Chäserrugg - Dismantling Of The Historic Funicular Cars Ongoing

After the last journey on Easter Monday, what had to happen came: the historic funicular cars were lifted off the rails.

In the morning, both historic cars are already standing in front of the entrance to the valley station, while the sky over the Schafberg briefly shimmers in red. Otherwise, you can only see the cars so close together at the point where they cross each other and one or two guests wave to each other. In order for both cars to stand in the valley, a few work steps were necessary the day before, because normally both cars are connected with a cable, as the name funicular suggests, and act as a counterweight.

When the first car was in the valley, it was immobilized with the fall and parking brakes a few meters in front of the valley station. In addition, the seven-ton wagon was secured with a cable and straps before the original wire rope on the first wagon was released. For 50 years, these two cars traveled between Unterwasser and the Iltios, connected by the wire rope. After this was solved, car number 1 remained in the valley and using an auxiliary rope with a winch on the original rope, the second car could also be transported into the valley and immediately fixed.

Thanks to this work the day before, the cars can be removed from the tracks using a crane and placed next to the valley station. To do this, ropes are attached to the hooks on the side and the track is carefully lifted. After all fixations have been completely released, the crane lifts the first car completely and places it on the ground next to the valley station. Despite the weight of seven tons, the red car appears light as a feather, but it seems to be a bit heavy for the hearts of the interested spectators. Even if interest, even curiosity, about the new valley station and the cars can be heard in the conversations, the farewell of the cars is still a present feeling that morning.
The procedure is then repeated with the second car, which is placed directly on the truck. Where both red cars attracted attention early in the morning, the stone viaduct from 1934 now catches the eye.

The truck then drives to the current storage location with the red-lit cabin number 2, whereby the crane next to the valley station also has to be dismantled and reassembled at the new location in order to lift the car from the truck. After car number 2 has been placed, the crane and truck return to position next to the valley station to load car number 1 as well. This will then begin its journey to Kandersteg to the Cable Car Museum, where it will be on display for visitors after a period of setting up.