Renon Railway
Coordinates: 46 ° 31 '42.4 " N , 11 ° 24' 28.7" E
Bozen – Klobenstein | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Klobenstein train station
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Route length: | 11.764 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power system : | until 1966: 750 volts = since 1966: 800 volts = |
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Maximum slope : |
Adhesion 45 ‰ rack 255 ‰ |
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Minimum radius : | 30 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top speed: | 30 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Rittner Bahn (also Rittnerbahn ; Italian Ferrovia del Renon ) is an electrically operated, meter- gauge narrow - gauge railway in South Tyrol . Historically, as local railway licensed distance of three sections: a tram similar route in Bolzano , a rack railway from Bolzano to the high plateau of Ritten and an overland route on the rides. While the first two parts were abandoned or replaced by the Renon cable car , the adhesion train runs on the high plateau from Maria Himmelfahrt via Oberbozen to Klobenstein to this day. The owners of the railway, which was extensively renovated and expanded in the 2000s, are the South Tyrolean transport structures , and SAD Nahverkehr is responsible for its operation . The Rittner Bahn is part of the Südtirol transport association .
Route description
The line, which opened on August 13, 1907, was originally divided into three parts. It took its starting point at Waltherplatz in Bolzano , from where it initially drove like a tram across the station forecourt to the Rittner station to the north. There was the operational center with a workshop, storage hall and a loading ramp for goods to and from the standard-gauge Brennerbahn . In the urban area of Bolzano, the route of the Renon Railway was partly used by the former Bozen tram from 1909 to 1948 .
In the Rittnerbahnhof, a cogwheel locomotive was coupled behind the railcar, which pushed the train up the next 4.1 kilometers over the cogwheel route. If a sidecar was carried uphill, the railcar first had to move to the downhill side of the train before the locomotive was coupled. When we arrived in Maria Himmelfahrt, the cogwheel locomotive was uncoupled and the railcar moved again in front of the sidecar before the journey towards Oberbozen could begin. The difference in altitude of 900 meters was overcome on a maximum gradient of 25.5 percent at a maximum speed of seven kilometers per hour. In the middle of this section there was an operating switch , which also contained the transformer station, which fed the overhead line with a direct voltage of 750 volts. The timetable was designed so that there was always a train going uphill and a train going downhill at the same time. The traction motors of the downhill braking locomotives acted as generators that supplied the uphill locomotive with energy according to the recuperation principle .
At the Maria Himmelfahrt station , the train reached the Renon high plateau, from here the railcar drove solo again via Oberbozen and the Lichtenstern siding to the end of the line at Klobenstein. This section was again a pure adhesion web.
history
In the 19th century, the importance of Renon as a tourist destination had increased significantly, so that the call for a contemporary development was loud. A Swiss-style cog railway was considered the most suitable solution. On July 3, 1906, the concession for a narrow-gauge local railway with electrical operations from Bolzano to Oberbozen (Rittnerbahn) was granted. The company received the order to plan and carry out the construction work from Josef Riehl , who had already implemented several local railway projects in Tyrol. With the concession document of July 26, 1907, the local railway from Oberbozen to Klobenstein was declared an integral part of the Renon Railway, which was licensed the year before.
In April 1907 the construction work had already been completed. Due to the elimination of deficiencies in operating resources, public transport was initially started on the Rittnerbahnhof – Klobenstein section of the route on August 13, 1907 (i.e. with small railcars and sidecars), but the entire route could only be used continuously from February 29, 1908 .
In the early 20th century, the Renon Railway was an achievement that made modern tourism on the Renon possible in the first place. However, there were also opponents of this development, in particular the poet Hans von Hoffensthal emerged as a vehement opponent of the railway project.
In the decades that followed, the Rittner Bahn drove to the satisfaction of locals and holidaymakers, but changed the operating company several times. In the period after the Second World War , however, the vehicles and technical equipment became very obsolete. The long travel times on the cogwheel route were no longer up to date and the train would no longer have been able to compete with the new road connection planned at the time - and finally opened in 1969. Concepts for renewing the vehicle fleet were viewed as too expensive, and no significant savings in travel time could have been achieved, so the proposal arose to replace the rack railway with a cable car .
On December 3, 1964, a serious accident occurred on the steep ramp above St. Magdalena. A train traveling downhill derailed, the cogwheel locomotive and the railcar in front crashed. There were four fatalities and several seriously injured. This accident accelerated the construction of the cable car, which went into operation on July 16, 1966. The valley station was built at Rittnerbahnhof, the mountain station at Oberbozen station. With the cog railway, the tram route between the city center and the valley station was also abandoned and replaced by regular buses. In addition to the disaster of 1964, the Rittner Bahn has not been spared from other accidents and damage cases since it was founded: In the early years, a number of incidents led to the renovation of the delicate wooden car bodies. The last time operations manager Peter Kerschbaumer was electrocuted was in December 1995.
In 1982 a fundamental general renovation of the railway was decided and used vehicles from Germany were acquired. The renovation work was carried out in 1985, during which a heavier rail profile was installed throughout and the Maria Himmelfahrt station was reconstructed according to the original plans.
Extensive renovation measures took place between 2008 and 2013. The track systems were thoroughly repaired, the power supply renewed, the platforms lengthened and two new demand stops set up. From January 7th to June 15th, 2013, regular operations were completely stopped in order to be able to carry out several construction measures: The contact line was renewed and all stations received video surveillance, lighting and an emergency call system. Thanks to the renewed Rittner cable car , the Rittner Bahn experienced a strong increase in users after 2009, which is why 3000 to 4000 passengers a day are not uncommon in the tourist season. This required the purchase of two additional train sets. In order to be able to accommodate and maintain them, the remise in Klobenstein was first expanded and then the old remise in Oberbozen was replaced by a new building completed in 2014.
vehicles
When the railway opened, there were two two-axle railcars with one sidecar each and, from 1908, two four-axle railcars as well as several freight cars, which were supplied by Grazer Maschinen- und Waggonbau-Aktiengesellschaft . These vehicles were all equipped with a brake gear. The Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory in Winterthur also delivered four rack and pinion railroad locomotives . The electrical equipment for all vehicles came from AEG in Vienna , and the underframes were supplied by the Brünn-Königsfelder-Waggonfabrik.
In the 1930s, a four-axle railcar from the discontinued Nonsbergbahn was taken over, but due to the lack of a brake gear, it was used exclusively on the adhesion route. The vehicle, which was built by the Nesselsdorfer Waggonfabrik (Bohemia, today Koprivnice in the Czech Republic) and whose electrical equipment came from the Alioth electricity company from Münchenstein near Basel (Switzerland), was therefore only referred to as the Alioth .
The four-axle railcar 1 and the L1 cogwheel locomotive were badly damaged in the accident in 1964 and subsequently scrapped. All other railcars have been preserved and are still in service after a thorough overhaul.
Two of the cogwheel locomotives have been preserved. The L2 can be rolled back in the Remise in Klobenstein. However, the locomotive fell victim to non-ferrous metal thieves at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s, which means that putting it back into operation would require considerable effort, as the entire electrical circuit would have to be reconstructed. The L3 was scrapped after 1966. The L4, on the other hand, was handed over to the armory in Innsbruck in 1972. However, the machine was made unusable when it was exported from Italy, with the motor cables being cut, the blowing coil removed and the axle bearings of the rod drive removed. In 2004, the Zeughaus loaned the locomotive to the Tiroler MuseumsBahnen . They repaired and restored them so that the locomotive could be put back into operation at the end of 2006 - in time for the 100th anniversary in 2007.
On the occasion of the general renovation carried out from 1985 onwards, two large-capacity trams originally used on the Esslingen – Nellingen – Denkendorf tram , which was shut down in 1978, were acquired. The two railcars and two sidecars were supposed to relieve the historical vehicles from day-to-day operations. However, only railcar 12 was reconditioned and used, which means that this company number appears twice.
Today the Rittner Bahn still has the two two-axle railcars 11 and 12, the four-axle railcar 2 from the early years, the Alioth railcar 105 and the Esslingen railcar 12, as well as some freight cars. The sidecars were scrapped over time.
On April 27, 2009, the BDe 4/8 21 and 24, which had been taken over by the Appenzeller Bahnen (formerly Trogenerbahn ), were unloaded in Klobenstein. Since September 2009 they have enabled every half hour. The BDe 4/8 23 followed on November 13, 2014 as the third multiple unit of the same type. On November 13, 2017, the fourth BDe 4/8 22 multiple unit was also transferred to Klobenstein.
No. | Construction year | Factory no. | mech. part | construction | electr. part | LüP | Weight | power | Sit / stand | Remarks |
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two-axle rack-and-pinion locomotives | ||||||||||
3 | 1903 | 1514 | SLM | GWF | LEL | 3690 mm | 11.0 t | 2 × 100 hp | Loan locomotive of the Trieste-Opicina-Bahn , 1907 in the construction train service, scrapped | |
L1 | 1907 | 1825 | SLM | GWF | AEG | 4670 mm | 16.3 t | 2 × 150 hp | Accident canceled on December 3, 1964, 1971 | |
L2 | 1907 | 1826 | SLM | GWF | AEG | 4670 mm | 16.3 t | 2 × 150 hp | Externally refurbished, rollable, parked in the Klobenstein depot | |
L3 | 1907 | 1827 | SLM | GWF | AEG | 4670 mm | 16.3 t | 2 × 150 hp | Accident on May 15, 1917, 1917–1920 reconditioning in the workshop of the Trieste-Opicina-Bahn, canceled in 1971 | |
L4 | 1909 | 1952 | SLM | GWF | AEG | 4670 mm | 16.3 t | 2 × 150 hp | 1971 Transport to the Innsbruck Zeughaus, currently TMB Innsbruck Stubaitalbahnhof, operational | |
two-axle railcars | ||||||||||
11 | 1907 | BKM | BKM | AEG | 9780 mm | 13.0 t | 2 × 40 hp | 32/20 | Use in front of construction trains and for internal journeys, operational | |
12 | 1907 | BKM | BKM | AEG | 9780 mm | 13.0 t | 2 × 40 hp | 32/20 | Refurbished, use on special trips, operational | |
four-axle railcars | ||||||||||
1 | 1907/08 | BKM / GWF | BKM | AEG | 15,020 mm | 21.0 t | 2 × 40 hp | 57/33 | Accident on May 15, 1917, rebuilt in 1948, accident on December 3, 1964, canceled in 1971 | |
2 | 1907/08 | BKM / GWF | BKM | AEG | 15,020 mm | 21.0 t | 2 × 40 hp | 57/33 | Burned down in 1944, rebuilt in 1947, operational | |
105 | 1910/37 | 22485 | NWF | NWF | Alioth | 14,200 mm | 23.2 t | 2 × 75 hp | 40/20 | 1910–1934 Dermulo-Fondo-Mendel-Bahn , used from 1937 on the Rittner Bahn's adhesion line, operational |
12 | 1958/92 | ME 24947 | MFE | MFE | AEG / Kiepe | 17,040 mm | 19.6 t | 2 × 202.5 hp | 48/94 | 1958–1978 Tram Esslingen – Nellingen – Denkendorf (END), 1982 to the Rittner Bahn, first test run on August 19, 1988, commissioning on June 12, 1992, operational |
13 | 1958 | ME 24948 | MFE | MFE | AEG / Kiepe | 17,040 mm | 19.6 t | 2 × 202.5 hp | 48/94 | 1958–1978 Tram Esslingen – Nellingen – Denkendorf (END), 1982 to Rittner Bahn, parked until 2012, 2012 to Stuttgart Historic Tramways (SHB) |
"Trogener" railcar BDe 4/8 | ||||||||||
21st | 1975 | SWP | FFA | BBC | 30,200 mm | 40.0 t | 544 hp | 74/126 | 1975–2009 Trogenerbahn , April 28, 2009 Unloading in Klobenstein, official planned deployment from September 23, 2010, operational | |
22nd | 1975 | SWP | FFA | BBC | 30,200 mm | 40.0 t | 544 hp | 74/126 | 1975–2017 Trogenerbahn, November 13, 2017 Unloading in Klobenstein, previously removed asbestos | |
23 | 1975 | SWP | FFA | BBC | 30,200 mm | 40.0 t | 544 hp | 74/126 | 1975–2014 Trogenerbahn, November 13, 2014 Unloading in Klobenstein, January 21, 2015 first test drive, currently being processed | |
24 | 1977 | SWP | FFA | BBC | 30,200 mm | 40.0 t | 544 hp | 74/126 | 1975–2009 Trogenerbahn, April 28, 2009, unloading in Klobenstein, official planned deployment from May 23, 2010, operational | |
two-axle sidecar | ||||||||||
21st | 1907 | GWF | GWF | 9780 mm | 8.8 t | 28/30 | Demolished in 1968 | |||
22nd | 1907 | GWF | GWF | 9780 mm | 8.8 t | 28/30 | Demolished in 1968 | |||
four-axle sidecar | ||||||||||
36 | 1958 | ME 24949 | MFE | MFE | 16,900 mm | 12.6 t | 48/107 | 1958–1978 Tram Esslingen – Nellingen – Denkendorf (END), 1982 to Rittner Bahn, parked until 2009, demolished in 2009 | ||
37 | 1958 | ME 24949 | MFE | MFE | 16,900 mm | 12.6 t | 48/107 | 1958–1978 Tram Esslingen – Nellingen – Denkendorf (END), 1982 to Rittner Bahn, parked until 2009, demolished in 2009 | ||
two-axle open freight cars | ||||||||||
31 | 1907 | GWF | GWF | 5800 mm | 4.9 t | 6.3 t | 1984 conversion into track ballast wagons | |||
32 | 1907 | GWF | GWF | 5,800 mm | 4.9 t | 6.3 t | historic freight wagon, used in construction train service, operational | |||
33 | 1909 | GWF | GWF | 5800 mm | 4.9 t | 6.3 t | September 12, 1964 conversion with dump truck body, demolished around 1969 | |||
34 | 1909? | GWF | GWF | 5,800 mm | 4.4 t | 5.3 t | September 9, 1964 conversion with dump truck body, demolished around 1969 | |||
35 | 1908 | 18762 | NWF | NWF | 5800 mm | 3.75 t | 5.0 t | 1910–1934 Dermulo-Fondo-Mendel-Bahn No. 401, 1948 conversion to tower car | ||
405 | 1910 | NWF | NWF | 5800 mm | 3.75 t | 5.0 t | 1910–1934 Dermulo-Fondo-Mendel-Bahn No. 405, demolished in 1944 after fire | |||
two-axle closed freight wagons | ||||||||||
41 | 1907 | GWF | GWF | 5800 mm | 5.5 t | 6.3 t | October 24, 1964 conversion to cement silo wagons, demolition around 1969 | |||
42 | 1907 | GWF | GWF | 5800 mm | 5.5 t | 6.3 t | 25 October 1964 conversion to cement silo wagons, around 1969 demolition | |||
43 | 1909 | GWF | GWF | 5800 mm | 5.5 t | 6.3 t | historic freight car, operational | |||
44 | 1908 | NWF | NWF | 5800 mm | 4.4 t | 5.0 t | 1910–1934 Dermulo-Fondo-Mendel-Bahn No. 302, 1971 demolished | |||
305 | 1910 | 22342 | NWF | NWF | 5800 mm | 4.4 t | 5.0 t | 1910–1934 Dermulo-Fondo-Mendel-Bahn No. 305, demolished in 1968 | ||
"Carelli", biaxial | ||||||||||
51 | 1925? | Self-made | Self-made | ? mm | 1.5 t | 1.5 t | 1968? cancellation | |||
52 | 1925? | Self-made | Self-made | ? mm | 1.8 t | 2.5 t | 1992 demolition | |||
53 | 1925? | Self-made | Self-made | ? mm | 1.5 t | 2.0 t | December 3, 1964 accident, then demolition | |||
54 | 1938? | Self-made | Self-made | ? mm | 2.1 t | 3.0 t | 1992 demolition | |||
Tower car, two-axle | ||||||||||
35 | 1908/48 | 18762 | NWF | GWF | 5940 mm | ? t | 1948 Conversion from freight car 35 and the tower car of the Bolzano tram | |||
Ballast wagon, two-axle | ||||||||||
31 | 1907/84 | GWF | Self-made | 5940 mm | ? t | 1984 conversion from freight car 31, 1994 rebuilding | ||||
Snow plow, two-axle | ||||||||||
- | 1991 | Self-made | Self-made | ? mm | ? t | Conversion from Carelli, fourth snow plow version |
Owner and operation
The Rittner Bahn was set up mainly at the instigation of the city of Bolzano, which had the route built by the AG der Rittnerbahn founded in 1906 . The operation was initially left to the kk privileged southern railway , but in 1911 it was handed over to the department for electrical railway operations at the Etschwerke electricity center . From 1924 to 1929 the AG der Rittnerbahn ran the business on its own, then the Società Trentina di Elettricità took it over until 1955 . 1981 SAD Nahverkehr AG acquired the majority of the shares in Rittnerbahn AG . After the authority for local rail traffic was transferred to the province of Bolzano as part of the autonomy of South Tyrol in 1987 , SAD was also able to take over operations as an EVU in 1991 . In 1993 the old Rittnerbahn AG was completely integrated into the South Tyrolean transport structures , which is now the owner of the railway line.
Today the company is primarily operated with the BDe 4/8, but the historic cars from 1907 are still in regular service. According to the 2016 timetable, 25 pairs of trains run daily on the Oberbozen – Klobenstein section, and even 27 on weekdays, with train crossings in Lichtenstern running every half hour during the day. In the morning, at noon and in the evening, two pairs of trains each day from Klobenstein are extended via Oberbozen to the Assumption of Mary.
literature
- Rittnerbahn . In: Oskar Baldinger (Ed.): IndustrieArchäologie . Industrial cultural goods, art, travel. No. 2 . Umiken 2010, p. 21-24 ( OBV ).
- Elisabeth Baumgartner: Railway Landscape Old Tyrol . Transport history between Kufstein and Ala in the field of tension between tourism, politics and culture. Haymon-Verlag, Innsbruck 1990, ISBN 3-85218-065-1 (Attached work: Old Austrian traffic design, example Rittnerbahn. With contributions by Giovanni Klaus Koenig, Johann Stockklausner. Photos by Oswald Koffer ).
- Klaus Demar, Günter Denoth, Helmut Petrovitsch, Werner Schiendl : Rittnerbahn . Railway on the mountain in the past, present and future. Athesia Spectrum, Bozen 2007, ISBN 978-88-6011-080-0 .
- Günter Denoth, Klaus Demar, Helmut Petrovitsch, Werner Schiendl: Between Earth Pyramids and Sciliar . The Rittnerbahn, narrow-gauge railway on the mountain. Ferdinand Berger & Sons Ges.mbH, Horn 2017, ISBN 978-3-85028-803-3 .
- Werner Duschk, Walter Pramstaller, among others: Local and trams in old Tyrol . Self-published by Tiroler MuseumsBahnen, Innsbruck 2008.
- Rolf Löttgers: Classic electric cars on the road . Small railways around Bolzano in 1963. In: Railway history . No. 46 , 2011, p. 62-72 .
- Frank Muth: The Rittnerbahn travels into the future . In: City traffic . No. 3 , 2014, p. 40–43 ( ritten.com [PDF]).
- Francesco Pozzato: The Rittner Bahn . Athesia, Bozen 1991, ISBN 88-7014-591-3 .
- Francesco Pozzato: Il trenino del Renon - The Rittnerbahn . 3. Edition. Duegi Editrice, Padova 2004, ISBN 88-900979-7-3 (reduced bilingual edition).
- Walter Kreutz: The Ritten Railway . In: Railway . No. 7 , 1957, ISSN 0013-2756 , pp. 120–121 (part of the series of electric local and trams of Austrian origin in South Tyrol ).
Festschriften
- Astrid von Aufschnaiter: The Ritten and its path . Ed .: Rittner Railway Committee. Bolzano 1982 (75th anniversary).
- Klaus Demar: The Renon Railway - the railway on the mountain . Ed .: Ritten Tourist Office. Ritten 1992 ( OBV - 85th anniversary).
- Ernst Baumgartner: The Renon and its train . Ritten 2002 (95th anniversary).
- Hans Gamper, Klaus Demar and others: The Ritten and its railway . Athesia Spectrum, Bozen 2007, ISBN 978-88-6011-079-4 (100th anniversary).
Contemporary literature
- Karl Armbruster: The Tyrolean mountain railways . Buchdruckerei G. Davis & Co., Vienna 1914, Die Rittnerbahn, p. 106–122 ( digitized version from the South Tyrolean Regional Library [accessed on September 15, 2017]).
- Carl Felix Wolff : The Renon and the Renon Railway . German bookshop, Bozen 1908 ( OBV ).
gallery
Web links
- Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office
- Tyrolean Museum Railways
- Renon Railway
- Preserved historical railway vehicles
- Rittner Bahn anniversary
- Picture gallery at railfaneurope.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ From the Alps. (...) Alpine railways. The project of the narrow-gauge (...). In: Der Alpenfreund. Illustrated tourist magazine for the Alpine region , year 1896, No. 13/1896, July 1, 1896 (VI. Year), p. 146. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ RGBl. 1906/137. In: Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath , year 1906, pp. 877–882. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ RGBl. 1907/175. In: Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath , year 1907, p. 714 f. (Online at ANNO ). .
-
↑ The Rittnerbahn. In: Innsbrucker Nachrichten , No. 185/1907 (XLV. Volume), August 14, 1907, p. 6, bottom left (online at ANNO ). ;
Hans von Hoffensthal : feature section. Farewell to Oberbozen. For the opening of the Rittnerbahn. In: Innsbrucker Nachrichten , No. 185/1907 (XLV. Volume), August 14, 1907, pp. 1–4. (Online at ANNO ). . - ↑ Homeland. Bolzano February 29th. (...) Rittnerbahn . From: 1. Supplement to No. 51 of the “Bozner Nachrichten” of March 1, 1908. P. 5, top left. In: dza.tessmann.it. ( State library "Dr. Friedrich Teßmann" ).
- ↑ Rittnerseilbahn Bozen - Oberbozen. seilbahngeschichte.de, archived from the original on February 25, 2010 ; Retrieved March 18, 2011 .
- ^ New Remisen for the Renon Narrow Gauge Railway. Press service of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano - South Tyrol, January 3, 2013, accessed on May 12, 2014 .
- ↑ Lots of wood and glass for the new coach house. Südtirol Online (stol.it), May 12, 2014, archived from the original on July 1, 2014 ; Retrieved May 25, 2014 .
- ↑ News in brief: AB / Rittnerbahn . In: Railway amateur . No. 1 . SVEA, 2018, ISSN 0013-2764 , p. 19 .
- ↑ South Tyrolean Transport Structures AG. (PDF) South Tyrolean Provincial Archives , 2001, accessed on February 1, 2015 .
- ↑ 160-rittner-bahn.pdf. (PDF) Retrieved July 7, 2016 .