You are here: Homepage Rolling Stock Xrot d 9213 Atdress of this page: http://www.ozdoba.net/rhb/fzg/xrot_e.html

Rhaetian Railway (RhB) – Prototype and H0m Model Railroading

RhB Xrot d 9213

      Xrot d is, in a way, a dinosaur, a relic of the old times that we so often associate with having been “good old times.” It is the last of its kind in Europe that is still alive, and very much alive at an age of nearly a hundred years now.

      Xrot d is a steam rotary snow plough (X: service vehicle, rot: “rot”ary snow plough, d: “D”ampf (steam) engine) that was built in 1910. Until today, 9213 still performs its duties for the RhB, and, though more powerful snow ploughs exist, no one thinks of putting it out of service.

You can clearly see the two cylinders at each of the three-axle trucks and the cylinders at both sides of the boiler that drive the snow plough by a crank mechanism. (Source: Schweizerischer Lokomotivbau 1871–1971. Herausgegeben von der Schweizerischen Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik Winterthur aus Anlass der Feier ihres hundertjährigen Bestehens. SLM, Winterthur 1971)

      When put into service in 1910, the engine had the road number R 1051. When the Bernina-Bahn was taken over by the RhB, this was changed to R 13, and since the early fifties, the road number is Xrot d 9213.

      This machine has a certain charm, and lots of enthusiasts gather whenever this masterpiece of purely mechanical engineering leaves its shed for another run.
      It is quite a sight when 9213 blows the snow away from the tracks of the Bernina line, and it is not astonishing that Ferro-Suisse selected this engine as being worth to commemorate their 10 year jubilee.

This postcard which was cancelled on January 7, 1923, shows Xrot (then R 1051) “in action.” It still looks the same today – you find pictures from one of the regularly scheduled special rides on a separate page.

      Xrot d 9213 had a sister engine, 9214 (former road numbers R 1052 and R 14) which was sold to the → Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke (DFB) in 1990. It was found then that the engine was not usable on cogwheel tracks. The DFB gave 9214 to the Blonay-Chamby museum railway in 1995 in exchange for 9212, a steam snow plough type that can only move over small distances (shunting) on its own. 9214 is not in operating condition.
      The only other still operating steam snow plough world-wide is found in Colorado. It is the “OY” owned by the → Cumbres &Toltec Railroad, built in 1923. On the website YouTube, you find a → video clip that shows this engine in operation.

Technical Data

Copyright © 1997–2008 and responsible for contents: Christoph Ozdoba.
First version January 1, 1997, last edited February 17, 2008.

Back to the section Rolling Stock / the RhB homepage.