Most India Express
The Most India Express is an excursion and company train that has existed in Eastern Switzerland since the 1980s, which the former Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn (MThB) created from its remaining historical rolling stock and which has been running since 2003 after the liquidation of MThB by the Association of Historic Central Thurgau Railway and is operated for nostalgic excursions and charter trips in Eastern Switzerland.
Today's composition
The Historical Central Thurgau Railway Association today operates the nostalgic and social train known under this name in Eastern Switzerland, usually consisting of the steam locomotive MThB Ec 3/5 No. 3 (built in 1912, SLM ), the saloon car C 111 ( 1907, SWS , reconstruction 1946) and the historic FZ 502 baggage and mail car (built in 1911, SWS) of the former Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn (MThB), supplemented by the “Salon bleu” (“Sputnik” Asi 152, 1965, ex BLS ). Optionally or for operational reasons, the MThB diesel tractor Em 2/2 No. 41 (“Ernst Stadler”) or, as in the times of the former Central Thurgau Railway, the “half shoe” or “iron” train , the MThB-Ee 3/3 No. 16318 (built in 1928, ex SBB ). Depending on requirements, a “dining car” has also been rolling since 2012: In the Rottenwagen WR2i 301 (exBLS) built in 1901, the association's catering team cooks for the whole train, and the locomotive and train crew are also fed on the way. A type K3 freight car is used to transport material for the operation of the steam locomotive on the route.
Origins and Development
The “Most India Express” was created in 1981 by the Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn from its historical vehicles that were still in existence and then marketed by the Mittelthurgau travel agency. The name is derived from the term " Most India " for the eastern Swiss canton of Thurgau, the actual catchment area of the MThB. The addition of a freight train escort car ("Sputnik") was planned to be added to the train, but was no longer implemented or only implemented by the association using the Asi 152 (ex BLS ) in the function of a saloon car with a viewing platform. The composition of that time was soon only operated with the Ee 3/3 16318 or rented SBB locomotives after the Ec 3/5 No. 3 suffered a boiler damage in 1985. The Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn then decided in the 1990s with the opening of the eastern borders for an overhaul of the locomotive in Poland (Pila), so that it was available again from 1993. However, the new boiler did not have a long service life. Nevertheless, the locomotive was rented to the DVZO (Steam Railway Association Zürcher Oberland) , where it was kept alive with the necessary precautionary measures. Thanks to an unprecedented donation campaign after the liquidation of the MThB, the steam locomotive was returned to eastern Switzerland in 2003. In 2007 it received a new boiler in České Velenice (Czech Republic) and has been in use since then without any significant problems.
owner
Since 2003, after the liquidation of the Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn, the locomotives of the “Most India Express” and the train's wagons have been owned by the Historic Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn association based in Weinfelden, which also operates the “ Thurgauer Zug ” are on display in the “Locorama” railway adventure world in Romanshorn. The association regularly organizes public trips and excursions and is available for charter trips with a well-established catering concept in the eastern part of Switzerland.
Missions today
The steam train runs regularly on the last Sunday of the month from May to October on the lake line (Romanshorn-Kreuzlingen-Romanshorn in the morning, Romanshorn-Rorschach in the afternoon) on the publicly accessible tours ("Uferdampf -fahrten"). The train or parts of it can be rented for charter trips and can also be found again and again on trips that the association advertises publicly.
Literature and evidence
- Michael Mente: From MThB to Thurbo. 100 years of history and stories about the railway in central Thurgau - accompanied by the stories of a cultural monument under steam. Verlag Flügelrad, Weinfelden 2013, ISBN 978-3-033-03961-2 .
- Michael Mente: When a branch line becomes the main thing. Lecture at the opening of the book Von der MThB zur Thurbo . Special publisher print, wing wheel, Weinfelden 2013.
- Michael Mente: 100 years of the Mittel-Thurgau-Bahn. The MThB and thurbo lent years of regional traffic. In: Eisenbahn-Amateur 11, 2011, pp. 546-555 and 12, 2011, pp. 598-609, ISSN 0013-2764 .
Web links
- Most India Express on the website of the Historical Central Thurgau Railway Association
- Locorama - Romanshorn Railway Adventure World