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PS La Suisse and MPV Helvétie operated a special Millennium Eve cruise from Lausanne -- the motor paddle vessel sailed specially from winter lay-up at Geneva to replace the mv Lausanne which had suffered storm damage on 26th December

Lake Luzern

PS Uri operated a special Millennium Eve cruise from Luzern

25th December 1999

Lake Luzern

25th to 30th December 1999 PS Uri operated the scheduled Christmas Day Saturday and Boxing Day Sunday sailings 17-26 also Monday to Thursday sailings 11-18-23-26

3rd July 1999

Lake Geneva

At approximately 2100 on Saturday 3rd July PS La Suisse operating sailing 218 (2010 Yvoire to Lausanne) broke down off St-Prex
Passengers for St-Prex were conveyed ashore by local launches and the remainder were transferred some distance off shore to mv Général-Guisan at about 2225 and conveyed back to Lausanne - the motor vessel having sailed light from Lausanne to St-Prex after her booked sailing 226 from Thonon-les-Bains
She subsequently returned to St-Prex and towed PS La Suisse to Ouchy dock for repairs

1st July 1999

Lake Geneva

Throughout July and August 1999, PS Simplon replaced PS Savoie (which in turn was covering for the re-boilering of MPV Montreux throughout the season) and regularly operated sailings 47-112
-179-176-175-202 (1115 Lausanne to Yvoire followed by a circuit of the Upper Lake and an Evian ferry run)
- this was the first time this paddle steamer had been pre-planned to operate regular timetabled services for many years; her normal role being standby at Lausanne and charters

[Unfortunately this was a "one-off" as these sailings were normally operated by the much smaller mv Henry-Dunant throughout the Summer 2000 season]

3rd April 1999

Lake Geneva

3rd to 25th April 1999 MPV Helvétie operated the scheduled Saturday and Sunday sailings 80-71-118-83-166-99 between Geneva, Nyon and Yvoire replacing the usual mv Ville-de-Genève due to low water levels on the lake

1998

1st November 1998

Lake Geneva

Commencing Sunday 1st November, the first time
for nearly a decade, MPV Vevey operated the regular Winter Sunday sailings 64-173-175-202 from Lausanne (depart 1230) to St-Gingolph and back followed by Lausanne (depart 1815) to Evian-les-Bains and back in lieu of the normal motor vessel
Some weekday and Saturday runs on the Lausanne to Evian-les-Bains ferry were also worked by the paddle steamer (see timetables for full details)
MPV Italie took over from the beginning of February for the remainder of the Winter

4th October 1998

Lake Geneva

The last public runs by Motor Paddle Vessel Montreux took place on Sunday 4th October when she sailed vice the booked MPV Vevey on sailings 33-50-64-155 - 1015 Lasuanne to Evian-les-Bains and 1100 back followed by the regular Winter Sunday afternoon sailing 1230 Lausanne to St-Gingolph and 1547 back - after which she sailed light to Ouchy yard to start her re-conversion to steam power to become Paddle Steamer Montreux

26th April 1998

Lake Geneva

125 Years of the CGN
To celebrate, all eight paddle steamers took part in the second of two special Naval Parades round the entrance to the Little Lake between Nyon and Yvoire on Sunday 26th April

19th April 1998

Lake Geneva

125 Years of the CGN
To celebrate, all eight paddle steamers took part in the first of two special Naval Parades round the Upper Lake near Montreux on Sunday 19th April

1st February 1998

Lake Luzern

PS Uri made a rare public winter outing on Sunday 1st February and operated sailings 17-26 vice a motor vessel - 1315 Luzern to Flüelen and 1558 back
The paddle steamer had been steamed specially the previous day in connection with an official visit by the wife of the President of the United States - Mrs Hilary Clinton

1995

12th August 1995

Lake Brienz

PS Lötschberg operated a combined evening cruise to Mount Rothorn from Interlaken Ost at 1740 on Saturday 12th August
Whilst Interlaken passengers went up Mount Rothorn by Steam Train, the paddle steamer operated a second evening cruise from Brienz at 2000

8th July 1995

Lake Brienz

PS Lötschberg operated a combined evening cruise to Mount Rothorn from Interlaken Ost at 1740 on Saturday 8th July
Whilst Interlaken passengers went up Mount Rothorn by Steam Train, the paddle steamer operated a second evening cruise from Brienz at 2000

1994

17th September 1994

Lake Brienz

PS Lötschberg operated a combined evening cruise to Mount Rothorn from Interlaken Ost at 1740 on Tuesday 17th September
Whilst Interlaken passengers went up Mount Rothorn by Steam Train, the paddle steamer operated a second evening cruise from Brienz at 2000

20th August 1994

Lake Brienz

PS Lötschberg operated a combined evening cruise to Mount Rothorn from Interlaken Ost at 1740 on Tuesday 20th August
Whilst Interlaken passengers went up Mount Rothorn by Steam Train, the paddle steamer operated a second evening cruise from Brienz at 2000

23rd July 1994

Lake Brienz

PS Lötschberg operated a combined evening cruise to Mount Rothorn from Interlaken Ost at 1740 on Tuesday 23rd July
Whilst Interlaken passengers went up Mount Rothorn by Steam Train, the paddle steamer operated a second evening cruise from Brienz at 2000

1993

1st August 1993

Lake Geneva

MPV Helvétie operated sailings 65-76-95-173 (1230 Lausanne "lunch" cruise to Evian-les-Bains and return followed in the afternoon by the "anti-clockwise" cruise Round the Upper lake departing 1415) on Sunday 1st August vice PS La Suisse

1990

8th September 1990

Lake Maggiore

PS Piemonte made a rare special visit to the Swiss waters at the northern end of the lake and operated a charter sailing from Locarno for the 'Dampferfreunde Vierwaldstättersee' on Saturday 8th September
This is the last reported visit by the paddle steamer to Switzerland that I am aware of - can you confirm or advise otherwise ?

1977

October 1977

Lake Garda

PS G Zanardelli ran aground during October near Moderno, sustaining severe damage to the hull
The paddle steamer eventually returned to service six years later after a major re-build which included conversion to a motor paddle vessel

1970

4th October 1970

Lake Luzern

PS Wilhelm Tell made its final sailings 65-70-17-26 on Sunday 4th October
The paddle steamer was subsequently converted into a floating restaurant and moored at the Schweizerhof Quay, Luzern, near to the old town

1969

7th September 1969

Lake Luzern

PS Schiller was a little too close to the land approaching Bouchs on Sunday 7th September and ran aground
She was towed free the following day by her sister PS Wilhelm Tell

1956

13th February 1956

Lake Luzern

PS Unterwalden was on Winter service due to the extremely cold weather which had caused floating ice on the lake. Whilst approaching Kehrsiten Dorf in thick fog at approx 0528 the paddle steamer smashed through a small brick wall and ran aground just north-east of the pier. The bows ended up about six metres on the snow-covered shore between several trees

1938

9th April 1938

Lake Geneva

Last regular winter mid-week sailings of the century by a paddle steamer to Geneva took place on Friday 8th April departing Lausanne at 0800 and returning from Geneva at 1430
It was not until Sunday 29th February 2004 that it was again possible to sail on a motor paddle vessel on timetabled service in the "Little Lake"

3rd April 1938

Lake Geneva

Last winter 'out and back' timetabled Sunday sailings of the century by a paddle steamer from Geneva took place on Sunday 3rd April at 1400
It was not until Sunday 29th February 2004 that it was again possible to make a similar sail on a motor paddle vessel on timetabled service from Geneva during the winter period

1928

13th May 1928

Lake Geneva

PS Rhône collided with PS Genève off Pully on Sunday 13th May
The top of the front mast fell down onto the deck killing one passenger and hurting another two

1923

30th October 1923

Lake Luzern

PS Unterwalden was approaching Beckenried on the last sailing of the day from Luzern to Brunnen on Tuesdy 30th October and ran aground outside the Nidwaldnerhof hotel in dense fog - fortunately no-one was hurt
The bow had to be 'dug-out' and the paddle steamer was refloated with the aid of winches and still managed to make her way back to Luzern under her own power for repairs four days later

Can you help?