Steam locomotive 141 R 1244 belonging to the Mikado 1244 Association with special train 53056 in Romanshorn on 18 March 1979. We are unlikely to have that many participants at our AGM… Foto: (c) Daniel Heer/bahnarchiv.ch, SGEG DH A SWN135 1261-21
Here you will find information about our association, our planned and past excursions into the world of Swiss railway and industrial history, and lots of interesting facts about the world of railways.
invitation to the GM 2026
// Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte SGEG
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Ships that fly and iconic railway station architecture on Lake Constance – The Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen
SGEG Annual General Meeting with supporting programme on Saturday, 7 March 2026
Dear members of our society
As you know, on our AGM excursions we like to look beyond our own passion and turn our attention to topics outside the realm of rail transport. We have already explored a wide variety of modes of transport – including ships, although we stayed on the water. However, airships are still missing from our portfolio, so at the 21st Annual General Meeting we want to turn our attention to zeppelins, a means of transport that fascinated people at the beginning of the 20th century until the tragic crash of the ‘Hindenburg’ on 6 May 1937 in Lakehurst, USA. The Zeppelin Museum, which opened in 1996 in the former Friedrichshafen harbour railway station, made the world’s largest collection on the history and technology of airship travel accessible to the public. The fact that the museum is located in a former railway station building makes this year’s AGM location even more fitting.
Le Pont – Le Brassus PBr
The railway line from Vallorbe via Le Pont to Le Brassus is unique in many respects. While the steep section from Vallorbe via the Le Day junction to Le Pont was owned by the SBB, the flatter section from Le Pont to Le Brassus belonged to the private railway company PBr (Pont Le Brassus). The entire line had been operated by SBB for years, and special vehicles were frequently used, as was the case during my visit on 4 February 1985.
On a related note: Homepage
When we migrated our homepage to the now standard WordPress platform four years ago, we had already decided to redesign the colour scheme. To keep things simple, we opted for a two-step approach. Unfortunately, the second step was delayed for years for various reasons…
Now, the sombre SBB green with yellow lettering (like the lettering on railway carriages) has given way to lighter tones that are more appealing and, above all, easier to read. At the same time, the site should no longer appear so fragmented on mobile phones, although this is still a work in progress.
We have now started the conversion process and it will take some time. There will be few changes to the content of the website. We apologise for any temporary malfunctions or visual imperfections. However, we welcome any feedback on such issues. Perhaps we haven’t noticed them yet…
FW in the snow
Fourty years ago, snow was a little more common in the Swiss Mittelland, but high fog was already a permanent fixture back then. That’s why it was a rare stroke of luck on 16 February 1985 to encounter a combination of sunshine and freshly fallen snow on the FW (Frauenfeld – Wil – Bahn) railway line. I can’t remember whether there was a special reason for this photo shoot or whether it was simply my intuition and the hope of getting some great pictures… In any case, it was worth it and resulted in a photo series that is well worth seeing!