt 1996 | ||
| 18 | Gstiegwiler | SLM/Alioth | 1910 | Brown | |
| 19 | Fluhbluhme | SLM/Alioth | 1911 | Red | |
| 20 | Edelweiss | SLM/Alioth | 1911 | Red / Cream | |
| 61 | Enziam | SLM/Alioth | 1912 | Green | Rebuilt 1992 |
| 62 | Alpenrose | SLM/Alioth | 1912 | Green | Rebuilt 1989 |
| 63 | Silberdistel | SLM/Alioth | 1912 | Green | Rebuilt 1996 |
[edit] References
- Book Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria, ISBN 0-900433-96-5, by R.J.Buckley, published by the Light Rail Transit Association, 1984.
- Wikipedia article Schynige Platte-Bahn (in German), last updated on the 4th September 2004 at 15:03.
