Uznach – Wattwil railway line
| Uznach-Wattwil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 SOB Re 446 driving out of the Rickentunnel near Kaltbrunn
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| Route length: | 14.37 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 15 kV 16.7 Hz ~ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 22 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Uznach - Wattwil railway , also known as the Rickenbahn , was put into operation on October 1, 1910 by the Swiss Federal Railways . It is 14.37 kilometers long. Of these, 8.603 kilometers are in the Rickentunnel .
history
The construction of this line is directly related to the Bodensee-Toggenburg Railway . As far as Wattwil, its route corresponds to the St. Gallen-Wattwil-Rapperswil project by engineer Lusser , for which a license was granted on June 27, 1890. The construction of the Toggenburgerbahn was entrusted to the canton of St. Gallen through clever tactics . However, this no longer had to start construction, as its nationalization was imminent and it was taken over by the United Swiss Railways (VSB). Thus the young SBB were obliged to build the Rickenbahn at their own expense. The construction of the Rickentunnel began in January 1904. The line went into operation on October 1, 1910. After the railway accident in the Rickentunnel on October 4, 1926 , in which 9 people died, the immediate electrification of the line was decided. On May 7, 1927, electrical operation with 15,000 volts 16 Hz was started between Rapperswil and Wattwil.
View from the north portal of the Rickentunnel towards Wattwil
Transport scaffolding over the Kaltbrunner Dorfbach
Opening train in Uznach station
route
The line branches off in Uznach from the Rapperswil – Ziegelbrücke railway line, which was opened by the VSB on February 15, 1856 between Wald and Glarus. It then rises in an easterly direction to Kaltbrunn station. Then it turns further uphill in a north-easterly direction to the south portal of the Rickentunnel. This tunnel is laid out in a straight line with a steady gradient of 15.75 per thousand. The line descends from the north portal to Wattwil station. There is a connection to the Wil – Ebnat-Kappel railway , which opened on June 14, 1870, and to the Lake Constance-Toggenburg railway to St. Gallen, which opened on October 3, 1910. The only major engineering structure that had to be built is the 8603 meter long Rickentunnel. The line was built on a single track and has remained unchanged to this day.
Rickentunnel
literature
- Swiss rail network, edition 1980
- HGWägli: Swiss rail network . Zurich 2010.
- HGWägli: Railway profile Switzerland, CH + . Zurich 2010.
- J.Schubiger: How the Rickenbahn came about . In: Greetings from the St.Galler Linth area. Uznach 1910.
- A. Bachem: Construction of the Rickenbahn . In: Greetings from the St.Galler Linth area. Uznach 1910.
- Ed. SIA: Bodensee-Toggenburg-Zürichsee . St.Gallen 1911.
