Suchard chocolate factory funicular (Switzerland)
The 'Suchard' funicular
The Serriere dale
The Serriere river is with, the Seyon river, one of the two rivers which
come from the Val de Ruz.
The Serriere river is one of the shortest river of Switzerland. Its spring,
or re-emergence, is at 45 meters above the Neuchatel lake et its length is
only 600 meters. The river dig a deep dale in the first foothills of the
Jura mountain.
Since the XIVth century, factories were built into the dale so they can
use the constant rate of flow of the river for their industries: sawmills,
flour-milling industry, forges, paper mills, etc
In 1826, Philippe Suchard installed a chocolate factory in a building with
a water wheel to grind the cocoa beans.
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Philippe Suchard
(1797-1884) |
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| Poster for the Philippe Suchard chocolate
with as background, the Serriere dale. |
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The railway Les Verrieres-Neuchatel, part of the Jura-Simplon company,was
unveiled in 1860. The railway line fly over the dale on a 27,40 meters high
viaduct.
The fabrics in the dale cannot directly have the advantage of the railway
which is too high. Several projects were examined to link the bottom of the
dale to the new railway.
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The Serriere dale in 1892.
The Jura-Simplon railway pass over the Serriere dale on the
viaduct. The Suchard chocolate factories are smoking
on the left bank of the river. Next, the Berthier bridge with
the Tivoli street and in the backgroung the Neuchatel lake.
Note on the right bank of the river, the Decauville rails on
which trolleys are pushed by the workers.
On the foregroung the building is part of the Serriere train
station. It will be the upper station of the future funicular! |
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This is the Henri Ladame (1838-1926) project which was finally accepted.
The 'Société du plan incliné' company was created on
April 22, 1890. The first works started on February 3, 1891. The first use
of the new funicular was on June 2, 1892.
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Map of the Serriere dale in 1896.
Click to enlarge! |
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