Tschagguns – Partenen railway line

Tschagguns – Partenen material train

View of Partenen from the inclined elevator

	to the Bludenz – Schruns railway line
0.0	Tschagguns reloading point
	Gortniel
	Galgenul
	Gargellener Strasse (L 192)
	St. Gallenkirch
	Gortipohl
	Gaschurn
~ 18.0	Partenen valley station	1030 m

Inclined elevator

Partenen power station with inclined elevator

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

Maximum slope :

855.6 ‰

Top speed:

4.5 km / h

Legend

0.000	Partenen valley station	1030 m
0.727	Evasion
1.453	Trominier mountain station	1730 m

Höhenbahn Trominier

Hochalpenstrasse and Höhenbahn against Litznergruppe

Route number (ÖBB) :

921 01

Gauge :

760 mm ( Bosnian gauge )

Maximum slope :

280 ‰

Minimum radius :

35 m

Legend

0.000	Trominier mountain station	1730 m
	Main tunnel (950 m long)
	Breitfieler tunnel
	Nasal studs
	S-studs
	Head studs
2.630	Vermunt	1731 m

The Tschagguns – Partenen railway line - also known as the Tschagguns – Partenen material railway or the Tschagguns – Partenen works railway - is a former Austrian narrow-gauge railway . The railway connected the Montafonerbahn with the upper Montafon from 1927 to 1961 . Operationally closely connected she was with the inclined elevator Partenen-Trominier station Trominier and built from 1929 to 1930 Höhenbahn Trominier-Vermunt to Vermuntsee .

history

In 1926 and 1927, Vorarlberger Illwerke AG built an approximately 18-kilometer-long, single-track material railway with a gauge of 760 millimeters from Tschagguns via St. Gallenkirch , Gortipohl and Gaschurn to Partenen . Coming from Bludenz , the line branched off to the right shortly before Tschagguns train station from the Montafonerbahn towards Schruns, which had been in existence since 1905 . The first 500 meters of the new line were still standard gauge , the standard gauge ended at the Tschagguns reloading point and the narrow-gauge section began. In Partenen it was directly linked to the 1,453 meter long inclined elevator (actually a funicular ). From there - as an avalanche-proof bypassing today's Silvrettastraße - another 2.6 kilometer long material web was connected. It also had a track width of 760 millimeters, led through several tunnels and avalanche barriers and hit the road again at Vermuntsee.

The material web system was primarily used for the construction of the Vermunt (built 1926 to 1930) and Obervermunt (built 1938 to 1943) power plants, the two reservoirs (Vermuntsee, Silvrettasee ) and then the personnel transport, the maintenance of the power plant levels and the traffic facilities as well as landscape maintenance Tasks.

During and after the Second World War , the Tschagguns – Partenen line was also used for passenger traffic . It was operated with both steam locomotives and diesel locomotives . Scheduled operation was discontinued in 1953, and the route was operated sporadically until 1961 for individual special trips and heavy haulage. It was then shut down and dismantled. Parts of the track's superstructure were used to expand the Stainzerbahn . By the time it was abandoned, the railway had transported around 85,000 tons of material.

present

Until 2001, the approximately 500-meter-long standard-gauge connecting line between the junction from the Bludenz – Schruns railway line and the former reloading point in Tschagguns was still in operation for occasional deliveries of goods for the Illwerke. It was operated by the Montafonerbahn AG , the former reloading point served as a freight station . A remaining section of the narrow-gauge line at the former Tschagguns train station was also used to park the motor ship Silvretta on narrow- gauge rolling wagons in the former narrow-gauge locomotive shed in winter . This ship operated on the Silvretta reservoir in summer . The operational diesel locomotive was set up in the area of tunnel V of the Höhenbahn. In 2011 the Silvretta motorboat was temporarily taken out of service. The winter storage of the boat in the locomotive shed of the narrow-gauge railway in Tschagguns was therefore no longer necessary. A narrow-gauge small diesel locomotive was handed over to the Rheinbähnle Association , which today operates the former works railway of the International Rhine Regulation . In April 2013 the systems of the narrow-gauge railway in Tschagguns were removed, as well as the locomotive shed and loading crane. The remaining narrow-gauge wagons went to commercial and private buyers.

The Tschagguns – Partenen route itself today largely serves as a railway cycle path . At Gaschurn a section is used as a bypass road on the Silvrettastraße (B 188). In addition to the subgrade itself, numerous other relics have been preserved, such as several bridges. Instead of the funicular, the Vermuntbahn , an aerial cableway (which is also designed for transporting materials), operates today , and the maintenance stairs (as an attraction, Europatreppe 4000 ) have been preserved. A maintenance road now runs along the route of the Höhenbahn, on which the winter shuttle bus traffic for the Bielerhöhe ski area is also handled. In summer it is also used as a cycling and hiking trail, now called the Höhenweg . The Vermunt water adventure tunnel serves as a show tunnel and there is an exhibition in the Schnausa tunnel .

Projects

There have been several considerations to extend the Montafonerbahn using the old narrow-gauge line to Partenen. This was z. B. discussed in the 1980s and taken up again in 2015 with the destination St. Gallenkirch . In July 2019, the project of a tram train to Gaschurn was presented during a press trip .

Remnants of the inclined elevator at the starting point in Partenen: Europatreppe 4000 , above the new cable car

The new Höhenweg on the old railway line at the Vermunt side portal of the Vermunt tunnel; 180 ° panorama

Web links

Commons : Tschagguns – Partenen railway line - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Inclined elevator Partenen – Trominier - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Höhenbahn Trominier – Vermunt - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Sepp Tezak : Steiermärkische Landesbahnen , Volume III (Stainz, rats). Vienna 1985, publisher Peter Pospischil. Volume 43 of the series “Bahn im Bild”, p. 94.
↑ Montafonerbahn is to be extended. vorarlberg.orf.at, May 14, 2019, accessed on May 14, 2019 .
^ The Montafonerbahn ( Memento from April 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) walter-rbg.de…
↑ "Paving the Way" project to expand the "MoBah" to St. Gallenkirch article on 5 February 2015. Retrieved on March 4, 2015
^ State of Vorarlberg - press. Retrieved July 12, 2019 .

[1] Sepp Tezak : Steiermärkische Landesbahnen , Volume III (Stainz, rats). Vienna 1985, publisher Peter Pospischil. Volume 43 of the series “Bahn im Bild”, p. 94.

[2] Montafonerbahn is to be extended. vorarlberg.orf.at, May 14, 2019, accessed on May 14, 2019 .

[3] The Montafonerbahn ( Memento from April 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) walter-rbg.de…

[4] "Paving the Way" project to expand the "MoBah" to St. Gallenkirch article on 5 February 2015. Retrieved on March 4, 2015

[5] State of Vorarlberg - press. Retrieved July 12, 2019 .