Virglbahn

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Virglbahn
length 342 m
Maximum slope 700 ‰
Height difference 196.05 m
Operating mode electric
Gauge 1000 mm
opening November 20, 1907
Legend
   
 0.000 Untervirgl 261.05  m above sea level A.
   
 Viaduct (6 m)
   
 Viaduct (46 m)
   
 0.171 Alternative point in the middle of the route
   
 Virglsteig
   
   
 0.342 Virglwarte 457.1  m above sea level A.

The Virglbahn ( Italian Funicolare del Virgolo ) was a funicular railway in the city of Bozen in South Tyrol . Between 1907 and 1943 it connected the Bolzano valley floor with the Virglwarte restaurant on the Virgl . Until the Second World War, together with the Guntschnabahn , Kohlerer Bahn and Rittner Bahn, it opened up the heights around Bolzano for recreation and tourism .

Towards the end of the Second World War, the railway was badly damaged by bombing in the lower part due to its proximity to the Brenner Railway and Bolzano train station and was not put back into operation. As a successor, a cable car of the same name ( Funivia del Virgolo ) was built, which opened up the Virgl between 1957 and 1976.

Funicular

Bolzano's local mountain, Virgl, which is comparatively easy to reach from the city center, has long been a popular recreational destination for residents and visitors to the city. The reason was not least the wide panoramic view of the Eisack Valley , the Renon , the Adige Valley and the direction of Überetsch .

In order to further develop the Virgl for tourist use , a consortium to build a railway was founded in 1906 at the instigation of the Bozen banker Sigismund Schwarz, who was also involved in the construction of the Mendelbahn . Initial plans to build an aerial cableway , as pursued by the competitor Josef Staffler to develop the neighboring Kohlerer Berg , were abandoned due to a lack of experience and standardization of this technology. Instead, the renowned Zurich engineer Emil Strub was commissioned to plan and build a funicular.

Construction began at the end of 1906 under the leadership of Schwarz's eldest son, the engineer Erwin Schwarz. The station building and the substructure were built by the construction company A. Guschelbauer & Marek from Bozen. The superstructure , drive and carriage frames were supplied by L. v. Rollschen Eisenwerke from Bern. The electrical equipment came from the AEG Union-Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft from Vienna, the wire rope from the St. Egydyer Eisen- und Stahlindustrie-Gesellschaft . After about a year of construction, the railway was opened for public transport on November 20, 1907.

The construction costs - including the purchase of land and the cost of setting up the actual Virglwarte restaurant - totaled 529,400 crowns . The share capital of the building consortium has been handed down at 600,000 crowns.

During the Second World War , the railway was badly damaged in the bombing of the nearby Bolzano train station and had to be discontinued from 1943. After the end of the war, operations were not resumed.

Route description

Height and position profile

The valley station in Untervirgl, which was limited to the bare essentials, was at the beginning of Kalvarienbergstraße at 261.05  m above sea level. A. , directly at the underpass of the Brenner Railway . Due to the limited space, this only consisted of a two-meter-wide staircase covered with corrugated iron, which was located to the right of the track and served the function of a platform. The public access was still below the railway bridge.

The mountain station at the Virglwarte was 196.05 meters above sea ​​level at 457.1  m above sea level. A. The step -shaped platform, again to the right of the track, was located directly on the north-western narrow side of the Virglwarte ; the access was - comparable to the mountain station of the Mendelbahn - but was much more spacious via several arched stairs and led over the veranda of the inn. In addition to the guest and service rooms, there was also a waiting room.

The horizontal distance between the stations is 288.25 meters. The gradient is 660 ‰ on the first 178.83 meters and even 700 ‰ on the last 109.42 meters. The change in inclination was rounded off by means of an arc of 1200 meters radius. The Virglbahn was the steepest of the South Tyrolean funiculars. A short distance after the valley station, the lift had an arc of 250 meters radius, but otherwise ran straight. This results in an inclined length of the track of 342 meters. The automatic passing point in the middle of the otherwise single-track railway was 77 meters long. The distance between the track axes was 2.7 meters there.

For this route, engineering structures had to be built in the lower area: Immediately after the valley station, the masonry and 1.50 meter wide dam with a 6 meter wide viaduct crosses today's Kalvarienbergstrasse. Shortly afterwards, the particularly characteristic, 46-meter-long, tensioned viaduct in the middle of the wall follows. This has two openings of 6 and 24 meters horizontally. In the upper area, an incision up to 7 meters deep and 3.40 meters wide at the bottom had to be made in the rock. Because of the nearby buildings, the blasting work required for this was particularly cumbersome and required further protective measures. In addition, endangered boulders of the brittle wall had to be reinforced or cleared.

dare

The two two-axle cars were designed for the mean gradient of 680 ‰. They were 8.6 meters long with an axle base of 4.2 meters. The curb weight was 6.4 tons, the weight of the full car about 9.2 tons. The two-axle bases of the wagons came from the L. v. Rollschen Eisenwerke , the car bodies from the Grazer Maschinen- und Waggonbau-Aktiengesellschaft .

Each car consisted of four tiered compartments, the middle of which were closed and the outer ones open. There were eight seats per compartment. The benches in the top compartment were foldable so that luggage and goods could be transported more easily. In addition, standing room for twelve could be created if necessary. So there was a maximum of 36 passengers in the car. The two end platforms were intended for the driver. The sliding doors of the compartments could also be centrally locked from there.

drive

The railway winch was located in the basement of the Virglwarte , the driver's cab was on the ground floor. As with the Guntschna and Kohlerer Bahn, the electricity and water works at Zwölfmalgrei supplied the necessary electrical energy via an overhead line about 4 kilometers long to the mountain station. There the three-phase current of 3.6 kV, 50 Hz, was transformed to an operating voltage of 550 volts. This finally operated an asynchronous motor with 50  HP power.

The winch was fitted with various braking devices. In particular, automatic braking was triggered by a stop lever in the mountain station when the end position was exceeded or by a centrifugal governor when the driving speed was exceeded sufficiently.

The maximum line speed was set at 1.5 m / s (5.4 km / h). The journey time was about four minutes. If transfer times were neglected, a maximum of 15 journeys per hour would have been possible, the theoretical transport capacity would be 540 passengers per hour and direction.

business

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In operation from 1918.
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As with the Mendelbahn, operations were initially run by the Südbahn-Gesellschaft . The joint operations management for both railways was based in Bolzano. Trips were carried out every half hour between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. with the exception of a lunch break between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. If necessary - specifically when selling at least five tickets - the 30-minute cycle was condensed with special trips. During the summer season between July 1st and September 30th, operations started at 7:00 a.m. and only ended with a last trip at 11:00 p.m., whereby - while maintaining the midday rest - from 09:00 a.m. even in 15 minutes - has been driven at intervals. A simple ascent cost 60 Heller , a simple descent 50 Heller. 80 Heller had to be paid for the return trip, and a subscription for 20 ascent or descent was available for 6 crowns.

Cable car

Remains of the mountain station of the cable car

In 1957 a cable car took over the transport of people up the Virgl. The mountain station remained at the Virglwarte , the valley station , on the other hand, was relocated to Schlachthofstrasse in Bozner Boden to make it easier to reach . This cable car was shut down in 1976 because the operator was unable to meet the increased technical requirements.

Today the Virgl has lost its importance as a recreational area, probably also due to its poor development. The Kohlerer Bahn , which was competing from the start, has now finally taken over its role.

Relics

From the valley station of the funicular near the underpass of the Brennerbahn , only a small part of the wall is visible today. The immediately following route, on the other hand, is largely preserved, but overgrown by bushes. In particular, the long viaduct can be clearly seen from the city on the slope. A little above the former turnout, the Virglsteig crosses the route over a bridge that has existed since the railway was built.

The Virglwarte restaurant is still clearly visible on the Virgl, but without public access and in a ruinous condition. The mountain station of the funicular there was dismantled, but the ruins of the mountain station of the cable car still stand - also visible from the city. The location of the associated valley station, however, can no longer be seen in the cityscape, at least since the construction of the “Bozen Mitte” car park.

gallery

  • Pedestrian bridge over the route of the former Virglbahn

  • Brick remains of the route

  • Rock cut in the upper section

  • Passage point just below the pedestrian bridge

literature

Web links

Commons : Virglbahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Notice concerning the list annexed to the International Agreement on Freight Carriage by Rail. January 23, 1908  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Armbruster: The Tyrolean mountain railways . S. 147-154 .
  2. ↑ a b c Board of Trustees for Technical Cultural Assets: Virgl funicular railway. Retrieved September 16, 2017 .
  3. ^ South Tyrolean administration: GeoBrowser. Retrieved on September 16, 2017 (map level "historical construction plan").
  4. ↑ Today signposted as hiking trail 4B.

Coordinates: 46 ° 29 ′ 31 ″  N , 11 ° 21 ′ 17 ″  E