Western Switzerland Railways

The Western Switzerland Railways (Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale, shortened to Suisse-Occidentale; SO or S-O), were initially a joint operation of three Swiss railway companies, but these companies merged on 1 January 1872. The company was called the Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways (Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale et du Simplon, shortened to Suisse-Occidentale–Simplon; SOS or SO-S) from 28 June 1881. The SOS merged with the Bernese Jura Railways (Chemins de fer du Jura bernois; JBL) to form the Jura–Simplon Railways (Compagnie des Chemins de Fer Jura–Simplon; JS) on 1 January 1890.

Locomotive of the SO.

Association of the Railways of Western Switzerland

Grandfey Viaduct on the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern railway over the Saane

In the early 1860s, the rail links between Romandy and German-speaking Switzerland were controlled by three railway companies, the West Switzerland Company (Compagnie de l’Ouest Suisse; SO), the Franco-Swiss Company (Franco-Suisse, FS) and the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern Railway (Chemin de fer Lausanne–Fribourg–Berne, LFB). One of the lines ran from Lausanne along the southern foot of the Jura to Biel/Bienne and on to Herzogenbuchsee, where it met the competing line running via Fribourg and Bern. The West Switzerland and Franco-Swiss were thus opponents of the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern, which also owned the westernmost GenevaVersoix line. This harsh competitive situation was compounded by financial difficulties due to construction cost overruns.

After long and difficult negotiations, the three railway companies formed a business association under the name of the Association des chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale (Association of the Railways of Western Switzerland) on 1 January 1865. Each railway company provided its own infrastructure and rolling stock. Revenue was distributed according to a fixed ratio. The business community was managed by a three-member operating committee—with each company nominating a representative—and a supervisory board. Three members of the Supervisory Board were appointed by the Western Switzerland and two each by Franco-Swiss and the canton of Fribourg. The association paid 8,000 francs per kilometre per year to the firm of Laurent-Bergeron et Comp. The financial situation of the three western Swiss railways stabilised and from 1868 onwards the association was able to pay a very modest dividend. Financial and construction matters remained the responsibility of individual railway companies.

Ownership of the network of the Association of the Railways of Western Switzerland

Ownership of the network of the Association of the Railways of Western Switzerland

The map shows the ownership structure of the network of the Association of French-Swiss Railways at the end of 1871 before its merger as the Western Switzerland Railways.

Western Switzerland Railways Company

Le Day Viaduct on the line to Paris between Pontarlier and Vallorbe
The D 3/3 No. 503 of the SOS was the first compound locomotive in Switzerland.

The three railways agreed to intensify their cooperation in 1871. The business would no longer be leased to a company, but run directly. Under pressure from the French-speaking cantons, especially Vaud, the three West Swiss railways merged on 1 January 1872. The new Western Switzerland Railway Company (Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale et du Simplon) now had the largest route network of any Swiss rail company with 315 kilometres of line. The cantons used their influence to help the Western Switzerland build the Palezieux–Payerne–Fräschels line (known in French as the ligne de la Broye longitudinale—longitudinal Broye line)[note 1] and the Fribourg–Yverdon railway (transverse Broye line). These lines were originally intended to form the western end of the Swiss National Railway (Schweizerischen Nationalbahn; SNB).

The shares of the merged railway companies were exchanged for those of the Western Switzerland Railway, whereby, depending on the share price, additional payments were made in the form of bonds totalling Swiss francs (CFF) 14 million. The capital of the Western Switzerland was composed of shares worth CFF 85 million and bonds worth CFF 102 million at the end of 1876 following the closing of this financial transaction. The Swiss Central Railway (Schweizerische Schweizerische Centralbahn) and the Swiss Northeastern Railway (Schweizerische Nordostbahn), together with a banking group that was responsible for funding the expansion of rail networks, attempted unsuccessfully to raise the necessary funds for the Western Switzerland and to form a joint operation between the three railways. The funding was provided by the Societe Suisse pour l'industrie des chemins de fer ("Swiss Company for the Railway Industry"), which forced the SO to reorganise the administration. Its board of four members was replaced by a single director in 1875.

In 1872, the Western Switzerland acquired a significant stake in the Jougne-Eclépens Railway (Chemin de fer de Jougne à Eclépens; JE), which had a direct connection to the network of the French Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM). The SO wanted to prevent a competitor taking over the JE, which was constantly fighting financial problems. The Jougne-Eclépens Railway went bankrupt in 1876 and was taken over fully by the Western Switzerland.

There were four deaths and three injuries after a collision in Palézieux on 7 July 1876.[1]

Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways

Their operating results allowed Western Switzerland and Western Switzerland–Simplon to pay a dividend every year.
In contrast, the NOB, like other railway companies, experienced a profit slump during the years of the "railway crisis".

The Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways (Suisse-Occidentale–Simplon; SOS) was created on 26 June 1881 as a result of the purchase of the Simplon Company (Ligne du Simplon; S) by the Western Switzerland at a price of around CFF 13.2 million. Since the Simplon Company was financially too weak to promote the construction of a Simplon tunnel, the canton of Vaud in particular pushed for a merger of the two railways. The SOS, with investment capital of CHF 248 million and a network length of 581 kilometres, was the largest railway company in Switzerland at the time. The Geneva–Lausanne–Brig routes and the extensions from Lausanne via Romont to Bern and via Yverdon and Neuchâtel to La Neuveville formed its main route network. Its strategically most important goal was the building of a connection from Brig to Domodossola by tunnelling under the Simplon Pass, but this did not proceed for the time being. The SOS invested around CFF 670,000 in preparatory work in 1886 alone.

The SOS commissioned the Saint-Gingolph–Saint-Maurice railway, the Swiss section of the railway along the south shore of Lake Geneva on 1 June 1886. The Savoy section from Saint-Gingolph to Évian-les-Bains belonged to the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean Railway (Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée; PLM).

On 21 January 1888, large masses of rock disintegrated at Cheyres and fell on the track creating piles of rubble two or three metres high. A Payerne–Yverdon passenger train loaded with about 40 passengers ran into the rubble, causing the two locomotives to derail. The fireman of the bank engine was killed, while the other fireman and the driver of the bank engine were seriously injured.[2]

The Western Switzerland Railway and the SOS operated other railway lines:

The operating results of Western Switzerland–Simplon Railways were always positive. Freight and passenger traffic contributed approximately equally to this. The SOS was able to distribute a modest dividend every year.

Network of the Western Switzerland–Simplon (SOS)

The following map shows the Western Switzerland–Simplon route network before the merger with the Jura–Bern–Lucerne (JBL):

Network of the Western Switzerland–Simplon at the end of 1889
Poster of the JS from 1897

Merger of the Jura-Simplon Railway

On 1 January 1890, the SOS merged with the Jura-Bern-Lucerne Railway (JBL), including the Gümligen–Lucerne line, which belonged to the canton of Bern, to form the newly established Jura–Simplon Railways (JS). The Swiss Confederation also participated in the new railway company by means of a voluntary share purchase. Exactly one year later, the Jura–Simplon Railways took over the Pont Vallorbe Railway operated by the SOS. The JS eventually initiated the construction of the Simplon Tunnel, which had been discussed for decades.

Map with the route network of the Jura-Simplon railway of 1894

Graphic summary

Overview of the history of the Western Switzerland–Simplon (O: opening;   T: takeover):

Western Switzerland (OS)
O: 5.5.1855   T: 1.1.1872
Geneva–Versoix (GV)
O: 25.6.1858   T: 1.7.1858
Lausanne-Fribourg-
Berne Railway
(LFB)
T: 1.1.1872
Franco-Swiss (FS)
O: 7.11.1859   T: 1.1.1872
Ligne d'Italie (LI)
O: 14.7.1859   T: 1.6.1874
Jougne–Eclépens (JE)
O: 1.1.1870   T: 20.12.1876
Western SwitzerlandSimplon Company (S)
T: 28.6.1881
from 28.6.1881:
Western Switzerland–Simplon
T: 1.1.1890
Jura–Bern–Lucerne (JBL)
T: 1.1.1890
Gümligen–Lucerne
(leased by JBL)
T: 1.1.1890
Pont–Vallorbe (PV)
O: 31.10.1886
T: 1.1.1891
Jura–Simplon Railway (JS)

Network

No.Railway lineSectionOpened onfromDuplicatedRemarksLength[note 3]
1.Lausanne–BielLausanneRenens5 May 1856OS1872Branched off the line to Geneva in Renens87.72 km
Renens–Bussigny1 July 1855
Bussigny–DaillensYverdon7 May 1855
Yverdon–Vaumarcus (VD-NE canton border)7 Nov. 1859
Vaumarcus–AuvernierNeuchâtelLa Neuveville (NE-BE canton border)FSBranched off the line to Pontarlier in Auvernier
La Neuveville–Biel/Bienne3 Dec. 1860OWBBernese section owned by the JBL and its predecessors(16.78 km)
2.Lausanne–GenevaLausanne–Renens5 May 1856OS1872Branched off the line to Biel in Renens60.26 km
Renens–Denges-ÉchandensMorges
Morges–Allaman14 April 18581868
Allaman–Gland1872
Gland–Coppet1868Geneva section, Céligny–Céligny-canton border, was property of the GV
Coppet–Versoix (VD-GE canton border)21 April 1858
Versoix–Geneva25 June 1858GVAlready acquired from LFB on 1 July 1858
Denges-Echandes–Bussigny5 May 1856OSConnecting loop, passenger traffic stopped in 1866, closed in 1879 (reactivated in 1971)(6.54 km)
3.Lausanne–BernLausanne–PalézieuxFribourg–Balliswil (near Düdingen)4 Sept. 1862LFBProvisional Balliswil station at the north camp of the Grandfey Viaduct86.88 km
Balliswil–Thörishaus Station (FR-BE) canton border2 July 1860
Thörishaus Station–BernSCBLine owned by SCB(8.98 km)
4.Lausanne–BrigLausanne–Villeneuve2 April 1861OS145.55 km
Villeneuve–Bex10 June 1857
Bex–Les Paluds (VD-VS canton border)1 Nov. 1860
Les Paluds–Saint-MauriceMartigny14 July 1859LIAcquired by the SO on 28 June 1881
Martigny–Sion10 May 1860
Sion–Sierre15 Oct. 1868
Sierre–Leuk1 June 1877S
Leuk–Brig1 June 1878
5.(Saint-Maurice–) Les Paluds–Saint-GingolphLes Paluds–Bouveret14 July 1859LIAcquired by the SO on 28 June 188125.52 km
Bouveret–Saint-GingolphCH-F border1 June 1886SOSConnected to the line to Évian-les-Bains of the PLM
(closed in 1988)
6.Neuchâtel–PontarlierNeuchâtel–Auvernier7 Nov. 1859FSBranched off the line to Lausanne in Auvernier41.07 km
Auvernier–CH-F border25 July 1860
Border–PontarlierPLMFrench section of line owned by the PLM(11.28 km)
7.(Lausanne–) Daillens–VallorbeDaillensVallorbe1 July 1870JE29.34 km[3]
Vallorbe–CH-F border1 July 1875Connection to line to Pontarlier of the PLM
(closed in 1939)
8.Palézieux–Kerzers
(Broye longitudinal)
Palézieux–PayerneMurten25 Aug. 1876SO67.09 km
Murten–KerzersFräschels (FR-BE canton border)12 June 1876
Fräschels–LyssJBLFribourg–Ins railway(12.97 km)
9.Fribourg–Yverdon
(Broye transversal)
Yverdon–Payerne1 Febr. 1877SO49.92 km
Payerne–Freiburg25 Aug. 1876
Total (1889)60.20 km
(10 %)
580.67 km[3]

Rolling stock

From 1881, the SO designated their locomotives with Roman numerals: classes I and II consisted of locomotives with two drive axles, class III consisted of passenger locomotives with three drive axles and class IV consisted of freight locomotives with three drive axles. In rolling stock statistics, these class designations were partly used from 1873. The locomotives acquired from the Jougne–Eclépens Railway were named in the statistics as class V and the Simplon Company locomotives as class IV. The locomotives were designated according to the uniform system used throughout Switzerland from 1887.

This is a list of the locomotives used by the SO and the SOS. The designation of the class valid from 1902 is listed in brackets.

Class
from 1873
Class
from 1887
SO no.SO/SOS no.
from 1871
NameJS no.
from 1890
SBB no.
from 1903[note 4]
ManufacturerBuild yearScrappedImage
IA2T (B 2/3)6–206–20Taken over from the West Switzerland (see there) in 1872Karlsruhe1856–581888–1902
I
from 1881: II
A2T (B 2/3)21–251–5Cail18581890–1892
IIB2 (Ec 2/4)1–1251–62Taken over from the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern Railway (see there) in 1872Esslingen18621895–1895
IIA2T (B 2/3)1'–3',
26–28
21–26Various74–791074–1079Koechlin1868/701904–1907
B2 (Ec 2/3)63Chambésy2636195[note 5]SACM18881923
64Genthod2646196[note 6]1922
65Céligny26561971909
66Crans26661981909
67Myes26761991909
IIIB3T (C 3/3)70
from 1874: 80
Valais4102410Koechlin18711906
71Lucerne4011901
72Bâle4021900
73Soleure4031900
74Argovie40424071909
75Zurich40524011904
76St-Gall406240218721903
77Thurgovie40724081906
78Schwytz40824061904
79Tessin40924091904
81Grisons411241418751904
82Appenzell4121900
83Uri41324111904
84Unterwald41424031910
85Glaris4151901
86Schaffhouse41624121911
A3T (B 3/4)91–94201–2041421–1424SLM18871917
IVC3T (D 3/3)51–55101–105Taken over from the West Switzerland (see there) in 1872Cail1858from 1901
56106La Côte-aux-Fées5063364PLM1864
von SO
1913
57107Buttes50733701907
58108Chaumont50833711910
59109La Reuse5093372Creusot1865
von FS
1911
60110La Thielle51033731914
61111La Concorde51133741909
62112Broye5123375Koechlin18651914
63113Venoge51333521924
64114Rhône51418701897
65115Léman51533761925
66116Versoix516337718711906
67117Aar51733781912
68118Avançon51833531912
69119Gérine51933901904
120Mont Cenis520337918711911
121Culoz52133651912
122Turin52233801907
123Gênes52333811910
124Florence52433891909
125Milan52533541910
126Suze526338218721921
127Italie52733551909
128Mulhouse52833661915
129Strasbourg52933831916
130Mannheim5301901
131Cologne53133911906
132Anvers53233561908
133Rhin53333571924
134Francfort53433671903
135Verrières53533841912
136Moudon5363385SACM18741925
137Payerne53733861913
138Avenches53833581910
139Estavayer53933591912
SO VB3T (C 3/3)87–89Taken over from the Jougne–Eclépens Railway (see there) in 1876Koechlin18691898–1909
SO VI
from 1881:  I
A2T (B 2/3)41–46Taken over from the Compagnie du Simplon (see there) in 1881Fives18581892–1896
SO VI
from 1881: II
A2T (B 2/3)27–29SACM18751903
E3 (E 3/3)201–202Acquired from the Pont–Vallorbe Railway (see there) for operation on its lineSACM18861948, 1924

During shortages of rolling stock—especially during the Franco-Prussian War period—the SO responded by renting mostly French locomotives.

References

Notes

  1. The Fräschels–Lyss section of the longitudinal Broye line in the canton of Bern was built by the Chemins de fer du Jura bernois (JBL).
  2. Until the takeover on 26 June 1881
  3. Determined on the basis of the line kilometres
  4. The SBB numbered the locomotives taken over after the completion of the boiler upgrades.
  5. The locomotive was transferred to the Töss Valley Railway (TTB) as No. 7 in 1910 and after its nationalisation in 1918 was transferred to the SBB, where it was again designated as no. 6195.
  6. The locomotive was transferred to the Martigny-Orsières Railway (MO) in 1909 as No. 1, to the Töss Valley Railway (TTB) in 1910 as No. 8 and after its nationalisation in 1918 was transferred to the SBB, where it was again designated as No. 6196 again.

Footnotes

  1. Manhart, Marcel. "Liste der schwersten Bahnunfälle in der Schweiz bis Mai 2006 von SBB Historic" (in German). Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  2. "Entgleisung bei Cheyres (Strecke Yverdon-Payerne) in Folge von Felsenablösungen oberhalb der Bahn". Schweizerische Bauzeitung (in German). 11 (11): 69–70. 1888.
  3. Property length according to official railway statistics in bahndaten.ch

Sources

  • Frey, Thomas; Schiedt, Hans-Ulrich. "Jougne-Eclépens". bahndaten.ch. Daten zu den Schweizer Eisenbahnen 1847–1920 (in German). ViaStoria. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  • Frey, Thomas; Schiedt, Hans-Ulrich. "Suisse Occidentale". bahndaten.ch. Daten zu den Schweizer Eisenbahnen 1847–1920 (in German). ViaStoria. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  • Frey, Thomas; Schiedt, Hans-Ulrich. "Suisse Occidentale-Simplon". bahndaten.ch. Daten zu den Schweizer Eisenbahnen 1847–1920 (in German). ViaStoria. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  • Moser, Alfred (1967). Der Dampfbetrieb der Schweizerischen Eisenbahnen 1847–1966 (in German). Basel and Stuttgart: Birkhäuser Verlag.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wägli, Hans G. (2010). Schienennetz Schweiz und Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ (in German). Zürich: AS Verlag. ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Weissenbach, Plazid (1913). Das Eisenbahnwesen der Schweiz (PDF 14.8 MB) (in German). p. 66. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
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