Great winter video showing both the new Snow blower and the old Steam Rotary at work during the winter of 2013 - 2014 on the Rhätische Bahn in Switzerland
Bernina Pass at Alp Grüm
I am curious about the coordination between the two 'trains' (Snow Blower unit and the Steam Rotary plow being shoved by a electric motor) in such close proximity to each other as well as having the operating end of the snow blower facing the operating end of the Steam Rotary.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDI am curious about the coordination between the two 'trains' (Snow Blower unit and the Steam Rotary plow being shoved by a electric motor) in such close proximity to each other as well as having the operating end of the snow blower facing the operating end of the Steam Rotary.
Me too.
As well I wondered if I was seeing a spreader assembly with retractable wings on the front of what appeared to be a passenger consist, although I did also wonder if their snow trains are a little more 'Modern' than ours for crew accommodation etc
The area where the video was taken looked like a 'wind-tunnel' between high mountains in which almost constant wind and periods of heavy snowfall was possibly the norm. Kind of like a Swiss railway variation on a Donner Pass snow clearing theme. There were high winds to be heard on the video.
Neat piece to view and wonder about....
Charlie
Chilliwack, BC
I rode the line San Moritz, Switzerland - Tiirano, Italy, Spring 1960, still some snow on the ground. In addition to some spectacular scenery, the line has much of the characteristics of an interurban, with the single rack running down the main street of most towns en-route, particulaly on the southern side of the pass and those in Italy. The train I rode was a mixed local, stopped in every town and village, often freight transferred from the lcl box-car to and from horse-drawn wagons alongside. Most of the freight cars were 4-wheeled empty oil tank cars. Apparently, the southern part of Switzerland gets or got most of its petroleum from Italy. The train was two mu wood green and cream motor cars, with aboiut five freight cars trailing. No set-outs or pickups, but lots of lcl in and out of the box car. There is a complete spiral at one point on the line, with an arch bridge where the line goes over itself. The electrification on this line alone, not the rest of the Raitian Rys., is DC, but I forget the voltage. I rode the front platform most of the way, a nearly all-day trip.
The RhB regularly uses older railcars as work power. The Triebwagen (railcar) pulling the Schneekreb (literally snow crab) is probably unoccupied. The modern rotary is pushed by a Gem4/4 which is a diesel electric electric that is equipped to operate on the 1000v DC Berninabahn
The Steam Rotary was the subject of a delghtful video on Swiss television about a year ago. The Heizer (Fireman) gave a loving tour in the local dialect. The side-rod electric pushing the rotary is a Ge6/6 from 1921-29 which is part of the RhB's historic collection. I kind of doubt that the electric/rotary combo was actually on the Berninabahn as the Ge6/6 is 11000v AC.
rcdrye The RhB regularly uses older railcars as work power. The Triebwagen (railcar) pulling the Schneekreb (literally snow crab) is probably unoccupied. The modern rotary is pushed by a Gem4/4 which is a diesel electric electric that is equipped to operate on the 1000v DC Berninabahn The Steam Rotary was the subject of a delghtful video on Swiss television about a year ago. The Heizer (Fireman) gave a loving tour in the local dialect. The side-rod electric pushing the rotary is a Ge6/6 from 1921-29 which is part of the RhB's historic collection. I kind of doubt that the electric/rotary combo was actually on the Berninabahn as the Ge6/6 is 11000v AC.
Many thanks. Clears up the questions I had. Still interested in communication between train sets that Balt asked about. Or would they operate visually??
rcdrye The Steam Rotary was the subject of a delghtful video on Swiss television about a year ago. The Heizer (Fireman) gave a loving tour in the local dialect. The side-rod electric pushing the rotary is a Ge6/6 from 1921-29 which is part of the RhB's historic collection. I kind of doubt that the electric/rotary combo was actually on the Berninabahn as the Ge6/6 is 11000v AC.
The locomotive pushing the steam rotary is indeed a Krokodil, but it is the one and only Bernina Krokodil, not one of the two Baby Krokodils retained on the Main Network, as the RhB refers to its 11kV trackage. The Schneekreb functions in place of the wings seen of UP's ex-SP Donner rotaries to widen the path cleared by the rotary snowplow.
You can see a picture of the Bernina Krokodil here;
Bernina Pullman
And take a Steam Rotary adventure here;
Steam Snowplough Ride
BaltACD I am curious about the coordination between the two 'trains' (Snow Blower unit and the Steam Rotary plow being shoved by a electric motor) in such close proximity to each other as well as having the operating end of the snow blower facing the operating end of the Steam Rotary.
Beaulieu
Thanks for the information above. Very helpful. A 7% grade you say! Different snow clearing practices indeed.
Much appreciated. It's a dull day when I don't learn something new. This day, in this regard, is far from dull.
Glad to be reminded that the DC electrification is 1,000V. Regarding the 11,000V AC electrification of the remainder of the Raitian Ry., is it still 16-2/3 Hz? Rode Disentis (Andermat) - Chur -St.Moritz before the trip to Italy. All these lines are tops to ride. Also Chur - Aroso branch.
All of the Swiss AC electrifications are 16 2/3 Hz. It turns out that it's relatively to produce this in the same plants as the normal 50 Hz. The RhB is operated with 11kV, the SBB net with 15kV. There may still be a three-rail stretch near Chur where SBB operates under RhB 11kV wire. I wasn't aware of the Baby Krokodil on the Berninabahn. The 11kV version remains one of my all-time favorites.
In addition to the 1000V Berninbahn, the RhB formerly had DC sections between Chur and Arosa (2400V, rebuilt to 11KV AC 1997) and between Bellinzona (Ticino) and Mesocco (GB) 1500V DC, operated by Ferrovia Mesolcinese since 2003.
I'm loving this! I want to go to Switzerland!!
In the Modern Era with modern digital Inverters replacing older methods of producing low frequency AC electricity all European railways using 16 2/3 Hz electrification made the slight adjustment of the frequency to exactly 16.7 Hz. The change had no effect on the Locomotives and Triebwagens.
The Bernina Krokodil has a B-B wheel arrangement, while the two Main Network Baby Krokodils have a C-C wheel arrangement. Both employ one large motor driving each bogie via side rods.
Also for the Lenzfamily the Rhätische Bahn does not use a rack system and depends on adhesion alone to handle the severe grades. You can see the steep grade begin in the video showing the snowshed visible from the station platform. The snowshed covers the powered switch at the end of the station trackage. Alp Grüm also has a covered turntable built to turn the steam powered rotaries. Note that both of the Berninabahn's steam rotaries survive, the Xrotd 9213 seen in the video, and a slightly older sister survives, but is not operational on the Dampfbahn Furka Bergstreck (DFB) at Realp.
Thanks again for the above, Beaulieu. Now I want to go to Switzerland even more!!
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.