Kahlenbergbahn (rack railway)

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Kahlenbergbahn
Kahlenbergbahn in Nussdorf terminus on the valley side (1875)
Kahlenberg train in downhill railhead Nussdorf (1875)
Route of the Kahlenbergbahn (rack railway)
Route length: 5.5 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Rack system : System Riggenbach
Legend
   
 0.0 Nussdorf
   
 2.0 Grinzing 289  m above sea level A.
   
 2.7 Krapfenwaldl 332  m above sea level A.
   
 4.9 Kahlenberg until 1876 457  m above sea level A.
   
 5.5 Kahlenberg from 1876 483  m above sea level A.

The Kahlenbergbahn was a standard gauge steam locomotive - driven rack railway that ran from 1874-1919 in regular operation from the Viennese district of Nussdorf to the Kahlenberg .

course

The Kahlenbergbahn had its starting point at the Nussdorf station , today at the turning loop of tram line D. From there it ran westward, the cog railway road is now on the route . Then it crossed the Kahlenberger Straße (the two bridge abutments are still preserved) and climbed further west via the Unteren Schreiberweg . As of Grinzinger Steig the train took a northwest track, reaching the Mukenthalerweg the Grinzing station and then the Krapfenwaldlbad the station Krapfenwaldl . There it turned further to the northwest (today "Forstweg Zahnradbahn") and after a left bend reached today's Höhenstraße , which uses the route of the rack railway in this section. In a long right curve, the railway crossed the Schreiberbach just below its source and turned east, where it reached the terminus Kahlenberg . Until 1876 this was in front of the last left curve of today's Höhenstraße, in 1876 the railway was extended to the summit with a single track and a new terminus was built at the location of the current operating building of the Kahlenberg transmitter .

history

The Kahlenbergbahn in the Grinzing station, 1875
At the Grinzing stop (around 1910) 
First mountain station. From 1876 transition to the approx. 600 m long, single-track section towards Stephaniewarte
Bridge abutment in Kahlenberger Strasse
Stephaniewarte (2018)

With a view to the World Exhibition of 1873, it was planned to build a cogwheel railway modeled on the Swiss Vitznau-Rigi Railway as an additional attraction. In March 1872 a Swiss consortium with Niklaus Riggenbach (1817–1899) from Olten submitted a corresponding project to the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Commerce . With the concession of August 10, 1872, for the construction and operation of a locomotive railway with cogwheel operation from Nussdorf to the plateau of the Kahlenberg (near Josephsdorf ), the concessionaires (including the Union Bank ) were only obliged to build a track , a second trace to their discretion. A further obligation of the licensee was the free carriage of mail and postal workers. The commission inspection of the Döbling - Heiligenstadt - Nussdorf - Kahlenberg route took place on August 23, 1872, and all precautions were taken in the same month for the timely start of construction .

Since, unlike other railway licensing procedures, cog railways did not benefit from state privileges and, in particular, from expropriation rights, the start of construction was delayed until May 1873 due to frequent objections by residents and exorbitant land redemptions, and the railway was only able to operate in the year after the World's Fair to be completed and opened on March 7, 1874. The traffic-related commissioning of the railway by March 10, 1874 was an indispensable requirement of a land seller, to whom the property he had leased would otherwise have been returned free of charge.

The lavishly laid out double-track line, equipped with the Riggenbach cogwheel system, started in Nussdorf, in what is now the 19th district of Vienna . Since no rack railway switches had been developed at this point in time, transfer platforms were installed at the end points and in the depot to maneuver the vehicles. Since in 1874 the 725 m long, 34% steep inclined lift leading from July 1873 from the Danube bank over the northern flank of the Leopoldsberg in the direction of Kahlenberg (also: cable car or cable car to the Leopoldsberg ) as well as the newly built hotel on the Kahlenberg were owned by the Oesterreichische Bergbahngesellschaft , This competition initially prevented the construction of the rack railway to the summit. In 1876 the hotel, which had run into economic difficulties, and the inclined elevator were bought by the Kahlenbergbahn, the inclined elevator was shut down and the single-track cog railway was extended almost to the summit of the Kahlenberg (484 m), which had thus reached a length of 5.5 km. The ascent took 30 minutes, the descent 25 minutes. The Stephaniewarte was built at the new terminus in 1887 by the railway company .

With a certificate dated January 20, 1885, the Kahlenberg Railway Company (Rigi System) received the concession to build and operate a […] tramway from Schottenring in Vienna […] to the Kahlenberg cog railway station in Nussdorf […] - among other things, determining that horse power is used within the lines of Vienna, outside of appropriately designed locomotives. On July 16, 1885, the line section Linienwall – Nussdorf was opened, subsequently operated by the Neue Wiener Tramway-Gesellschaft on behalf of the concessionaire.

With the connection of the two sections of the route (now line "D" of Wiener Linien ), the rack railway (with its Nussdorf station building, which was expanded in 1885) received the desired connection to the tram and thus a direct connection to the more densely populated urban area of ​​Vienna. Nothing stood in the way of the Kahlenberg's development into one of the most popular excursion destinations for the Viennese. In addition to transporting people, the railway was also responsible for the water supply for the residents of the Kahlenberg.

On the occasion of the transfer of the shares of the Kahlenbergbahn to other ownership , the entire board of directors of the company resigned in May 1897.

In 1911, the Kahlenbergbahn-Gesellschaft sought a renovation project , according to which the electrification of the Kahlenbergbahn and the creation of a residential area were planned. - The undertaking, in particular the construction of a villa district, was viewed by exponents of the Vienna community as a competing project to the Cobenzl that threatened the forest and was not considered worthy of support. In order to develop the Cobenzl with the Kahlenbergbahn in need of renovation, the project (unlicensed as well as unrealized) of a wing railway branching off at the Krapfenwaldl stop was developed at the same time. As the detailed map from 1913 also shows, an extensive re-routing of the railway was planned uphill from the Grinzing stop.

The concession obtained in 1912 with the aim of electrification and an adaptation to make it financially advantageous for the construction and operation of a standard-gauge small railway operated with electric power (the existing railway had been licensed as a locomotive railway with cogwheel operation ) remained unredeemed when the First World War broke out . A first extension of the deadline followed in 1914; a second, in 1917, provided for the implementation of the concession by August 1920.

In the late summer of 1914, after the first lost battles against the Russians who invaded Galicia (see: Battle of Galicia ) and the associated fears for the Reich capital, the area around the cog railway was expanded as a military base, but operations were not discontinued. 

After the war, a lack of coal forced operations to be restricted. One track was dismantled in order to keep the other passable with rails and superstructure material, and the increasingly neglected maintenance of the vehicles made the railway difficult. Regular operations ceased on September 16, 1919, the last passenger train went up to the Kahlenberg on November 26, 1921, and water transports continued until April 1922. In the time after that, the rest of the route was also exposed to the theft of sleepers and rails. On May 16, 1923, the concession was declared expired; As a result, the remaining stock of the railway, which had become the property of the state of Austria, was removed and all vehicles scrapped.

In 1933, as part of a Kahlenberg project, consideration was given to building a new car access road in place of the rack railway . Accompanied by the construction of contemporary power lines, the road was to open up a 500-room round hotel designed in the style of the large American hotel buildings .

The Nussdorf station building of the Kahlenbergbahn has been preserved to this day . It stands together with the historic toilet facility there under listed building and houses the restaurant Zur Zahnradbahn . The building is circled by the turning loop of tram line D. The railway line is largely preserved as a road (cog railway road, Unterer Schreiberweg, Höhenstraße) and on the vineyard north of the Krapfenwaldl as a forest path, as is the uppermost section, which serves as an access road to the Kahlenberg transmitter.

vehicles

Locomotives

Kahlenberg Railway Locomotive (ca.1875)

The railway was operated exclusively with steam locomotives . The six locomotives were built by Maschinenfabrik Winterthur and delivered in 1874. Based on the example of the locomotives of the Rigi Railway, the drive took place exclusively on the drive gear. The wheels, which were designed as loosely rotating disc wheels, were only used to guide the locomotive on the rails. The locomotives were equipped with three independent braking systems:

  • Brake gear on the rear axle (leading uphill)
  • Band brake on the countershaft of the gear drive
  • Riggenbach counter-pressure brake - when going downhill, the steam flowing into the steam cylinder brakes the drive gear

As usual with rack railways, the locomotive was always on the valley side of the train. A special feature of the Kahlenbergbahn was that the locomotives were with the driver's cab facing the train, so they pushed the train backwards up the mountain. During their years of operation, the machines were rebuilt several times, including adding additional water tanks under the cab floor.

The locomotives of the Kahlenbergbahn were essentially the same as the engines of the Schwabenberg cog railway, also opened in Budapest (Ofen) in 1874 .

Kahlenbergbahn locomotives
number number Manufacturer design type Years of construction Remarks
1-6 6th SLM / Winterthur 2z n2t 1874

dare

The Kahlenbergbahn had 18 passenger cars, some of them with first class compartments with leather seats. In summer, the side walls were open , and windows were installed in winter. In addition, there were several freight wagons and tank wagons to supply the Kahlenberg (including water). Trains were driven with a maximum of three cars. The cars were equipped with hand brakes that acted on a brake gear, so they were manned with brakes while driving. A replica of a wagon - albeit without a chassis - is now on the square in front of the Kahlenberg Church . This replica contains a small exhibition of pictures of the rack railway inside, but this is currently (2018) not open to the public.

literature

Detailed map of the electrified small railway Nussdorf - Kahlenberg with wing railway from Krapfenwaldl to Cobenzl (1913) 
Share in the Kahlenberg Railway Company from 1873
  • Kahlenberg Railway Company: Kahlenberg. Map 1: 5000. Sn , s. l. 1870, OBV .
  • Hans Peter Pawlik , Franz Raab: Kahlenbergbahn. (Excerpts from volume 5 of the International Archive for Locomotive History series on the occasion of the exhibition “Kahlenberg Memories”, organized by the Döbling District Museum, May 24 to October 29, 1972). Slezak, Vienna 1972, ISBN 3-900134-16-2 .
  • Alfred Niel: Unforgettable old Kahlenbergbahn . (With illustrations and notes). Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1974, ÖNB .
  • Hans Peter Pawlik: Unforgettable Kahlenbergbahn. 2nd Edition. International Archive for Locomotive History , Volume 5, ZDB -ID 256348-4 . Slezak, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85416-191-3 .
  • Helfried Seemann (ed.), Richard Heinersdorff (texts): Wiener Bergbahnen. Kahlenberg, Leopoldsberg, Sophienalpe . Album, Verlag für Photographie, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85164-105-1 .
  • Martin Fuchs: What is steaming up on the Kahlenberg? The history of the Viennese mountain railways. M. Fuchs, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-9501257-6-0 .
  • Martin Fuchs: Mountain railways in the Vienna Woods. Rack railway - cable car - Knöpferlbahn. 2nd, revised and supplemented edition, M. Fuchs, Vienna 2004. (2002 edition: ISBN 3-9501257-3-6 ).
  • Johann Hödl: The Vienna subway network. 200 years of planning and traffic history. This book was published on the occasion of the anniversary “40 years of underground construction in Vienna” (November 3, 1969 to November 3, 2009) . Edited and published by Wiener Linien GmbH & Co KG , Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-200-01184-7 .
  • Roman Hans Gröger : The Wienerwaldbahnen. Selected projects in the general administration, finance and court chamber archive . Berger, Horn 2011, ISBN 978-3-85028-521-6 , p. 11 f.

Web links

Commons : Kahlenbergbahn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Local and miscellaneous. (...) mountain railways. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , No. 63/1872 (XIXth year), March 16, 1872, p. 5 (unpaginated) middle. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / ibn.
  2. ↑ RGBl. 1872/133. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath , year 1872, p. 419 ff. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / rgb.
  3. ↑ The Kahlenbergbahn. In:  Das Vaterland , No. 235/1872 (XIIIth year), August 28, 1872, p. 4, right column, center. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / possibly.
  4. ↑ Kahlenbergbahn. In:  Das Vaterland , No. 238/1872 (XIIIth year), August 31, 1872, p. 3, top right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / possibly.
  5. ^ History of the railways of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Volume: 1.2. Karl Prochaska, Vienna 1898, p. 156.
  6. ↑ Carl Maader: About lifts. Lecture given in the Austrian engineering and architecture association on April 11, 1874 . In: Wilhelm Tinter (Red.): Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects . Issue 13, XXVI. Year (1874). Vienna 1874, ZDB -ID 2534647-7 , p. 217 f. - Full text online (PDF; 6.5 MB).
  7. ↑ The little capitalist. (...) Kahlenberg cable car. In:  Die Presse , No. 113/1872 (XXV. Year), April 25, 1872, p. 6, center right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / maintenance / apr.
  8. ↑ Carl Maader: About lifts. Lecture given in the Austrian engineering and architecture association on April 11, 1874 . In: Wilhelm Tinter (Red.): Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects . Issue 13, XXVI. Year (1874). Vienna 1874, ZDB -ID 2534647-7 , p. 216 f. - Full text online (PDF; 6.5 MB).
  9. ↑ Bank messages. (...) The Oesterreichische Bergbahn-Gesellschaft (...). In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 2965/1872, November 24, 1872, p. 11, bottom center. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp;
    Austrian mountain railway company. Announcement. In:  Die Bombe , No. 50/1872 (2nd year), December 15, 1872, p. 471 below. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / bom.
  10. ↑ Description of the contemporary competitive situation, for example in: Franz Stehlik: Vienna, guide through the imperial city and on the most visited routes through Austria-Hungary with special consideration of the world exhibition . Meyer's travel books series . Bibliographisches Institut, Hildburghausen 1873, half page 473 f. - online .
  11. ↑ a b Hödl: The Vienna underground network , p. 119.
  12. ↑ RGBl. 1885/14. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath , year 1885, pp. 25–29. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / rgb.
  13. ↑ New Viennese Tramway. In:  Die Presse , No. 192/1885 (XXXVIIIth year), July 15, 1885, p. 5, center left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / maintenance / apr.
  14. ↑ Gröger: Die Wienerwaldbahnen , p. 11.
  15. ↑ From the Kahlenberge. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 11751/1897, May 11, 1897, p. 7, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
  16. ↑ Municipal newspaper . (...) The electrification of the Kahlenbergbahn. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 17194/1897, July 7, 1912, p. 13, top right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp;
    Projected systems. (...) Vienna (electrification of the Kahlenbergbahn). In:  Electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Journal of the Electrotechnical Association in Vienna. Organ of the Association of Austrian and Hungarian Electricity Companies / Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Journal of the Electrotechnical Association in Vienna (and organ of the branch association Brno) / E. u. M. (E and M) electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Journal of the Electrotechnical Association in Vienna / E and M electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Journal of the Electrotechnical Association in Vienna from 1883 to 1938 / E and M electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Organ / magazine of the Electrotechnical Association of Austria , year 1912, appendix Industrial and Economic News , No. 33/1912 (XXX. Year), p. 460, center right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / emb .
  17. ^ The renovation of the Kahlenbergbahn. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Abendblatt, No. 16897/1911, September 6, 1911, p. 1, bottom right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
  18. ↑ a b Gröger: Die Wienerwaldbahnen , p. 12.
  19. ↑ RGBl. 1912/158. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and states represented in the Reichsrath , year 1912, pp. 869–874. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / rgb.
  20. ↑ RGBl. 1914/177. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and states represented in the Reichsrath , year 1914, p. 864. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / rgb.
  21. ↑ RGBl. 1917/338. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and states represented in the Reichsrath , year 1917, p. 851. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / rgb.
  22. ↑ a b Hellmuth Fröhlich: 2nd Kahlenbergbahn . In: Forgotten rails . From: Railway. Technical supplement “Die Modelleisenbahn” , issue 4/1968 (XXI. Year). Minirex, Lucerne 1968, ISSN  1421-2900 , ISSN  0013-2756 , OBV , p. 54.
  23. ↑ A ruined railroad. In:  Die Lokomotive , year 1923, No. 6 / June 1923 (XXth year), p. 91. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / Lok.
  24. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 1923/268. In:  Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria , year 1923, p. 731. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / bgb.
  25. ↑ The Kahlenberg Project. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 24541/1933, January 8, 1933, p. 10, bottom center. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
  26. ↑ Accident on the rack railway. In:  Wiener Zeitung , No. 155/1883, July 10, 1883, p. 9, left column center. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Above the center of the picture on the left the Neue Heiligenstädter Friedhof , which was already enclosed by a wall.
  2. ↑ In July 1872, the Nussdorf – Kahlenberg route was not to be carried out due to the expected high land redemption. In their place (financially less stressful) routes from Kahlenbergerdorf and Heiligenstadt were under discussion. - See: The Economist. (...) Kahlenbergbahn. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 2832/1872, July 14, 1872, p. 11 middle. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
    Even days before the license was published on September 10, 1872, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry considered a route leading from Döbling and Grinzing to Kahlenberg possible, with reference to the foreseeable difficulties in land redemption. - See: From the negotiations of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (...) 9. Mr. Kammerrath Lanzer lectured (...). In:  Wiener Zeitung , No. 206/1872, September 8, 1872, p. 854, center left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrzas well as The Economist. (...) Project of a second locomotive with cogwheel operation on the Kahlenberg. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 2860/1872, August 11, 1872, p. 11, bottom center. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfpas well as trade, industry and transport. Approval for preparatory work for railways. In:  Wiener Zeitung , No. 22/1872, January 28, 1872, p. 379, bottom right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz.
  3. ↑ When it opened, the line was single-track; three weeks later, on April 1, 1874, full operation began. - Gröger: The Wienerwaldbahnen , p. 11.
  4. ^ Single track extension by 0.6 km ( 566 m . In: Gröger: Die Wienerwaldbahnen , p. 11), released on September 17, 1876. - See: Commerce, Industry, Transport and Agriculture. (…) Railway buildings in 1876. In:  Wiener Zeitung , No. 228/1877, October 5, 1877, p. 7, top left. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz.
  5. ↑ On August 13, 1903, it was possible to travel electrically from the stock exchange to the Nussdorf cog railway for the first time (then line "36"). - Hödl: The Vienna underground network , p. 119.