SWISS PADDLE STEAMER
        LINKS


LINKS to other Swiss and Italian paddle steamer related sites
Click on logo (left-hand column) for link to official sites
Click here for other (non-Swiss) transport links and websites
Click here other paddle steamer "photo" sites
*** If this page appears without the 'contents' on the left hand side, please click here ***
Lake Brienz
BLS Official site
There are NO sailings on Lake Brienz during the winter
Limited sailings by motor vessels only are expected to re-commence in April 2009
The paddle steamer has completed her sailings for the 2008 season and is laid-up" for the Winter
 Available in English as well as German and French
Friends of Steam
Lake Thun
and Lake Brienz
Unfortunately
only available
in German
 
Lake Geneva
CGN Official site

 The early-Winter Timetable (until Saturday 13th December) is now in operation
A copy of the full Early Winter 2008 timetable is now available on their website giving details of all CGN regular sailings planned to be worked by both the paddle steamers and the motor vessels
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen with the paddle steamers
Confirmation of the vessels planned to operate most of the CGN sailings for the next month can usually be found on their official site
- see small panel now at the bottom of the page headed "OGS"
make sure you check all the amendments thereto - including those not posted on the official website (ie - always confirm locally as well) ! 		Although there is now an English "home page"
- at present, all links still only go to the French pages
Jean Vernet
Unofficial site
An excellent site
Numerous pictures of all the CGN operational vessels in service on Lake Geneva (including the four paddle steamers and the one remaining motor paddle vessel) --- also all the piers (both active and no longer used)
Regular news, ship rosters, press reports, picture of the month, document of the month, sailings graphs, features, etc.		 Unfortunately
only available
in French
but well worth a visit !
L'Association des
Amis des Bateaux
à Vapeur du Léman
 An association  ("Friends of the Lake Geneva Paddle Steamers") formed to support the CGN, with the prime objective of raising funds to renovate all eight paddle steamers (including the two "long-term laid-up") Unfortunately
only available
in French
Association
Patrimoine
du Léman
 The object of this association founded in 1983 is "To safeguard the heritage of Lake Geneva..."
The site chronicles many of the achievements to date		 Available in English as well as French
Steve Crook
Unofficial
History Site
 An interesting account of the sailings on Lake Geneva from 1822 to the present day Available in English as well as French
Steam Launch
Étoile Arcture

 An interesting well illustrated website about the Steam Launch Étoile Arcture which on occasions can be seen sailing on Lake Geneva from the larger paddle steamers Unfortunately
only available
in French
but still well worth a visit !
 
Lake Luzern
SGV Official site
The Early Winter Timetable (until Saturday 13th December) is now in operation
A copy of the full early-winter 2008 timetable is available on their website giving details of all SGV regular sailings planned to be worked by both the paddle steamers and the motor vessels
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen with the paddle steamers
Confirmation of the SGV paddle steamer timetabled sailings for the next couple of days can usually be found on their Dampfschiffeinsätze page
 Available in English
but you are advised
to also look at the
German pages for the
most uptodate information
Friends of the
paddle steamers
of Lake Luzern

 Dampferfreunde Vierwaldstättersee
Website of the Friends of the Lake Luzern Paddle Steamers		 Unfortunately
only available
in German
Schiffe auf dem
Vierwaldstättersee

 An interesting site full of pictures of all the ships on Lake Luzern
In addition to the SGV, there are pictures of other passenger and freight vessels operating on the lake together with various docks and the "fireworks" display		 Although in German this does not distract from the pictures
 
Lake Thun
BLS Official site
The Early Winter Timetable (until Saturday 13th December) is now in operation
The paddle steamer has completed her sailings for the 2008 season and is laid-up for the Winter
A copy of the full Early Winter 2008 timetable is now available on their website giving details of all BLS limited regular sailings planned to be worked by the motor vessels
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen with the paddle steamer 		Available in English as well as German and French
Friends of Steam
Lake Thun
and Lake Brienz
 Unfortunately
only available
in German
 
Lake Zurich
ZSG Official site

 The Early Winter Timetable (until Saturday 13th December) is now in operation
The two paddle steamers have completed their sailings for the 2008 season earlier than planned and are laid-up for the Winter
It is still possible to view or download a PDF file showing the official 2008 annual timetable and excursions
which also includes details of all the limited timetabled and special sailings now operated by the motor vessels
Select "Gesamtfahrplan 2008"
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen with the two paddle steamers 		Unfortunately
only the
"entry page"
is in English
with links to other pages only available in German
 
Lake Konstanz
HSG Official site

 There are no regular sailings to or from any Swiss piers
The paddle steamer has completed her sailings for the 2008 season and is laid-up for the Winter
Very few paddle steamer sailings on the lake to/from Swiss piers were planned for the 2008 season, but additional sailings were available for Konstanz harbour - which is just a 3 minute train connection "across the border"
Click here for further details - something similar is expected to happen in 2009 		Unfortunately
only available
in German
 
Sailings on the following three Italian lakes are all operated by the NLI organisation
but managed locally by the NLC, NLG and NLM respectively
Lake Como
NLC Official site
The Winter Timetable (until Saturday 4th April) is now in operation
The paddle steamer has completed her sailings for the 2008 season and is laid-up for the Winter

See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen with the last remaining operational paddle steamer		 Basically in Italian  but several pages now also have English translations
Lariana
Unofficial site

 An excellent site edited by Marcello Baldrati
Numerous pictures and fleet details of the existing and scrapped paddle steamers, motor vessels and car ferries also 'high-speed' craft in service on Lake Como; history; timetables; departures from all piers; news; etc.
Well worth a visit !
 Available in English as well as Italian
Click the "English Version" on the right hand side of the entry page
PS Patria Supporters website

 An excellent site edited by Flaminio Borgonovo giving the history and latest position about the various attempts to restore PS Patria which has been laid up for over a decade

 Available in English as well as Italian
Lake Garda
NLG Official site
The Winter Timetable (until Tuesday 31st March) is now in operation
Only the Torri - Maderno car ferry service runs all winter
but there are also limited motor vessel # sailings until 26th October and from 21st March
# surprisingly these have been operated by a MPV on at least one occasion this year
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen on a non-advertised basis with the last two remaining motor paddle vessels		 Basically in Italian  but several pages now also have English translations
Lake Maggiore
NLM Official site
 The Winter Timetable (until Saturday 4th April) is now in operation
Note:- once again there is no reference to the paddle steamer
in the official "on-line" timetables
The sole operational paddle steamer did NOT operate any public sailings in 2008 although at least one charter sailing was open to the general public
Please e-mail me if you are aware of anything different
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what happened with the last remaining paddle steamer		 Basically in Italian  but several pages now also have English translations
 
Steam Engine
Builder
DLM official site



 Located in Switzerland, this Steam Engine Builder has recently produced many 'modern' economical steam engines for several Swiss railways
In addition, the new Steam Engine built for Lake Geneva's PS Montreux is the only one in the world to be controlled direct from the bridge without the need for an engineer down below
- just go on board and watch !		 Available in English as well as German

 
Other unofficial websites
(covering more than one lake)
Multiple
Lakes
Dampferzeitung

 An excellent site
News about Swiss and other lake paddle steamers
also details of some special/charter sailings
edited by Robert Knöpfel 		Unfortunately
only available
in German
Dampfschiffe
Steamships
Bateaux à vapeur
 News about Swiss and other lake paddle steamers - also Cruise Liners and other transport
edited by Nadia Jöhr		 Unfortunately
only available
in German
at present
but an English version is comming soon
Steam Blog
formally dampfaktuell
Swiss website about steam locos and steamboats
edited by Andrew Thompson
Most articles are about steam locomotives but there are some pages about the paddle steamers		 now in
English
 
Paddle steamer restoration schemes
Jura Lakes
Trivapor
official site

 The Trivapor Organisation owns the former steam engine from the Lake Chiemsee paddle steamer PS Ludwig Fessler which was replaced with a diesel-hydraulic engine in 1973 and plan to install it into their recently acquired PS Neuchâtel which has laid unoperational at Neuchâtel since 1969
Presently the paddle steamer is open for public viewing on the first Thursday of most months 		Unfortunately
only available
in French and German
River Aare
PS Wengi
official site

 A Preservation Society has purchased the old 41.0m Romanian PS Giurgiu built in 1899
It was hoped to tow the vessel to Mülhausen for restoration to operational state with a view to eventually sailing it on the River Aare in Switzerland
It was proposed to rename it PS Wengi after the original Swiss paddle steamer of the same name
The Society now has a new URL for its website and the links have now been updated
Thanks to Nadia Jöhr
 Unfortunately
only available
in German
 
General
Tramscape
(Paddle Steamers Section)
 Large selection of Paddle Steamer photographs (including the Swiss Lakes) available for sale - numerous "sample" photographs available on line
PLEASE mention this site when placing an order		 In English
Martin Longhurst
 Large selection of Paddle Steamer news and photographs (with particular reference to PS Waverley)
 In English
Ray Ward's
 Photo Transport 
 An interesting monthly selection of various transport photo features
March 2004 - Swiss Lake Steamers
 In English
 
Other (non-Swiss) Transport Links and Websites
Other Swiss Paddle Steamer Photographic Websites

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Lake Brienz Lake Como Lake Garda Lake Geneva Lake Konstanz Lake Luzern Lake Maggiore Lake Thun Lake Zurich News Page PS Fleets Restore Frames
Updated - Lakes Brienz, Geneva, Luzern, Thun, Zurich, Konstanz, Maggiore, Como, Garda 11th November 2008   e-mail   (c)1999-2008 John B Bird