Swiss train swaps the Alps for Snowdon in historic reunion of locomotives built 125 years ago

A train usually accustomed to climbing slopes in Switzerland has travelled 900 miles by road to Snowdon to give visitors a taste of the Alps.

For the first time, one of the trains from the Brienz Rothorn Bahn (BRB) mountain railway in Switzerland has made the journey to Wales to meet up with its sister locomotives operating on Snowdon.

The BRB railway was first opened in 1892 and normally operates a service taking visitors to the 2,350 metre summit of Brienzer Rothorn, the highest in the Emmental Alps.

Despite being Wales' highest mountain, Snowdon stands over 1,200 metres shorter than its Swiss counterpart.

But in September, visitors to the Snowdon Mountain Railway will be able to take advantage of free rides on the BRB's steam locomotive, from Llanberis to Waterfall Halt.

With the exception of two World Wars, Snowdon Mountain Railway has run uninterrupted since 1896.

As well as welcoming over 130,000 visitors a year, it has also been used to help mountain rescue teams working on Snowdon.

Between departures, the train and carriage will sit at the Llanberis arrivals platform where visitors can get a close look at the locomotive, talk to experts from the Swiss railway and take photographs with the historic engine.

The BRB and Snowdon Mountain Railway use the same rack-and-pinion rail system and their steam engines were built in the same Swiss factory over 125 years ago.

BRB’s train is operated by a fully Swiss crew and will undertake four return trips, part-way up the mountain, every day throughout September except Fridays, with carriage spaces allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

The locomotive will be operating on Snowdon from this Saturday, September 1st, until September 30th.