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Railway Museums and Heritage Rail in Switzerland

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Giugiaro

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Hello!

I'll be travelling to Switzerland in March, on a holiday trip that I want to use a a rail discovery adventure.

Regarding railway museums and heritage rail, does Switzerland have much of a culture around them?
I checked the SBB Historic website to check for a museum exhibit, but they seem to only have guided tours in specific dates.
Is the rolling stock stored in a facility that is not safe for open visits?

Are there other deposits/museums in the country that one can visit without having to go through expensive guided tours in order to visit?
 
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Mag_seven

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There always seems to be at least one heritage event / tour most weekends somewhere in the country in my experience.
 
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100andthirty

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The Schynige Platte line which runs from Wilderwil station up to, er, Schynige Platte used some very old electric trains. Travel to Interlaken Ost and use the Bernese Oberland Railway (BOB) to get to Wilderswil.

I can also recommend the Luzern and Bergun museums.


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30907

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Yes to all those!
Sadly, the Blonay-Chamby and Furka preserved lines (Google Museumsbahn/chemin de fer musee) don't operate that early in the season. The RhB are pretty good on "Nostalgie" so worth a try.

You could also visit the Val des Brenets line in the Jura which is soon to close.
 
the sniper

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I feel the Furka Steam Railway/Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke is Switzerland's best kept secret, railway wise.
 
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the sniper

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furnessvale said:
Better when it was the main line before they built the base tunnel!
Click to expand...

No doubt the main line was a better experience pre-tunnel, but the old route is quite special in its own right now, particularly given they have relatively few heritage railways.
 
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As regards culture: In general in Europe, as I see it, no other country has anything like the density of heritage lines like the UK, nor are there anything like equivalents of lines like the SVR or NYMR running extensive volunteer, heritage services year round. A "heritage railway" tends to mean operating a single train a few times a year, in the summer. It is more common for heritage groups to focus on restoring and running mainline stock.

Here are a few things in Switzerland, but I suspect most will be closed/not operating in the winter.
The major main line railways - SBB, RhB, Mariazellerbahn, Appenzellbahn - all have programmes of trips using heritage stock. As to be expected, this stock is kept in an operational depot when not in use and is not normally available for visits by the general public.
For SBB this includes the eyecatching "Churchill Pfeil" luxury excursion unit, trips over the Gotthard with a Crocodile locomotive, and some steam.
For those with deep pockets cab rides can also be purchased, although I think you would need to be able to speak one of the Swiss official languages to participate.
 
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There's a lot of stuff running in mainstream service that won't be there for much longer, mainly as Switzerland makes all transport accessible. All the conventional carriages (EW 1,2,3,4) being pulled by bright red engines will be gone soon, so you might want to catch them now. I don't know if the paddle steamer(s) are operating on lake Geneva in April.
 
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Some points no-one seems to have mentioned:
- there is a small railway museum in Vallorbe (Musée du fer et du chemin de fer)
- the Montreux-Oberland Bernois railway runs a couple of heritage trains a day between Montreux and Zweisimmen ('Belle Époque' service), with no supplement
- there is a heritage steam railway between Hinwil and Bauma (near Zürich)
- the Rhätische Bahn in south-eastern Switzerland runs some heritage services with no supplement, but only in the summer

Giugiaro said:
Any idea if the Chemin de Fer du Jura has a depot museum?
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No, I'm pretty certain you can't visit.
 
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30907

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To be fair, it's not just Switzerland, preserved lines in the UK will also be operating limited or no service until the Easter school holidays.
BTW Haltingen-Kandern is in Germany (just!).
 
Giugiaro

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Fragezeichnen said:
As to be expected, this stock is kept in an operational depot when not in use and is not normally available for visits by the general public.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm finding weird about Switzerland. Apparently, they have a plethora of operational preserved trains dotted all over the country doing seasonal heritage services, yet barely any of them (if at all) are in a static display.
The depots do have open weekends akin to the London Underground Acton Depot, but they quickly get extremely expensive when added all up. And finding a few that are open when we have availability to take holidays is like a lottery.

I added both the Verkehrshaus and the Albula Railway Museum to my wishlist.
Unfortunately, I haven't found anything else similar to that of the NRM or the Portuguese NRM.
I do find Tram and Trolley museums to be quite common!
 
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The Vapeur Val de Travers, near Fleurier between Neuchâtel and the French border advertises heritage depot visits on Saturdays, and guided visits on request. I haven't been there myself, but used to see their trains running past my flat from time to time when I lived in the area.
 
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Fragezeichnen

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Giugiaro said:
This is what I'm finding weird about Switzerland. Apparently, they have a plethora of operational preserved trains dotted all over the country doing seasonal heritage services, yet barely any of them (if at all) are in a static display.
The depots do have open weekends akin to the London Underground Acton Depot, but they quickly get extremely expensive when added all up. And finding a few that are open when we have availability to take holidays is like a lottery.
Click to expand...
I don't understand what is weird about it. Being operational is usually incompatible with static display.
The major heritage charter operators in the UK such as LSL and WCR also have a plethora of operational preserved trains, which are not on static display. When heritage railways have rolling stock on static display, it is the rolling stock that is currently(or permanently) non-operational.

It's impractical to remove rolling stock from a visitor accessible area and replace it on a regular basis. In any case the rolling stock might spend a considerable amount of time in the workshop being inspected and repaired, or out in use. "Come and see our trains, but they might not be there", is not a advertising slogan.
 
eastwestdivide

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Oscar said:
the Montreux-Oberland Bernois railway runs a couple of heritage trains a day between Montreux and Zweisimmen ('Belle Époque' service), with no supplement
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Aren't those Belle Époque trains just reproduction coaches on their standard service runs? Or is there something else as well as those repro sets?
 
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londontransit

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eastwestdivide said:
Aren't those Belle Époque trains just reproduction coaches on their standard service runs? Or is there something else as well as those repro sets?
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They are all reproduction coaches except one I think (and a later one that was rebuilt as a pullman but not exactly a copy of the originals because the windows are not the same.) The one original surviving coach is what the reproductions are modelled upon. The Belle Époque is a premium service thus ordinary passengers couldn't use it even though these coaches might be part of a service train.
 
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londontransit

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Oscar said:
Yes, I'm pretty sure they are all reproduction coaches.
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When I used the MOB two of the coaches (including no.102 modified somewhat) were from the 1930 Golden Mountain Pullman service. The actual Golden Mountain coaches (and reproductions) were based on no.102 (built 1914) and it was still in use at least few years back along with the reproduction coaches. This is what I mean. I'm not sure if no.102 is still in use or if its residing at Blonay, but I assume you'll know more than I do.
 
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RedRoverTicket said:
The Belle Époque is a premium service thus ordinary passengers couldn't use it even though these coaches might be part of a service train.
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No, that's not the case, it runs as a service train (with no other coaches) and there is no supplement. And no, I didn't know about the two coaches from the 1930 service.
 
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