Unterach – See tram

since 1938: Unterach – See tram
until 1938: Unterach – See electric local train
Vehicles in front of the depot in Unterach
Route length:	3.258 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	550 V  =
Legend Mondsee 0.000 lake 480 m 0.8     Au 1.0     Highest point on the route 483 m 2.0     Mühlleiten Bridge 2.7     Unterach multi-gym (with coach house and substation) 3.258 Unterach landing area 468 m Attersee

The 3.258 km long electric local railway Unterach Lake (abbreviated ELBUS ) Association from 1907 to Unterach with lake at Mondsee (a suburb of Unterach) and was approved by the railway company Stern & Hafferl operated. On September 26, 1938, was local railway due to the annexation of Austria to the tram Unterach Lake (abbreviated STUs ) reclassified and adjusted finally 1949th In the vernacular also Electrical called train was operated to provide a convenient tourist connection between the two boat docks manufacture and operated only seasonally from May to September. The owner of the railway was the local railway Unterach – See AG, which changed its name to the Tram Unterach – See AG on March 26, 1942 due to the previous re-licensing .

history

prehistory

The operation for the small railway did not initially appear to cover costs , only with the enactment of the Local Railway Act of March 6, 1907, a substantial state contribution could be raised for the planned route . On June 7, 1907, the concession to build and operate the connecting railway was issued. To implement the project, a public limited company was formed in which the Austrian state held a 50 percent stake, the state of Upper Austria held a ten percent stake and the railway construction and operating company Stern & Hafferl in Gmunden held a 40 percent stake. The 3.258 kilometer long narrow-gauge railway was built by Stern & Hafferl in meter gauge and for operation with 600 volts direct current .

Railway construction

Construction work for the local railway began at the beginning of April 1907. The high-rise structures and track systems were built by Stern & Hafferl itself, the electrical equipment was supplied by Siemens-Schuckertwerke . The construction work was done entirely by hand, the workers only used a manually operated field railway for transport purposes . Since the streets were narrow and poor at the time, all of the building material was brought in via the lake. The vehicles that arrived in Unterach between July 17th and 24th were also brought in. Getting there turned out to be relatively complicated: The twelve-tonne wagons were brought to Kammer am Attersee by train and then loaded onto a ship that took them to Unterach. The vehicles were unloaded and put on the rails in the central square. From August 8, 1907, electric vehicles were used, which accelerated the rest of the material transport. Just a few days later, the lift was technically approved and officially opened on August 18, 1907.

business

The two electric motor coaches SM 1 and SM 2 and the two summer sidecars SP 1 and SP 2 were available for passenger transport , but mostly only one motor coach was in use. If necessary, one or two sidecars could be added to the plan. In the beginning the operation was limited to the summer season and in the opening year 1907 comprised 18 pairs of trains, in later years there were only six to eight pairs of journeys. Between 1908 and 1914 the local railway also carried rail mail , the contract with the post office was limited to the period from June 1 to September 30. In 1914, due to the mobilization , mail was given up and not resumed.

In addition, a modest freight service was conducted from April 28, 1909 to July 15, 1910. The years up to the First World War were consistently successful. The Unterachers had taken their "Tramway" into their hearts, it gave the Unterachers a feeling of modernity. Since the ELBUS was primarily a tourist train, the flow of passengers collapsed as a result of the First World War from 1914 onwards. 1915 in particular has been passed down as a weak year. The post-war years were also difficult for the small railroad.

It was not until the beginning of the 1920s that the number of passengers began to rise again, but 1920 was the first financial year to be negative. The economy of scarcity of the war years and the sometimes poor materials - that were not impregnated railway sleepers of wood when the railway used - probably contributed to this circumstance. The bad situation of Mondseeschifffahrt also had a negative effect on the local railway. And no sooner had the number of passengers increased than they fell again in 1923. A tariff adjustment was able to counteract a loss of income, which on the one hand had a positive effect on the state of preservation of the route, and on the other hand also gave society a small plus in the annual balance sheet. In 1926, Attersee-Schifffahrt , Mondsee - Schifffahrt and ELBUS decided to offer a combined ticket to increase passenger frequency . This partially succeeded, but in 1929 the next slump came: the local railway had competition from buses .

Then came the global economic crisis , and in 1930 the number of passengers fell again. And it was to get worse: the thousand-mark block let the flow of tourists from the German Reich dry up completely. During this period, only 3,524 people use the train, which corresponds to an average of 47 passengers per day of operation. The result was a devastating operating result, despite the attempt to shorten travel times and to encourage people to travel by train by lowering tariffs. And again the rail maintenance measures tore a big hole in the company's budget.

On September 26, 1938, the local line was rededicated to a tram , at the same time the Stern & Hafferl sister companies, Electric Local Railway Gmunden and Local Railway Ebelsberg – St. Florian reassigned. From then on, the railway was operated in accordance with the ordinance on the construction and operation of trams (BOStrab), which is still valid in Germany today , and which came into force on April 1, 1938. However, this change in law did not change anything for practical operations; it actually only took place on paper. Such a re-licensing is extremely rare, apart from these three companies, no other companies are known in Germany or Austria where such a step has been carried out (however, shorter sections of certain routes have also been rededicated in other companies). The three railways continued to operate as trams even after the Second World War ; the further political development in Austria did not lead to a legal restoration of the pre-war status in this case.

The annexation of Austria caused a certain euphoria. The operating results rose again. However, bus traffic came up again, whereupon the tram company applied for a car line concession and the abandonment of the rail concession on August 19, 1938. But the process dragged on, so that in 1939 the railway went back into operation. Now the Second World War broke out, fuels made from mineral oil had become “vital to the war effort”, and so the tram company was informed on March 31, 1940 that the request to switch to bus operation could not be granted.

The number of passengers rose again as a result of the Second World War, and numerous Kraft durch Freude vacationers visited Unterach. However, the recruitment of (male) drivers made it more and more difficult to recruit staff, so women had to work for the railway. In the course of the Reich Labor Service, some young people from abroad were also assigned to the railway. The approaching war brought additional passengers to the railway. Driving was done with the SM 1, the poorly running GM 2 remained in the power station. Only when it was no longer possible did the company have to deal with the railcar. In the meantime, the SM 1 continued to be driven as long as the weather allowed. In November 1944 the railway was closed due to the snow masses.

In 1945 the German Wehrmacht surrendered , on May 4th the Attersee shipping ceased operations, and one day later the United States Army moved into Unterach. For the time being, a tram operation was out of the question, the SM 1 did not move out of the power station until July 15, 1945 and was not stopped again until December 7. This time, the winter break was shorter than normal; the STUS resumed operations as early as March 31, 1946. The post-war years were difficult, there was a lack of every nook and cranny. Sometimes there were not even uniforms for the drivers. Despite the shortage economy, the train ran again until December, when the snow masses forced the operation to stop. When the snow had receded at the end of December, it was driven again immediately, this time continuously until February 1949. Only in October 1948 was there a brief interruption in operation, as the power station was adapted to charge the batteries of the Attersee electric ships . The prolonged driving operation earned the driving staff a lot of overtime, which was reduced during the shutdown from March 1 to May 14, 1949.

After the Second World War, however, the number of journeys fell dramatically, so that Stern & Hafferl decided to discontinue the railway after the 1949 summer season. Actually, a discontinuation of the railway was not initially considered, but the bus operation made life difficult for the railway. The last day of operation was September 18, 1949, as a replacement the company Stern & Hafferl used a bus service operated by itself. The end of the railway was not announced until 1950. In 1951 the track system was finally dismantled.

route

Landing area / terminus "See" with Norwegian station pavilion (before 1909)

The route began at the landing site in See am Mondsee. The line ended there bluntly, but from the start there was an approximately 40-meter-long siding , which was used to park and prepare the sidecars . As far as the Reindl mill, the railway line ran along the southern edge of what was then the district road. Today a short remnant of the dam can be seen from the main road just before the lake. The railway circumnavigated the village of Au on its own route, then it went in a straight line on its own railway body to the Wienerroither mill. From there it went along the roadside of the district road to Mühlleiten, where the road was used for a length of 60 meters (rail kilometers 2.1). At 2.2 km the train changed the side of the road; This was followed by a left-hand curve in the direction of the Remise , known as the power station on the train under discussion here, which was at 2.6 km . The remise was connected to the track by means of two switches . After the multi-gym, the route led across the fields to the beginning of Unterach. From kilometer 3.05, the village road was also used. The Vignole track superstructure also ended here, until Unterach Landungsplatz the superstructure now consisted of grooved rails. In Unterach Landungsplatz itself, the railway systems again consisted of a main and a siding, and the line ended bluntly directly in front of the landing stage.

Track systems

The track system consisted of a total of 3,117 meters of Vignole rails and 264 meters of grooved rails . The total length of the tracks was thus 3381 meters, of which 3258 meters were track and 123 meters were siding. In the case of the driveway, tried and tested methods were generally used. The superstructure with Vignol rails consisted of rails of the form XXX with a linear meter weight of 17.9 kilograms. The Vignole rails were fastened to the hardwood sleepers at a distance of about 85 centimeters using shims and rail nails. The grooved rails were 140/125 and weighed 35 kilograms per linear meter. They were to be found in the center of Unterach (route kilometers 3.015 to 3.258) and on the level crossing near the power station and were connected with screwed track holders. Initially, the grooved rail sections were not paved in, but this later changed.

There were only four switches on the entire route , of which the one in the center of Unterach was a grooved rail switch . One turnout was located at each end point, the other two were located in the multi-gym. So there was no turning point on the entire route . The track terminations consisted only of wooden planks screwed onto the track.

Power supply

The electricity was conducted from two of Stern & Hafferl's own power plants (Traunfall power station and St. Wolfgang power station) via an overhead line to the power station. The electrical systems of the local railway were located there. The Traunfall power plant supplied ten kilovolts , the St. Wolfgang power plant five KV. Since the railway transformer was designed for 5.5 KV, the electricity from the Traunfall power plant had to be transformed to 5.5 KV in its own transformer house near the power station. The current was then conducted to the actual railway transformer. Here the transformation to 500 volts three-phase current took place , which was now fed into the three-phase asynchronous motor of the converter . The rotating converter system supplied by Siemens-Schuckertwerke corresponded to the design common at the time. The dynamo of the converter system then supplied the 550 volts for driving. Basically, the converter replacement worked so well that there were no problems worth mentioning and the system was in operation until it was shut down.

Contact line system

Basically it was a single contact line , as it was typical for the Stern & Hafferl-Bahnen. Siemens-Schuckert supplied the electrical equipment and the contact line material. A total of around 3,500 meters of hard copper contact wire with a cross-section of 53.5 square millimeters was contributed by Stern and Hafferl. The catenary corresponded completely to the Siemens building standard for trams and local railways with grinding hanger operation. The contact wire was attached to arched arms, which in turn were fixed to wooden masts. In the local area of ​​Unterach, the overhead contact line was attached to the house walls by means of cross wires and overhead line rosettes . The contact wire hung on the open stretch between 5.5 and 5.8 meters above the upper edge of the rail, only at the end points the contact wire was about 6.1 meters high to enable the lyra bar to be folded down.

The feed took place directly at the multi-gym, there were no separation points on the route, only the remise could be switched off with a route separator . In 1916, due to a lack of copper, parts of the copper catenary had to be replaced by an iron catenary , which lasted until 1925. The maintenance of the contact line was done to a rather spartan extent, accordingly the condition of the contact line deteriorated more and more until the railway employees had to realize that basically no more operations were possible. But since this realization came in the war years of the Second World War, improvisation had to be continued and operations were able to be maintained. Even the reassembled in WWII iron trolley wire used the contact strips of the strap strongly.

From October 1948, as a special feature, the decrepit batteries in the Atterseeschifffahrt electric boats were charged from a transformer station via a contact line. For this purpose, a cable was laid from the overhead contact line to the landing stage. There it ended in a wooden box. The ships were connected to the box by means of a plug and another cable and the accumulators were charged with 220 volts. For this a special regulation of the converter was necessary. This provisional solution lasted until 1949.

Stopping and loading points

The local railway had four stops when it opened . Shortly after the opening, the local train asked to be allowed to open another stop at km 2.7. The prerequisites were already in place, so nothing stood in the way of approval for the Unterach shunting station , later referred to as a power station. With the exception of Unterach Landungsplatz, all stops were equipped with a platform about 20 meters long, heaped with sand up to the top of the rails , and marked with a cast iron plaque with the inscription "Stop of the local railway". In 1930 the Au stop was moved from kilometer 0.75 to kilometer 0.4. However, this only happened on paper, at kilometer 0.4 a new stop called "Riedl-Sag" was opened, which served the staff of the local furniture factory. It was only included in the timetable in 1938 as the "Sagermühle" stop.

In the population, some stations were occupied by nickname: so the stop Au was popularly called "Fellner-dung heap" because it directly on the dung heap was the Fellner court. The Mühlleitnerbrücke (also Mühlleitenbrücke) stop was popularly known as "Adlerstein" after the local inn .

In the wake of the sparse freight traffic, which had only been handled for a few years, there were also a few loading points along the route. These were located at 0.138 kilometers, 1.68 kilometers, 1.78 kilometers and 2.99 kilometers. All loading points except those for wood at rail kilometers 1.68 and 1.78 were equipped with wooden loading ramps .

Buildings

The Remise in Unterach, which has been preserved as a bus garage, June 2010

Due to the short distance, there were only a few buildings:

• Norwegian Pavilion See: this building was built according to Norwegian plans in 1907, opened in 1908 and served as a waiting pavilion in See for passengers transferring between ships and local trains. The pavilion was built mainly from wood, consisting of a restaurant, a coffee kitchen and a bar. There was no toilet, the guests had to use the premises of the nearby Gasthaus See. The veranda, which ran around the building on three sides, was characteristic. In 1929 the local railway sold the pavilion to the owners of the Gasthaus See, who continued operations until 1935. As a result of the thousand-mark block, the company was closed and the pavilion demolished in 1939, the foundations are still in place today.

• Power station: This building, built in 1907, is a two-story building, with the high-voltage room, transformer room, staff room and toilet on the ground floor. The machinist's living quarters, a material store and a toilet were on the upper floor. In 1934 the building was fundamentally changed: the transformer tower was demolished and the high-voltage line was led directly into the building. The attic has now also been expanded, for this purpose the material store and the staff room have been converted into a high room, where the transformers and switchgear are now arranged. Initially, space was also provided for a second converter system, as there was a continuation of the train to Attersee am Attersee in the room. However, this second converter set was never installed. The building still exists today.

• Remise: This was built in 1907 about 50 meters east of the power station and had two tracks. The northern track had an inspection pit along its full length. The building was dimensioned so that there was space for all four passenger vehicles. By clever placement (overbuffering), tower cars and freight cars could also be accommodated. There was no workshop room, so the existing material had to be stored on the side of the tracks and in the pit, as was common at the time. In 1946 consideration was given to converting the coach house in such a way that it was also useful for bus operations. To do this, the building would have had to be lengthened so that there was still space for all four passenger vehicles. The plan was never carried out, but the summer sidecars had to give way to bus operations and were parked outdoors or drawn over the winter in Attersee. In 1949 the coach house was extended to the east, the workshop extension that exists today was only added after the railway was closed, as was a washing area. The hall still serves as a bus garage today.

vehicles

The railway was operated with the following vehicles:

number	Construction year	Manufacturer	Remarks
Railcar
SM 1	1907	Siemens / Grazer Waggonfabrik	from 1951: GM 7 of the Gmunden tram, preserved in St. Florian ( Florianerbahn )
SM 2	1907	Siemens / Grazer Waggonfabrik	from 1943: GM 6 of the Gmunden tram, today as a sidecar in the original ELBUS paint scheme as the B 20.220 in nostalgic trains on the Attergau Railway .
GM 2	1894	Rohrbacher	Exchange vehicle for SM 2; Delivered to Attergaubahn in 1949 , converted into EB 20.204
sidecar
SP 1 - summer sidecar 3	1906	Graz wagon factory	Summer car, given to Attergaubahn in 1949, sold in 1952
SP 2 - summer sidecar 4	1906	Graz wagon factory	Summer car, given to Attergaubahn in 1949, sold in 1952
Freight wagons
Jn1	1897	Graz wagon factory	from Gmundner Straßenbahn in 1907 to ELBUS, handed over to the Attergaubahn in 1951, scrapped in 1969
Century	1909	Orenstein & Koppel	Delivered to the Attergaubahn in 1913, there S1 / 1-1 / 2, 1943 26 443 / 1- / 2. 26 443/1 from 1986 scaffolding trolley 26 622.
Tower car	1907	unknown manufacturer	Whereabouts unknown

The abbreviations have the following meanings:

• GM - G patronize M otorwagen
• SM - S ee M otorwagen
• SP - S ee P ersonenwagen

However, these designations were not written on the vehicles. The vehicles had their numbers on both fronts, and the ELBUS ownership mark was affixed to the side.

SM 1 and SM 2

The railcars SM 1 and SM 2 built in the Grazer Waggonfabrik were very advanced vehicles for the time. In contrast to many other motor vehicles of their time, the platforms were glazed from the beginning and thus offered the staff sufficient protection from the weather even in bad weather thanks to their doors hinged on the outside. The frame of the motor vehicle consisted of two longitudinal beams, which were cranked on the platforms. Thus, a step from the platform into the interior of the car was necessary. Profile iron was riveted between the girders , which act as mounting points for brake rods (the railcar was equipped with an eight- block handbrake ), axle suspension and engine suspension. The spring-loaded tram buffers also attach to the frame. The coupling between the railcar and the sidecar was carried out using buffers and flat bars using the technology customary at the time .

The eight-window, wooden car body also had special features: Instead of a central aisle, the interior was formed by a side aisle that was always on the south side. Also arranged on this side was a large, double-winged side door that was used for loading luggage. The interior was not divided by a partition. There were a total of 24 seats, six in each of the four compartments. In accordance with the standard at the time, there was a luggage net above each bench. The compartment by the large luggage door was designed as a multifunctional compartment so that its benches could be folded up. The linen-covered lantern roof of the railcars, whose ventilation flaps were lined with green glass , was characteristic.

In contrast to the spacious passenger compartment , the driver's cabs were relatively narrow. All of the equipment features typical of the tram were located here, such as the drive switch , handbrake, sand spreader, sandpit and pedal bell. Nevertheless, standing places were officially approved for three on the front platform and four on the rear platform.

All electrical equipment supplied by Siemens-Schuckert and consisted of Lyrastromabnehmer, lightning rods together inductor , power switch , travel switch K-type engines of the type BM30r and resistors. In contrast to many other tram cars, in the case of the SM 1 and SM 2, the resistors were arranged under the wooden floor of the car. The lighting of the car consisted of a front headlight (which could be converted into a train tail by means of a rear window), a roof signal (which was only equipped with U and S in 1946), the platform lighting and the car interior lighting. However, there was no electric heating, as the railway was initially only intended for seasonal operation. The signaling between the conductor and the driver consisted of a bell on each platform, which was operated via a leather strap. The cars were initially delivered in light yellow paint, dark decorative lines completed the very handsome railcars.

Since the local railway was classified as a tram according to Imperial German regulations, the railcars had to be adapted to the new laws. The railcars received winker lamps, a louder bell mounted on the front of the platform and labels with the respective end stations as a replacement for the required destination signs. After the war, the outer bells were removed again.

The paintwork lasted until after the war. It was not until 1946 that the SM 1 was given the white-red paintwork typical of Stern & Hafferl-Bahnen during a general inspection . In addition, the SM 1 received a heater in the course of this general inspection.

The SM 2 was handed over to Gmunden in 1943, where it received a magnetic rail brake and the red and white paintwork as part of the main inspection . From then on, the SM 2 was referred to as the GM 6. After the railway was closed and the STUS railway facilities were dismantled, the SM 1 also came to Gmunden in 1951 and, following the necessary modifications, was put into operation there as the GM 7 a year later. At the beginning of the 1960s, the GM 6 in Vorchdorf was converted to a sidecar 22 220 and transferred to the Attergaubahn . Since 1978 it has been wearing the typical ELBUS colors again and is part of the popular tourist train on the Vöcklamarkt – Attersee local railway.

The GM 7 was given to the Florianerbahn in 1978 after retiring from active service on the Gmunden tram .

GM 2

The GM 2 reached Unterach in return for the SM 2 given to the Gmundner tram . On the STUS, the vehicle only acted as a reserve vehicle. In contrast to the SM 1, the car did not have an electric brake, but was only equipped with a four-block handbrake and a four-block throw lever brake.

In general, the car came from 1894 and was therefore older than the tram itself. The age was also noticeable in the design of the car. The car body came from Rohrbacher, the chassis from the Bergische Stahlindustrie and the electrical equipment from Béla Egger . The car was parked in Gmunden for years and only received iron side members in 1928. During this reconstruction, the wooden car body was also changed. The electrical equipment and the braking system were retained despite the changes. In general, the car was attested to having poor running characteristics, so the car was only a reserve, the SM 1 provided the planning service. After the discontinuation, the GM 2 was transferred to Attersee , where it lived for a long time. It was only when space was running out that the GM 2 was remembered and it was decided to convert the car into a sidecar. In the course of the reconstruction carried out in 1952, the car was heavily modified: it received a new chassis, the platforms were changed and a vacuum brake was installed. From then on he was based in Attersee as 20 204, later as 26 204, and retired from personal service in 1962. In Vorchdorf, the car has now been rebuilt again, in 1963 the body was removed and scrapped, the undercarriage was used for the weed spray boiler. The new car (if you can call it one) was located on the Gmunden - Vorchdorf local railway. This car was finally scrapped after removing all still usable parts.

SP 1 and SP 2

The two summer sidecars supplied by the Grazer Waggonfabrik were also part of the basic equipment of the ELBUS . Both cars were 6.3 meters long and the wheelbase was 2.2 meters. The car frame consisted of a riveted sheet steel construction, the axle bearing housings were fixed in special recesses by means of helical springs. Due to this construction and the relatively small wheel diameter of only 600 mm, the floor of the car was only 665 mm above the upper edge of the rail . In contrast to normal local railway vehicles, the car body of the two summer cars was not load-bearing, the five uprights were only pegged to the car floor and bolted to gusset plates. There were three lamps for lighting the car, as well as a final signal on the roof of each car. Each of the two cars had a handbrake, and each platform had a brake crank. In order to be able to brake the sidecar from the railcar, solenoids were installed. The paintwork corresponded to that of the two railcars, on the front of the two cars, actually designated as SP 1 and SP 2, had the numbers 3 and 4. Each car could hold a total of 20 people. The boarding was not via the platforms, but each of the five compartments was boarded from the side. Each compartment held four passengers. Like almost all summer cars, the seat backs of the Unteracher cars could be turned so that the passengers could always sit facing the direction of travel. Side tarpaulins, which were removed in the 1940s, were installed as rain protection. In principle, both cars were only used on busy days and were mostly parked on the two manipulation tracks in See and Unterach during the driving season. The mileage was correspondingly low. One of the peak days was that of the Unteracher Kirtag. On these days there was even a three-car train, with the sidecar being pushed. The head of the train was manned by a local railroader so that he could monitor the route and, if necessary, call the driver to stop using a bell signal. The view was not particularly restricted by the open construction. In the winter months, the two summer sidecars were parked in the power station or were being overhauled in Attersee. After the last driving season in 1949, the summer cars were derailed to make room for buses. Subsequently, when the dismantling work began, both cars were transferred to Attersee with the trajectory and stored there in the trailer depot. However, since the space in Attersee was becoming scarce due to further vehicle access, the two summer cars were sold in 1952 to a private person who converted them into a house. As a result of further sales, the remnants of the sidecar, which had been converted into a house, ended up via Linz to Sattledt (1982), where they are lost.

Freight wagon Jn 1

This open, high-sided freight car , built in 1897, came from the Gmunden tram to Unterach. It was purchased for internal railway purposes and the transport of larger items of cargo. Such wagons were quite common on local railways at that time. The car was very simple and therefore very robust. The base consisted of U-irons that were riveted. The compact car had a length over the buffers of just 3,710 mm with an axle base of just 1,200 mm. The car was equipped with an eight-block handbrake. It had no platform, but a seat for a brakeman . The structure of the car was made of wood. The side walls were arranged to be foldable by means of hinges, the end walls were permanently connected to the underframe. In the course of an overhaul, the car received new planking in the mid-1920s and was in use until the end of the railway. The wagon could not be dispensed with during the demolition work either, so that the wagon, together with the SM 1 and the tower wagon, was only brought over the lake to Attersee by means of a trajectory on May 30, 1951 as the very last load. On the Attergaubahn the car was included in the stand as the X1, where it was collected and scrapped in 1969.

Pair of long wooden stools c

The pair of trucks delivered by Orenstein & Koppel in 1909 consisted of a braked wagon equipped with a brakeman's platform and an unbraked two-axle wagon. The two cars hardly differed from the trucks that were delivered in large numbers to forest railways. Only the side members had to be separated further in order to be able to install meter gauge axles. The coupling corresponded more to that of narrow-gauge railways and not that of an intercity tram. Each truck had an axle base of just 1150 mm and a length over the buffers of almost three meters. The braked truck was exactly 3010 mm long, while the unbraked truck was only 2810 mm long. Each truck could carry six tons of cargo. The pair of trucks was only on the ELBUS for a very short time; after the timber transports were discontinued in 1913, the vehicles came to the Attergaubahn , where they were added to the operating station as S1 / 1 - S1 / 2. In the course of a renumbering, the trucks were given the number 26 443/1 - / 2, whereby the 26 443/1 was the one with a handbrake. The 26 622 scaffolding trolley for catenary work was finally created from this truck in the 1980s. Until a few years ago, a truck was standing on a track socket in St. Georgen. Whether it was that of the ELBUS is not known, the Attergaubahn owned similar vehicles. With the renovation of the station, this vehicle also disappeared.

Tower car

Like every local electric train , the ELBUS also had a tower car in its fleet. Unfortunately, no exact numbers of this vehicle are known, only reports from 1925 confirm its existence. However, since an assembly trolley for catenary assembly must already have been available when the railway was built, it can be assumed that the trolley was in the ELBUS stand from the start. This car was a light and small-wheeled rail car, which was provided with a frame structure. There was an assembly platform at the top of the scaffolding. The vehicle was so light that it could be pushed by hand. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of the car and its scrapping.

Remains of the railway

Since the railway had no major engineering structures , only a few relics have survived. In See, for example, the foundations of the Norwegian Pavilion stand out. These can still be seen well on a bathing area. If you follow the route in the direction of Unterach, you will notice a dam with a passage on the left-hand side next to the main road , but the track of which is soon lost due to the dense development. Further remains can only be seen at the multi-gym in Unterach. Until 2017, the coach house with its characteristic hipped roof , which was rebuilt several times, and the multi-gym were located here. Meanwhile, a restaurant with a name appropriate to the railway is reminding of the existence of the ELBUS. In Unterach, however, nothing is reminiscent of the railway.

The railcars SM 1 and SM 2 are also reminiscent of the railway, with the SM 1 as GM 7 on the Florianerbahn and the SM 2 as 20 220, but labeled with ELBUS 2 on the Attergaubahn.

literature

• Helmut Weis: The Stern & Hafferl III company . Bahn im Bild, Volume 80, 1991.
• Otfried Knoll / Gerhard Mayr / Hansgeorg Prix: The electric train Unterach - See . 1995.
• Wolfgang Kaiser: Trams in Austria . GeraMond Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-7654-7198-4 .

Web links

Commons : Stern & Hafferl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Preserved rail vehicles
• Railway vehicle data
• Information on the capital structure of the AG and illustration of a historical share
• "In the footsteps of ELBUS" - Word document for download

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.meyer-strassenbahn.de