Graz Schloßbergbahn

Illuminated sign near the Schlossbergbahn tram stop (graphic with panorama car, 2007)

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

Length:

212 m

Height difference:

108.95 m

Pitch:

599 ‰

Speed:

1.5 m / s, max. 3 m / s

Capacity:

58 people / cabin

Legend

		Schlossberg restaurant

		trail
		Evasion
		Schloßbergbahn

The Grazer Schloßbergbahn is a funicular railway that has been running up the Grazer Schloßberg since 1894 . The railway is operated by the Graz Linien .

history

Schloßbergbahn under construction (1893/94)

System 1894–1960, double use of the middle rail (outside the turnout), on the right the route for the steam pipeline used until 1900

Entrance building on Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai

Badge from 1894

Car No. 1 inside the northern turnout (around 1900)

Old carriage 2 in front of the Tramway Museum Graz

Car 1 leaves the mountain station (2007)

Historical

In historical records, a "Schloßbergzug" is mentioned as early as 1528, which, like the railways mentioned later, was used exclusively for transporting material up the mountain.

First generation

The Schloßbergbahn - for people - was built between August 1893 and October 1894 under the direction of engineer Ludwig Philipp Schmidt (former managing general director of the horse tramway in Trieste ) and opened on November 25, 1894. With a contract dated November 16, 1899, the Grazer Tramway-Gesellschaft ( GTG ) took over the operation of the railway.

The railway climbs the Schloßberg from Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai on the west side over a length of 212 m, overcoming a difference in altitude of 108.95 m with a gradient of 599 per thousand . The route describes a slight right turn. The valley station is on the ground floor of a residential building, the mountain station in the fortress wall, which was broken through with a tunnel portal. The first Schlossberg restaurant was built next to the mountain station with the train.

Originally, the meter-gauge railway between the rails was accompanied by a Riggenbach rack and pinion , in which the car's brake gear engaged. With the exception of the turnout, the two rails shared the middle rail.

The first two cars, which were used from 1894 to 1960, each had 16 seats and 16 standing places and weighed 5.6 t. Until September 3, 1899, the railway was powered by a fixed steam engine with 40 HP (54.38 kW ), but the steam was generated in the valley and piped to the machine on the mountain. On April 12, 1900 the switch to electric drive took place. To supply the Schloßberg restaurant , the electricity generated by GTG was also used to feed water pumps and ventilation units.

Second track

The conversion to the "second Schloßbergbahn" took place from October 3, 1960 to June 9, 1961. The Riggenbach racks were removed, the rails were converted to a single-track 2-rail system with a switch halfway and new wagons were purchased.

Since then , the technical heart of the railway has been an Abt switch that works without a moving part. Looking uphill, a wagon has two flanges on each of the left wheels, which guide this wagon to the left by means of a form fit. The other car on the right.

The third generation

After 43 years, the last day of operation of the second generation of wagons was on February 29, 2004. In a spectacular operation, the old wagons were lifted over the five-storey valley station building with a truck -mounted crane on March 6, 2004 .

During the summer of 2004, the railway system was brought up to date with the latest technology in line with the requirements of a modern means of transport. On the morning of June 12, 2004 the new wagons , designed by Graz AG Verkehrsbetriebe in collaboration with the Technical College for Industrial Design and manufactured by Carvatech , were lifted onto the track. (See web link below)

Operations were resumed on August 1st, 2004, and on September 12th, a family celebration for the official opening of the new Schloßbergbahn took place in the presence of the city's political celebrities.

The car received the Joseph Binder Award in silver.

The new cars

The wagons put on the track in 2004 and the associated reconstruction of the railway cost 2.5 million euros . The design was the winning project of a competition advertised at the FH Joanneum to redesign the railway. The central element are the oval panoramic glass roofs, which "are perceived by the passenger as a frame inside and can be seen [when looking at the city] as a symbol of the railway".

Due to the steepness of the route, the passenger area inside the car is divided into three height levels, only with parapets in between. The panoramic glass roof opens up an impressive view of the west of Graz from the western slope of the Schlossberg during the ascent to the mountain station.

In contrast to the old ones, the new cars each have only one driver's cab on the mountain side. In order to ensure an overview for the driver even when driving downhill, a camera is installed in the front of the valley, the image of which is transmitted to a monitor in the driver's cab.

Old wagons

Both Generation 2 cars are on display. Car 1 is located in the Shopping City Seiersberg , car 2 in the Graz Tramway Museum .

literature

Herbert Wöber: 80 years of Graz Schlossbergbahn. 75 years of the electric tram in Graz. Festschrift about the past and future of the Graz public transport company . Grazer Stadtwerke AG, Graz 1974, OBV .
Hans Sternhart (arrangement): Tram in Graz . Verlag Josef Otto Slezak, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-900134-54-5 .
100 years of the Graz Schloßbergbahn, 1894–1994 . Grazer Verkehrsbetriebe, Graz 1994, OBV .
Michaela Nebel (Red.): The Graz Schlossbergbahn - a remarkable chapter in the history of Graz . Self-published by Grazer Verkehrsbetriebe / Stadtwerke, Graz 2004, OBV .
Vehicle fleet 1960–2010. Wall calendar for 2010 . Graz AG - public transport company. Graz 2009, OBV .

Individual evidence

↑ Opening of the railway. In: Wiener Zeitung , Wiener Abendpost (No. 271/1894), November 26, 1894, p. 3, center left. (Online at ANNO ). .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sternhart: Tram in Graz , p. 21.

↑ Schloßbergbahn Graz ( Memento from August 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: seilbahngeschichte.de , accessed on February 10, 2013.

↑ Homepage of the Schlossbergbahn

↑ Reinhard Aschauer (Red.), Robert Vockenhuber (Red.): Company history ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: carvatech.com , accessed on January 26, 2014. @1@ 2

Web links

Commons : Schloßbergbahn, Graz - collection of pictures

photos

Valley station, turnstile area
Track body seen from the valley station
Car 1 in the mountain station
Mountain station, car on standby
Car encounter: right: Car 1 downhill,
left: Car 2 uphill
After a car crossing - looking downhill
Downward view from the mountain station (2006)
Mountain station machine room, middle: restaurant access, right: former kiosk (October 2006)
Mountain station machine room, forecourt, restaurant access (2011)

Remarks

↑ The substructure was completed in the first half of June 1894. - See: Transport. Schlossbergbahn in Graz .. In: Oesterreichische Tourismus-Zeitung / Österreichische Tourismus-Zeitung / Österreichische Turisten-Zeitung / Österreichische Turisteneitung , year 1894, no. 13, July 1, 1894 (XIV. Year), p. 143, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / otz.
↑ The management should have been handed over by the Schlossbergbahn-Gesellschaft in Graz on April 12, 1900, the day of the switch to the electric cable hoist. - See: Business and Financial News. Schlossbergbahn company in Graz . In: L (udwig) Kusminsky (Red.): Journal for electrical engineering . Volume 19.1901, issue No. 17/1901, ISSN 1013-5111 . Spielhagen & Schurich ( Commission ), Vienna 1900, p. 216, bottom left.
↑ ^a ^b 2006/07 the renovation of the restaurant (and its connection to the mountain station) took place; Opening ceremony: October 23, 2007. - ++ Schloßbergrestaurant opened above the roofs of Graz . Kleine Zeitung , October 24, 2007, archived from the original on November 12, 2008 . ; accessed on June 15, 2020 .

47.075 15.435277777778Coordinates: 47 ° 4 ′ 30 ″ N , 15 ° 26 ′ 7 ″ E

[2] Opening of the railway. In: Wiener Zeitung , Wiener Abendpost (No. 271/1894), November 26, 1894, p. 3, center left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz.

[StBiG_p21-3] Sternhart: Tram in Graz , p. 21.

[5] Schloßbergbahn Graz ( Memento from August 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: seilbahngeschichte.de , accessed on February 10, 2013.

[6] Homepage of the Schlossbergbahn

[1] The substructure was completed in the first half of June 1894. - See: Transport. Schlossbergbahn in Graz .. In: Oesterreichische Tourismus-Zeitung / Österreichische Tourismus-Zeitung / Österreichische Turisten-Zeitung / Österreichische Turisteneitung , year 1894, no. 13, July 1, 1894 (XIV. Year), p. 143, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / otz.

[4] The management should have been handed over by the Schlossbergbahn-Gesellschaft in Graz on April 12, 1900, the day of the switch to the electric cable hoist. - See: Business and Financial News. Schlossbergbahn company in Graz . In: L (udwig) Kusminsky (Red.): Journal for electrical engineering . Volume 19.1901, issue No. 17/1901, ISSN 1013-5111 . Spielhagen & Schurich ( Commission ), Vienna 1900, p. 216, bottom left.

[Vorplatz-8] 2006/07 the renovation of the restaurant (and its connection to the mountain station) took place; Opening ceremony: October 23, 2007. - ++ Schloßbergrestaurant opened above the roofs of Graz . Kleine Zeitung , October 24, 2007, archived from the original on November 12, 2008 . ; accessed on June 15, 2020 .