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Western Switzerland Railways

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Locomotive of the SO.

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.

Association of the Railways of Western Switzerland

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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 Geneva–Versoix 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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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No. Railway line Section Opened on from Duplicated Remarks Length[note 3]
1. Lausanne–Biel Lausanne–Renens 5 May 1856 OS 1872 Branched off the line to Geneva in Renens 87.72 km
Renens–Bussigny 1 July 1855 –
Bussigny–Daillens–Yverdon 7 May 1855
Yverdon–Vaumarcus (VD-NE canton border) 7 Nov. 1859
Vaumarcus–Auvernier–Neuchâtel–La Neuveville (NE-BE canton border) FS Branched off the line to Pontarlier in Auvernier
La Neuveville–Biel/Bienne 3 Dec. 1860 OWB Bernese section owned by the JBL and its predecessors (16.78 km)
2. Lausanne–Geneva Lausanne–Renens 5 May 1856 OS 1872 Branched off the line to Biel in Renens 60.26 km
Renens–Denges-Échandens–Morges
Morges–Allaman 14 April 1858 1868
Allaman–Gland 1872
Gland–Coppet 1868 Geneva section, Céligny–Céligny-canton border, was property of the GV
Coppet–Versoix (VD-GE canton border) 21 April 1858
Versoix–Geneva 25 June 1858 GV Already acquired from LFB on 1 July 1858
Denges-Echandes–Bussigny 5 May 1856 OS – Connecting loop, passenger traffic stopped in 1866, closed in 1879 (reactivated in 1971) (6.54 km)
3. Lausanne–Bern Lausanne–Palézieux–Fribourg–Balliswil (near Düdingen) 4 Sept. 1862 LFB – Provisional Balliswil station at the north camp of the Grandfey Viaduct 86.88 km
Balliswil–Thörishaus Station (FR-BE) canton border 2 July 1860
Thörishaus Station–Bern SCB Line owned by SCB (8.98 km)
4. Lausanne–Brig Lausanne–Villeneuve 2 April 1861 OS – 145.55 km
Villeneuve–Bex 10 June 1857
Bex–Les Paluds (VD-VS canton border) 1 Nov. 1860
Les Paluds–Saint-Maurice–Martigny 14 July 1859 LI Acquired by the SO on 28 June 1881
Martigny–Sion 10 May 1860
Sion–Sierre 15 Oct. 1868
Sierre–Leuk 1 June 1877 S
Leuk–Brig 1 June 1878
5. (Saint-Maurice–) Les Paluds–Saint-Gingolph Les Paluds–Bouveret 14 July 1859 LI – Acquired by the SO on 28 June 1881 25.52 km
Bouveret–Saint-Gingolph–CH-F border 1 June 1886 SOS Connected to the line to Évian-les-Bains of the PLM
(closed in 1988)
6. Neuchâtel–Pontarlier Neuchâtel–Auvernier 7 Nov. 1859 FS – Branched off the line to Lausanne in Auvernier 41.07 km
Auvernier–CH-F border 25 July 1860
Border–Pontarlier PLM French section of line owned by the PLM (11.28 km)
7. (Lausanne–) Daillens–Vallorbe Daillens–Vallorbe 1 July 1870 JE – 29.34 km[3]
Vallorbe–CH-F border 1 July 1875 Connection to line to Pontarlier of the PLM
(closed in 1939)
8. Palézieux–Kerzers
(Broye longitudinal)		 Palézieux–Payerne–Murten 25 Aug. 1876 SO – 67.09 km
Murten–Kerzers–Fräschels (FR-BE canton border) 12 June 1876
Fräschels–Lyss JBL Fribourg–Ins railway (12.97 km)
9. Fribourg–Yverdon
(Broye transversal)		 Yverdon–Payerne 1 Febr. 1877 SO – 49.92 km
Payerne–Freiburg 25 Aug. 1876
Total (1889) 60.20 km
(10 %)		 580.67 km[3]

Rolling stock

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In 1882, the company owned 105 locomotives, 331 passenger cars and 2022 freight cars.[4]

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		 Name JS no.
from 1890		 SBB no.
from 1903[note 4]		 Manufacturer Build year Scrapped Image
I A2T (B 2/3) 6–20 6–20 Taken over from the West Switzerland (see there) in 1872 Karlsruhe 1856–58 1888–1902 B 2/3
I
from 1881: II		 A2T (B 2/3) 21–25 1–5 Cail 1858 1890–1892
II B2 (Ec 2/4) 1–12 51–62 Taken over from the Lausanne–Fribourg–Bern Railway (see there) in 1872 Esslingen 1862 1895–1895 Ec 2/4
II A2T (B 2/3) 1'–3',
26–28		 21–26 Various 74–79 1074–1079 Koechlin 1868/70 1904–1907 B 2/3
– B2 (Ec 2/3) – 63 Chambésy 263 6195[note 5] SACM 1888 1923 Ec 2/3
– 64 Genthod 264 6196[note 6] 1922
– 65 Céligny 265 6197 1909
– 66 Crans 266 6198 1909
– 67 Myes 267 6199 1909
III B3T (C 3/3) – 70
from 1874: 80		 Valais 410 2410 Koechlin 1871 1906 C 3/3
– 71 Lucerne 401 – 1901
– 72 Bâle 402 – 1900
– 73 Soleure 403 – 1900
– 74 Argovie 404 2407 1909
– 75 Zurich 405 2401 1904
– 76 St-Gall 406 2402 1872 1903
– 77 Thurgovie 407 2408 1906
– 78 Schwytz 408 2406 1904
– 79 Tessin 409 2409 1904
– 81 Grisons 411 2414 1875 1904
– 82 Appenzell 412 – 1900
– 83 Uri 413 2411 1904
– 84 Unterwald 414 2403 1910
– 85 Glaris 415 – 1901
– 86 Schaffhouse 416 2412 1911
– A3T (B 3/4) – 91–94 – 201–204 1421–1424 SLM 1887 1917 B 3/4
IV C3T (D 3/3) 51–55 101–105 Taken over from the West Switzerland (see there) in 1872 Cail 1858 from 1901 D 3/3
56 106 La Côte-aux-Fées 506 3364 PLM 1864
von SO		 1913 B 2/3
57 107 Buttes 507 3370 1907
58 108 Chaumont 508 3371 1910
59 109 La Reuse 509 3372 Creusot 1865
von FS		 1911
60 110 La Thielle 510 3373 1914
61 111 La Concorde 511 3374 1909
62 112 Broye 512 3375 Koechlin 1865 1914 D 3/3
63 113 Venoge 513 3352 1924
64 114 Rhône 514 – 1870 1897
65 115 Léman 515 3376 1925
66 116 Versoix 516 3377 1871 1906
67 117 Aar 517 3378 1912
68 118 Avançon 518 3353 1912
69 119 Gérine 519 3390 1904
– 120 Mont Cenis 520 3379 1871 1911
– 121 Culoz 521 3365 1912
– 122 Turin 522 3380 1907
– 123 Gênes 523 3381 1910
– 124 Florence 524 3389 1909
– 125 Milan 525 3354 1910
– 126 Suze 526 3382 1872 1921
– 127 Italie 527 3355 1909
– 128 Mulhouse 528 3366 1915
– 129 Strasbourg 529 3383 1916
– 130 Mannheim 530 – 1901
– 131 Cologne 531 3391 1906
– 132 Anvers 532 3356 1908
– 133 Rhin 533 3357 1924
– 134 Francfort 534 3367 1903
– 135 Verrières 535 3384 1912
– 136 Moudon 536 3385 SACM 1874 1925
– 137 Payerne 537 3386 1913
– 138 Avenches 538 3358 1910
– 139 Estavayer 539 3359 1912
SO V B3T (C 3/3) – 87–89 Taken over from the Jougne–Eclépens Railway (see there) in 1876 Koechlin 1869 1898–1909
SO VI
from 1881:  I		 A2T (B 2/3) – 41–46 Taken over from the Compagnie du Simplon (see there) in 1881 Fives 1858 1892–1896 B 2/3
SO VI
from 1881: II		 A2T (B 2/3) – 27–29 SACM 1875 1903
– E3 (E 3/3) – 201–202 Acquired from the Pont–Vallorbe Railway (see there) for operation on its line SACM 1886 1948, 1924 E 3/3

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

References

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Notes

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  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

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  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. ^ a b Property length according to official railway statistics in bahndaten.ch
  4. ^ Foreign Railways of the World. The Railways Register, St. Louis, USA. 1884. p. 265.

Sources

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  • 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.
  • Wägli, Hans G. (2010). Schienennetz Schweiz und Bahnprofil Schweiz CH+ (in German). Zürich: AS Verlag. ISBN 978-3-909111-74-9.
  • Weissenbach, Plazid (1913). Das Eisenbahnwesen der Schweiz (PDF 14.8 MB) (in German). p. 66. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
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