"Bernina Crocodile" Ge 4/4 # 182 on the 7.0 % grade of the Bernina line near Alps da Buond. History from Wikipedia: "The machine was delivered to the Bernina Railway (BB) on 10 March 1928 to be used on the narrow-gauge line from St. Moritz via Pontresina, the Bernina Pass and Poschiavo to Tirano in Italy. After the takeover of the independent company by the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) in 1944, the locomotive and the remaining BB vehicles also became its property.
The locomotive was rebuilt in 1946; its snow plough stems were converted into normal stems. Due to the changed weight distribution, the originally eccentrically arranged pivot pins also had to be moved to the middle of the bogies. This made the locomotive 2 tons lighter and 40 cm shorter. In 1953 and 1962 the locomotive was badly damaged in accidents but rebuilt in each case. The machine was renumbered from 82 to 182 in 1961 to clear the range 51-99 for tractors. In 1977 the locomotive was discarded and went to the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, where it remained until 1981.
In 1984 it was bought by a French private person or his company and parked on a track of the French metre gauge railway St.Georges-de-Commiers - La-Mure (SGLM). Contrary to some sources, SGLM has not taken over the locomotive. After the private individual's company got into financial difficulties and the condition of the locomotive parked outdoors deteriorated visibly and threatened to demolish, action was called for. This was a difficult legal undertaking, as the locomotive had already fallen into bankruptcy. Thanks to the dedicated commitment of an expert Frenchman (Eric Béttega) and the Swiss Patrick Belloncle, the locomotive was purchased locally by Club 1889 - a Grisons railway club - and transported back to Switzerland in 1999 by his group Associazione 182 in order to use it again on the Bernina line after a restoration as a nostalgic vehicle. The first test drive under our own steam took place after the inspection on 28 May 2010. Since June 2010, the Bernina Crocodile has been officially back in operation and is used for special museum trips on the Bernina line."
