RVT-Historique
       the touristic train of the country of the fairies and Absinthe

                       

 
   




Welcome on board our special trains !
Time table and *fares*  --->

Special offers --->
 


*Chartered* trains for *parties*,
more info --->
 
 
Model train of our Railcar in HO scale
More info  --->
 


Fairy Land and its subtle sounds, smells and nuances --->
 


Postcards  --->
 
 
Memories...  --->
 

 
 
   
 

 
History
 
   
   
 

Once upon a time in fairyland …
 
   
   
 

' L’Etincelante ' - former RVT electric railcar, introduced 1945, withdrawn 2004

 

The RVT-Historique preservation society was launched in November 2005 in order to save from scrap one of the two electric railcars introduced in 1944/1945 following the electrification of the Travers – Fleurier - Saint-Sulpice branch.
 
The two railcars were named ‘Flamboyante’ and ‘Étincelante’. They were manufactured by the end of WW2. They filled local people with a feeling of pride and expectation after the wartime period.          Please, click to enlarge
            Fleurier  - 1950
   
 
For decades they provided generations of school children, students and workers with painstaking and reliable transportation.

 
 
 

'L’Étincelante' was booked on her last revenue-earning train between Buttes and Fleurier in 2004. Both railcars were then bound for cutting up at the scrapyard.
             Couvet  - 1961
   
  But a team of dedicated railway enthusiasts thought otherwise and approached the regional public transportation company – TRN, Transports Régionaux Neuchâtelois – the actual owners of the heritage rolling stock. Their goal was to preserve at least one of them. ‘L'Étincelante’ was selected as its condition was better.
   
   
 
  'L’Etincelante' in RVT-Historique ownership - 2006

  'L’Etincelante' or ABDe 2/4 in Swiss railway jargon was transferred to RVT-Historique on condition she was well maintained and kept in running order. She was stabled in the disused Longereuse TRN shed and workshop in Fleurier.
 
 
La Flamboyante' happened to be in a worse condition and was subsequently scrapped by the end of 2006 after some spares had been salvaged.

 Various tasks were then carried out by RVT-Historique members to adapt 'L’Étincelante' to her new job :		  
  La Presta - 1960 - Photo S. Jacobi
   
 
- the luggage compartment was converted into a bar/buffet space,
- corroded body panels were cured and the whole bodywork was applied its former red livery
- the interior paintwork and furnishing were renewed,
- a public address system was fitted,
- removable tables were added for on-board catering.
 
 
   
 
 

RVT-Historique’s fleet expands
RVT-Historique soon purchased a small dual mode Tem 292 shunter locomotive from the Swiss Federal Railways – SBB.CFF – thus enabling shunting the railcar on her dedicated siding at Longereuse depot and allowing movements down the Saint-Sulpice branch which was no longer under power.
   
   
 
 

In 2007 the Orbe – Chavornay railway parted with their carefully refurbished salon/buffet car, a former SBB vehicle built in 1955. The carriage was painted in the same livery as carried by 'L’Étincelante' and named after physicist Charles-Edouard Guillaume one of the two Nobel Prizes born in Fleurier. The idea was to celebrate the long lasting watch-making know-how of the valley.
  Couvet - Môtiers - 1968 - K. Meyer
   
  This addition proved particularly useful to cope with the ever-increasing patronage of the chartered trains and thus conrtibute to the financial balance of the RVT-Historique Society.
   
 
The inside decoration of SR 5937 salon/buffet car evokes the life and achievements of the celebrated physicist.  
  Travers - 1973 - Photo M. Stefani
   
 

In 2019 RVT-Historique was eventually endowed by Trans’N with their small electric Be 4/4 BoBo. The locomotive had been introduced in 1951 to haul local freight trains.   She  can tackle  with  the severe   20°/₀₀ gradients of the Neuchâtel – Travers – Les Verrières main line. She was no stranger to RVT-Historique members as she had often been hired to haul their heaviest trains.
 
 
 
  Since 2005 RVT-Historique has operated a considerable number of scheduled trains – open to all on four Saturdays per season – with VVT steam train connections plus numerous chartered trains. The latter being extremely popular with groups visiting the La  Presta mines, the Mauler wine cellar, the distilleries, the Robella Féeline sledge and so forth.
           Fleurier  -  2007
   
 


In 2015 RVT-Historique was granted their "Certificat de Sécurité" – safety certificate by the Federal Transportation Bureau – O.F.T. Office Fédéral des Transports. Now a full-fledged railway company RVT-Historique can operate their trains on most standard gauge railway lines in Switzerland even though their usual range of action seldom extends beyond the Three-lake Region around Neuchâtel. Their farthest trip took them as far as Aigle in 2011.
   
   
 
     
    ABDe 2/4 - 2006 - P. Arnaud     SR 5937 -  2016 - J-P. Beuret       Be 4/4 - 2008 - J-P. Beuret    Tem 292 -  2009 - P. Bobillier
   
   
  More about our Rolling stock   here
   
 
  Etat / Stand : 04.02.2021
   
   

Association RVT-Historique  –   Les Lignières 16  –  2105 Travers (Neuchâtel)  -  Suisse
Tel. 079.563.22.78   ou   032.863.24.07  -  Email : info@rvt-historique.ch
Banque Raiffeisen  CH34 8080  8002 9724 9436 1 -   ©  2006-2024  Tous droits réservés