After Jungfrau, Gornergrat and Bernina Railway, Brienz Rothorn Railway is the highest railway in Switzerland and is the only railway amongst these with daily steam runs from 1st June to 20th October.
Brienz is located in the middle of charming mountains at the eastern end of turquoise-coloured Lake Brienz. Known as the woodcarving village, Brienz has an old tree population, a long tradition in woodcarving and is home to a woodcarving school and a violin-making school. Arguably the most romantic street in Brienz is the famous Brunngasse, which was once awarded the title of the most beautiful street in Europe.
Most of the houses date back to the 18th century and are embellished with woodcarvings.
Brienz is also home to famous Lotscher cuckoo wall clocks. Founded in 1920 Robert Lotscher Ltd is the only genuine Swiss brand of cuckoo clocks in existence today. All of the initial steps involved in building the clocks are done in the woodcarving facility in Brienz. The finished clock bodies are then shipped to the final assembly plant in Fällanden, not far from Zurich.
The completion of the Rigi mountain railway in 1871 proved that even the Alps could be conquered by the might of steam power. The Bernese Oberland wanting to be part of this touristic phenomenon formed a committee in 1889 under leadership of German engineer from Lucerne, A. Lindner. He was fascinated by the idea of building a Rothorn railway, the world’s highest mountain railway! Mr Lindner was a highly qualified railway expert experienced from working on the construction of the Gotthard railway. In 1890 he wrote a memorandum concerning the project of a railway to the Rothorn. After necessary financial arrangements were made, T. Bertschinger, a master builder from Lenzburg, was put in charge of the construction work. He had previous experience of having built the Seetal railway and was therefore qualified to accept the risk of undertaking the contract. The contract included supply of the rolling stock, railway, training staff and the first year operation at a price of 2 million Swiss Francs. In 1889 the Swiss Federal Assembly granted a license for the construction of the railway and in the summer of the same year the work commenced. The largest number of workers employed at one time was 640, mostly Italians who were accommodated in new barracks and old alpine herdsmen’s cabins to suit their simple yet practical way of life. On 31st October 1891, a works locomotive reached ‘Kulm’, the summit station. The entire railway climbing over 5500 feet with 6 tunnels was built in a 16 month period including a harsh winter.
We took the 0704 hrs IR 2209 train from Interlaken West reaching Brienz eighteen minutes later.
The Brienz Rothorn Railway timetable provides an hourly service to Rothorn Kulm, a journey although being only 7.6 km in length, takes 58 minutes.
The journey commenced from Brienz station built in 1892. The station is situated at height of 1857 feet. It has been built with traditional gable posts enhanced with the romanticised onion-form. In 1935 the east side was extended with a covered goods shed and the main entrance was extended west. The station was completely renovated in 1992 during the centenary celebrations.
Once the train started, we soon noticed that the train was ascending in a very serious manner. Chalet rooftops appear and the Brienz Lake dropped below. The line ascends 1700 m to the peak, and has a ruling gradient of 1 in 4, which, as any railwayman will confirm, is a feat that only rack adhesion can achieve. The BRB therefore utilizes Abt dual rack and pinion system on the entire stretch.
Leaving behind the beautiful landscaped gardens and back lanes of equally beautiful houses of Brienz the train entered the dense forests above the lakeside. This section bought us to the first passing loop at Geldreid where a descending train may pass. Soon thereafter the first tunnel was entered and we were deafened by the locomotive exhaust beat as it bites into the winding route through the rock face. The first tunnels are in fact a series of four, with short windows through which the alert passenger is able to capture a glimpse of the turquoise lake far below. Following the tunnel section the forest thinned out giving way to the meadows of the alpine pastureland and 25 minutes after leaving Brienz, the first stop in Planalp was reached.
This pause is necessary, the loco had already used 900 Litres of water climbing the first 800 m and required an additional 1000 Litres to reach the summit, another 900 m higher.
Planalp station is at 4416 feet and at distance of 3.6 kms from Brienz. Initially named Hausstadt it was renamed Planalp in 1913. In 1930s the original building was destroyed by avalanche. Again in 1999 the chalet style station from the 1930s was destroyed by avalanche. The building today is a temporary construction. Planalp is primarily a passing loop and most importantly a watering point for locomotives
Following the mandatory oiling and mechanical check, departure was brisk up into the upper reaches of the meadows. The ascent to the next passing loop, Oberstaffel, took us into the rocky open alpine reaches. Snow in winter, (November – April) reaches up to 15m in depth here and vegetation is correspondingly tough and limited, although this is the section with the best to offer in Alpine flora and fauna. Leaving Oberstaffel the temperature started to drop, even in high summer, and the serious work was underway for both the steam locomotive and fireman, who now had the job of firing at over 6000 feet above sea level! Traversing the upper ravine the train was now well into the last change of terrain, a fresh nip to the air reminded us that we were now approaching 7000’ above sea level and the valley was now a breathtaking vertical mile below us.
Enroute we passed two stations which serve as emergency halts, where the train does not stop-Geldried situated at 3359 feet, and Oberstafel situated at 5997 feet.
We finally arrived at Rothorn Kulm Station situated at 7362 feet. Until 1991 the station had no permanent structure to speak of. In 1991 the building as it exists today was constructed into the rock formation. This construction necessitated a boundary change between the cantons of Bern and Luzern which, together with Obwalden meet at the summit of the Rothorn. The building can provide shelter for 100 people. There is also a cableway for material transport to the Hotel Rothorn Kulm
On arrival at the Rothorn Kulm Station one can take a short walk up to the Railway’s Mountain Restaurant and Hotel where the terrace presents a stunning panorama across the range of the Bernese Alps. A few hundred meters further one reaches the marker indicating the highest point of the Rothorn and the vantage from which the entire chain of the Swiss Alps with the Eiger North Face and Jungfraujoch may be admired.
All steam locomotives on this railway are Class H2/3, indicating that 2 axles of the 3 are driven, giving a wheel arrangement (Whyte System) of 0-4-2. The older locomotives are a side tank, “kneeling cow” design of a standard SLM product. The modern steam locomotives use efficient “light oil” fired steam technology and were built by SLM (Schweizerische Lokomotiven und Maschinen Fabrik) of Winterthur.
Occasionally diesel locomotives constructed by Ferdinand Steck Maschinenfabrik with (Whyte System) 0-4-0 wheel arrangement and “kneeling cow” design also work on the line.
After spending some time at the summit we took the train back. Back in Brienz we spent time exploring the streets and buying some wood carvings and the original Swiss cuckoo clock by Lotscher.
