Wengernalpbahn

The Wengernalpbahn (or WAB) is a 19.091 km long, 800 mm (2 ft 7½ in) gauge rack railway line in Switzerland, which runs from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald (two branches) to Kleine Scheidegg, making it the world's longest continuous cogwheel railway. At Kleine Scheidegg passengers transfer to the Jungfraubahn for the continuation of the journey to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch.

Station at Kleine Scheidegg

The original line from Lauterbrunnen to Grindelwald opened on 20th June 1893. The racks are of the Riggenbach rack system, as modified by Arnold Pauli. Originally operated by steam locomotives, electrificalion of the line from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg was completed on 3rd June 1909, followed by the section between Grindelwald and Kleine Scheidegg a year later, using 1500 V DC, with electric locomotives positioned, for safety reasons, at the lower end of the trains. Nowadays, most passenger trains are made up of railcars, the powered car still being positioned at the lower end of the train, and so train compositions do not usually cross Kleine Scheidegg. However, a triangular junction specially built into the mountainside at Kleine Scheidegg allows the train to be turned if necessary so that it can also be used on the other side of the pass. The newest of these trains reach 28 km/h on the steepest stretch. The original railway tracks between Lauterbrunnen and Wengen (3.8 km) still, in part, run parallel to the new, less steep, tracks which were opened on 7th July 1910 but since the introduction of the latest freight locomotives, which travel as fast as passenger trains, they are seldom used .

Operations

At peak periods, additional trains can be put into operation at short intervals ahead of the scheduled train, allowing capacity to be optimised according to demand. This demands an extremely flexible organization procedure and enormous care and attention with regard to dispatching trains. Trains do not travel directly from Lauterbrunnen over to Grindelwald. The busiest stretch of railway runs from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen and this is also used to transport goods to traffic-free Wengen. The railway operates two workshops at Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald Grund.

Locomotives

No.	Class	Builders	Date Completed
31	He2/2	Stadler/SLM/BBC	1995
32	He2/2	Stadler/SLM/BBC	1995
51	He2/2	SLM/Alioth	1909
52	He2/2	SLM/Alioth	1909
53	He2/2	SLM/Alioth	1909
54	He2/2	SLM/Alioth	1909
64	He2/2	SLM/BBC	1926
65	He2/2	SLM/MFO	1929

Railcars

The earliest railcars still in service, numbers 101 and 102 ( BDhe4/4, built by SLM/BBC ) date from 1947, No.102 being refurbished 1985. Of the other 14 cars of this class, No's. 104 and 106 - 118, built between 1954 and 1964, which still survive, ten have been refurbished (all except 104 / 7 / 9 / 10) since 2000. No.114 was refurbished along with 102 in 1985 but was returned to works in 2002 to be brought up to the newer specifications.

In 1970 a new class of railcar ( BDhe4/4 ) was introduced, numbered 119 to 124, built by a consortium of SIG, SLM, SAAS and BBC. These were refurbished in 1998. Four further cars, class BDhe4/8, numbered 131 to 134, and built by SLM ( Works Nos. 5363 - 66 inclusive ) with electrical equipment by BBC, arrived in 1988 with the latest additions, a series of four "Panorama" cars of Class Bhe4/8, built by Stadler arriving in 2004.

Rolling Stock / Driving Trailer Cars

The earliest coaches still listed to the company are three dating from 1893 and a single example from 1901. These have all been rebuilt twice, the final one in 1995 by the von Roll company. Later examples date from the period 1959 to 2003, some of the earlier of these have rebuilt. Building of the stock has been carried out by SIG, with electrical equipment by Brown Boveri / Asea Brown Boveri and later by Stadler with electrical equipment by Steck,(except No.231 which was built by SLM with electrical equipment by ABB).

The line also operates with an extensive collection of goods stock, in the main used for services between Lauterbrunnen and the traffic - free resort of Wengen.

See also

• Rail transport in Switzerland
• Jungfraubahn
• 800 mm (2 ft 7½ in)

External links

• Jungfrau Railways website (English)