Blonay–Chamby museum railway
The Blonay–Chamby museum railway is a short steep but adhesion worked metre gauge heritage railway 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.
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.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 and 115.1 of the Swiss National Railways Timetable.
The Museum Collection
The collection includes in spring 2009 the following items. The museum is the home of over 70 items of rolling stock.Steam Locomotives
Steam Locomotives
| Picture | No. | Name | Class | Cyls. | Builders Details | Works. No. | Date Built | Notes. |
| 1 | Le Doubs | G 3/3 | OC | SLM | 618 | 1890 | Ex-Regional des Brenets /Chemins de fer des Montagnes Neuchateloises /On loan from Swiss Transport Museum Luzern. | |
| 3 | HG 3/4 | OC | SLM | 2317 | 1913 | Ex-Brig–Furka–Disentis railway, Furka Oberalp Railway | ||
| 5 | Bercher | G 3/3 | OC | SACM | 4172 | 1890 | Ex-Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher railway, barrage de la Dixence, Hilti & Jehle, Feldkirch. | |
| 6 | G 3/3 | OC | SLM | 1341 | 1901 | Ex-Brünigbahn/Jura-Simplon JS 909, SBB 109, Biere-Apples-Morge No.6, Scierie Renfer, Bienne. | ||
| 23 | G 3/5 | OC | MTM | 282 | 1926 | Ex-Olot-Gerona | ||
| 104 | Zell | G 2x3/3 | OC | Hanomag | 10437 | 1925 | Ex-SEG, Mallet type, 0-6-6-0T, Compound | |
| 105 | Todtnau | G 2x2/2 | OC | MBG | 2051 | 1918 | Ex-Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld, Mallet type, 0-4-4-0T, Compound | |
| 99 193 | G 5/5 | OC | MFE | 4183 | 1927 | Ex-Deutsche Reichbahn, Deutsche Bundesbahn. |
Tramway Steam Locomotives
Electric Locomotives, Railcars and Trams
Locomotives
Railcars
| Picture | No. | Name | Class/Type | Builders Details | Works No. | Date Built | Notes. |
| 4 | - | BCFe 2/2 | SIG / MFO | 1928 | Ex-Sernftalbahn | ||
| 6 | Valais | BCFeh 4/4 | SLM / SIG / EGA | 146 | 1909 | Ex-Monthey–Champéry–Morgins railway, Aigle–Ollon–Monthey–Champery railway, Abt rack | |
| 10 | - | BCFeh 4/4 | SLM / SWS / BBC | 1914 | Ex-Loèche–Loèche-les-Bains railway , Abt rack | ||
| 11 | les sept à vingt | BCFe 4/4 | SIG / EGA | 2191 | 1903 | Ex-Montreux-Oberland Bernois | |
| 12 | - | Ce 2/2 | Ringhoffer / EAG | 1907 | Ex-Langenthal–Jura railway, Oberaargau–Jura railway | ||
| 35 | - | ABe 4/4I | SIG / SAAS / MFO | 1908 | Ex-Bernina railway, Rhaetian Railway | ||
| 105 | - | ABDe 4/4 | SWS / MFO | 1913 | Ex-Chemins de fer électriques Veveysans, 2017 | ||
| 2002 | - | DZe 6/6 | SIG / BBC | 2703 | 1932 | Ex-Montreux–Oberland Bernois railway, 2008 |
Trams
| Picture | No. | Name | Class/Type | Builders Details | Works No. | Date Built | Notes. |
| 7 | - | Ce 2/2 | Rat / CIE | 1904 | Ex-Tramway de Fribourg | ||
| 28 | - | Ce 2/3 | SWS / SAAS | 1948 | Ex-Tramways Lausannois | ||
| 31 | - | Ze 2/2 | SIG / EGA | 1914 | Ex-Rheintalische Strassenbahn | ||
| 52 | - | Ce 2/2 | SWS / MFO | 1914 | Ex-Städtische Strassenbahn, Bern | ||
| 76 | - | Ce 2/2 | SIG / MFO | 1911 | Ex-Tramways de Neuchâtel | ||
| 151 | - | Fe 4/4 | SIG / S&H | 1911 | Ex-Compagnie Genevoise des Tramways Électriques |
Passenger Coach
Tramway Passenger Coach
Post and Baggage Coach
Goods wagon
| Picture | No. | Name | Class | Builders Details | Works No. | Date Built | Notes. |
| 30 | - | K | Kirchheim | 1874 | Ex-Schweizerische Lokalbahnen, Appenzeller Bahn | ||
| 31 | - | K | MAN | 1905 | Ex-Sernftalbahn | ||
| 31 | - | K | SWS | 1910 | Ex-Tramways de Lausanne | ||
| 41 | - | K | SWS | 1915 | Ex-Loèche–Loèche-les-Bains railway | ||
| 51 | - | M | SWS | 1915 | Ex-Loèche–Loèche-les-Bains railway | ||
| 60 | - | L | SWS | 1915 | Ex-Loèche–Loèche-les-Bains railway | ||
| 87 | - | K | SWS | 1912 | Ex-Aigle–Leysin railway | ||
| 101 | - | K | SIG | 1903 | Ex-Montreux-Oberland Bernois, 2014 | ||
| 153 | - | LO | SIG | 1901 | Ex-Montreux-Oberland Bernois | ||
| 610 | - | K | SWS | 1904 | Ex-Gruyère–Fribourg–Morat railway | ||
| 672 | - | K | GFM | 1955 | Ex-Gruyère–Fribourg–Morat railway | ||
| 706 | - | M | Busch | 1904 | Ex-Montreux-Oberland Bernois | ||
| 712 | - | L | SWS | 1905 | Ex-Gruyère–Fribourg–Morat railway | ||
| 801 | - | O | Busch | 1904 | Ex-Montreux-Oberland Bernois |
Diesel Locomotives, Shunters and Maintenance vehicles
Rotary Snowplow
Service Coach Stock
Placed external line Blonay-Chamby
Former vehicles
Abbreviations (Selection)
Rolling stock manufacturers
- BBC : Brown, Boveri & Cie
- CIE : Compagnie de l’Industrie Électrique, Geneva
- EAG : Elektrizitätsgesellschaft Alioth
- MFE : Maschinenfabrik Esslingen
- MFO : Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon
- MGK : Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Karlsruhe
- MTM : Maquinista Terrestre y Marítima
- O&K : Orenstein & Koppel
- Rat : Rathgeber, Munich
- SAAS : Société Anonyme des Ateliers de Sécheron
- SIG : Swiss Industrial Society
- SLM : Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Winterthur
- SACM : Alsatian Engineering Company in Grafenstaden
- SEG : South German Railway Company
- SWS : Schweizerische Wagons- und Aufzügefabrik AG Schlieren-Zürich
Steam Locomotive Cylinders
- OC : Cylinders outside frames
- IC : Cylinders inside frames
Literature
- Sébastien Jarne, Le chemin de fer-musée Blonay-Chamby, tiré à part du livre « Voies étroites de Veveyse et de Gruyère », édition Chemin de fer-musée Blonay-Chamby, Lausanne, éd. 2, 1991, 56 p.
- José Banaudo and Alex Rieben, À la découverte du Chemin de fer-musée Blonay-Chamby, Édition du Cabri, Breil-sur-Roya, 1992,.
- Peter Willen, Lokomotiven und Triebwagen der Schweizer Bahnen, volume 2, Privatbahnen Westschweiz und Wallis. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zürich, 1977,.
- Alain Candellero, Charles-Maurice Emery, Brice Maillard and Nicolas Regamey, 40 ans de musée vivant, Chemin de fer musée Blonay-Chamby 1968-2008, édition Chemin de fer-musée Blonay-Chamby, Lausanne, avril 2008, 32 p.
- Users Wikipedia: Museumsbahn Blonay-Chamby, ein Auszug aus Wikipedia Anfangs 2011, E-book, 2011, 52 p.
- Alain Castella and Charles-Maurice Emery: Faire la Voie, Chemin de fer-Musée Blonay-Chamby, Département de la formation, de la jeunesse et de la culture – Service des affaires culturelles of Canton de Vaud, Lausanne, 2010
- Michel Grandguillaume, Gérald Hadorn, Sébastien Jarne, Jean-Louis Rochaix, François Ramstein: Voies étroites de Veveyse et de Gruyère. Bureau vaudois d'addresses, Lausanne 1984,