Key takeaways
- Blonay–Chamby is a classic museum railway: its own line, its own vehicles, its own schedule – run by an association.
- The gauge is 1000 mm. The collection covers Swiss metre-gauge history more broadly than any single active railway.
- Steam and electric alternate, depending on the running day and available crew.
- The Chaulin depot sits in the middle of the line – exhibition and running operation aren't separated.
- Timetable and vehicle deployment change every season. Check both before travelling, rather than relying on last year's knowledge.
Contents
- 1.Fact file
- 2.Business areas
- 3.History at a glance
- 4.How to recognise the company
- 5.Strengths and weaknesses
- 6.What was saved here – and from what
- 7.Route, type of operation and season
- 8.The fleet and its pitfalls
- 9.Photographing on a slow railway
- 10.Association, volunteering and what it means for the timetable
- 11.Verdict
- 12.Frequently asked questions
Fact file
| Organisational form | association with mostly volunteer-run operations |
|---|---|
| Gauge | 1000 mm metre gauge |
| Route | Blonay – Chaulin – Chamby, above Vevey and Montreux |
| Length | around three kilometres – short, but with a viaduct and a tunnel |
| Type of operation | steam and electric traction, depending on the running day |
| Connections | at Blonay and Chamby to active metre-gauge networks on Lake Geneva |
| Season | summer half-year, mostly at weekends |
| Special feature | depot and collection at Chaulin, in the middle of the line |
| Official website | www.blonay-chamby.ch |
Business areas
History at a glance
How to recognise Museumsbahn Blonay–Chamby
Does the train really belong to Museumsbahn Blonay–Chamby?
- Metre gauge without a rack – a pure adhesion line, despite the slope above the lake
- Masonry viaduct over the Baye de Clarens as the line's landmark
- Mixed traction: steam and electric vehicles alternate depending on the running day
- Vehicles in many house colours – the collection comes from dozens of former companies
- Chaulin depot sits between the endpoints, not at one end of the line
- Connections to active networks at both ends – the link to scheduled service is directly visible
- Carriage trains rather than railcars define the picture on steam days
Strengths and weaknesses
What the company stands for
- Metre-gauge steam has become rare in Switzerland – here it's something you can plan around
- The line is short enough to cover several vantage points in a few hours
- Depot and running operation sit together: collection and vehicles in motion in a single day
- Vehicle variety from many former companies rather than a single house colour
- Well reached by public transport on Lake Geneva
Where it falls short
- Only three kilometres of line – anyone after long journeys will be disappointed
- Operation only in the summer half-year and mostly at weekends
- Which vehicles run is often decided at short notice depending on operational status
- Volunteer-run operation means a thin service – long waits between trips
- The slope makes many vantage points light-dependent and hard to reach
Updated: August 2026 – On the slopes between Vevey and Montreux lies a railway line that had long since become superfluous in scheduled service. Since 1968 the Blonay–Chamby museum railway has run there: three kilometres of metre gauge, a masonry viaduct, a tunnel – and a collection that covers Swiss narrow-gauge history more broadly than any active railway in the country.
Document the collection's vehicles properly
Type, house colour, date – recorded before you see the next locomotive.
What was saved here – and from what
Switzerland was once a land of narrow-gauge railways. Between the 1950s and 1970s, a considerable share of it disappeared: bus routes were cheaper, roads were built up, and vehicles ended up at the scrapyard. If you can see old metre-gauge vehicles today, it’s largely because individual groups started collecting during that period.
Blonay–Chamby is one of those groups. The association took over a section of line that no longer played a role in scheduled service and built it up into a museum railway. The location was decisive: the line connects to active metre-gauge networks at both ends. Vehicles could therefore arrive by rail – an advantage most museum railways don’t have.
This approach differs fundamentally from the Albula Railway Museum, which runs no trains of its own: there you work to a timetable, here to a running day.
Route, type of operation and season
The line links Blonay with Chamby, running along the slope with a view over Lake Geneva. The most striking structure is the masonry viaduct over the Baye de Clarens. Roughly halfway along lies Chaulin, home to the association’s depot, workshop and exhibition.
At both ends the museum railway connects to active metre-gauge networks: at Chamby the line of the Montreux–Berner Oberland Railway runs past, and at Blonay the line down to Vevey. If you arrive by train, you see the metre gauge first in everyday operation and then in heritage operation.
Trains run in the summer half-year, mostly at weekends. The traction alternates: on some days steam runs, on others electric operation. Steam operation ties up considerably more staff – firing up, running, restoring, disposal are hours of work that fall before and after the actual trip. That’s why the association concentrates steam days and festivals instead of spreading them across the season.
Specific departure times aren’t given here on purpose. Timetable and vehicle deployment change every season, and short-notice rescheduling is normal with volunteer-run operation. What applied last year isn’t a basis for planning this one.
Short line, repeated chances
Three kilometres sound like little. In practice that's an advantage: you can photograph the same train several times in an afternoon, from different angles, with different light. On a 40-kilometre line you get one chance per turnaround. Here you get three or four.
The fleet and its pitfalls
The honest answer is: it varies. The association owns steam and electric vehicles from numerous former Swiss narrow-gauge companies, along with rolling stock from the same era. Which vehicles are operational depends on the state of restoration and on inspection deadlines – for steam locomotives, boiler condition decides for years at a time whether a machine runs or stands in the shed.
| What you expect | What you realistically get | Best opportunity |
|---|---|---|
| Steam operation | on selected running days and festivals | the season’s festival dates |
| Electric metre-gauge vehicles | on most regular running days | the whole season |
| Historic carriage trains | almost always, in changing combinations | every running day |
| Non-operational rarities | in the Chaulin depot | year-round during opening hours |
| Link to scheduled service | at the Blonay and Chamby line ends | year-round |
Anyone wanting to see modern metre-gauge technology finds it in scheduled service all around – for instance rack vehicles of the HGe 4/4 type on other Swiss mountain lines. Museum railway and scheduled service don’t lie far apart here, but right next to each other.
Keep track of running days
Steam or electric, festival or regular running day – record what you saw and when.
Photographing on a slow railway
At a main station you react. At a museum railway you plan. On steam days, smoke and steam also dominate the picture – the guide Photographing steam trains covers that. The contrast with electrified scheduled service is supplied by a mountain line like the Lötschberg south ramp at Hohtenn.
Clarify running day and traction beforehand
Steam or electric decides the subject, vantage point and exposure. A steam train needs backlight for the smoke plume, a railcar doesn't.
Order vantage points by sun position
The line runs along the slope. Which side has light changes through the day – the method is set out in sun-position planning.
Stay on public ground
Paths and roads along the line are enough. Track, formation and operational structures aren't a vantage point, even at walking pace.
Match shutter speed to the pace
Slow trains allow longer speeds and panning shots. How to dose that is explained in the guide on shutter speed for panning.
Don't forget the depot
The most interesting vehicles often aren't in the train but in Chaulin. Plan a fixed block for it, not just the leftover time.
What does a running day get you?
Steam days count double, because smoke and steam change every shot.
Association, volunteering and what it means for the timetable
The operation is association work. Driving duty, workshop, line maintenance, accounts and museum duty are carried out overwhelmingly by volunteers. That’s not a footnote, it’s the explanation for almost everything you notice about the timetable.
A three-kilometre line could technically be run daily. That it isn’t comes down to the number of people who can carry a running day: drivers, guards, supervision, workshop. With steam, the preparation and follow-up work is added, extending the actual operation by hours. Heavy boiler work in turn is contracted out to specialist firms – in Switzerland, for instance, the Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik DLM, which also builds new steam technology.
For you that means concretely: check running days and traction before travelling, expect short-notice changes, and don’t plan tight connections. A cancelled steam day isn’t an operational failure, it’s the norm with volunteer work.
A visit is worthwhile if you …
- want to see metre-gauge steam in operation
- also document historic vehicles in the depot
- are ready to build the day around a handful of train trips
Plan more carefully if you …
- absolutely want to see steam – not every running day is one
- are in the region outside the summer season
- arrive with a tight time window
Better elsewhere if you …
- are after long journeys rather than three kilometres
- collect modern vehicles and vehicle variety
- are travelling on a weekday in winter
Museum railway doesn't mean fewer rules
Even at walking pace: track, formation, depot grounds and workshop areas count as operational structures, not public space. Access is only granted where the association explicitly opens it, and then under supervision. On the open line you photograph from paths and public ground – the basic rules are set out in the article on Safe distance from the track.
Verdict
Blonay–Chamby is the classic museum railway in its purest form: a short own line, a large own collection, volunteer-run operation. Anyone expecting a long journey is in the wrong place. Anyone wanting to see historic metre-gauge vehicles in motion is at one of the few addresses in Switzerland where that’s something you can plan.
The strongest reason for a visit is the combination of both: on the same day you see vehicles in operation and vehicles in the depot that exist nowhere else any more. A comparison with the very differently structured Schinznach Nursery Railway shows how broad the field of Swiss heritage railways is.
In short
Three kilometres of metre gauge, steam on selected days, and a collection that preserves Swiss narrow-gauge history. Check timetable and traction before travelling – both change every season.
Keep narrow-gauge sightings for good
So you know which machine you're still missing at the next steam festival.
Summary
- In 1968 the association took over an abandoned metre-gauge line and built it into a railway with a collection, workshop and running operation.
- The shortness of the line is no drawback: it lets you photograph the same train several times in an afternoon, from different angles.
- Because the vehicles come from many former companies, you'll see more historic liveries here than on any active narrow-gauge line.
- The operation stands and falls with voluntary work – that explains the seasonality, the timetable density and the short-notice vehicle deployment.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Blonay–Chamby line?
It measures around three kilometres. That sounds short, but it's a useful length for a museum railway: the short stretch includes a masonry viaduct, a tunnel and a noticeable change in elevation. For photographers it mainly means you can catch the same train several times in a day, from different vantage points.
Does a steam locomotive always run here?
No. The association deploys steam and electric vehicles, and which traction runs on a given day depends on the running-day programme, vehicle condition and available crew. Steam operation is staff-intensive and is therefore usually concentrated on certain days and at festivals. Check the programme before travelling.
What gauge does the museum railway have?
1000 mm, so metre gauge – the same gauge as the connecting networks on Lake Geneva and as the Rhaetian Railway in Graubünden. That's no coincidence: metre gauge was Switzerland's standard solution for railways in difficult terrain, because it allows tighter curves and lower construction costs.
What can I see at Chaulin?
That's where the association's depot, workshop and exhibition areas are – in the middle of the line, not at one endpoint. So you see restored, work-in-progress and stabled vehicles side by side. For identifying types it's more rewarding than the running operation itself, because types stand there that no longer run at all.
When is the railway in operation?
In the summer half-year, mostly at weekends. Specific running days and times change every season, which is why no times are given here on purpose. Operation is carried out by volunteers – that limits the number of running days more than any technical constraint.
How do I get there without a car?
Via the metre-gauge networks on Lake Geneva. Blonay and Chamby both lie on scheduled-service lines running up from Vevey and Montreux respectively. Travelling via MOB connections from Montreux is itself an experience, because you see the metre gauge in everyday operation before you see it in heritage operation.
Is the railway worth it for vehicle photography?
Yes, but differently from a station. The service is thin, but the trains are slow and the timetable is known. You can prepare vantage point, focal length and exposure at leisure rather than reacting. For technique with slow steam trains, the guide Photographing steam trains helps.
Who runs the railway?
An association. Crew, workshop, line maintenance and museum duty are carried out overwhelmingly by volunteers. That's the reason a three-kilometre line isn't run daily: it isn't the track that limits operation, but the number of people who can carry it. How such associations work is described in the article on Railway associations.
Can I see vehicles here that exist nowhere else?
That's the core of the collection. When numerous narrow-gauge railways in Switzerland were abandoned after the Second World War, individual vehicles ended up here instead of at the scrapyard. So you'll find types and house colours from companies that no longer exist. Which of them are operational changes over the years.
How does Blonay–Chamby differ from the Albula Railway Museum?
Fundamentally. The Albula Railway Museum in Bergün is an exhibition without its own running operation next to a line running to a clock-face timetable. Blonay–Chamby is the opposite: its own line, its own vehicles, its own schedule – but only on selected days. Together they show the two basic models of railway preservation.
Log vehicles from Museumsbahn Blonay–Chamby
Company, vehicle, location and date logged in seconds – and visible to the community.
The operational level in the railway operator database
Who actually runs the trains, with keeper markings and identifying features on the vehicle.
Montreux-Berner Oberland-Bahn AG (MOB)
Montreux-Berner Oberland-Bahn AG links the Lake Geneva region with the Bernese Oberland. Its type of railway stands for something rarely explained elsewhere: the panorama car.
Local & regionalTransports Publics du Chablais (TPC)
Transports Publics du Chablais (TPC) is a Swiss railway and transport company with a French-language name. The name gives the landscape the operation calls home – the data panel gives you the keeper.
Long-distanceSchweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB)
The Swiss Federal Railways are the state railway of Switzerland and present across the whole country. This page shows what that means for the network and how to recognise its vehicles.
Typical vehicles
HGe 4/4
The HGe 4/4 is an electric rack locomotive for Swiss metre-gauge railways. This page decodes the designation and shows what to look for in the field.
ClassSBB C 5/6 (Elefant)
The C 5/6 'Elefant' was the SBB's heavy freight steam locomotive. This page explains the designation, axle arrangement and today's surviving museum stock.
ClassSBB A 3/5
The A 3/5 was the SBB's express steam locomotive before electrification. This page explains the Swiss classification system and today's surviving museum stock.
Where you will find Museumsbahn Blonay–Chamby
Spotting locations where you will regularly come across vehicles from this organisation – with viewpoints, the best light and coordinates.
Lötschberg South Ramp at Hohtenn
Above the Rhone valley, the Lötschberg mountain line of 1913 runs like a balcony along the rock face: stone viaducts, galleries, tunnel portals and behind them Valais's four-thousand-metre peaks. Since the base tunnel opened, less runs here – but the high trail remains one of the best railway walks in Europe.
Junction stationBern Hauptbahnhof
Bern is the hub the Swiss timetable is built around. Two major railway companies share the same platforms, a narrow-gauge railway with its own terminus lies beneath the station – and the platforms are among the narrowest in the country.
More companies
Bahnmuseum Albula
The Bahnmuseum Albula in Bergün is an exception among heritage railways: it owns no line of its own and runs no trains of its own. The attraction is outside – the metre-gauge Albula line of the Rhaetian Railway runs past the building to a regular timetable, UNESCO World Heritage status included.
GroupRhätische Bahn (RhB)
The Rhaetian Railway is one of the few railways in Europe where network, operations and brand sit in a single hand. It combines several originally independent lines, runs on metre gauge with no rack, and operates two completely different electrification systems on the same network.
Heritage railwaySchinznacher Baumschulbahn
The Schinznacher Baumschulbahn isn't a scaled-down branch line, but a genuine field railway: 600 millimetres gauge, tight curves, short vehicles. It runs through the grounds of a tree nursery in Aargau and preserves a railway technology that has otherwise almost completely disappeared.
ManufacturerDampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG (DLM)
The Dampflokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik AG in Winterthur is one of the few businesses worldwide still delivering brand-new steam locomotives after the end of the steam era. Its approach isn't replica building but further development: oil firing, enclosed cabs, modern controls.
Related guides from the blog
- How Do You Photograph Steam Trains? The Ultimate Guide to Steam Train Photography (Equipment, Settings, Light, Spots)
- Shutter Speed for Train Photos: Freeze It Sharp or Pan With It
- Safety Distance at the Track: The Rules That Save Lives
- Planning Sun Position at a Photo Spot: Light Instead of Luck
- Railway Clubs in Germany, Austria & Switzerland: Types, Membership, Costs, Tips
