Blonay-Chamby

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The Blonay - Chamby Railway is a short, around 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long, steep but adhesion worked metre gauge line operated as part of the Blonay - Chamby Railway Museum using vintage steam and electric locomotives and rolling stock. It is rail connected at both ends, at its upper terminus, at Chamby with the Chemin de Fer Montreux Oberland Bernoise and at the lower end, Blonay, with the Vevey - Les Pleiades, Chemin de fer électriques Veveysans, line.

[edit] History and Aims

The Blonay - Chamby Railway and Museum was opened in 1968 with the aims of operating the metre gauge railway line from Blonay to Chamby and in doing so preserving railway equipment of technical or historic value. For this purpose the Blonay - Chamby Railway has purpose built two motive power and carriage depots at Chaulin - Chamby, a short distance from its upper terminus which nowadays houses what is generally regarded as the largest and most representative collection of metre gauge relics in Europe.

[edit] The Museum Line

The Blonay - Chamby Museum Railway is a railway preservation group staffed entirely by volunteers who operate trains each Saturday and Sunday between May and October. Vintage steam locomotives or electric locomotives haul equally vintage carriages slowly through a spectacular environment with fine views over Lake Geneva and the Alps. Visitors can access the shed / museum complex from Chamby, travelling the short distance on a vintage tram.

A further part of the remit of the preservation group is the encouragement of local and regional tourism and tourist traffic on adjacent lines. The timetable for the Blonay - Chamby line can be found on Table 115 of the Swiss National Railways Timetable.

[edit] The Museum Collection

The locomotive collection includes the following items, not all of which are in working order: (Note : The list is taken from personal observation in May 2006 and lists items on display or working at that time). The museum is also home to over 20 items of rolling stock.

  • Steam Locomotives
No. Name Class Cyls. Builders Details Works. No. Date Built Notes.
No.1 Le Doubs G3/3 OC SLM 618 1890 Ex-Regional des Brenets/On Loan from Luzern Transport Museum.
No.3 HG3/4 OC SLM 2317 1913 Ex-BFD / FO. (Abt rack)
No.4 La Rimini HG2/2 OC Krauss 4278 1910 Ex-Ferrara - Rimini Railway
No.5 Bercher OC SACM 4172 1890
No.6 G3/3 OC SLM 1341 1901 Ex-Brünigbahn/Simplon-Jura
No.7 G2/4 IC SLM 316 1882 Ex-Mulhouse Tramways
No.104 Zell G2x3/3 OC Hanomag 10437 1925 "Mallet" type, 0-6-6-0T (Compound)
No.105 Todtnau G2x2/2 OC MGB 2051 1918 0-4-4-0T
No.9214 Xrotd OC SLM 2299 1912 Rotary Snowplough, ex-Bernina Bahn. 0-6-6-0T
99.193 G5/5 OC MFE 4183 1927 Ex-Deutsche Reichbahn
  • Diesel Locomotioves
No. Name Class/Type Builders Details Works No. Date Built Notes.
No.1 Tm2/2 O&K, Berlin 1930 Ex-MOB,2006
  • Electric Locomotioves, Trams and Railcars
No. Name Class Builders Details Works No. Date Built Notes.
No.3 Ze2/2 SIG/Al 1914 Ex-Rhine Valley Tramways
BLF6 BCFeh4/4 SLM 146
No.7 Ce2/2 Rat/CIE 1904 Ex-Fribourg Corporation Tramways
No.10 BCFeh4/4 SLM/BBC 1914 Ex-Loeche-Les Bains.
No.11 BCFeh4/4 SLM 2191 1903 Ex-MOB
No.51 Bo-Bo SLM/BBC 1476 1963
No.52 Ce2/2 SWS/MFO 1914 Ex-Stadtische Strassenbahn, Bern (StStB)
No.60 Bo-Bo SLM/BBC 4775
No.75 Ge4/4 MFO/SLM 2328 1913
No.111 BCe4/4 SLM/BBC 1913 Ex-Chemins de fer de Gruyere
No.926 Te2/2 SZ 1935
2002 DZe6/6 SIG/BBC 2703 1932 Ex-MOB, 2008

Abbreviations

  • Al  ; Alioth
  • BBC : Brown, Bovrie et Cie
  • CIE : CIE, Geneva
  • MFE : Maschinenfabrik Esslingen
  • MFO : Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon
  • O&K :
  • Rat : Rathgeber, Munich.
  • SLM : Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Winterthur.
  • SACM: Societe Alsaciene de Constructions Mecaniques, Grafenstaden.
  • SZ  : Strassenbahn, Zurich.

Steam Locomotive Cylinders: OC Cylinders outside frames / IC Cylinders inside frames.