The locomotives of the Brienz Rothorn Railway
The Brienz Rothorn Railway owns eleven steam locomotives and three diesel locomotives. Eight of the eleven steam locomotives are in working order and in regular service. The railway still owns five locomotives from the founding period of 1891/92, of which locomotives 2 and 5 are in regular use – the other coal-fired locomotives require a great deal of effort to make them roadworthy again. With a crew of three, they transport up to 50 guests. The veterans from the century before last are joined by locomotives 6 and 7 built in 1933/35, which already carry 80 guests with a crew of three. When cable car construction boomed in the 1960s and more economical mountain railways were built, the problem of insufficient transport capacity and expensive steam operation became ever greater. Attempts were made to procure new and more economical steam locomotives. But this was not possible in the 1970s; no locomotive factory was interested in further developing steam locomotives. The solution to the problem was temporarily the procurement of diesel locomotives. In 1975, after the commissioning of a prototype diesel locomotive, locomotive 9+10 and in 1987 locomotive 11 joined the Brienz Rothorn Railway. In 1992, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the BRB was able to put the first heating oil-fired steam locomotive – No. 12 – into service. In 1996, locomotives 14+15 were added, and from 2004 locomotive 16 enriched the service. The diesel-hydrostatic locomotives and the heating oil-fired steam locomotives transport 112 passengers with a crew of two.