Eurovapor
The eurovapor is a European society of railway fans dedicated to the preservation of
History
eurovapor stands for the Europäische Vereinigung zur betriebsfähigen Erhaltung von Dampflokomotiven und historischem Eisenbahnmaterial' which means 'European Society for Preservation of Working Steam Locomotives and Historic Railway Stock'. It was founded on 17 November 1962 at the Hotel Victoria in Basel. The headquarters of the society is in Zürich. Its aim is not merely to preserve steam locomotives and historic wagons as museum exhibits, but to restore the vehicles and to operate them as a living witness to a bygone technological era. eurovapor is mainly active in Switzerland and southern Germany. Its members are organised into sections and they voluntarily maintain and operate 15 steam engines and their associated wagons.
In May 1968 the first steam locomotive, the Class T 3, No.30, was taken over from the Southwest German Transport Company (SWEG) together with three wagons. They were restored to operational condition by 1970 since when they have been working, primarily on the
By the end of the 1970s, eurovapor had procured, with the assistance of the Genossenschaft der Dampflokfreunde (GdF) larger locomotives as well, like the
Vehicle collection
The vehicle fleet since 1987 has comprised 15 steam locomotives, a diesel railcar, a railway crane and 60 wagons.
Sections
In the meantime the sections have partly been made largely independent, in order to divide responsibilities better and to make it easier to be able to achieve charitable status in each country. These sections are however still linked to eurovapor. They exist in Wutachtal (WTB e.V.), im Kandertal (Kandertalbahn e.V.) und im Emmental (Verein Historische Eisenbahn Emmental).
Film
- SWR: Eisenbahn-Romantik – 35 Jahre Eurovapor (No. 271)