Locarno-Ponte Brolla-Bignasco railway

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Ponte Brolla – Bignasco
Timetable field : 71a (1963)
Route length: 27.14 km
Gauge : 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system : 1200 V  =
Route - straight ahead
0.0 Centovalli Railway from Locarno
Station, station
3.5 Ponte Brolla 258 m
   
to Domodossola
   
Ponte Brolla (58 m)
   
6.3 Avegno 293 m
   
Sass Pietsch (180 m)
   
7.3 Gordevio 312 m
   
10.4 Ronchini 304 m
   
11.6 Aurigeno - Moghegno 317 m
   
12.5 Maggia 327 m
   
14.9 Lodano 341 m
   
16.1 Coglio - Giumaglio 350 m
   
18.6 Someo 369 m
   
21.7 Riveo 390 m
   
Sasso Visletto (50 m)
   
24.6 Cevio 416 m
   
25.4 Cevio Ospedale
   
27.1 Bignasco 438 m

The Locarno-Ponte Brolla-Bignasco railway , abbreviated LPB , Italian Ferrovia Locarno-Ponte Brolla-Bignasco , still often colloquially in German-speaking today as Maggia Valley Railway designated, was a Swiss narrow-gauge railway that of Locarno on Lago Maggiore to Bignasco in the Maggia Valley led . The depot was at the Locarno S. Antonio station. The railway was used for passenger and freight traffic. The latter was characterized by the transport of granite from the quarry of Cevio .

history

The population of the Maggia Valley only received public transport to Locarno with the establishment of the first stagecoach line in 1849. Initially, the stagecoach drove three and a half hours to Bignasco once a day. In later years the number of journeys was increased to three per day and the route to Fusio in Val Lavizarra was extended (journey time another 2:15 hours).

After the opening of the Ticino Valley Railways (Locarno – Bellinzona) on December 20, 1874 and the Gotthard Railway in 1882, hopes for further transport projects in the Locarno region rose. National Councilor and Mayor of Locarno, Francesco Balli, campaigned for better transport connections by founding the association “Pro Locarno e Dintorni” in 1892 with the aim of promoting tourism in the region. He applied for the concession for the following narrow-gauge lines starting from Locarno:

  • Via Ponte Brolla into the Maggia Valley to Bignasco (tourism, granite transport)
  • via Ponte Brolla into Centovalli to the national border at Camedo / Ribellasca
  • along the shores of Lake Maggiore via Ascona, Brissago to the border at Valmara.

On December 22nd, 1898 he received permission for these three railways with the condition that the latter two lines on the Italian side of the border to Domodossola ( Centovalli Railway ) and Intra (railway along Lake Maggiore) must continue. The concessions underwent a few minor changes until the “Società della Ferrovia Locarno-Ponte Brolla-Bignasco” (LPB) was founded on July 12, 1903.

Share di 1st Grado for CHF 250 from September 15, 1904

After the financing of the expected construction costs of 2.28 million francs had been secured through shares and state subsidies, Ferdinando Gianella started construction in 1905 . The inauguration in Bignasco was celebrated on August 3, 1907, the official handover was on September 2, 1907. In anticipation of the construction of the railway, the Società Elettrica Sopracenerina hydroelectric power plant, which was completed on November 13, 1904 in Ponte Brolla, was already equipped with generators for production of single-phase alternating current for railway operations.

From October 1, 1908, LPB was also responsible for the newly founded Locarnes tramway “Società Tramvie Locarnesi” (STL). From January 1, 1923, both companies were leased to the “Società Ferrovie Regionali Ticinesi” (FRT), which was to operate the newly built Centovalli Railway. Since the beginning of the 1960s, the FRT has also operated bus routes in the Locarno area, which is why it was renamed " Ferrovie autolinee regionali ticinesi " (FART) on July 1, 1960 .

As a result of the migration of material transport and private transport, income fell sharply at the beginning of the 1950s. The funds for the urgently needed renovation did not benefit the Maggia Valley Railway, but were invested in the Centovalli Railway. Experts and an expert committee made up of federal and cantonal representatives came to the decision to shut down the railway and replace it with buses, which the Ticino Great Council confirmed with a large majority on October 20, 1965. Despite violent protests in the Maggia Valley, the closure could no longer be prevented. The last train from Bignasco to Locarno ran on November 28, 1965.

The auto pull man

Timetable field 71a,
winter timetable 1963/64

From the New Year of 1955, buses were introduced on a trial basis for subscription holders. Based on these positive experiences, the decision was made to buy their own buses. In December, two second-hand buses were acquired from the Winterhalter company in Zurich. These two vehicles were hired as number 1 and 2 coaches. They were painted light purple and mustard yellow. Initially they only drove the reinforcement courses, which were referred to as Autopullmann. Sometimes they drove beyond the terminus Bignasco to Cavergno. From 1961 onwards, instead of train courses, a car course operated in the marginal hours.

Lines

First the train followed the tram from Locarno and then via Ponte Brolla , Avegno , Gordevio , Ronchini , Aurigeno - Moghegno , Maggia , Lodano , Coglio - Giumaglio , Someo , Riveo , Cevio to the end of the line at Bignasco .

The journey from Locarno to Bignasco took around 70 minutes.

technology

The narrow-gauge railway had a track width of 1000 mm and was operated in the city of Locarno with 800 V / 20 Hz alternating current , over land with 5000 V / 20 Hz alternating current. The overhead contact line and the pantographs were of the same design as the side contact line tested by Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon in the trial operation between Seebach and Wettingen. The LPB was the only railway company that used exactly this lateral contact line.

As a result of the planned commissioning of the Centovalli Railway, the power system had to be changed to 1200 volts direct current between 1923 and 1925. A central contact line was only installed on the shared route, while the side contact line was retained in the Maggia valley.

The pulling and pushing device consisted of a central buffer with two screw couplings each.

vehicles

Former Maggia Valley Railcar No. 1 of the FFS in poor condition in 2005 in Uster

For the opening of operations in 1907 3 identical railcars of the type BCFe 4/4 were procured, they were given the numbers 1–3. The mechanical part of these electric railcars comes from Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Nürnberg , the electrical part from Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon . The 16.0 meter long vehicles with a total weight of 28 tons had an hourly output of 160 hp. This was increased to 244 hp in the course of the conversion to direct current operation in 1925 and 1926, while the total weight increased to 29.7 tons. The top speed was 45  kilometers per hour . Only car number 1 survived the cessation of operations and was taken over by FART as ABDe 4/4 1, which handed it over to SSIF in 1979. It was taken over on October 23, 1997 by the Swiss Narrow Gauge Railways Association (FSS). The association could never actually financially afford this railcar, so a restoration was ruled out. After it was advertised for sale in 2009, but no buyer was found, the railcar was canceled.

In 1911 a two-axle freight locomotive of the type Ge 2/2 with the number 4 was procured. The mechanical part of this 7.5 meter long electric locomotive came from SWS Schlieren and the electrical part from Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. The hourly output of the 40 km per hour locomotive was 240 hp. The locomotive crashed on May 30, 1923 at Visletto, where it fell into the Maggia and was so damaged that it could no longer be put into operation and was broken off.

In addition, there were two 3rd class passenger cars C 51 + 52 and one 3rd class passenger car with a CZ 71 post compartment - later BZ 306 - and 18 freight cars. These were the K 101-104 (boxcars), M 121-124 (middle high board), M 141-144 (low board) and N 161-164 (low board and turntable). In 1910 the P 145 + 146 (later M) from the Maggia quarries Cevio followed. In later years the FRT used its own vehicles, for example the Centovalli AB4 109–111, AB4 71 + 72 (ex Holland) and sometimes even the modern B 120–123 in the Maggia Valley. In addition, there was the ABFe 4/4 18 equipped with a side rod and the tram Xe 2/2 1. The freight wagons procured by FRT (mostly ex SBB Brünig) were often to be found in the Maggia Valley. Somewhat unusual that the SSIF G 501–504 were also used in the Maggia Valley.

During the changeover from AC to DC operation, two G 3/4, which were built for the Rhaetian Railway , were in use (numbers 7 + 8).

The only surviving railcar from the early days of the former Maggitalbahn, the FART ABDe 4/4 1, formerly LPB BCFe 4/4 1, was owned by the Friends of Swiss Narrow Gauge Railways FSS (FSS) from 1997 . The railcar, which is in a scrap-ripe condition, was for sale in 2009, but it could not be realized. So it came to the demolition of the railcar.

literature

  • Markus Schweyckart: Electric Railway Locarno – Ponte Brolla – Bignasco . Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 1997, ISBN 3-907579-05-4

Individual evidence

  1. Tariff kilometers , stops, altitude information from: SBB timetable summer 1963
  2. Information on tunnels from the Internet fan pages www.maggiabahn.ch.vu ( memento of the original dated November 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) 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. and www.polier.ch @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.maggiabahn.ch.vu
  3. Schweizerische Bauzeitung 1908, page 70 ( E-Periodica.ch Link )
  4. http://www.fss-verein.ch/neu.html
  5. Internet fansite polier.ch
  6. LPB BCFe 4/4 1. (No longer available online.) In: Freunde Schweizer Schmalspurbahnen. Archived from the original on July 10, 2009 ; Retrieved July 21, 2009 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fss-verein.ch
  7. http://www.fss-verein.ch/neu.html

Web links

Commons : Locarno – Bignasco railway  - collection of images, videos and audio files