BRB - Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn is a touristic short cog wheel narrow gauge railroad, which takes rich tourists from the SBB-Brünig railroad, from the village of Brienz up to nice scenes of the peak of Rothorn. Their historic locomotive 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 !

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

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 don 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" tacks 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.