Sennebogen telescopic crane assists in rescuing a derailed train in Switzerland

In early January, winter storm Eleanor battered the village of Lenk in Switzerland, pushing a 19-tonne Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (MOB) vehicle off its rails in the process. But now, the vehicle is back in action. It was a Sennebogen 673 E crane th

In early January, winter storm Eleanor battered the village of Lenk in Switzerland, pushing a 19-tonne Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (MOB) vehicle off its rails in the process. But now, the vehicle is back in action. It was a Sennebogen 673 E crane that came to the rescue. Working on a frozen area of ground, it hoisted the vehicle securely back onto the tracks.

So what exactly happened? On January 3, 2018, the MOB train left Lenk station and began its journey towards the village of Zweisimmen. On reaching Boden/Lenk, the 19-tonne vehicle that was driving the series of carriages was hit by a gust of wind from storm Eleanor, lifting it off the rails and leaving it lying on its side on a patch of open ground.

One month after the storm, and following some extensive preparation work, a rescue operation was able put to the derailed vehicle back on track. The process involved two telescopic crawler cranes that positioned themselves on the frozen terrain on either side of the toppled vehicle. One of these was a Sennebogen 673 E: working together with the second crane, it was able to hoist the vehicle off the ground and place it securely back on the rails. The process involved two stages, in which the vehicle was firstly placed back onto its still-intact chassis and then lifted onto the rails. Thanks to its track width of 4.10 meters and its crawler tracks' extensive footprints, the Sennebogen crane was able to keep any damage exerted on the ground to a minimum.

Supplied by service and sales partner Kuhn Schweiz to Toggenburger AG, the equipment features a 168 kW diesel engine that complies fully with Tier 4f emissions specifications and is able to lift loads weighing up to 70 tonnes. The innovative self-assembly system of the 673 enables it to be set up and taken down within the shortest time possible. With a transport width of just 3.0 m, even a standard flat-bed trailer can be used for removal transport – and the ballast can be dismounted for transport in six easy steps.

In addition to the 673, Toggenburger's fleet of machinery includes a Sennebogen 643 R 40-tonne telescopic crawler crane. The prominent Swiss company looks after projects throughout the entire world and is able to take on even the most complex types of job. Organized by the MOB operator itself, the two-crane rescue operation was a complete success. A locomotive will now guide the vehicle towards Chernex in the canton of Vaud, where the MOB depot is situated. Shortly before midday on the day of the rescue, Hans-Ruedi Gerber, Head of Marketing & Communication for MOB, was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief: "The vehicle is back on the rails. The entire operation ran smoothly and without incident."