A descending Schynige Platte Bahn train

The Schynige Platte Railway or Schynige Platte Bahn (SPB) is a mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland, which connects the town of Wilderswil with the famous wildflower gardens of the Schynige Platte. The line offers views of Wilderswil, Interlaken, Lake Brienz, and Thunersee, as well as the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (868x588, 77 KB)A train of the Schynige Platte Railway descending. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (868x588, 77 KB)A train of the Schynige Platte Railway descending. ... A mountain railway is a railway that ascends and descends a mountain slope that has a steep grade. ... The Bernese Oberland is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. ... Interlaken is a small town in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. ... Lake Brienz as seen from the mountains above it Lake Brienz (German: Brienzersee) is a lake in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. ... Lake Thun (German: Thunersee) is a lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. ... The Eiger is a mountain in the Alps of Switzerland. ... The Mönch (German: monk) is a mountain in the Swiss Alps. ... The Jungfrau (German: virgin) is the highest peak of a mountain massif of the same name, located in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps, overlooking Grindelwald. ...

The Schynige Platte Railway connects with the Berner Oberland Bahn at Wilderswil. The line is 7.25km (4.5mi) long and has a rail gauge of 800mm (2ft7in). It is a rack railway, using the Riggenbach design to climb 1420m (4659ft) with a maximum gradient of 25%. A train of the BOB in Interlaken The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB, pro. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 1 km and 10 km (103 and 104 m). ... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10-1 m and 1 m (10 cm and 1 m). ... The rack rail on a cog railway. ... To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 1 km and 10 km (103 and 104 m). ...

The line is electrified using a 1500 volt dc overhead supply. Much of the rolling stock is quite historic, and formerly ran on the Wengernalpbahn. The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential and voltage (derived from the ampere and watt). ... Direct current (DC or continuous current) is the continuous flow of electricity through a conductor such as a wire from high to low potential. ... A railroad car (or, more briefly, car), also known as an item of rolling stock in British parlance, is a vehicle on a railroad or railway that is not a locomotive - one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... The Wengernalpbahn (or WAB) is a 19. ...

The concession for the line was given in 1890, the line opened in 1893, and was electrified in 1914. Passage of the line is often impossible in winter, and so it only operates in summer months. 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

External links

• Schynige Platte Bahn website

Sources

• Book Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria, ISBN 0900433965, by R.J.Buckley, published by the Light Rail Transit Association, 1984.
• Wikipedia article de:Schynige Platte-Bahn, last updated on the 4th September 2004 at 15:03.