Swiss Steam and Vintage Electrics in the Snow - Ee 3/3 Elektro-Oldtimer von Sumiswald nach Wasen

In late November 2025 the Railway Touring Company organized an unusual special train for British railway enthusiasts and locomotive collectors in the scenic Swiss Emmental region east of Bern.

The train was operated by Dampfbahn Bern (DBB) and ran over the historic Emmentalbahn. It featured the recently refurbished 0-6-0 tank engines "Langnau" (built in 1881) and "Lise" (dating from 1908). While No. 3 "Langnau" only just returned to active duty in preservation in spring 2025, after more than five decades out of use and many years as a showpiece at the Verkehrshaus in Luzern, No. 1 "Lise" was originally built as an industrial shunter for the city gas werks in Bern, although in essence it is of the same design as SBB "Tigerli" shunting locomotives.

From the DBB depot in Konolfingen the double-headed steam locomotives first traversed the line to the town of Langnau, before reversing and running via Zollbrück and Ramsei to Sumiswald-Grünen. There a change of motive power was made to the classic rod-driven "Pocket Crocodiles" Ee 3/3 16403 and 408. This pair of station shunting locomotives was built in 1944 and 1946 to an older design from the late 1920s and early 1930s for use by SBB. They have been deployed on the preserved Sumiswald to Wasen branch line since 2013 and are owned by the RUWA iron works, which only uses them for bringing goods from the Sumiswald junction to its factory and industrial siding at Burghof, 2.2 km down the line.

As such, 16403 and 16408 never travelled all the way to the branch line terminus at Wasen im Emmental until this RTC special train in November 2025, as seen in this film footage. This will likely also not be repeated, as the one-off charter required a lot of administrative preparation and generally 16403 is in poor condition, as it has only functioned as reserve engine to 16408 for several years. In the footage shown, 16403 powered the train and led the double-header from Sumiswald to Wasen on the outward run, but after its battery charger failed in Wasen, it had to be dragged back pan down by 16408 for the return to Sumiswald. Still, everything ran smoothly.

The special train then reverted back to steam power for the rest of the trip from Sumiswald via Ramsei and Hasle-Rüegsau back to Konolfingen. This film also features steam footage from Ramsei.

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Dank frühem Schneefall und klirrender Kälte ergab sich bereits Ende November 2025 die Möglichkeit die erst im Frühling 2025 wieder in Betrieb genommen Tenderloks "Langnau" und "Lise" in einer prächtigen Winterlandschaft zu erleben. Da die 1881 von der SLM in Winterthur erbaute Dampflok Nr. 3 "Langnau" über keine Luftpumpe verfügt, kann sie nur in Kombination mit einer andere Maschine verkehren und muss dabei immer hinten eingereiht sein.

Die beiden Elektroveteranen Ee 3/3 16403 (Baujahr 1944) und 16408 (1946) sind lebendige Maschinen mit Stangenantrieb, viel traditioneller Mechanik und einer imposanten Geräuschkulisse.

Dem RUWA-Drahtschweisswerk und der Dampfbahn Bern (DBB) gilt der Dank, dass dieses einmalige Ereignis für ein dankbares britisches Publikum und fröhliche Fahrgäste auf dem Sonderzug möglich war.