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28-562: The BOB is owned by the Berner Oberland-Bahnen AG , a company that also owns the 800 mm ( 2 ft  7 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) Schynige Platte Railway . Through that company it is part of the Allianz – Jungfrau Top of Europe marketing alliance, which also includes the separately owned Wengernalpbahn , Jungfraubahn , Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen–Mürren , Harderbahn , and Firstbahn . The first proposals for

56-528: A connection from the station to the town centre and Interlaken West station . The line initially runs alongside the BOB for just over 0.5 km (0.31 mi) before crossing the Lütschine river and starting its climb up the valley side. Initially it passes through forest, with a passing loop at Rotenegg at an altitude of 886 m (2,907 ft). The forest is followed by alpine pastures which offer views of

84-470: A convoy of more than one train, with each train usually comprising an electric rack locomotive and two coaches. The locomotive always operates at the lower end of the train, pushing the train up the mountain and leading it down. The line still operates one of its original steam locomotives, together with the four electric locomotives built for the line's electrification. A number of additional similar locomotives, together with matching coaches, were bought from

112-404: A half-hour timetable can be operated with only five train compositions. Since 2005, every composition has been equipped with an articulated (three-part) low-floor driving trailer as standard. Two train compositions are usually coupled together to travel to Zweilütschinen where they are then split. The front portion travels to Lauterbrunnen, the other one to Grindelwald. The motor coach (power unit)

140-417: A journey of 7.25 km (4.50 mi) and a height gain of 1,420 m (4,659 ft). The Schynige Platte alpine botanical garden , a hotel and a mountain restaurant are all located near the summit station. The Schynige Platte Railway is built to 800 mm gauge ( 2 ft  7 + 1 ⁄ 2  in gauge) and is electrified using a 1500 V DC overhead supply. It is a rack railway , using

168-493: A locomotive with 2 coaches (see above, Operations). Original coaches 1 and 5 were scrapped in 1970 and 68, number 3 rebuilt as flat car (new number 91). 46°39′24.69″N 7°54′17.87″E  /  46.6568583°N 7.9049639°E  / 46.6568583; 7.9049639 Control car (rail) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

196-419: A service every hour in each direction on both its lines, the trains leaving Interlaken Ost coupled together and dividing at Zweilütschinen. From mid December to late October, additional trains give a 30-minute service frequency in the morning and afternoon. The last services are often timetabled to be operated by buses. The passenger rolling stock of the line can be divided into that in regular use and that which

224-613: Is a mountain railway in the Bernese Highlands area of Switzerland , which connects the town of Wilderswil , near Interlaken , with the famous wildflower gardens of the Schynige Platte . An impressively and varied natural landscape unfolds on the journey, including forests, Alpine pastures and views of the Bernese Oberland. Towards the top of the line, there are also views of the imposing peaks of

252-470: Is always positioned on the uphill side, a driving trailer (coach with a driver's cab) being positioned on the downhill side, to avoid any running round manoeuvres at the terminus stations. Like all Swiss railways the BOB operates to a clock – face timetable offering connections from the main line at Interlaken and, at its upper terminals, to the Wengernalpbahn . Throughout the year the BOB offers

280-418: Is dismantled after the last train of the year, and reinstated before the first train of the next year can run. The process of removal or replacement normally takes a team of six employees a day to complete, and employs the line's one remaining steam locomotive. The line provides some 15 return services per day, with services every 40 minutes and a journey time of 52 minutes. Any given service may be operated by

308-420: Is historic in nature. Present day passenger stock is painted in striking a blue/yellow livery. That in regular use can be divided as follows: Historical stock includes the following items, which still carry the former brown/cream livery for coaches and all-over brown for guards/parcels vehicles. Goods stock is a varied collection, much of which would not be out of place in a museum. The earliest wagon shown on

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336-607: The Bernese Oberland including the town of Interlaken bracketed by Lake Thun and Lake Brienz . Another passing loop is located at Breitlauenen station , the line's only intermediate station at an altitude of 1,542 m (5,059 ft). In the final stretch of the ascent, views open up of the glistening giants of the Eiger , Mönch and Jungfrau mountains to the south. The line terminates at Schynige Platte station at an altitude of 1,987 m (6,520 ft), after

364-606: The Eiger , Mönch and Jungfrau . The line opened, using steam traction, in May 1893, and was electrified in 1914. The line is owned by the Berner Oberland-Bahnen AG , a company that also owns the Berner Oberland-Bahn . Through that company it is part of the Allianz - Jungfrau Top of Europe marketing alliance, which also includes the separately owned Wengernalpbahn , Jungfraubahn , Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen–Mürren , Harderbahn , and Firstbahn . The key milestones in

392-475: The Grindelwald section. Steam traction on the line came to an end in 1914, the line becoming electrified at 1500 V d.c., overhead supply, on 17 March of that year, although steam locomotives have been used since that date on special services. Several changes were made during the 1950s and 1960s, the two most important being in 1957, the construction of an airfield at Interlaken causing the realignment of

420-486: The Riggenbach rack with a maximum gradient of 25% (1 in 4). The line's depot and workshops are located adjacent to Wilderswil station . The line is timetabled to only operate in summer months, from the beginning of June to the middle of October. As the upper section of the route, between Breitlauenen and the summit, is subject to heavy winter snowfall and occasional avalanches, the overhead catenary on this section

448-459: The Wengernalpbahn but had (until the recent delivery of additional train sets) often returned to this line to help in winter sports traffic. The line uses, or has used, the following locomotives: Steam locomotive ( 0-4-2RT ). Used in the seasonal installation or removal of the catenary on the upper section of the line. Also operates a small number of public trains and is available for charter trains. now (2014) painted dark grey Operated

476-420: The BOB stock list dates from 1888 and was rebuilt by the BOB in 1990. The collection of goods stock totals over 30 assorted wagons, most pre-First World War, many built by SIG and much rebuilt by the BOB over the years. More recently a few additions have been made, most of which are second-hand from CFF/SBB/FFS. The line is home to a snowplough (Series Xrot e) with was built in 1954 by SIG/BBC and rebuilt in 1990 at

504-592: The BOB workshops. Several items of rolling stock have been sold (transferred) to metre gauge preserved railways. Items shown in the above list are taken from official BOB listings, last issue September 2004, and have been updated by personal observations made during September 2007 (plus visit to Grindelwald in December 2019). [REDACTED] Media related to Berner Oberland-Bahn at Wikimedia Commons Schynige Platte Railway The Schynige Platte Railway ( German : Schynige Platte-Bahn , SPB )

532-492: The Berner Oberland-Bahn, made in 1873, showed a line from Interlaken (at that time Aarmühle) to Zweilütschinen with later options to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald with starting point at Bönigen. Four years later an 80 years concession was obtained for construction and operation of the line and the company, Berner Oberland-Bahnen AG was founded on 2 November 1888 and construction started the following year. In 1897

560-514: The company obtained a concession to construct a 54.7 km line from Lauterbrunnen to Visp , with stations at Stechelberg , Steinberg , Oberborn , and Blatten . It would have involved the construction of a 4,650 m tunnel at 2,200 m elevation under the Breithorn mountain. At Visp it would have had a connection with the Simplon line. Estimated at 15 million Swiss francs, finance

588-644: The company started a rebuilding program for 12 coaches. On old underframes, brought to a unified length of 10.695 m (35.09 ft) over buffers, Ramseyer+Jenzer built a new steel body in the old compartment style. These coaches carry the numbers 41–52 (41–42 sit on the original underframes number 2 and 4, the others on underframes ex-WAB). Of the original stock numbers 6–8 (1894, 1924, 1929) with open compartments and 21–22 (1929, 1931) fully closed compartment coaches were kept and complemented with numbers 3 (open, 1893), 23 and 24 (closed, 1898, 1901) ex-WAB (last WAB numbers 3, 22, 24). This allows to build 10 consists of

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616-580: The first electric service on the Schynige Platte line; a trial run in October 1913. Has been refurbished and carries a colour scheme representative of that period. Originally WAB 56 Originally WAB 58 Originally WAB 59 Originally WAB 60 Originally WAB 61, also on the SPB as number 21 between 1970 and 1981, rebuilt 1992 Originally WAB 62, rebuilt 1989 Originally WAB 63, rebuilt 1996 In 1992,

644-447: The history of the line are: The Schynige Platte Railway commences from Wilderswil station at an altitude of 584 m (1,916 ft), where it connects with the 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge line of the Berner Oberland-Bahn (BOB), which operates to Interlaken Ost , Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald . Wilderswil is within the built-up area around Interlaken , and buses also provide

672-603: The line between Wilderswil and Interlaken Ost , but to no detriment and, with a need for servicing and construction facilities on the line a new depot was opened at Zweilütschinen in 1968. Since that time there has been a need for track capacity to be increased and in 1991 the Wilderswil to Gsteigwiler section was substantially improved. This was followed by the doubling of the Gsteigwiler to Zweilütschinen 4 years later. A bottleneck between Wilderswil and Zweilütschinen

700-416: The older electric locomotives still survive and are used for special trains. The centre of operations is Zweilütschinen with the depot headquarters and the modern main workshops. From the introduction of the 1999 timetable, the newly constructed 2.5 km section of dual track between Gsteigwiler and Zweilütschinen allows trains to pass without one having to wait in a loop, off the main line. This means that

728-527: The steep sections of both arms of the line. On 7 August 2003 two trains collided head-on on a single track section between Zweilütschinen and Wilderswil, 1 person was killed and 64 injured. The regular train coming down from Zweilütschinen had passed a red signal at the end of the double track section and collided with an extra train near Gsteigwiler. Automatic train stop system ZSI-127 had already been in place but not yet in use, awaiting final completion and approval. Since 1949 railcars have predominated. Some of

756-408: Was eased when, in 1999, a 2.5 km. double track section was opened between those places meaning that trains could run through without the need to use the passing loop and, as necessary, awaiting the train in the opposite direction. The BOB has a total length of 23.608 km and is a mixed rack and adhesion railway with four rack and pinion sections, using the Riggenbach rack system , two each on

784-428: Was not forthcoming and by 1906 the plans were abandoned. By 1 July 1890 the 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge line, was opened, using steam traction. On 18 August 1902 a disastrous fire destroyed the station buildings and goods shed at Grindelwald and these were later rebuilt, surviving to the present day. On 7 October 1908 a new station was added to the system, that at Schwendi on

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