Sernftal Railway Museum Elm

Only a few kilometers long and modestly equipped, the Sernftalbahn brought movement to the Glarus Kleintal. Although it only lasted for a few decades (1905-1969) before being replaced by more economically efficient mass transportation, the small narrow-gauge railroad really turned life in the Kleintal upside down. The railroad brought modernity to the valley.

It established a connection to the Grosstal and provided a convenient route for the Alpine tourism that had been emerging since the turn of the 20th century. It brought electricity and the first telephone wires to the Kleinstal, created sought-after jobs, brought people from the valley to the textile industry locations; it was used to send various goods back and forth between the Kleinstal and Grosstal: slate, hay, cows, cobblestones and much more.

The exhibition "A mountain valley on the move" in the former station building brings the "Bähndli", as the Sernftalbahn was affectionately called by the valley's inhabitants, back to life: The disused railroad ticket office is put back into operation, stories from locals and well-traveled vacation guests come together in the former waiting room and behind the counter in the former station office you can look over the shoulders of former railroad employees at work. Freight is piled up in the goods shed and the Engi-Vorderdorf station, the operating hub of the Sernftalbahn, is presented on a 0m gauge modular layout.

Powerful forces of nature such as avalanches, floods and storms shaped the operation of the Sernftalbahn. Audio stations, original objects, model trains, documents, plans and photographs illustrate the railroad atmosphere in the Chlytal at that time.

On the walk through the station grounds, you can discover further evidence from the 60-year history of the Sernftalbahn. The bright red railcars invite you to take a look and linger.

To arouse the interest of our young guests, we have created the brochure "Discover the Sernftalbahn Museum" for the children's trail. Under the motto "see, hear, do", a visit to the permanent exhibition "A mountain valley in motion" and the entire museum ensemble becomes an experience. You can obtain the brochure and the necessary aids from our museum supervisor. The offer is suitable for individual children and school classes at lower and middle school level. Registration is required for school classes.

The popular SeTB garden train for "young and old" makes its rounds on the grounds of the museum ensemble only in dry weather. Fun for the whole family!

Our railcar restaurant and souvenir store round off the offer on the museum grounds.

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.