Swiss Steam - Emmentalbahn - Dampfbahn Bern - Sumiswald - Wasen

Famous for the namesake cheese with the holes in it, the Swiss Emmental region also offers scenic railway lines with steam trains.
This short film shows heritage steam operations on the rural branch line from Sumiswald to Wasen in mid October 2020. This 5.2 km long branch line was closed to regular passenger services in 1994 but still features regular freight traffic operated by historic electric shunting locomotives from the 1940s as far as the RUWA factory at Burghof. Since 2017 the whole line to Wasen has once again been in use for occasional steam trains, which are operated by Historische Emmentalbahn and Dampfbahn Bern using tank engines dating from the early 20th Century. While the catenary is still in place as far as Wasen, the power lines are actually only juiced as far as the Burghof factory, as there is currently no use beyond Burghof for electric traction and rectification works would be necessary. At the junction station in Sumiswald, which is also pictured prominently in this film, the Emmentalbahn network intersects with the BLS system and regular S-Bahn Bern trains.
The black 2-6-0 tank engine seen in the film is loco Nr. 51 from the association Dampfbahn Bern, based at the Konolfingen Depot. This elegant, compact branch line loco was built in 1908 by SLM in Winterthur for use on the countryside route from Bern to Schwarzenburg. From the 1970s to the 1990s the loco was actually plinthed at the Schwarzenburg station, before getting overhauled and returned to running order.
As can be seen from these images, the landscape of the Emmental is particularly rural and pastoral, very idyllic and ideal as the location for heritage trains.
- - -
Ein Kurzfilm zum letzten saisonal Betriebstag mit Dampf auf der Emmentalbahn im Oktober 2020. Eingesetzt wurde die schwarze Tenderlok Ed 3/4 Nr. 51 der Dampfbahn Bern aus dem Depot Konolfingen. Dieses Bijou wurde ursprünglich 1908 von der SLM in Winterthur für die Bern-Schwarzenburg-Bahn (BSB) erbaut und stand von 1972 bis 1998 auf einem Denkmalsockel beim Bahnhof Schwarzenburg. Seit 2008 ist die Lokomotive wieder betriebsfähig und wird auf Sonderfahrten im ganzen Kanton Bern eingesetzt, wie auch darüber hinaus.