Régional Saignelégier – Glovelier

Saignelégier – Glovelier
RSG train with steam locomotive Ed 3/4 No. 1 in the Montfaucon station.
Timetable field :	236
Route length:	24.89 km
Gauge :	up to 1948: 1435 mm from 1953: 1000 mm
Power system :	from 1953: 1500 V  =
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Legend SC from La Chaux-de-Fonds 5.39 Saignelégier 982  m above sea level M. 1915–1953 roller bolster system 7.23 Le Bémont 970  m above sea level M. Les Communances 10.94 Pré-Petitjean (formerly Montfaucon ) 928  m above sea level M. 14.58 La Combe (formerly Lajoux Station) 843  m above sea level M. 10.94 Bollement (formerly Saulcy ) 807  m above sea level M. Saulcy tunnel (41 m) Bollement tunnel (48 m) La Scierie tunnel (70 m) St-Brais tunnel (47 m) Fondeval tunnel (102 m) Le Fondeval (formerly Saint-Brais ) 780  m above sea level M. Peu-Champ tunnel (50 m) La Roche Tunnel (38 m) Sceut 724  m above sea level M. Foradrai Tunnel (149 m) 24.93 Combe-Tabeillon 626  m above sea level M. Porrentruy SBB 30.28 Glovelier roller stool system since 1953 506  m above sea level M. SBB to Delémont

The Régional Saignelégier – Glovelier (RSG) was a railway company that operated the then standard-gauge railway line from Saignelégier to Glovelier . In 1944, the railway was fusion part of the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ) that the route to meter gauge conversions and at 1500 volts DC electrified.

history

The main lines , which arose quite early in the Jura , were primarily built to connect to France and did not touch the Freiberg mountains . Since 1892, the meter-gauge Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn (SC) has been running across the Freiberg plateau . On May 21, 1904, the RSG started the continuation from Saignelégier to Glovelier. However, the RSG was created in standard gauge to simplify the extensive transport of cattle and wood. Since July 1, 1910, the RSG formed a joint venture with the standard gauge Régional Porrentruy-Bonfol (RPB).

However, traffic in the sparsely populated area did not develop as expected. In 1906 the RSG was forced into liquidation . Until 1917, the income came from goods and passenger traffic in roughly equal proportions, after which in 1920 goods traffic became the more important business area. Despite the renovation in 1908, the financial situation of the railway remained difficult. The operating results were several times up to 1918, from 1918 to 1944 almost exclusively in deficit , as a result of which the railway systems became visibly outdated.

The merger of the RSG with the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn (SC), the Chemin de fer Tavannes – Noirmont (CTN) and the Régional Porrentruy – Bonfol (RPB) to form the Chemins de fer du Jura was established on 1 January 1944 created the basis for a radical renewal.

Operated by the Chemins de fer du Jura

Train of the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ) in 1976 at Pré-Petitjean.

CJ shuttle train ready to depart at the renovated Glovelier station.

Passenger train in 1977 with the De 4/4 baggage car and the B 761–763 car with open platforms between Pré-Petitjean and La Combe.

On May 8, 1948, passenger traffic on the Saignelégier – Glovelier line had to be stopped because of the poor condition of the track. To simplify operations, the railway was then converted to meter gauge and, like the subsequent meter gauge railways, operated with 1500 V direct current and new rolling stock since October 4, 1953. The two substations in Pré-Petitjean and Sceut supply the line with electricity.

On April 16, 1968, several cubic meters of rock fell onto the railway track near the Bollement tunnel. A train going from Saignelégier to Glovelier drove into the rubble and derailed, injuring twelve people.

In 2012/13 Glovelier station was rebuilt. A new platform was created so that passengers no longer had to board the CJ trains in the street area. The reloading of rubbish containers from trucks to the railroad was relocated from the street to the area of ​​the former freight hall.

Today's operation

The La Chaux-de-Fonds – Saignelégier – Glovelier passenger trains run almost every hour . In addition, the CJ offer a bus connection that serves the localities directly. The line from Saignelégier published in the timetable field 22.134 was extended beyond Glovelier to Boécourt in 2013 . The Marché-Concours national de chevaux in Saignelégier in August leads to major traffic.

Freight trains run regularly from Monday to Friday. Garbage has been transported from Glovelier to the La Chaux-de-Fonds incineration plant since 2000. In addition, standard-gauge wagons are transported on roller bolsters , which primarily transport long timber , heating oil , gravel and road salt. From July to September there are regular steam trains from Pré-Petitjean from La Traction to Glovelier, Tavannes or La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Extension to Delémont

In order to in Delsberg to spare traveling passengers, the change to Glovelier, the construction of a meter gauge distance between been Glovelier and Canton capital sought. Develier would have opened up the route, which would have run parallel to the Transjurane for long periods . 97.5 million francs were budgeted for the project. Although the federal government would have covered 85 percent of the costs, the canton of Jura refused to accept its share in a referendum on May 17, 1992.

For some time now, the CJ have been making efforts to build a third rail between the SBB Glovelier – Delémont line. The costs are estimated at 34 million francs. Four multiple units are required for the continuous connection from Delsberg to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Because the CJ is operated with 1500 volts direct current and the SBB with 15,000 volts 16.7 Hertz alternating current , two-system equipment is required.

Route description

Hairpin in Combe-Tabeillon. The left track leads to Saignelégier, the right to Glovelier.

The 25-kilometer route connects Saignelégier with the Glovelier SBB train station, which is around 500 meters lower. After exiting the Saignelégier train station, the journey continues with a slight incline to Le Bémont and on to the Pré-Petitjean stop (formerly Montfaucon ), where the La Traction museum railroad depot is located. From there the bell tower of the church of Montfaucon can be seen. It is typical of the neighboring region of Franche-Comté .

The route runs with a gradient of 25 per thousand past the small lake Plain de-Saigne to the La Combe stop (formerly Lajoux Station). At the Bollement (formerly Saulcy ) crossing station , the view of the Etang de Bollement pond is visible. Along the rocky abyss of Combe-Tabeillon, the route leads through several short tunnels and past the former Sceut and Le Fondeval (formerly Saint-Brais ) stops . After driving through the Foradrai tunnel, there is a loop . At the Combe-Tabeillon station , the trains change direction a second time with a hairpin . The use of shuttle trains has simplified operations management since electrification. The descent continues along the Tabeillon stream to Glovelier. With a long right-hand bend, the trains reach the station there, where the SBB allow the onward journey to Delsberg or Pruntrut .

RSG traction vehicles

RSC traction vehicles	Ed 3/4	CFZm 1/3
Numbering:	1 - 3	4th	5
Wheel alignment :	1'C	1'A1
Length over buffers:	8380 mm	12,840 mm	12,900 mm
Fixed wheelbase:	2500 mm	4500 mm
Total wheelbase:	4530 mm	7500 mm
Service mass:	39.7 t	approx. 32 t
Friction mass:	33.6 t	13 t
Top speed:	45 km / h	45 km / h
Drive wheel diameter:	1030 mm	1030 mm
Cylinder diameter:	380 mm	250 mm
Piston stroke:	550 mm	400 mm
Boiler overpressure:	13 atm.	12 atm.
Grate area:	1.5 m²	0.8 m²	0.7 m²
Superheater area :	8.0 m²	3.8 m²	3.1 m²
Total heating area:	91.0 m²	36.1 m²	33.6 m²
Water supply:	4.0 m³	1.5 m³
Coal supply:	0.8 t	0.6 t

Locomotives Ed 3/4 1 - 3

Steam locomotive Ed 3/4 No. 3

At the opening of operations, the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory (SLM) in Winterthur delivered the three steam locomotives Ed 3/4 1 to 3. The machines corresponded to a normal type first built in 1902, which was designed for the Seetalbahn and built for several smaller branch lines. The machines with a relatively large boiler developed an output of around 500 hp.

After the acquisition of the two steam railcars, the locomotives were only used in front of freight trains and heavy passenger trains. Number 2 was sold in 1934 to the sister line Porrentruy – Bonfol (RPB). This locomotive was sold to Sulzer in 1949 for the work maneuver in Oberwinterthur . Ed 3/4 3 took over her job at the Régional Porrentruy – Bonfol. The Ed 3/4 1, which was the only one to receive a superheater in 1939 , was also sold to Sulzer at the end of 1952 after the Saignelégier – Glovelier line had been re-gauged Winterthur plant was used. The Ed 3/4 1 was canceled in 1957, the machine No. 3 in 1956. As the only remaining steam locomotive of the CJ, the Ed 3/4 2 was taken over in 1972 by the Zürcher Oberland Steam Railway Association .

Steam railcar CFZm 1/3 4 and 5

Steam powered rail car CFZm 1/3 No. 4 on delivery in 1910.

The operation with steam locomotives for the lightly manned passenger trains was very cost-intensive. For this reason, the RSC acquired a CFZm 1/3 steam multiple unit for one-man operation from the SLM in 1910 and 1913 . The extremely economical vehicles were equipped with a passenger compartment, a luggage compartment and a mail compartment. The same vehicles also had the Huttwil-Eriswil-Bahn (HEB) and the Ramsei-Sumiswald-Huttwil-Bahn (RSHB).

The railcars rested on three axles so as not to exceed the permissible axle load . The middle axle propelled the vehicle. While a normal carriage axle was attached to the rear, the front guide axle was arranged in a Bissel frame . The standing boiler was equipped with a superheater and was located above the machine. The coal box was next to the boiler, the water box was suspended in the frame. The only driver's cab was located near the boiler. When driving backwards, the conductor had to observe the drive from the rear platform; for this purpose he had a pipe and an emergency brake valve . The profile steel frame turned out to be too weak and had to be stiffened afterwards.

After the track had been re-gauged and electrified, the steam powered railcar 5 was decommissioned and demolished in 1952 and the railcar number 4 in 1954.

literature

• 1884-1984, 100 ans des Chemins de fer du Jura . Self-published Chemins de fer du Jura, Tavannes 1984, no international standard book number
• Jean-Claude Kocher: Les 125 ans de la ligne Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds in: Railway Amateur (magazine) No. 12, 2017, pages 540-542

swell

• Thomas Frey and Hans-Ulrich Schiedt: Régional Saignelégier – Glovelier. In: bahndaten.ch, data on the Swiss railways 1847–1920. Via Storia, Center for Transport History at the University of Bern, accessed on September 30, 2015 . 
• Alfred Moser: The steam operation of the Swiss railways 1847-1966 . 4th updated edition, Birkhäuser, Stuttgart 1967.
• Hans G. Wägli: Swiss rail network and Swiss rail profile CH + . AS Verlag, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9 .
• Peter Willen: Locomotives in Switzerland, standard gauge traction units . Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1972.

Notes and individual references

1. ^ Christian Ammann, André Dubail: Porrentruy-Bonfol-Alsace . The history of the Jurassic-Alsatian railway line Porrentruy - Bonfol - Pfetterhouse - Dannemarie. Les Éditions du Cabri, 1983, ISBN 2-903310-33-5 .
2. ↑ Chemins de fer du Jura. History. Chemins de fer du Jura, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Déraillement: 12 blessés. (Le Temps - archives historiques) (No longer available online.) Journal de Genève, April 16, 1968, p. 3 , archived from the original on December 2, 2013 ; Retrieved November 15, 2013 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Theo Stolz: The narrow-gauge area in Glovelier station is changing . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 6 , 2013, p. 319 .
5. ↑ ^{a b} Theo Stolz: CJ Chemins de fer du Jura. CJ - meter gauge network. Retrieved September 30, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Chemins de fer du Jura. History. Chemins de fer du Jura, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
7. ↑ As of the 2016 timetable
8. ↑ La Traction - Train à vapeur des Franches-Montagnes. With the steam train through the Freiberg mountains. La Traction, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
9. ^ Dieter Schopfer: The extension of the line Saignelégier - Glovelier to Delémont . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 3 , 1991, pp. 94-95 .
10. ↑ CJ extension failed . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 6 , 1992, pp. 240 .
11. ^ Oriel Steinmann: A travers les Franches Montagnes avec les Chemins de fer du Jura. (PDF, 7.9 MB) In: Journal En Train Nº 18. 2013, p. 4 , accessed on October 6, 2015 (French). 
12. ^ Raccordement des CJ à Delémont. (PDF, 5.2 MB) Projet 3ème rail. Rapport d'actualisation et de synthèse des études. Chemins der fer du Jura, November 2007, accessed September 30, 2015 (French). 
13. ↑ Further information on Saignelégier train station can be found on the Wikipedia page Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn .
14. ↑ La Traction - Train à vapeur des Franches-Montagnes. The drive from Glovelier to Saignelégier (25 km). La Traction, accessed September 30, 2015 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Theo Stolz: CJ Chemins de fer du Jura. The steam engines of the Chemins de fer du Jura. Retrieved September 30, 2015 .