Switzerland - MOB Montreux Oberland Bernois railway, Golden Pass line

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The Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (French: Chemin de fer Montreux Oberland Bernois), also known as the Golden Pass line is a metre gauge private railway in southern Switzerland. MOB's main line is 62,4 km long, 1000 mm gauge and electrified with 850 V DC. At certain places it clims up over 7% inclines, but the line is not built to use third rail cog wheel drive systems. MOB's main line runs from the city of Montreux by Lake Geneva up to Zweisimmen, where it meets the normal gauge line of BLS Lötschbergbahn. In addition to the main line, there is also a branch line from Zweisimmen to Lenk. Most of MOB's business is passenger traffic, especially touristic trains, but there are some cargo services as well, especially gravel transport services.

This is one of MOB's newest trains, built by Stadler. Over ten narrow gauge railways in Switzerland bought simultaneously these similar trains from Stadler and took them in use in 2016-18. MOB calls these new trains "Alpina" and often adds older panoramic coaches in the middle of these two or three coach composition.
Picture from Montreux 30.9.2017 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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These double motor wagons ABDe 8/8 were from the year 1968. They were powerful enough to pull a five coaches long train up the steepest gradients of the MOB route, 7,3%. They were often used instead of locomotives to pull MOB's passenger trains. There were four of them, numbered 4001 to 4004. One such double motor wagon had eight electric motors and it could produce 880 kW of power output. They were all officially taken out of use in the autumn of 2017. One was broken to pieces, but the three others are still available as a reserve.
Picture of ABDe 8/8 no.4001 from Montreux 30.9.2017 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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One of the same double motor wagons BDe 8/8 no.4003 in Zweisimmen.
Picture 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A modernised local servce train of MOB / Goldenpass. The first and the last coaches are all new, but the motorised middle coach has been taken from an old electric multiple unit of the so called Be 4/4 5000 series from the late seventies. These trains were originally bought for short-haul traffic near Montreux and also for the Zweisimmen to Lenk side line. This picture is from the Zweisimmen to Lenk line.
Picture from the Saanen valley 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This is one of the series 5000 electric multiple units as it used to be before modernisation, here hiding behind beautiful flowering trees. The series 5000 trains of the late 1970s consisted of one motor wagon Be 4/4 plus one driving trailer, unmotorised. During their modernisation, MOB removed the only cab from the motor wagon, made it into a middle coach and added two new coaches with cabs.
Picture from Rougemont 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This old motor wagon BDe 4/4 no.3002 is from the 3000 series. TYhey were taken in use still during the second world war. Now it has been painted in a darker blue livery and named to belong to Goldenpass Services, which is the infrastructure part of the MOB group of companies. Goldenpass Services uses it just as a locomotive for track maintenance trains.
Picture from Flendruz 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same motor wagon BDe 4/4 no.3002 as above, here seen en route somewhere between Rougemont and Flendruz
Picture from near Flendruz 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Still a closer look at the same motor wagon BDe 4/4 no.3002 as above.
Picture from the station of Flendruz 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This motor wagon Be 4/4 no.1002 II was from 1951. It was first used by the Ferrovia Biasca–Acquarossa, known in German as Bleniotalbahn, a private narrow gauge railroad in Kanton Tessin (in Italian: Ticino). When that railroad was closed own, the motor wagon came to MOB in 1975. It was scrapped in November 2017.
Picture from Zweisimmen 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same motor wagon Be 4/4 no.1002 II from 1951 seen from the other side.
Picture from Zweisimmen 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This locomotive GDe 4/4 no.6005 is from the year 1983. MOB has similar locomotives right from the time when they were new, but this one and and a second similar one no.6006 werebought as new and used by tpf, formerly Gruyère-Fribourg-Morat GFM. This one used to be tpf's locomotive no.101. To see its sister locomotive 102 still in GFM's livery, see here. When tpf/GFM stopped all cargo traffic on their network, they made a deal with MOB. There is a connection between MOB's and tpf's networks and now MOB runs all cargo traffic also on tpf's metre gauge network. MOB bought these two locomotives from tpf.
Picture from Zweisimmen 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same GDe 4/4 no.6005, former tpf's no.101, seen from the other side.
Picture from Zweisimmen 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The Golden Pass panoramic express has just arrived from Montreux to Zweisimmen and it was this time led by the locomotive Ge 4/4 no.8004, the newest one of MOB's locomotives. This is an expensive touristic train. From Zweisimmen the tourists will continue further towards Interlaken with BLS Lötschbergbahn's normal gauge trains.
Picture from Zweisimmen 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same locomotive Ge 4/4 no.8004 as above, here seen from its side.
Picture from Zweisimmen 2.5.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.
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