PADDLE STEAMERS
Paddle Steamers I World of Ships I 85
LOTSCHBERG
BUILT 1914 by Escher Wyss, Zurich
DIMENSIONS Length 56.56m, width 6.8m (hull), 12.8m
(over paddles)
MACHINERY Compound diagonal by builders, 450hp
SPEED 25kmh (13.5 knots)
PASSENGERS 900Esher Wyss built and engined Lotschberg, a
slightly smaller steamer than Blumlisalp, to
enter service carrying 850 passengers on Lake
Brienz in 1914. But, after a debut on 25 July
1914, sailings ran for just nine days before the
start of World War I brought operations to a
close and it was 1919 before Lotschberg sailed
again. By then the narrow gauge Brunig Line
railway had been built along the northern
shore of the lake and took away some of the
local traffic. Lotschberg started with twin
single-ended coal-fired Scotch boilers, which
were used until the end of the 1967 season.
She was then converted to use light oil.
Until 1978 Lotschberg’s lower funnel and
bulwarks were painted beige, but this was
replaced by a new all-white BLS livery picked
out in red and black. The vessel received
major attention in 1988-89 and again in
2000-01, when a new single boiler was
brought in, but her role has hardly changed
down the years, with two Interlaken Ost-
Brienz sailings daily in July and August and
Sunday trips during June and September, with
the operation continuing to see crossings of
the lake travelling astern, from Ringgenberg to
Bonigen outward bound, with the same stretch
covered astern in the return direction. A newABOVE Lotschberg seen approaching the bridge
carrying the Brunig Railway Line over the River Aare
in the 1970s.(Russell Plummer)ABOVE Not a speck of oil or dust can be seen in
Lotschberg’s engine room, where the boiler was
coal-fired until 1967. (Russell Plummer)main road has been built around the southern
side of the lake to connect Interlaken with the
Brunig Pass, but there are still boat calls at
the previously isolated village of Iseltwald. At
Giessbach See a funicular railway climbs from
the pier to the Giessbach Hotel and a short
distance away the waters of the Giessbach
Waterfall tumble into the lake. From Brienz
the afternoon return sailing to Interlaken is
timed to connect with descending trains, still
mainly steam-hauled, on the Rothorn rack
railway. Lotschberg once again runs with
upper bulwarks painted beige.Lotschberg making her customary stern-first
passage along the River Aare to the Interlaken
Ost lake/rail interchange. (Russell Plummer)ABOVE Blumlisalp’s original engine, built by Escher
Wyss of Zurich, was retained when the vessel
resumed sailings during 1992. (Russell Plummer)12 Paddlers_Switzerland_NL.indd 85 17/04/2018 12:21