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

The Summer Timetable (until Sunday 27th October) is now in operation
    The paddle steamer is in service
A copy of the full Summer 2013  timetable is now available on their website
giving details of all BLS regular sailings planned to be worked by both the paddle steamer and 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 Geneva
CGN Official site
The Spring Timetable (until Saturday 22nd June) is now in operation
    the paddle steamers are now in operation
    In addition MPV Helévtie is static at the Launamme Olympic Site
The official website has been re-vamped
Absolutely BIZZARE !!! - at the moment, the CGN no longer shows the full timetable (to plan your trips) or the useful monthly "OGS" (steamer rosters) --- a VERY unfortunate backwards step making the website vurtually USELESS for the average visitors who do NOT already know where they want to go !!!
The on-line search engine is ok as such - but ONLY if you want to check the details of your already arranged trip
Unlike most other lakes - having been the first operator to publish their monthly "OGS" (steamer rosters) - confirmation of the vessels planned to operate most of the CGN sailings for the next month - this informatin can NO LONGER be found on their official site
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen with the paddle steamers 		Available in English
but you are advised to also look at the
French pages for the
most uptodate ' day-to-day ' information
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 three * "long-term laid-up")
* - MPV Vevey has now moved from lay-up at Geneva amd entered the dry-dock at Ouchy works		 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 Spring Timetable (until Saturday 25th May) is now in operation
    the paddle steamers are now in service
A copy of the full Spring 2013  Summer 2013 and Autumn 2013 timetables are 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 Summer Timetable (until Sunday 27th October) is now in operation
    The paddle steamer is in service.....
A copy of the full Summer 2013  and early-Winter 2013 timetables are now available on their website
giving details of all BLS regular sailings planned to be worked by both the paddle steamer and 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 Summer Timetable (until Sunday 20th October) is now in operation
    the paddle steamers are now in service
It is now possible to view or download a PDF file showing the official annual timetable and excursions - which also includes details of all the timetabled and special sailings operated by both the paddle steamers and the motor vessels - select "Gesamtfahrplan"
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 paddle steamer sailings to or from any Swiss piers..........
   ..........but there are special sailings on a limited number of dates in the summer
    The 100 year old paddle steamer is now in service
See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of "special sailings" expected to operated by the paddle steamer 		Now available
in German
and English
 
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 Spring Timetable (until Sunday 2nd June) is now in operation
    Both paddle steamers are undertaking a major re-build
and were NOT in service during 2012
A copy of the full Spring 2013 timetable is now available on their website giving details of all NLC 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 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 Spring Timetable (until Friday 31st May) is now in operation
    The two motor paddle vessels are laid up for the winter
A copy of the full Spring 2013 and Summer 2013 timetables are now available on their website giving details of all NLG regular sailings planned to be worked by both the motor paddle vessels and the motor vessels

Unfortunately no specific reference is made to which sailings will be operated by the motor paddle vessels 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 Summer Timetable (until Sunday 15th September) is now in operation
    The paddle steamer is now in service
                                (operating charter sailings)
A copy of the full Summer 2012 timetable is now available on their website giving details of all NLM regular sailings planned to be worked only by the motor vessels

See also my "Timetable Index" and "Summary Page" for further details of what is expected to happen 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
Paddlesteamers.info

 One of the internet’s leading information sources about paddle steamers worldwide, containing a large selection of photographs and news - edited by Gordon Stewart
A website not to miss !		 In English
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
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 May 2013   e-mail   (c)1999-2013 John B Bird