The scene unfolds on 8 June 1888 at the foot of the Salève mountain in Étrembières. It is the day the railway line was entrusted to three electrical engineers from Geneva. Their project was to build an electric rack train linking Veyrier and the Plateau des Treize-Arbres (the plateau of thirteen trees) on the Grand Salève. Winding along the cliffs, it took them four years to brave the hostile terrain and build the track. The train was inaugurated in 1892, becoming the world’s first electric rack train!
With 12 self-propelled coaches for 480 people. This gave the “Balcony of Geneva” enormous potential for visitors. Monnetier-Mornex quickly became a popular destination. Hotels and restaurants sprouted on the Plateau des Treize-Arbres. And speaking of sprouting, Swiss botanist Henry Correvon created a botanical garden nearby. And not a small one! It covered 6,000m² of garden open to the public. He tried to acclimatise many plants from the Jura, the Alpes, the Pyrénées and even some species from the Himalayas. It was a stunning floral bouquet that took visitors on an exotic journey.
