Day 18 Saturday - Narrow gauge in the Jura

A snail being fattened up for the table. Snails and slugs live in abundance in Les Brenets

We caught the train from Yverdon les Bains to Neuchatel where there was a quick over the platform transfer to the TransN (Neuchatel Transport) train to Le Locle. There was the usual reverse at Chambrelien and we arrived at Le Locle on time. There was sufficient time before our train for Les Brenets for us to walk along to see what is left of the heritage operation at Le Locle. There is not much left now only one electric locomotive and some rotting freight cars.  The site looks abandoned and anything worth preserving seems to have been moved away.

Ae 4/7 No 11000 of 1932 rotting away at Le Locle

The narrow gauge train to Les Brenets was car No. 3 which was built in 1950 in Italy. The journey takes only seven minutes and there are two quite substantial tunnels one at the beginning and one at the end. 

No 3 at Le Locle
The journey is full of interest with heavy forest and a deer farm.  The plan is to eliminate the railway next year and convert part of the road bed into a road for electric buses. The first tunnel, nearest Le Locle will be used but there will be a connection at the Les Brenets area into the highway network. The buses will also run into the town which will provide better service as the present station is inconveniently situated above the town. So this visit will likely be the last one in which we will see the railway. 


Les Brenets

Les Brenets

We took a little time to walk around the town which is very hilly. There didn't seem to be very much happening on a Saturday morning at all. 




Looking across the border into France

Back at the station we photographed the next train coming in with its 72-year-old car and caught the train back to Le Locle with a quick transfer to La Chaux de Fonds. Our last ride on this train.





Old and new at Le Locle

The town of La Chaux de Fonds has improved the station forecourt and there is now a large Migros building close by where we had a good meal in the restaurant.


La Chaux de Fonds is an amazing transportation hub. On the standard gauge the BLS operates to Bern, the TransN operates to Neuchatel and La Locle, the SBB operates to Biel/Bienne while the SNCF runs a train or two over the border using a diesel because of the difference in overhead voltage. On the narrow gauge the Jura Railway runs to Glovelier and the TransN operates to Les Ponts de Martel.

What is amazing is that most trains come into the station a little before the hour, and leave again a little after the hour. In this way there is an interchange between trains once an hour.

After lunch we went back to the station to ride to Les Ponts de Martel. At five minutes to the hour the station was completely empty of trains. Then in came a train from Les Ponts de Martel, then the Jura came in from Glovelier, then the BLS train from Bern, and finally a train from Le Locle.

At La Chaux de Fonds

We left at four minutes past the hour and were the last ones to leave. 

The line to Les Ponts de Martel is through open farming country all pasture land, with forests on the hilltops. It had problems a few years ago with safety of some of the farm crossings, and it appears there is still a great deal to be done. Our train was number seven built in 1991 which was built in Switzerland. I understand some new cars are being constructed for this line. The end of the line is in a pleasant village which is fun to explore. 

At Les Ponts de Martel

We stayed on the train and came back to La Chaux de Fonds where we were in time to catch the next Jura train to Noirmont and Glovelier. This is another great journey through easy country. At a couple of points the railway was loading standard gauge cars with large tree logs to be transported over the line to Glovelier where they would be transferred to the standard gauge. At Combe-Tabeillon we went into a stub end where the driver moved to the other end of the train to continue into Glovelier. This was the second time this had happened to us this day.

Jura train arriving at La Chaux de Fonds

A Jura standard gauge switcher is used at Glovelier to handle the cars transferred to and from the narrow gauge.

Jura Railway train at Glovelier

From Glovelier we took the standard gauge to Delemont then to Biel/Bienne and back to Yverdon les Bains. 

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