Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds railway

Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds
Train of the SC with Malletlok G 2x2 / 2 No. 4 in Saignelégier.
Timetable field :	236
Route length:	26.44 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	from 1953: 1500 V  =
Maximum slope :	40  ‰
Legend RSG from Glovelier 5.39 Saignelégier 982  m above sea level M. 1915–1953 roller bolster system 3.76 Muriaux 962  m above sea level M. 2.37 Les Emibois 954  m above sea level M. TBN / TT from Tavannes 0.00 22.98 Le Noirmont 969  m above sea level M. 02/26 Le Creux-des-Biches 1013  m above sea level M. 27.77 Le Boéchet 1033  m above sea level M. 30.18 Les Bois 1029  m above sea level M. 32.12 La Large-Journée 1016  m above sea level M. 33.45 La Chaux-d'Abel 994  m above sea level M. 34.93 La Ferrière 1005  m above sea level M. Ferrière Bridge (129 m) 36.36 Le Seignat (until 2012) 1027  m above sea level M. 37.95 La Ciborg 1036  m above sea level M. Error profile −0.02 40.27 Bellevue (until 2012) 1073  m above sea level M. 42.95 La Chaux-de-Fonds-Est 1012  m above sea level M. Bridge Hôtel-de-Ville (40 m) TRN from Les Ponts-de-Martel SBB from Neuchâtel and Biel / Bienne 44.03 La Chaux-de-Fonds 1012  m above sea level M. 1915-2010 roller bolster system SBB to Le Locle

The Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn , French Chemin de fer Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds , (SC) was a railway company that operated the narrow-gauge railway line from Saignelégier to La Chaux-de-Fonds . In 1944 the railway became part of the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ) by merger , which electrified the line in 1953 with 1500 volts direct current .

history

construction

The first main lines built in the Jura were mainly built to connect to France and did not open up the remote areas in the Franconian mountains . On December 7, 1892, the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds Railway was able to put its meter-gauge line from Saignelégier via Le Noirmont to La Chaux-de-Fonds-Est (La Chaux-de-Fonds Ost) into operation. The continuation to the La Chaux-de-Fonds station of the Jura-Simplon Railway had to wait until November 28, 1893, when the Hotel de Ville bridge, used jointly by rail and road, was completed. This also created the connection to the narrow-gauge Ponts – Sagne – La Chaux-de-Fonds (PSC) railway . With the exception of the Hotel de Ville bridge already mentioned, the railway line originally did not have any noteworthy engineering structures.

Connections from other railways

Before 1904, Saignelégier was the terminus of the narrow-gauge railway from La Chaux-de-Fonds.

With the opening of the standard-gauge RSG, Saignelégier became a gauge changing station with a complicated track system.

In 1904 the Régional Saignelégier – Glovelier (RSG) started operations, creating the important connection to the main line Basel - Delémont – Glovelier – Porrentruy and further to France. However, the Saignelégier – Glovelier line was created in standard gauge to simplify the extensive transport of cattle and timber. Saignelégier became a gauge changing station with twisted track systems. Roller bolsters have been used on the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds line since May 1915 to overcome the various gauges.

With the neighboring Ponts-Sagne-La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn (PSC), despite the same gauge and the common station, there were not the best relationships. Nevertheless, the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn provided the PCS transport service since July 1, 1913, because the Jura neuchâtelois (JN), which had previously operated, was nationalized and incorporated into the SBB .

On November 15, 1913, the Tramelan - Breuleux - Noirmont ( TBN ) railway was opened. It formed the extension of the Tramelan – Tavannes ( TT ) line, which went into operation in 1884 . Because, in contrast to the SC, the TBN has been operated electrically since its opening, continuous operation between La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn and Tavannes was only possible to a limited extent. The two railways TBN and TT merged in 1927 to form the Chemin de fer Tavannes-Noirmont (CTN).

Operating results

The main source of income for the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds railway was passenger transport, although freight transport was also of great importance. Since the second year of operation, the operating results have always shown a profit that was invested as a reserve. The First World War did not affect the financial situation either. After the war, however, the operating costs rose sharply and the financial situation became precarious. In addition, Alsace came back to France after the war, which made the Basel – Delle line much less important. Since 1918 the railway remained in deficit and the systems and vehicles were visibly out of date. In order to enable a thorough technical renovation, the SC merged with the RSC, the CTN and the Régional Porrentruy-Bonfol (RPB) on January 1, 1944 to form the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ).

Operated by the Chemins de fer du Jura

Le Noirment station in 1977. On the left, the train to Glovelier, on the right, the connecting train to Tavannes.

Second generation CJ commuter train shortly after Saignelégier.

To simplify operations, the CJ converted the Saignelégier – Glovelier line to meter gauge. Since then, the standard-gauge freight wagons are no longer loaded in Saignelégier, but in Glovelier or, until 2010, in La Chaux-de-Fonds .

The CJ have been operating their entire meter gauge network with 1500 volts direct current since October 4, 1953. The rolling stock was practically completely replaced by new vehicles. The two substations in La Ferrière and Le Noirmont supply the line with electricity.

Although the CJ has the same power system as the neighboring La Chaux-de-Fonds – Les Ponts-de-Martel line , only a few vehicles are exchanged between the CJ and the Transports Régionaux Neuchâtelois (TRN). TRN vehicles regularly access the CJ network in order to reprofile their wheels on the underfloor lathe in the CJ Tramelan workshop. In La Chaux-de-Fonds , the overhead lines of the CJ and TRN can be connected to each other via a coupling switch in order to supply the neighboring railway with electricity in an emergency.

In 1959 the CJ replaced the steel Hotel-de-Ville bridge with a concrete structure. In 1979 the 129 meter long Ferrière bridge between the village of the same name and Le Seignat was put into operation. It replaces the old, very winding lines.

Today's operation

Garbage train with an ABe 4/4 multiple unit purchased from the RhB at La Ferrière.

Steam locomotive G 2x2 / 2 E 164, which is used by La Traction for hauling steam trains.

The La Chaux-de-Fonds – Saignelégier – Glovelier passenger trains run almost every hour . In Le Noirment they offer connection to the trains to Tavannes. 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 scheduled La Traction steam trains on the Pré-Petitjean –Saignelégier – Le Noirmont – La Chaux-de-Fonds and –Tavannes route.

In Saignelégier there is a depot for the maintenance of the vehicles used in regular traffic. In Le Noirmont, a single-track coach house allows construction service vehicles to be parked.

Route description

Modern GTW train of the CJ on the tram section in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

The 27-kilometer route linking Saignelégier in the canton of Jura with Neuchatel, watch making town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Shortly after leaving Saignelégier, the passengers see the deep valley of the Doubs and behind it the high plateau of Maîche, which is already in France . Past the small towns of Muriaux and Les Emibois , the trains reach Le Noirmont, where the line from Tavannes joins on the left. The Heart Clinic is visible on the ridge on the right.

The route to Les Bois crosses forest pastures at around 1000 meters above sea level . The bell tower of the church of Les Bois is typical of the neighboring Franche-Comté region . Between La Large-Journée and La Chaux d'Abel , the train crosses the canton border to reach La Ferrière in the canton of Bern . Immediately before the former Le Seignat stop, the route arrives in the canton of Neuchâtel . After the La Cibourg junction station, the trains travel a winding section of the route to reach the highest point on the route at Bellevue at 1,072 meters above sea level. The subsequent descent through a fir forest leads to La Chaux-de-Fonds, where the trains roll on a tram section to the station. Road use ends shortly before the La Chaux-de-Fonds station and the train runs parallel to the SBB lines from Neuchâtel and Biel and the narrow-gauge line from Les Ponts-de-Martel to its terminus.

Locomotives for the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds railway

SC locomotives	G 2x2 / 2		G 3/3
Numbering:	4 - 6	7th	9
Wheel alignment :	B'B		C.
Length over buffers:	7480 mm	7740 mm	6140 mm
Fixed wheelbase:	1150 mm	1150 mm	2200 mm
Total wheelbase:	4000 mm	4050 mm	2200 mm
Service mass:	24.0 t	27.1 t	20 t
Friction mass:	24.0 t	27.1 t	20 t
Top speed:	30 km / h		35 km / h
Drive wheel diameter:	900 mm		750 mm
LP cylinder diameter:	250 mm		300 mm
HD cylinder diameter:	380 mm
Piston stroke:	460 mm		350 mm
Boiler overpressure:	12 atm.	14 atm.	13 atm.
Grate area:	0.7 m²		0.7 m²
Superheater area :	3.8 m²	3.7 m²	7.5 m²
Total heating area:	42.0 m²	45.3 m²	38.5 m²
Water supply:	3.0 m³		2.2 m³
Coal supply:	0.6 t	0.9 t	0.6 t

G 2x2 / 2 No. 4 - 7

For the operation of the Saignelégier – La Chaux-de-Fonds line, the Arnold Jung locomotive factory in Jungenthal delivered two four-axle Mallet locomotives G 2x2 / 2 No. 4 and 5 with the names Pouillerel and Spiegelberg . When the first overhaul was due in 1894, a third Franches-Montagnes locomotive with road number 6 was procured. In 1900 Jung delivered the last locomotive No. 7 Jura . The numbers 4 to 7 followed the locomotive numbers of the Ponts – Sagne – La Chaux-de-Fonds-Bahn, with which there was a joint venture.

The G 2x2 / 2 had an axle load of only 6 tons. Obviously, the first locomotive order was expected to have poor track conditions, because the mallet locomotive operating program could have been achieved with simpler 3/3-coupled locomotives.

Machine no. 5 was destroyed on October 29, 1944 during an air raid on Le Noirmont . The three other Mallet locomotives were scrapped after electrification in 1953 and canceled in 1954.

G 3/3 No. 9

G 3/3 No. 9, previously locomotive No. 6 of the PSC

After the bombing of locomotive 5, the SC needed a replacement. In 1951 it was able to take over the G 3/3 6 steam locomotive from the Ponts – Sagne – La Chaux-de-Fonds railway, which became redundant after electrification in 1950. It was delivered in 1915 by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory (SLM). Since the company number 6 was already occupied, the license plates were turned to get a 9. After the electrification of the Chemins de fer du Jura, locomotive 9 became redundant and was broken off in 1956.

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: Saignelégier – La-Chaux-de-Fonds. 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, narrow-gauge traction units . Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1972.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chemins de fer du Jura. History. Chemins de fer du Jura, accessed on September 30, 2015 (German). 
2. ^ Theo Stolz: TRN Transports régionaux neuchâtelois. TRN - meter gauge network. Retrieved September 30, 2015 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Theo Stolz: CJ Chemins de fer du Jura. CJ - meter gauge network. Retrieved September 30, 2015 . 
4. ↑ La Traction - Train à vapeur des Franches-Montagnes. With the steam train through the Freiberg mountains. La Traction, accessed on September 30, 2015 (German). 
5. ↑ La Traction - Train à vapeur des Franches-Montagnes. The drive from Glovelier to Saignelégier (25 km). La Traction, accessed on September 30, 2015 (German). 
6. ↑ ^{a b} Theo Stolz: CJ Chemins de fer du Jura. The steam engines of the Chemins de fer du Jura. Retrieved September 30, 2015 .