Lötschbergbahn, Interlaken

Lötschbergbahn, Interlaken

In the warm sunshine of an early October afternoon in 2011, near the base station of the Harder Kulm incline railway, B-L-S Lötschbergbahn Re 425 (Re 4/4 class) electric locomotive No. 191 is on the point of a passenger train departing Interlaken-Ost station. The locomotive (her name is Reichenbach, after a village served by the railroad in the Kandertal) has just crossed over the Aare River and the train will run along the river as it proceeds to Interlaken West and onward on its journey.

“Reichenbach” was built in 1982, making her one of the younger units of the type, which went into production in 1964. It was nice to see this old gal still running, as the stolid brown B-L-S locomotives of this type were among the first electric locomotives I photographed on my first trip to the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland in 1988.(*)

More recently, the Lötschbergbahn has been running some very modern looking (and much more colorful) equipment, but this solid, tank-like brown machine will always remind me of that very first visit, and the magic to the railroad enthusiast of Interlaken-Ost station’s nexus of standard gauge and the narrow gauge lines that meander out of the station on their way to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen…even the Jungfraujoch!

“Reichenbach” or one of her sisters would have been pulling the train that carried me from Bern to Interlaken on that first visit, vividly remembered for its SBB coaches with pull-down windows that made the trip along Lake Thun from Spiez into Interlaken so photo-exciting as the alps of the Berner Oberland drew steadily nearer.

© Steve Ember

(*)