Appenzell Railway

This article deals with the railway company that existed until 1988. The Appenzeller Bahnen, created in 1988 through the merger with the SGA, are described in Appenzeller Bahnen (1988) , the successor in Appenzeller Bahnen (2006) , created in 2006 through another merger .

Ordinary share of CHF 500 in the Appenzellerbahn Company from January 1, 1886

SBB advertising poster from 1904

Appenzellerbahn (AB) was from 1885 to 1988, the name of the Appenzell Railways risen and in 1872 under the name Swiss Society for Local Railways (SLB) founded the Swiss railway company, based in Herisau . It operated the meter-gauge railway line Winkeln / Gossau SG – Herisau – Urnäsch – Appenzell .

The Appenzeller Bahn took over the Appenzell-Weissbad-Wasserauen-Bahn (AWW) in 1947 . On January 1, 1988, it merged with the St. Gallen – Gais – Appenzell Electric Railway (SGA) to form the Appenzeller Bahnen (AB). In 2006 the Appenzeller Bahnen merged with other railway companies in the Appenzellerland.

history

The route between Winkeln and Herisau was opened by the Swiss Society for Local Railways (SLB) on April 12, 1875 , and extended to Urnäsch on September 21 . The company, based in Basel, aimed to carry out further rail projects. The fact that the Stäfa - Wetzikon and Muri - Affoltern - Ägeri routes could not be implemented due to the ongoing financial shortage , was followed in 1885 by the company being renamed the Appenzellerbahn Company , or Appenzeller Bahn for short . On August 16, 1886, the Appenzell Railway was able to continue the route between Urnäsch and Appenzell , completing the licensed route.

As a result of the extension of the Appenzeller tram company St. Gallen - Gais to Appenzell, AB has faced strong competition since 1904.

With the opening of the Bodensee-Toggenburg Railway (BT) on October 3, 1910, the terminal station in Herisau with the hairpin was given up and replaced by the joint station created by BT . The Mühlebühl tunnel was replaced by a new building at a lower level. The competition with the BT's standard-gauge line made itself felt on the Herisau – Winkeln section of the AB. So it was decided to connect Gossau SG to the narrow-gauge network instead. On October 1, 1913, the new Herisau – Gossau section was opened, and the old Herisau – Winkeln line was shut down and broken off.

Although the Appenzeller Bahn still took two ABCFm 2/4 diesel multiple units in 1929 , it switched to electric operation on April 23, 1933.

On January 1, 1947 , the Appenzeller Bahn merged with the Appenzell-Weissbad-Wasserauen-Bahn (AWW), which opened in 1912, while retaining the name .

In 1970, the AB and the St. Gallen-Gais-Appenzell-Altstätten-Bahn (SGA) created a joint management after lengthy discussions. On January 1, 1988, they finally merged with each other to form the Appenzeller Bahnen.

photos

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  BDe 4/4 47 above Appenzell, 1983

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  ABe 4/4 43 in Wasserauen terminus, 1983

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  Te 2/2 49 with the two carriages of the 1947 Appenzell-Weissbad-Wasserauen Railway

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  Railcar BDe 4/4 II 33 from 1986 at the head of a reinforced train

literature

• Stephan Müller: The history of the Appenzeller Bahnen AB / SGA / AG / SB. Herisau 1981, ISBN 3-85882-014-0 .
• Peter Willen: Locomotives of Switzerland 2. Narrow-gauge locomotives. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1971.
• Emil Lutz, Peter E. Schaufelberger, Hans Hug: 100 years of the Appenzell Railway. Appenzeller Bahn publishing house, Herisau 1975.

Web links

• Hans Waldburger 125 years of Rorschach - Heiden-Bergbahn (RHB) in the Swiss Amateur Railway Club Zurich (SEAK) , 2000:

(Part 1) ( Memento from February 4, 2005 in the Internet Archive ),

(Part 2) ( Memento from February 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ),

(Part 3) ( Memento from February 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ),

(Part 4) ( Memento from February 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ),

(Part 5) ( Memento from February 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ),

(Part 6) ( Memento from February 18, 2005 in the Internet Archive )

• Discontinued railways in Switzerland, Appenzeller Bahn AB (SLB)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Stephan Müller: The history of the Appenzeller Bahnen AB / SGA / AG / SB. Verlag Schläpfer, Herisau 1981, ISBN 3-85882-014-0 , pp. 34 and 85.
2. ↑ Commercial register of the canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. mentions 1886 as the date of entry and the first statute date to be that of the change of name on November 10, 1885. Online at ar.powernet.ch, accessed on April 7, 2013.  
3. ^ Alfred Moser: The steam operation of the Swiss railways 1847-1966. 4th updated edition, Birkhäuser, Stuttgart 1967. p. 330.