Thörlerbahn

Thörlerbahn
Kapfenberg – Au-Seewiesen

Route length:

22.7 km

0.0	Kapfenberg	509 m above sea level A.
	(Transition to the southern runway )
0.5	Kapfenberg state railway
2.8	Angle
3.9	Desolate	537 m above sea level A.
5.5	Hansenhütte	551 m above sea level A.
10.0	Margarethenhütte	616 m above sea level A.
11.4	Thörl	630 m above sea level A.
11.5	Thörler tunnel 8.8 meters
12.6	Aflenz recently renamed Thörl	642 m above sea level A.
13.4	Wappensteinhammer	646 m above sea level A.
15.2	Mitterberg
17.3	Hinterberg	686 m above sea level A.
19.8	Seebach - Turnau	715 m above sea level A.
22.7	Au - Seewiesen discontinued in 1964

The Thörlerbahn , in official parlance local railway Kapfenberg- Au- Seewiesen , was a narrow-gauge railway with 760 mm gauge operated by the Steiermärkische Landesbahnen . It connected the region around Aflenz in Upper Styria with the southern railway near Kapfenberg .

history

Construction of the short tunnel near Thörl, August 1893

Originally planned as a section of a projected rail connection from Mürz Valley to Mariazell , the narrow-gauge railway was opened in 1893. The railway brought the region economic upswing, primarily through freight transport, and the iron industry in particular benefited from the then modern means of transport. The route was never very important in passenger traffic, as the larger towns such as Aflenz or Turnau were located off the route and the further connection to the Mariazellerbahn was never realized.

On March 15, 1959, passenger traffic was discontinued, the section from Seebach-Turnau to Au-Seewiesen was completely discontinued and removed in 1964. Freight traffic for the iron industry as far as Thörl, on the other hand, developed positively, operations were converted to diesel traction in the 1960s, modern freight wagons were procured, the superstructure was adapted to the increased loads and, last at the beginning of the 1990s, a modern remise was built at Kapfenberg regional train station - and workshop buildings erected.

The section from Aflenz to Seebach-Turnau, on which wood was only transported sporadically, was discontinued at the end of 1990. The Thörlerbahn Association , which had set itself the task of preserving the section of the route from being demolished, started a nostalgic train test run with borrowed vehicles in 1991. This offer was accepted very positively, so that in the following years an initially very promising museum railway project could be set up: passenger cars were built on freight car chassis according to historical models and the last original steam locomotive No. 6 THÖRL , at the same time the last existing machine of a series closely related to the Z series, could be rented and reactivated by the Club 760 .

However, a bank failure led the local iron industry to bankruptcy in 1995, so that after the loss of the largest (and practically only) freight customer, the state railways were forced to cease operations. Until the end of the 1998 season, the club was allowed to drive the entire route, but a complete takeover of the 20 km long route was not possible for financial reasons. Due to the lack of support in the region, where the use of the railway line as a cycle path and to widen the main road was welcomed, the club filed for bankruptcy after the 1999 season was canceled. The vehicles were sold or returned to their owners. On October 31, 1999, the Thörlerbahn was used for the last time with a draisine.

In 2003 and 2004, the tracks were removed and a cycle path was built on the route.

The reception building and the goods depot of the Thörl train station are under monument protection.

Au-Seewiesen station, around 1900
Timetable of the Thörlerbahn (1946/1947)
One of the first steam train in the Kapfenberg regional train station (1991)
Former station building of Au-Seewiesen (1991)
Thörl station (formerly Aflenz) after the tracks were removed (Aug. 2003)

literature

Walter Krobot, Josef Otto Slezak , Hans Sternhart: Narrow gauge through Austria. History and fleet of narrow-gauge railways in Austria from 1825 to 1975. 4th edition. Slezak Verlag, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85416-095-X ( International Archive for Locomotive History. 3).
JO Slezak, H. Sternhart: Renaissance of the narrow-gauge railway in Austria. Slezak Verlag, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-85416-097-6 ( International Archive for Locomotive History. 36).
Markus Strässle: Narrow-gauge railway activities in Austria. Slezak publishing house, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-85416-184-0 ( International Archive for Locomotive History. 43).

Web links

Commons : Thörlerbahn - collection of images, videos and audio files