BRB - Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn is a touristic short cog wheel narrow gauge railroad, which takes rich tourists from the Zentralbahn (formerly SBB-Brünigbahn) railroad, from the village of Brienz up to nice scenes of the peak of Rothorn. Their historic locomotive type was the H 2/3, which they had 3 examples of, built in 1891-92 and with a maximum speed of 8,5 km/h. When they became finally unreliable in the 1970s, the BRB ordered diesel engines (3 pieces, Hm 2/2 from 1975-87, 13,5 tons, 5,25m - 14 km/h). It soon became clear that the tourists preferred the old style but unreliable steam engines. As a conclusion, the company finally gave in and ordered in 1992-96 three brand new steam engines (H 2/3 15,7 tons, 6,5m, 12 km/h), though oil fueled and perfectly modern. Steam engines make absolutely no real sense on mountain routes, but as long as the tourists are OK to pay a higher price for a steam ride, the Swiss are prepared to provide that !

The BRB line is just 7,6 km long but yet it takes an hour for a train to climb it up. The maximum gradient is 25% or 250 promilles and the train climbs 1678 metres higher up than where it started at Brienz. The top speed of even the new locomotives is 9 km/h.

Rack loco # 7 on Brienz Rothornbahn at Brienz, Switzerland, 16 June 1994. Photo by Pat & David Othen. The H 2/3 no. 7 is one of a two engine series of 1933-36: one of the "real" steam engines of this tourist attraction railroad. It is heated with coal, weighs 20 tons, is only 6,40 m long and has maximum speed of a modest 9 km/h.
Uploaded Nov 22, 1995

Rack rail loco no.12 of Brienz-Rothornbahn. It looks old, but actually it's not. It was built by SLM in 1992 for the fun of tourists.
Picture from Brienz 27.10.2002 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The same rack rail loco no.12 seen more from the side of its front.
Picture from Brienz 27.10.2002 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The same rack rail loco no.12 together with its whole train.
Picture from Brienz 27.10.2002 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The train driver is ready to leave with his load of tourists. The steam engine is remotely controlled from the steering cab coach.
Picture from Brienz 27.10.2002 by Ilkka Siissalo.

There it goes, very slowly.
Picture from Brienz 27.10.2002 by Ilkka Siissalo.

This H 2/3 locomotive no.14 is similar with the no.12. shown above. It just looks old, but in fact it is not. It was also built by SLM in te 1990s and it is heated with oil.
Picture from Brienz 13.5.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

H 2/3 locomotive no.14 is bringing in a trainload of tourists to Brienz.
Picture from Brienz 13.5.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Soon stopping... H 2/3 locomotive no.14 is arriving at Brienz.
Picture from Brienz 13.5.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

H 2/3 locomotive no.14 has just brought a load of tourists down from Rothorn.
Picture from Brienz 13.5.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The whole Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn is just a simple tourist attraction. Tourists are hauled from the village of Brienz up to the top of Rothorn with this kind of coaches and a rack rail steam locomotive, but the steam locomotives used nowadays are not old, but new and just made to look like old. It is just a cheating tivoli-like attraction with a huge price tag. But the scenery is beautiful of course.
Picture from Brienz 1.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The station and depot of the BRB Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn.
Picture from Brienz 1.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A view from far away with a tele lens. The locomotive on the left, no.10 is a diesel-hydraulic machine built by Ferdinand Steck Maschinenfabrik in 1976. Together with the numbers 9 and 11 these class Hm 2/2 locomotives are used in the maintenance of the line. There's a lot of snow roaming work to do. The BRB line is 7,6 km long and during some springs there may still be up to three meters of snow to be cleared from the rails before traffic can start even though traffic rests during mid-winter. The line is of 800 mm gauge width and the maximum incline of the steep slope is 25% (sic!). The station at the top is 1658 meters higher up than the station down at Brienz. BRB owns 11 steam locomotives.
Picture from Brienz 1.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A demo for tourists how the "old" and "new" tracks of BRB look like. The new track system consists of 49 kg/m rails and system ABt rack rails. Sleepers are Y-shaped and made of strong steel.
Picture from Brienz 1.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The Märli-Bahn Hopp coaches were for a special train for Swiss small kids. In both of the wagons there was a lady telling stories about imaginary comic features who supposedly lived by the side of the Brienz-Rothorn Bahn route. These coaches were built in 2002.
Picture from Brienz 27.10.2002 by Ilkka Siissalo.