Salzkammergut local railway

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Salzkammergut local railway
Route of the Salzkammergut local railway
SKGLB route map from 1957
Route length: Main route 63.2 km
Branch route 03.5 km
Gauge : 760 mm ( Bosnian gauge )
Maximum slope : 25 
Minimum radius : 60 m
Top speed: Main line 40 km / h,
branch line 35 km / h
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Salzkammergutbahn from Attnang-Puchheim
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0.0 Bad Ischl 466  m above sea level A.
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Traun
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Ischl Tunnel (69 m)
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1.3 Bad Ischl freight yard 466  m above sea level A.
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Salzkammergutbahn to Stainach - Irdning
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Traun
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Kaltenbach
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2.2 Kaltenbach 474  m above sea level A.
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Kalvarienberg tunnel (683 m)
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from the former local train station
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4.8 Pledge
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7.1 Aschau 506  m above sea level A.
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to the sawmill
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Upper Austria / Salzburg
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8.0 Watch 515  m above sea level A.
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9.1 Aigen-Voglhub 521  m above sea level A.
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10.9 Weissenbach 540  m above sea level A.
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12.7 Strobl 546  m above sea level A.
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17.2 Sankt Wolfgang local railway 540  m above sea level A.
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Sea track from the landing area
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Zinkenbach
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18.2 Zinkenbach (municipality of Sankt Gilgen) 550  m above sea level A.
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20.6 Gschwandt 540  m above sea level A.
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from the sawmill
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23.2 Lueg 540  m above sea level A.
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24.6 Sankt Gilgen 557  m above sea level A.
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26.1 Billroth 573  m above sea level A.
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27.7 Aich 578  m above sea level A.
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28.3 Hüttenstein 580  m above sea level A.
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Hüttensteiner Tunnel (436 m)
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Small tunnel (95 m)
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Salzburg / Upper Austria
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30.4 Sharp 559  m above sea level A.
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Scharflinger Tunnel (97 m)
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Plomberg tunnel (28 m)
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32.7 Plomberg 485  m above sea level A.
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35.1
0.0
St. Lorenz 488  m above sea level A.
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1.3 Black India 489  m above sea level A.
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3.0 Leitnerbräukeller 482  m above sea level A.
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3.5 Mondsee 482  m above sea level A.
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39.0 Devil mill 513  m above sea level A.
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Upper Austria / Salzburg
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40.4 Vetterbach 535  m above sea level A.
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42.6 Thalgau 545  m above sea level A.
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44.9 Irlach 581  m above sea level A.
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46.9 Enzersberg 599  m above sea level A.
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50.1 Kraiwiesen 593  m above sea level A.
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53.6 Eugendorf-Kalham 557  m above sea level A.
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56.4 Fichtlmühle 516  m above sea level A.
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58.7 Söllheim 452  m above sea level A.
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Railway junction Hallwang-E. 3 – Salzburg Gnigl ​​Vbf
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61.4 Salzburg Itzling workshop 426  m above sea level A.
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Alterbach
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61.6 Salzburg freight station 425  m above sea level A.
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61.7 Salzburg Itzling 425  m above sea level A.
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Western Railway
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Railway line Salzburg Hbf – Salzburg Itzling
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from Lamprechtshausen
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63.2 Salzburg local train station 426  m above sea level A.
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after hanging stone

The Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn , SKGLB or Ischlerbahn or Bad Ischler Bahn for short , connected the health resort Bad Ischl in the center of the Salzkammergut with the city of Salzburg as a narrow-gauge railway with 760 mm gauge from 1893 to 1957 . The market town of Mondsee was connected to the main line via a branch line near St. Lorenz and the pilgrimage site of St. Wolfgang could be reached from the main line via a steamship line owned by the railway . The SKGLB, which in steam operation carried up to 2.15 million passengers a year on a route length of 66.9 km, was discontinued in 1957 as the first railway line of appreciable length and national importance in Austria, despite strong protests from all sections of the population. An already planned electrification was not implemented. Several initiatives are now trying to rebuild the line. In 2011, 29 municipalities had already joined an association to promote the RegionalStadtBahn , only the Mayor of Salzburg, Heinz Schaden , did not value public transport on this route.

history

Beginnings

In the second half of the 19th century the Salzkammergut developed into a center of tourism in Austria-Hungary . The high volume of tourism gave rise to the desire for a rail connection between the spa town of Bad Ischl and the provincial capital of Salzburg. The first plans for the construction of such a connection were drawn up as early as the late 1860s. In addition to a branch to Mondsee, the construction of a cog railway to the Schafberg and a hotel were also planned. The recession that began in 1873, however, destroyed these projects for the time being.

Share of the Salzkammergut local railway

14 years later, Ing. Wilhelm Michael from Vienna presented a concept for the implementation of the plans in the form of a standard-gauge railway that existed in the 1860s . In 1888 he got in touch with Ing.Josef Stern , the co-founder of the Stern & Hafferl company , which planned and implemented railway projects throughout the monarchy. Josef Stern took over the planning for the railway project, which lasted more than two years. In order to be able to realize the project, however, there was still a lack of investors. Since the negotiations with Viennese financial institutions failed, Josef Stern contacted one of his previous employers, the owner of the Lokalbahn Aktien-Gesellschaft (LAG) in Bavaria and the banks in Upper Austria and the state of Salzburg , and was able to win them over for the project.

In 1889, the specially founded, unlisted Salzkammergut-Localbahn-Aktiengesellschaft (SKGLB) applied for a concession for the "construction of a narrow-gauge local railway from Bad Ischl to Salzburg with a branch to Mondsee" , which the company received on January 13, 1890. The railway company had a share capital of 1,600,000  guilders , which was raised by the main shareholders LAG and Stern & Hafferl as well as several other companies and 140 private individuals. For cost reasons, the company decided on the narrow-gauge construction of the local railway , the gauge of which was set by the military authorities at the so-called Bosnian gauge of 760 mm. In addition to high passenger numbers due to the large number of tourists in the passenger traffic , the Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn-Aktiengesellschaft also expected profitable freight traffic through the development of the region's wealth of forests.

Railway construction and opening

Locomotive 2 during bridge construction

After the purchase of all the necessary land, construction work began in the spring of 1890, with Josef Stern being the overall site manager. The construction of the railway took place in three stages.

The first, 9.6 km long, section between Bad Ischl Localbahnhof and Strobl , which led through largely uncomplicated terrain in the Ischl valley , was opened on August 5, 1890. The two light steam locomotives No. 1 and 2 , seven 2nd class passenger cars , two freight cars , two baggage cars and two mail cars were procured to operate this section of the route . Since Bad Ischl was the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph , a saloon car was also purchased for the Emperor.

The first section of the railway started at the local train station in Bad Ischl in the west of the village. The local train was only connected to Bad Ischl's main train station later. Eight pairs of trains ran daily between August and September, only four on weekdays in winter and eight pairs of trains on Saturdays. Due to the high level of tourism, the SKGLB increased the number of train pairs to nine in the summer of 1891.

Construction of the Strobl train station

On July 28, 1891, the second, 35.9 km long section of the route between Salzburg and Mondsee was opened. For the operation of this longer and more demanding route section, three more powerful locomotives of the type that had proven themselves on the Steyrtalbahn since 1888 (locomotives 3 - 5) were procured . There were also 13 passenger cars (1st and 3rd class), two baggage cars, two mail cars and 14 freight cars. Five passenger trains and one freight train ran daily on the newly built section; in winter there were only three mixed trains a day.

SKGLB train at the Franzosenschanze on Lake Wolfgang around 1904, illustration by Robert Assmus

The construction of the last stage, the 22.4 km long gap between St. Lorenz am Mondsee and Strobl, turned out to be much more difficult because the railway in this section had the character of a mountain railway. Josef Stern worked closely with the local railway company from Munich, which was already involved as a financier, in the execution of the line blasting and punctures. Its co-director Victor Krüzner personally managed the difficult construction work, which took two years to complete. The connection between the two completed sections was opened on June 20, 1893 in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph. The SKGLB procured five more locomotives of the Steyrtal Railway type ( 6-10 ), 19 passenger wagons (1st and 3rd class), and 42 freight wagons. The connection between the railway and the central station in Bad Ischl was released for operation on July 3, 1894. With the completion of the construction work, the SKGLB's route network reached its maximum extent. A planned extension of the Mondsee branch via Zell am Moos to Straßwalchen was not implemented for economic reasons. Two viaducts , 58 bridges and five tunnels had to be built for the entire route , and 432 road crossings had to be taken into account.

Timetable from 1896

The local train station in Bad Ischl, which was no longer needed , was converted into staff apartments and a coach house. On August 1, 1893, the Schafbergbahn and the Hotel am Schafberg opened. Both facilities also belonged to the Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn-Aktiengesellschaft, which at that time had 10 locomotives, 39 passenger cars, four baggage cars, four mail cars, 58 freight cars and a saloon car. Also four open summer cars originally belonged to the SKGLB fleet. Since these vehicles, which were purchased in 1890, had no crossings to other cars, the passengers had to wait until the next train station when it started to rain to change to a closed car. Due to the changeable climate of the Salzkammergut, the use of the summer carriages could hardly be planned and so in 1906 they were converted into conventional closed passenger carriages.

The transport figures developed stronger than expected. In the first business year 1890/1891 140,767 passengers were carried. In the years 1896 and 1897 the route had to be closed several times due to flooding. In 1898, SKGLB also bought steam shipping on Lake Wolfgang from the heirs of the company's founder.

In 1912 Josef Stern proposed the electrification of the local railway. This project failed, as did the plans drawn up three years earlier for the electrification of the standard-gauge Salzkammergutbahn and a first project for the electrification of the SKGLB created as early as 1907, due to the resistance of the military that electric locomotives should not be used on the steam-only routes in Bosnia and Herzegovina Herzegovina could have started.

War years, boom and crisis

Locomotive 8 - one of the machines handed over to the army administration

The First World War did not result in a decrease in the number of passengers transported - the number of passengers rose steadily - but the war had a negative effect on the availability of the SKGLB's operating resources. Between 1915 and 1918, the army administration requisitioned six locomotives that were used on the strategically important narrow-gauge railways in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Salzkammergut local railway had to handle the operation with the remaining six locomotives. Modernization measures that had been necessary for a long time could not be implemented. The steadily increasing shortage of coal and staff led to a severe restriction in train traffic. On December 14 and 15, 1917, operations were completely shut down; henceforth only two pairs of trains ran daily. After the end of the war, the vehicles that had been drafted did not return to the Salzkammergut in full.

The end of the war brought about a drastic deterioration in the economic situation. The Salzkammergut local railway was in great financial difficulties. It concluded an agreement with the federal government, whereby the local railway was administered by the Republic of Austria for four years from December 1, 1920 and operated by the State Railways , then abbreviated to BBÖ . They were able to reduce the bottleneck in the transport equipment by using their own narrow-gauge vehicles. A short time later, all companies belonging to the SKGLB that were not directly part of the local railway's core business were sold; only the hotel on Schafberg remained in the possession of the Salzkammergut local railway. In addition, a complete renewal of the tracks and sleepers as well as extensive repairs to the SKGLB vehicles were carried out. Josef Stern campaigned for the local railway and bought several large blocks of shares. In 1923 the Salzkammergut local railway, the Schafberg railway including the hotel and the Wolfgangsee shipping company came into the possession of the Stern & Hafferl company. Josef Stern worked out another project to electrify the railway; however, he died before he could implement his plans. When Josef Stern's estate was liquidated, his shares were sold, which means that from January 1, 1925, the railway was again owned by the German local railway company.

Between 1925 and 1929, the railway saw increasing passenger numbers again. In 1928 four-axle passenger wagons were purchased. The Great Depression in 1929 led to a decline in the number of tourists, an important source of income. The Salzkammergut local railway found itself in a financial crisis, which could not be resolved even by the sale of the Schafbergbahn including the hotel and the Wolfgangsee shipping to the Austrian tourist office in 1932. In addition, the emergence of motorized private transport and local bus companies during these years led to increasing competitive pressure.

The absence of German tourists as a result of the thousand-mark ban imposed in 1933 led to falling passenger numbers, which the SKGLB attempted to compensate by acquiring several concessions for bus routes . These bus routes ran largely parallel to the railway. In order to shorten travel times, it also procured three petrol-hydraulic railcars from Austro-Daimler , which were used from July 15, 1933. However, the transmissions of these vehicles could not withstand the loads in operation, which is why they had to be taken out of service after just one year.

The financial situation of the SKGLB improved again due to the flow of visitors from German tourists that began after the "Anschluss" to the German Reich . In 1939 the local railway company was expropriated and the SKGLB became the property of the Reichsgaue Salzburg and Upper Danube (after 1945 the federal states of Salzburg and Upper Austria). Since the road vehicles were also used for war purposes, the SKGLB had to stop its bus routes.

During the Second World War , the number of passengers rose steadily. In 1943, for the first time, more than 1.5 million passengers were carried, which put the vehicle fleet under extreme stress. In addition, the railway was affected by acts of war. On April 11, 1945, two Lockheed P-38s attacked a train near the Teufelmühle station; five people were killed, several injured and all vehicles damaged. During the war, plans were drawn up that provided for the conversion of the local railway into a standard gauge railway - but these could not be implemented.

Postwar period and attitude

The former Heeresfeldbahnlok 19 as a museum locomotive on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway in Wales.

Between May 9 and May 15, 1945, train traffic on the line was initially suspended and then gradually resumed, but without Sunday trains until September 30. From October 1, 1945, all the trains scheduled in the timetable could run again. In the post-war period , the urgently needed modernization measures, such as the electrification that had already been proposed several times, or the renewal of the vehicle fleet, which largely consisted of the old stock from 1893, were not carried out. The SKGLB received some vehicles from the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) that had previously been confiscated as booty. In 1946, a record number of passengers was set with 2,146,614 passengers.

On March 21, 1948, one of the most serious accidents in the history of the Salzkammergut local railway occurred: the locomotive staff of a special train with theatergoers, which started the return journey from Salzburg to Bad Ischl at around 11 p.m., overlooked the line in front of the Scharflinger Tunnel as a result of one Rock fall was torn away. The locomotive derailed and fell about 60 meters. Since the coupling broke, the passenger cars stopped on the tracks and were not dragged along. The engine driver and stoker did not survive the accident. Locomotive 6 was so badly damaged that it was scrapped after recovery and removal of usable parts. The destroyed section of the route could only be used again from May 5th.

After the record year of 1946, the number of journeys fell steadily and the railway was no longer able to cope with the increasingly powerful competition from individual transport. Although the electrification of the SKGLB was seen as a condition for the continued existence of the railway, it ultimately did not take place. The local railway was no longer competitive and the likelihood of being hired became more and more apparent. Between 1950 and 1957 an unsuccessful "hiring battle" was waged.

Official announcement of the setting
Memorial plaque to the SKGLB in Salzburg

The Wiener Zeitung reported in the edition of July 9, 1950: For the "Salzkammergut Local Railway, against whose termination everyone is protesting, 4.5 million are to be provided from ERP funds, for which the State of Salzburg would have to assume liability." The reasons why the SKGLB did not receive this ERP loan from the Marshall Plan have never been publicly disclosed. This year there were also reports of a possible takeover by ÖBB and a switch to diesel traction.

In 1951, the regional government of Salzburg was presented with an expert report by the working committee for transport issues of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects, which was supposed to show the advantages of a modernized local railway over road traffic. In addition, politicians spoke out against the suspension of the railway. In 1955 Ing. Karl Stern presented a project to save the SKGLB. Thanks to electrification, the renewal of the vehicle fleet and the rationalization of operations, the railway should have been saved from being closed. Completion could have been implemented by October 1957.

The local population started an initiative for the preservation of the Salzkammergut local railway, in which 50,000 people spoke out against their employment. On September 21, 1957, 2,500 people from the Salzkammergut demonstrated in front of the office of the Salzburg state government for the maintenance of the railway. The spokesman for the demonstrators was informed by Salzburg Governor Josef Klaus that the suspension of the Salzkammergut local railway would be inevitable. This statement was justified by the fact that it was a “decision from Vienna” that could no longer be shaken. At that time, the owners of the railway were the federal states of Salzburg and Upper Austria.

The last scheduled passenger train left on September 30, 1957, and was bid farewell to the tens of thousands of visitors who had gathered along the route. This train was pulled by locomotive 12 , on which a plaque was attached with the following inscription:

Today I'm going for the last time
through the beautiful, green valley.
My dear mountains and lakes
goodbye goodbye!

Freight traffic was maintained until October 10th in order to remove the remaining freight. The staff was retired or taken over by the ÖBB. After October 10, 1957, the dismantling of the track systems began in some sections, which made reactivation of the line impossible. The last train journeys took place in the summer of 1958 when the track was being removed.

Aftermath

On October 15, 1957, the general meeting decided to put the company into liquidation . Post buses replaced public transport . The final dissolution of the company did not take place until January 15, 1964 when it was deleted from the commercial register at the Salzburg Regional Court. The route was used in several sections to widen roads. The route from Salzburg to Eugendorf remained largely unobstructed. A cycle path has been running on it since the mid-1990s .

The demolition of the route cost 80 million schillings. Since at the time the railways were closed, the replacement roads were not yet adequately developed and long sections were still single-lane, so a further 350 million schillings had to be raised for their expansion - initial estimates, however, were still 210 million. On the banks of the Wolfgangsee and Mondsee as well as on the Scharflinger Höhe , this work could only be started after the railway line had been dismantled, so that the meanwhile strongly increased road traffic initially had to struggle with considerable problems.

For electrification and the purchase of suitable vehicles, investments of 44 million schillings would have been necessary. The press reported on September 25, 1957 that the material necessary for the electrification of the railway was already available and had been sold again after it was closed.

With the SKGLB, a railway line of appreciable length and national importance was shut down for the first time in Austria. As had with other narrow-gauge railways in Austria, the local population which the abbreviation "SKGLB" jokeful as " S ie k OMMT g ar l angsam and b edächtig" reinterpreted a strong bond to its orbit. The song Between Salzburg and Bad Ischl from the film Kaiserball is well known to the public even 50 years after the railway was closed. In humorous verses, the text describes the long widespread perception of local railways: slow and uncomfortable, but anchored in the hearts of the regional population. Today the SKGLB museum in Mondsee is a reminder of the railway.

Route

Elevation profile

Although the route of the Salzkammergut local railway only had to cope with a difference in altitude of just under 180 meters and reached its apex at 599 m, its course, along with some flat stretches, also showed the characteristics of a mountain railway. In the Strobl - St. Lorenz section, for example, the nominal maximum gradient of 25 ‰ was exceeded several times, including at St. Gilgen with 27.5 ‰.

Bad Ischl - Strobl

Zug near Aschau, around 1900

At the Bad Ischl passenger station, the starting point of the local railway, there was only one platform track and one shunting track for moving the locomotive due to the limited space available in addition to the facilities of the Salzkammergut Railway. For the exit in the direction of Salzburg, the narrow gauge of the SKGLB and the standard gauge of the Salzkammergutbahn combined to form an asymmetrical four-rail track - unique in Austria : one rail of the narrow-gauge railway was laid inside the standard-gauge rails, the other outside. Both railways crossed the Traun on the so-called local railway bridge and then ran through the Ischler tunnel of the Salzkammergut railway.

At the Bad Ischl freight station, which was equipped with a boiler house and facilities for handling goods between the SKGLB and the Salzkammergutbahn, the train switched to its own track structure and crossed the Traun again on a truss bridge . After the Kaltenbach stop in Ischl's villa district and the 685 m longest tunnel on the route through the Bad Ischl Calvary , the railway turned west to follow the course of the Ischl valley. It passed the stations Aschau , Wacht , Aigen-Voglhub (with siding for train crossings) and Weissenbach and after 12 km reached the original first terminus at Strobl on the eastern bank of Lake Wolfgang.

Strobl - St. Lorenz

On the shores of Lake Wolfgang
SKGLB route at Lueg Wolfgangsee
Local train in Mondsee station

From Strobl, the train first ran through the Blinklingmoos and then followed the shores of Lake Wolfgang. At the St. Wolfgang train station (local railway) near Forsthub there was a direct connection to the Wolfgangsee shipping company , which made connections to the pilgrimage site of St. Wolfgang and to the Schafbergbahn on the opposite bank, which were tailored to the railway timetable . The further route, which cut the alluvial cone of the Zinkenbach a little away from the lakeshore, hit the lakeshore again at Gschwand . On the steep drop of the Zwölferhorn into the lake, only a narrow strip remained between the rock face and the bank, which the railway and the road had to share. At the Lueg stop , the route curiously led through the hotel's garden. In the following St. Gilgen , on the northern bank of the lake, the valley station of the Zwölferhorn cable car was already in the last years of operation of the railway , a major attraction for tourism.

In the following section, the Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn had the character of a mountain railway. About the stops Billroth in St. Gilgen, Aich in Winkl with the turnout Hüttenstein , and on Krotensee over, the route led up to Scharflinger height , the watershed between Wolfgang and Mondsee, which crosses the track in a 436-meter tunnel. From the Scharfling stop , which is still high above the Mondsee, the train continued down the slopes of the Almkogel through two shorter tunnels and on a route cut into the rock face to the Plomberg stop on the banks of the Mondsee.

Past the striking steep face of the Drachenwand , the track ran from Plomberg through flat meadows near St. Lorenz to the St. Lorenz train station near the Wagnermühle , the branch station of the branch line to Mondsee. As a hub, it was equipped with extensive track systems and a sawmill siding. In St. Lorenz, the locomotives of all trains on the main line were always supplemented with water and mostly also with coal.

St. Lorenz - Mondsee

The branch section from St. Lorenz to Mondsee, which was originally part of the route from Salzburg, ran largely flat along the western bank of the Mondsee. On the short route, he served the stops in Black India and Leitnerbräukeller. The latter only consisted of a station board at the inn of the same name. After 3.5 km the route ended at Mondsee train station on the lake promenade of the market town.

St. Lorenz - Salzburg

Thalgau with train station

The main route followed the Fuschler Ache valley from St. Lorenz, ascending via the Teufelmühle and Vetterbach stops, and reached the next larger town, Thalgau . After leaving the valley floor in a northerly direction, the railway at Irlach first crossed the route of the western motorway , which was completed in the late 1950s, and passed near the Enzersberg stop at 600 m above sea level. A. the watershed between the Mondsee and the Salzach . This section of the SKGLB through the hilly landscape of the Salzburg Flachgau region was situated higher than the mountainous section over the Scharflinger Höhe.

Salzburg train station - terminus of the train

The route continued through gently rolling hills to the Kraiwiesen train station, which opened up some smaller settlements, and to Eugendorf, the next larger municipality. After the train had crossed under a viaduct of the motorway in a southerly direction, it descended steadily over the next five kilometers into the Salzburg basin, a good 100 meters below.

The Salzburg city limits had been reached near Söllheim. The route led past the Sam settlement , crossed under the bridge of the standard-gauge connecting railway between Westbahn and Gnigl , passed the workshop in Itzling and reached the terminus for SKGLB freight traffic, the Itzling freight station.

Passenger trains drove under a bridge of the Westbahn in the direction of the main station. The track proceeded initially close to the edge of the Ischlerbahn road that crossed railway Salzburg HbF Salzburg Itzling same level, thereafter the large Ringlokschuppen to pass the ÖBB. The route ended in the Salzburg local train station , which was located on the Südtiroler Platz in front of the main train station . This was used together with the Salzburg – Lamprechtshausen railway , the former Salzburg – Hangender Stein railway and the Salzburg tram, which was also closed .

business

A typical SKGLB passenger train usually consisted of three to five passenger cars and a baggage car. Depending on requirements - for example on school trains - they were reinforced with additional cars. Until it was discontinued, the trains ran with long trains during the summer months due to the large influx of tourists, which were often run in double traction . During the Salzburg Festival , special trains ran regularly from 1920 onwards, which were referred to as " theater trains " and were intended as an additional feeder to the festival city of Salzburg.

The timetable on the branch line between Mondsee and St. Lorenz was designed so that the branch trains served as feeders to the main line and passengers could change to the train towards Salzburg or Bad Ischl after a short waiting time. A single set was sufficient for this short-distance shuttle service. From around 1928, the motorized multiple unit converted from a four-axle passenger car was preferred for this task.

In freight transport, the railway served several companies that had their own siding . Loading tracks for local shippers were also available in the train stations and some stops. In addition to wood, the SKGLB transported several wood processing companies located close to the route, the most important of which was the sawmill in St. Lorenz, as well as milk, general cargo and mail. In Bad Ischl freight station and at the Salzburg-Itzling freight station, the goods could be loaded onto the standard-gauge railway for onward transport. In Sankt Wolfgang there was also the possibility of loading goods onto steam ships of the Wolfgangsee shipping company.

As a rule, passenger and goods traffic on the Salzkammergut local railway were run separately. Freight traffic between Salzburg and Bad Ischl was operated by pure freight trains. This avoids the disadvantages of the freight trains with passenger transport common on many local railways with comparatively modest passenger traffic - long travel times and delays due to the shunting stops in the stations. The slower, but more powerfully constructed locomotive types were therefore preferably used as train locomotives in freight transport. Only on the branch line were the few freight cars intended for Mondsee added to the railcar. Since the railway had no turntables , the return journey from Salzburg to Bad Ischl or from Mondsee to St. Lorenz was “backwards”, the locomotives drove “tender ahead”. The maximum permitted speed on the main line was 40 km / h, the St. Lorenz – Mondsee branch line could be driven at 35 km / h.

Operating facilities

Track plan, Mondsee station, 1891
Track plan Bad Ischl passenger station 1894

The Salzkammergut local railway, including all side tracks, had a track length of 74.7 kilometers. Vignole rails were laid all along the route , which were mounted on wooden sleepers that rested on a gravel bed . The rail weight of 17.8 kg / m resulted in a maximum axle load of 8 tons. The railway served 16 stations and 20 stops. The equipment of the train stations and stations was, typical for a local railway, economical and practical. The architecture of the railway stations corresponded to a standard construction method for local railway structures that was widespread throughout the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and that had a lasting impact on the appearance of these railways. On the SKGLB, several reception buildings were provided with an open veranda as a waiting area. The majority of the stops were equipped with a bus shelter, which was spacious compared to the facilities at the bus stops that existed today, but they did not have extensive track systems or facilities for supplying the steam locomotives. Some loading tracks were available for freight traffic.

Plan of the Mondsee train station
The former workshop building in Salzburg-Itzling was used as a car workshop for a long time. In 2014 the building was demolished.

The stations of the local railway were usually equipped with at least one siding connected to the main track on both sides and one or more loading tracks for freight traffic. Several stations were equipped with water cranes to supply the steam locomotives, which, as tank locomotives, were only able to carry a limited water supply. Boiler houses to accommodate the locomotives were available at the endpoints Bad Ischl, Salzburg and Mondsee as well as in St. Gilgen. The necessary supply facilities for the locomotives were also housed there and in the St. Lorenz junction station .

The workshop in Salzburg-Itzling, which was equipped with a transfer platform , a locomotive crane and an inspection pit, was responsible for repairs and improvements to the vehicles . The workshop had four hall tracks and several outside tracks for parking the vehicles. In addition to numerous machines and tools, the building also housed a service room, a forge, a soldering shop, a joinery, a paint shop and a warehouse. Shortly after the workshop was the Salzburg Itzling freight station of the Salzkammergut local railway, which was equipped with a gantry crane for loading the goods onto the standard-gauge railway . With its two-room boiler house, this station was the operational center of the railway in the Salzburg area.

Vehicle fleet

Locomotive 7 with a passenger car in St. Gilgen, 1895

Towards the end of its existence, the Salzkammergut Local Railway had a rather "colorful" fleet of vehicles, consisting of the original vehicles from the early years of the railway, the locomotives and wagons acquired in the interwar period as replacements for the vehicles lost in the First World War and former army field railway vehicles that were the Second World War were available. However, due to their comparatively low performance, the latter were not used in line service with a few exceptions, but were used as shunting locomotives in Salzburg Itzling. The majority of the locomotive fleet consisted of tank locomotives , only four - the former army field railroad locomotives - were tender locomotives . Smaller locomotives such as No. 2, 30 and 31 were preferably used in shunting or on the branch line to Mondsee when the diesel railcar was not available. Locomotive no. 40 was a special feature - it was the only diesel locomotive in the history of the Salzkammergut local railway. Despite the diversity in the locomotive park, the seven most recently available locomotives of the Steyrtal Railway type, which were purchased between 1891 and 1906, carried the main load of the traffic until they were closed. The locomotives originally wore the completely black color scheme typical of Austria with bare wheel tires and rods, in the last few years of operation at least parts of the chassis were painted red on some machines. Locomotive No. 31 was the only one in which the water tank and driver's cab were painted green.

With a view to economy, the “outdated” vehicles were not taken out of service and replaced by new purchases, but instead converted and modernized in the workshop in Itzling if necessary. Around 1928, for example, a four-axle passenger coach , which was built as a court saloon coach in 1894, was converted into a railcar with a combustion engine based on the GEBUS principle, which from then on took over the traffic on the branch line. From the time the new numbering scheme was introduced in 1930 until the railway was discontinued, there were a total of 18 locomotives (six of which were retired in the years before operations were discontinued), four railcars (three of which were sold in 1939), 36 passenger cars and nine Post and baggage cars and 111 freight cars owned by the SKGLB. The passenger coaches were divided into 2nd and 3rd class; before the changeover in 1916, there was 1st and 3rd class. The five four-axle passenger cars were considered to be the “parade vehicles” until they were discontinued. Each of these vehicles offered almost twice as many seats as a two-axle vehicle. The passenger and baggage cars were painted green, the freight cars were painted in a red color.

The vehicles that were still available after the hiring were put out to tender. Several locomotives and wagons were purchased from the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen and the Zillertalbahn for scrap value, a few were preserved for museum purposes. All other vehicles were scrapped.

Passenger numbers

Development of the number of passengers at the SKGLB

While 140,767 passengers took the train in the first year of operation (18 months), the number of people transported annually rose only very slowly in the following 24 years to a high of almost 405,000 passengers in 1911. There was a significant increase in the First World War 646,423 passengers in the last year of the war, 1918. Passenger numbers did not fall back to the pre-war level after the end of the war and settled at 350,000 to 600,000 people transported annually by 1929. With the onset of the global economic crisis , the transport numbers fell again quickly. They sank below the level of 1894 by 1937 and recovered slowly from 1938 onwards and rapidly from the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 to passenger numbers from one to over one and a half million per year. After the end of the war from 1946 to 1949, the Salzkammergut local railway experienced its biggest rush with up to 2.15 million passengers per year due to the hamster rides . From 1950 the number of people carried began to slowly but steadily decline. In the last short year of operation in 1957, the SKGLB carried 610,294 passengers from January to September, four times as many as in the first full year of operation in 1892.

SKGLB museum

The SKGLB Museum in the former boiler house in Mondsee
Locomotive 9 in the museum

The SKGLB museum is housed in the former boiler house of the Salzkammergut local railway in Mondsee, the only building that has been preserved from the facilities at the end of the branch line. The building was renovated between 1988 and 1996 and has served as a railway museum ever since , open to visitors between May and September. The museum is owned by the Mondsee municipality, the initiator and director of the museum is August Zopf. Next to the boiler house is a newly built depot that was built to accommodate the historic wagons. In addition to historical plans and photos as well as some relics from the years of operation of the Salzkammergut local railway, the SKGLB Museum also has three locomotives. Two of the locomotives, including locomotive 5, which was rediscovered in Bosnia in the 1960s, have been preserved in operational condition following general inspections in the 1990s. The museum also has five restored wagons. Locomotive 9, which is also housed in the museum, is to be repaired in the long term.

Another goal of bringing the locomotive 12, which ran the last passenger train on September 30, 1957 and was sold to a German collection after its years in Styria, back to Austria, was implemented in 2004. Initially purchased in 1996 by the Mondsee interest group, the machine was acquired by the Club 760 in 2002 and subjected to a general inspection. Refurbished until October 2004, it has been in use on the association's own museum railway Taurachbahn in Salzburg's Lungau .

present

Bike path on the section between Strobl and St. Gilgen

A cycle path has now been built on some sections of the railway line that have remained unobstructed . Between the outskirts of Salzburg and Lake Mondsee, as well as on the shores of Lake Wolfgang, they form part of the Salzkammergut cycle path. In 2017 it was announced that the cycle path connection between Mondsee and Wolfgangsee should be made even more attractive by using two tunnels on the former railway line. One of the tunnels was used by the armed forces as a potential fortress during the Cold War .

Locomotive 12 - one of the preserved SKGLB locomotives on a special trip on the Murtalbahn

The popularity and national fame of the Salzkammergut local railway, which has continued to the present day, led to the establishment of several initiatives aimed at rebuilding the railway. The spectrum of these initiatives, which are not only part of the established railroad enthusiasts and museum railway scene, ranges from the rebuilding of the entire route as a fully-fledged public transport system to the reconstruction of a section as a museum railway and tourist attraction. In addition, the idea of ​​“SKGLB new” has already been the subject of several traffic studies.

The Salzburg-based consortium SKGLB Reengineering Ges.bR would like to set up a modern local transport system for the region that is integrated into the Salzburg S-Bahn system by rebuilding the Ischlerbahn . In addition, the railway would be important for tourism and could be linked to other regional tourism projects. The project envisages a complete reconstruction of the Salzkammergut local railway on the original route and the procurement of modern vehicles for passenger transport. The revitalization project is to be financed by the federal states, the federal government and the European Union . In addition, the municipalities involved must pass a fundamental resolution for the railways. As soon as the financing has been secured and the approval of the municipalities has been obtained, a feasibility study is planned. According to the consortium, up to 80 percent of the old route can be used for the reconstruction. A duration of seven to eight years is assumed for the implementation of the project. The consortium assumes a transport of 640 passengers in each direction per hour; The revitalized Salzkammergut local railway could transport around eight million people annually.

The Club Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn from the area around the SKGLB Museum in Mondsee plans to rebuild the railway as a museum railway and as a tourist attraction for the region. The club also collects vehicles from the Salzkammergut local railway that have been preserved. An alternative to complete reconstruction would be to build a short section that could start at the SKGLB Museum, or the stretch between Black India and Teufelmühle on Mondsee. The costs for this project are estimated at around 1.5 million euros.

However, like other private initiatives, these projects have so far not been successful.

The mayors of the neighboring communities support the initiative to rebuild the Ischlerbahn as a regional light rail.

literature

  • Heinrich Dostal: The Railway Worker - Essays on the Development and Modern Design of the Entire Railway System , Volume 2, Verlagbuchhandlung Vienna I, 1905
  • Hans Steffan : The locomotives of the Salzkammergut local railway . In: Die Lokomotive , year 1916, pp. 119–125 ( ANNO - AustriaN Newspapers Online )
  • Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl, history of the Salzkammergut local railway , 2nd edition, Slezak publishing house, 1995, ISBN 3-85416-170-0
  • Krobot, Slezak, Sternhart: Schmalspurig durch Österreich , 4th edition, Verlag Slezak, 1991, ISBN 3-85416-095-X
  • Dr. Roland Floimaier (editor): Moriz Gelinek Life and Work - The Salzburg Railway Pioneer , Office of the Salzburg State Government, Series of the State Press Office, Special Publication No. 127, 1996, ISBN 3-85015-146-8
  • Christian Hager: The railways in the Salzkammergut , Verlag Ennsthaler, ISBN 3-85068-350-8
  • Alfred Luft: The Salzkammergut Local Railway , Bahn im Bild, Volume 7, Pospischil Verlag, Vienna 1979
  • Helmut Marchetti: Stern & Hafferl - Visions with Tradition , GEG Werbung, Gmunden, 2003 ISBN 3-9501763-0-6
  • August Zopf (editor): Festschrift: 1891–1991, From Salzburg to Mondsee , Heimatbund Mondseeland, 1991
  • August Zopf (editor): Commemorative publication : Unforgotten SKGLB, discontinued 50 years ago , Heimatbund Mondseeland - SKGLB-Museum, 2007
  • Gunter Mackinger: Schafbergbahn and Wolfgangseeschiffe , Kenning Verlag, Nordhorn, 2008, ISBN 978-3-933613-92-9
  • Werner Schleritzko: Mythos Ischlerbahn - Volume 1, The years 1890 to 1930 , Railway-Media-Group, Vienna, 2015, ISBN 978-3-902894-21-2
  • Werner Schleritzko: Myth Ischlerbahn - Volume 2, The years 1931 to 1957 , Railway-Media-Group, Vienna, 2016, ISBN 978-3-902894-22-9
  • Werner Schleritzko: Myth Ischlerbahn - Volume 3, Vehicles-Museum-Perspektiven , Railway-Media-Group, Vienna, 2016, ISBN 978-3-902894-23-6

Movie

  • Railway in the film: The Salzkammergut local railway SKGLB . (1 VHS video cassette, 50 minutes, color, with sound). R & R Videofilmproduktion, Vienna 1993, OBV .
  • RioGrande video library, DVD 3017: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl . (55 minutes). Sl, s. a.
  • Hagen von Ortloff (Red.), SWR (Prod.): Railway Romanticism , Episode 628: On Emperor's Track - The Salzkammergut Railway Idyll . (28:46 minutes). Sl 2007. ( Online until March 25, 2015 ).
  • Franz Antel (director): Kaiserball . Music film with Sonja Ziemann , Rudolf Prack , Maria Andergast , Jane Tilden and Hans Moser . Austria 1956. (The song "Between Salzburg and Bad Ischl" about the Salzkammergut local railway comes from this film).

Web links

Commons : Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Mayors found an association for Ischlerbahn. In: salzburg.orf.at. April 3, 2010, accessed February 18, 2019 .
  2. ^ Ischlerbahn: Initiative criticizes Heinz Schaden. In: salzburg.orf.at. September 22, 2011, accessed February 19, 2019 .
  3. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 10-12.
  4. Helmut Marchetti: Stern & Hafferl - Visions with Tradition , GEG Werbung, Gmunden 2003, pages 23–24
  5. ^ Heinrich Dostal: Der Eisenbahner - Essays on the development and modern design of the entire railway system , Volume 2, Verlagbuchhandlung Wien I, 1905, pages 12-16
  6. ^ A. Luft: Bahn im Bild Volume 7 , Verlag Pospischil, Vienna 1994, pages 3-11
  7. Gerald Breitfuß: Sommerwagen im Wandel der Zeit , Schmalspur magazine 1/2002, Vienna 2002, pp. 12-16
  8. G. Mackinger: Schafbergbahn and Wolfgangseeschiffe , 2008, p. 20
  9. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 12-14
  10. Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 15
  11. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 15 and 133
  12. Helmut Marchetti: Stern & Hafferl - Visions with Tradition , GEG Werbung, Gmunden 2003, pages 119-120
  13. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 17
  14. a b c d Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 173
  15. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 16
  16. Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 26
  17. Wirtschaftswoche magazine , May 5, 1950 edition
  18. August Zopf, "Salzkammergut Local Railway: Past with Future"
  19. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 16-21
  20. Magazine Railway Austria, 9/1957, published by Ployer, Vienna, page 157
  21. ^ F. Stöckl: Interim balance of the rail replacement traffic for the SKGLB , Journal Eisenbahn Österreich, Issue 4/1958, Verlag Ployer, Vienna
  22. Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 24-25
  23. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 9
  24. Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 101-115.
  25. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 82-99.
  26. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 71-79
  27. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 49-71
  28. History of the Salzkammergut Local Railway ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2008 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.skglb.org
  29. Krobot, Slezak, Sternfahrt: Schmalspurig durch Österreich , 1975, page 99
  30. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 99
  31. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, page 157
  32. Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 52-57
  33. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 34–46 (various color photographs)
  34. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: From Salzburg to Bad Ischl , 1995, pages 134-137
  35. Krobot, Slezak, Sternahrt: schmalspurig by Austria , 1975, pages 312-317
  36. Club Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn - Museum Mondsee  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / stud4.tuwien.ac.at  
  37. Article about the SKGLB Museum
  38. Austrian Steam Base - SKGLB 12
  39. Salzkammergut Cycle Path ( Memento of the original from July 31, 2008 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.radfahren.at
  40. Upper Austrian News: Forgotten railway tunnels are opened for cyclists . ( nachrichten.at [accessed on October 3, 2017]).
  41. Peter Kemptner: The Salzkammergut Local Railway as the Subject of University Studies , Regional Rails 3/2007, p. 10
  42. Homepage of Reengineering Ges.nbr ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.skglb.org
  43. ^ Salzkammergut-Rundschau: Edition 10/2008, March 15, page 15
  44. Club Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / stud4.tuwien.ac.at  
  45. ^ Private project study Ischlerbahn from 2001
  46. Salzburger Nachrichten  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Ischlerbahn: Mayors support the rail initiative@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / search.salzburg.com  
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on May 10, 2008 in this version .