By Dr. Claudia Hermann

Greenish-grey stone has been quarried in Ostermundigen since the Middle Ages and is used in many well-known monumental buildings, including the Federal Palace. In the 19th century, the Ostermundigen quarry became the largest quarry in Switzerland. The heavy wagons put a strain on the roads and obstructed traffic. When the Bern - Thun line of the Swiss Central Railway (SCB) was opened in July 1859, Ostermundigen was also given a railroad station. A railroad concession was granted in 1864 for the operation of a connecting track to the quarry on the higher ground.

At the suggestion of Niklaus Riggenbach, the future builder of the Rigi Railway, a combined adhesion and cogwheel railroad with a length of around 1.5 km was built. Its first locomotive, called "Gnom", was built in the SCB's main workshop in Olten. From October 6, 1871, it transported freshly quarried stones down to the Ostermundigen railroad station. In 1876, a second locomotive, the "Elfe", was added, which was built by the International Society for Mountain Railways in Aarau.

The way to the Museum of Transport

The sandstone's heyday came to an end in the 1880s. Railroad operations ceased in 1902 and Ludwig Von Roll'sche Eisenwerke took over the two locomotives. In 1942, the Gnom was also taken out of service as a shunting locomotive and transferred by director Ernst Dübi to his foundation for a future works museum. In 2001, Von Roll Holding AG donated the Gnome to the Swiss Museum of Transport. In the years that followed, it was carefully restored. Numerous documents about the gnome and elf can be found in the Museum of Transport's documentation center.