Between Blonay and Chamby, a museum railway regularly operates steam trains, a good reason to visit. There's also a museum at the Chamby musee station, but I decided to skip that in favor of other adventures.
B.F.D. 3 was built in 1913 for the Brig - Furka - Disentis railway and is equipped with a set of cog wheels for the Abt rack rail system, though the museum line is adhesion only. The locomotive is coal fired. The stoker is adding some extra coal so there's plenty of steam for the trip to Chamby.
This short but very scenic meter gauge line cuts through villages at first and then continues to climb through pastures and forest. Our train leaves Blonay at 14:05.
After 10 minutes we reach the Viaduc de la Baye the Clarens: 80 meters long in a tight curve. This screams to be built as a module).
There are fine views of Lake Geneva along the line.
Arrival in Chamby. The train will reverse here and back down the hill into the museum grounds.
Chamby is located on the MOB narrow gauge line from Montreux to Gstaad and Zweisimmen. This is the "Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway", in french Chemins de fer Montreux Oberland bernois.
While the train waits for its departure time, I take more photos.
B.F.D. 3 has the wheels inside the frame and the driving rods for adhesion operation outside the frame, while the rods for cog wheel operation are located on the inside, a complicated and maintenance-intensive mechanism.
The two cog wheels are visible behind the side of the inner frame.
A short, but fun run with steam among all electric operation everywhere else.
No comments:
Post a Comment