145-Year-Old Steam Giants Wake Up 🚂🔥 | Bahnfestival Brugg 2026

Step inside Bahnfestival Brugg 2026, one of Switzerland’s most atmospheric railway events, where some of the country’s finest historic standard-gauge steam locomotives return to the rails in smoke, steam, and steel. Filmed this weekend, this long-form video captures a spectacular gathering of antique Swiss steam trains alongside classic diesel and electric shunting locomotives (Rangierlokomotiven). From elegant passenger locomotives to industrial workhorses, the festival showcases living railway history in motion with authentic sounds, switching movements, steam clouds, and classic mechanical engineering. One of the absolute highlights is the legendary Ed 3/3 No. 3 “Langnau”, the oldest operational standard-gauge adhesion steam locomotive in Switzerland. Built in 1881 by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) in Winterthur for the Emmentalbahn, this remarkable locomotive originally served lines such as Burgdorf–Solothurn and Burgdorf–Langnau before later working as an industrial switcher at the Gerlafingen Steelworks. After decades of retirement as a static exhibit at the Swiss Museum of Transport (Verkehrshaus Luzern), the locomotive has now returned to active operation thanks to an extensive restoration and a five-year operational loan agreement between the Swiss Museum of Transport and the heritage preservation association Dampfbahn Bern (DBB). Seeing this 145-year-old steam giant operating again at Bahnfestival Brugg 2026 was truly something special. The Ed 3/3 No. 3 is also famous for its highly unusual “Brown” valve gear system developed under SLM director Charles Brown, featuring striking long vertical-rocking mechanisms that make the locomotive especially fascinating to watch in motion. #steamtrain #steamlocomotive #railway #locomotive #trainspotting #railwayheritage