The
Journey Out & 'Verkehrshaus'
The Swiss State Transport Museum, Lucerne
October 4 2003
An early flight from Heathrow took Chris & I to Basle/Mulhouse airport. From there we attached ourselves to the super efficient Swiss public transport system for a bus trip to Basle railway station. Then it was on to the next available train heading for Lucerne, our first destination of the day. At Lucerne station we stowed our luggage before taking a look at something we had spotted on the way in - an electric Crocodile.
1925
built Ce 6/8 III 1-C-C-1 'Crocodile' 14305 was at Lucerne station having
hauled an excursion from Basle in conjunction with the Bahn Expo 2003.
Later in the day it would return to Basle. October 4 2003 |
A general view of Lucerne station; as ever it was full of trains ! October 4 2003
Having seen the Crocodile we took a brief, but pricey, taxi ride to the other side of Lake Lucerne to the Verkehrshaus - The Swiss State Transport Museum. We only had a few hours available to look around and this was never going to be enough. When we got in we realised just how much we would miss out on. Perhaps not so surprisingly we concentrated on the fascinating railway exhibits. The museum had a series of extra exhibits as it was celebrating the Bahn Expo 2003.
The collection seemed to be made up of many very interesting bits of kit and some other less interesting bits - less interesting until the detail of these types were noticed. It has to be said the collection is perhaps one of the most interesting and varied I have ever seen. Verkehrshaus can not be recommended highly enough, it is fantastic and I will be going back again.
Verkehrshaus
features a fantastic model of the Gotthard Pass in HO. If I remember rightly
a sign stated 36000 man hours had been put in to the construction of this
layout. Here the railway can be seen on three separate levels. October
4 2003 |
Two 'Crocodiles' can be found in the Museum. On the left is metre gauge, 1921 built, Rhätische (Rhaetian) Bahn Class Ge 6/6I 402 and on the right is standard gauge SBB Be 6/8II 13254. October 4 2003
As
can be seen the drive arrangement on Be 6/8II 13254
is somewhat different to that seen on Ce 6/8 III.
This locomotive dates from 1919 and is rated at 2700kW (3620hp.) In many
ways these locomotives are an electric version of the Beyer-Garratt type
of steam locomotive. October 4 2003 |
Be 6/8II 13254 is a 1-C-C-1. It was constructed by SLM and carries Winterthur works number 2674. It was withdrawn from service in 1982. October 4 2003
Be 6/8II 13254 behind RhB C-C 'Crocodile' 402. The RhB locomotive is rated at 190kW (1020hp) and was allowed to operate at up to 55km/h (35mph).It was withdrawn from service in 1984. October 4 2003
This
is the engine unit Bern Lötschberg Simplon Ce 6/6 121 built in 1910.
October 4 2003 |
This
ancient looking 4-2-0 (yes, really) is called 'Limmat'. In reality it
is a replica built in 1947. The original was built in the 1850's. October
42003 |
An
interesting feature of 'Limmat' was this rail cleaning "device".
This was also found on several other locomotives in the collection. October
4 2003 |
Bern
Lötschberg Simplon Bahn Ae 5/7 151 has a 1-E-1 wheel arrangement.
This type are rated at 1840kW (2468hp.) It was built in 1913. October
4 2003 |
Type
Ec 2/5 No.28 'Genf' is the oldest remaining locomotive in Switzerland.
It was built in 1858. October 4 2003 |
This is valvegear on No.28 'Genf'. It is Stephenson's. October 4 2003
0-6-0WT
'Langnau' was built in 1881. October 4 2003 |
'Langnau'
has an interesting valvegear arrangement. It looks like an unusually arranged
Walschaerts gear but is in fact credited to Brown. October 4 2003 |
Double-ended electric "Red-Arrow" railcar RCe2/4 203 was operated by the SBB. October 4 2003
An
extremely interesting exhibit is the sectioned "System Winterthur"
compound rack and adhesion tank No.1063. It was built for the SBB Brunig
Pass line in 1909. It operated until 1957. October 4 2003 |
The
lower cylinder drives the adhesion wheels whilst the higher cylinder drives
the rack cog wheel. Given this locomotive's age it is not surprising to
see it fitted with slide valves. The upper cylinders use the exhausts
steam from the adhesion wheels when it is cut in, in other words the locomotives
works as a compound. When the rack engine is cut out the locomotive works
as a simple. October 4 2003 |
A
close up of the sectioned rack engine cylinder. October 4 2003 |
The locomotive has two sets of Walschaerts valvegear on each side of the locomotive. However as can be seen the two sets of valvegear are linked. October 4 2003
This
is the non-sectioned side of the 1063. October 4 2003 |
Another
interesting exhibit is this tramway engine No.18. No.12 of the same class
operates in Bern. See
here. October 4 2003 |