Swiss train travels 900 miles to North Wales in historic first

November 4, 2019

A Swiss locomotive made a historic journey to North Wales in early September, offering visitors to Snowdon Mountain Railway free rides and a taste of the Alps.

For the first time, a train from the Brienz Rothorn Bahn (BRB) mountain railway in Switzerland travelled 900 miles from its Alpine home to meet up with its sister locomotives on Snowdon.

During September, visitors to the Welsh mountain railway enjoyed a 20-minute round trip powered by BRB’s No 2 steam engine, from Llanberis to Waterfall Halt.

Between departures, the train and carriage sat at the Llanberis arrivals platform where visitors could meet the loco, talk to experts from the Swiss railway and take photographs with the historic engine.

BRB’s engine was operated by a fully Swiss crew and undertook four return trips, part-way up the mountain, every day throughout September except Fridays, with carriage spaces allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Vince Hughes, Commercial Manager at Snowdon Mountain Railway, said:

“We carefully planned this event with our Swiss friends for some time, so it was great to unveil the BRB loco and see it steaming up Snowdon for the first time.”

Nick Robb, Project Manager at Switzerland Travel Centre said:

“It’s fantastic to have brought Loco No 2 across Europe to spend a month visiting our twin railway in Snowdonia.

“The BRB and Snowdon Mountain Railway use the same rack-and-pinion rail system and their steam engines were built in the same Swiss factory over 125 years ago.

“It felt right to reunite these historic steam engines after more than a century apart and we hope the public and rail enthusiasts alike enjoyed sampling a taste of the Swiss Alps in the foothills of Snowdonia.”

For more information about Snowdon Mountain Railway please visit their website or follow on Facebook and Twitter.