'First World Steam & Tourist Train Congress'
October 6 & 7 2003
This was the view that greeted us from the front of the Grandhotel Giessbach looking out across Lake Brienz towards Interlaken and the high peaks beyond. October 6 2003
The Grandhotel Giessbach is somewhat isolated. Below the hotel, on the lake side, is a ferry stop. To make access from there to the hotel easy a funicular railway was built ! This funicular opened in 1879. October 6 2003
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A
view down towards the lake station. Interestingly the funicular is equipped
with a rack bar type system, presumably for emergency braking. October
6 2003 |
The carriage could not really be described as all weather ! October 6 2003
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A
partial view of the Grandhotel Giessbach. October 6 2003 |
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The
5AT stand at the 'First World Steam & Tourist Train Congress'. October
6 2003 |
The Congress Programme for Day 1 was:
9:30 am: Official Welcome
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David
Morgan at the opening of the congress. October 6 2003 |
9:45 am: Opportunity for a short break, various info stands can also be visited
10:00 am: 1st Presentation. (20-30 minutes talk, 15 minutes open forum for Q&A) Eng. Sergio Rodriguez Zubieta, Founder of the Congress, Marine Engineer, Shareholder of the Southern Fueguean Railway ‘Tren del Fin del Mundo’, Argentina " Economic and Financial Strategies for Tourist Railways in the 21st century"
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Sergio
Zubieta of FCAF during his interesting and informative presentation. October
6 2003 |
10:45 am: Coffee Break
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The
Giessbach Falls alongside the hotel. October 6 2003 |
The
coffee break time view across Lake Brienz with cloud stubbornly sticking
to the mountains. October 6 2003 |
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11:00 am: 2nd Presentation. Mr. David Morgan, President of FEDECRAIL, Chairman of the Heritage Railway Association, Chairman of Heritage Afloat, England "The Issues facing Steam and Tourist Trains in the 21st Century"
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David
Morgan during the presentation of his paper 'The Issues facing Steam and
Tourist Trains in the 21st Century'. October 6 2003 |
11:45 am : 3rd Presentation Mr. Heimo Echensperger, Vice-President of FEDECRAIL, Chairman of VDMT, ‘Verband Deutscher Museums- und Touristikbahnen’ (Association of German Museum and Tourist Railways), Germany "Modern Steam - A Customer View of the Matter"
12:30 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm: 4th Presentation Dipl. Masch. Ing. ETH Roger Waller, Mechanical Engineer, CEO of DLM Ltd, Switzerland "Modern Steam Locomotives: An Economic and Ecological Alternative to Diesel Units"
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Two
views of DLM's Roger Waller. He presented a paper entitled 'Modern Steam
Locomotives: An Economic and Ecological Alternative to Diesel Units'.
October 6 2003 |
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2:45 pm: 5th Presentation 5AT Group and Design Team – Mr. Alan Fozard, England "Making the commercial case for the 5AT"
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5AT
project leader Dr Alan Fozard presents 'Making the commercial case for
the 5AT'. October 6 2003 |
Alan Fozard answers questions about the 5AT with David Morgan chairing the discussions. October 6 2003
3:30 pm: Coffee Break
3:45 pm: Short Presentation by Mr. James C. Mullaney, Systems Analyst, Ireland "Multiple Unit Capability for the Steam Locomotive".
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Irishman
James C. Mullaney presents his paper 'Multiple Unit Capability for the
Steam Locomotive'. October 6 2003 |
4:05 pm: Short Break
4:15 pm: Open Forum – Featuring open discussion on some of the topics of the first day of the conference, as well as some further short presentations by additional organizations. Including a brief lecture by: INTERLOK Ltd, Poland: "L.D.Porta's Coal and Timber Gasification System - Polish Experiences with Steam Locomotives in the 80ies and an Outlook onto the Future"
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Rajesh
Agrawal of Indian Railways and UNESCO presented a short paper relating
to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and sustainability. October 6 2003 |
End of day one round up with James Mullaney, Roger Waller, Heimo Echensperger, Alan Fozard, Sergio Zubietta and David Morgan fielding questions. October 6 2003
5:15 pm: Afternoon Break – chance for some rest before the evening steam excursion on the Brienz Rothorn
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This
was the fantastic afternoon view from the hotel looking towards Brienz.
October 6 2003 |
6:15 pm: Departure from the hotel to the train station in Brienz, and to the hub of the BRB Railway.
It had been planned to have dinner at the top of the Rothorn but the fresh snow meant there was a risk of avalanches. Instead the BRB train took us to the have way point at Planalp.
Carolyn & Alan Fozard on the BRB train waiting for the run to Planalp. October 6 2003
BRB rack tank 14 at Planalp. Sadly this was as far as we could go due to the risk of avalanches further up the line. October 6 2003
Sunset over the Alps. October 6 2003
The views from Planalp are lovely and are enhanced by the colours of the sunset. October 6 2003
At Planalp we were lead along a track to a number of chalets. One of these turned out to be a cafe where coffee with schnaps was laid on. It is possible there was more schnaps than coffee - on entering the cafe it was not the smell of coffee that greeted us !
Once we had all warmed up it was time to walk back to the train for the trip back to Brienz and on back to the Giessbach for diner there.
The Congress Programme for Day 2 was:
Before 9:30 am: Breakfast
Chris Newman, Alan Fozard & David Smith from the 5AT team in discussions with Jos Koopmans. October 7 2003
10:00 am: 1st Presentation Mr. Michael Lohnherr CEO and Director of the ‘Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt GmbH’ (Saxonian Steam Navigation Company), Dresden, Germany "Keys to the economically successful and financially profitable operation of historic steamboats"
10:45 am: 2nd Presentation Dipl. Masch. Ing. ETH Roger Waller Mechanical Engineer, CEO of DLM Ltd, Switzerland "Modern Marine Steam Engines with Remote Control"
11:30 am: Coffee break
11:45 pm: Short Presentation by Mr. William Worden, Director of Historic Designation of the City of Detroit, Member of the Steamship Historical Society of America and of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, former Editor-in-Chief of "Steamboat Bill" "Recognition and Regulation: Keys to "Keeping up Steam."
12:15 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm: 4th Presentation Mr. Ashwani Lohani Chief Motive Power Engineer, Northern Railway, India "The Future of Steam in India"
2:45 pm: Mr. Lawrence Marshall, England, Railway Writer, Author of ‘Indian Narrow Gauge Steam Remembered’ and other works "Steam and Narrow Gauge Steam in India – Personal Experiences and Reflections"
3:15 pm: Coffee Break
3:30 pm: 6th Presentation Mr. J.R. Fuller, J.F. Consultants Limited, FEDECRAIL, Kent, England, "The Value of Steam to the Community" www.fedecrail.org
4:15 pm: Short Break
4:20 pm: Open Forum. A large round-table discussion chaired and moderated by Mr. David Morgan, to draw together the themes and subjects of the conference. The underlying theme: "What are the issues facing us today?"
The end of conference round up with Heimo Echensperger, Roger Waller, David Morgan, Sergio Zubietta, Rajesh Agrawal and William Worden at the table. October 7 2003
5:45 pm: Closing Remarks
6:00 pm: Evening break
7:15 pm: Gala dinner at the hotel, to ring out the congress in style
At the Gala Diner - from the left John Wright, Chris Newman, Matt & Jessica Janssen, Phil Hosken, James Mullaney and David Smith. October 7 2003
A final photo before bed ! From the left - Alan and Carolyn Fozard, Matt & Jessica Janssen, David Smith and Chris Newman. October 7 2003
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On to October 8 2003 - On Shed at BRB Brienz, SS Lötschberg & the journey to Mulhouse |