Gümmenen – Mühleberg railway without track

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Gümmenen – Mühleberg
Boat transport with gasoline and 2 electric trucks
Boat transport with gasoline and 2 electric trucks
Route length: 6.5 km
Power system : 500 volts  =
Legend
   
 to the Bern-Neuchâtel railway
   
 0.0 Gümmenen station
   
 Saane
   
 Gümmenen
   
 Mühleberg
   
 Buttenried
   
 6.5 Aumatt plant
   
 Aare

The trackless railway Gümmenen – Mühleberg , today mostly referred to as the Gümmenen – Mühleberg goods trolleybus , is a former overhead line truck operation in Switzerland . The 6.5 km long overland route in the canton of Bern existed from December 1, 1918 to October 1, 1922 and was used exclusively for the construction of the Mühleberg hydropower plant . Apart from this operation, in Switzerland there was only an overhead trolleybus on the Freiburg – Farvagny trolleybus, which opened in 1912 - but where mainly passenger traffic took place.

history

During the First World War , the procurement of gasoline became increasingly difficult and in the winter of 1917/18 threatened to dry up completely for private use. BKW therefore decided to set up a track-free railway between Gümmenen station and the power plant construction site near Buttenried.

The route began at the train station on the Bern-Neuchâtel railway and led via Gümmenen, Mühleberg and Buttenried to the Aumatt site on the banks of the Aare , the operating voltage was 500 volts direct current . The power was supplied via a transformer station in the Aumatt, which converted the alternating current into direct current with two converters . Each converter had an output of 110 hp. The transformer station was supplied from the 16 kV high-voltage line running through Mühleberg.

vehicles

In front the two trucks, behind them the accumulator tractor.

Two trucks from the manufacturer Tribelhorn equipped with the Mercédès-Électrique-Stoll catenary and drive system were available. They were with two tram engines fitted to 18 hp and transported materials to build the gravity dam for Wohlen and for the hydropower plant in Mühleberg . In normal transports, the trucks ran individually and could transport three and a half to four tons. If the road conditions were good, they could also be given a three-ton trailer each. For heavy haulage, both were used together with a truck with a gasoline engine or an accumulator tractor. The operation was run by the Bernische Kraftwerke (BKW) itself, there was no local public transport .

literature

  • Patrick Kupper: The Gümmenen – Mühleberg Trackless Railway . In: Ostring terminus , number 26/1999

Web links

Commons : Gleislose Bahn Gümmenen – Mühleberg  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eisenbahn-Amateur 1/88, January 1988, monthly, page 39
  2. ↑ a b c E. Meyer: The Mühleberg power plant of the Bernese power plants A.-G. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . 1926, p. 314 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-40906 ( e-periodica.ch ).
  3. ↑ Ahead of its time: electric vehicles for the construction of the Mühleberg hydropower plant. In: BKW Blog. BKW Energie , January 25, 2016 .;