 |
Austrian Railway Group |  | ||
Achenseebahn AG
|
| |||
|
The 6.78 km long rack railway between the
main junction station of Jenbach, and the
southern end of the Achensee was promoted,
against the wishes of some local people, to
provide better transport links into the Achen
Valley. Building work commenced on 15 September
1888, and the line opened on 6 June 1889,
using four locomotives built at the Wiener
Lokomotivfabrik Florisdorf Works in Wien.
The locomotives, which have inclined boilers
and a geared drive to both wheels and cog,
push one or two coaches up the rack section.
Both locos and coaches are equipped with rack
braking mechanisms. Speeds on the rack sections
are low, and the guard routinely checks
tickets on the move, by edging along the
step board on the outside of the coach.
The line was electrified by Siemens of Wien at 1,000V DC, during 1913 using two electric locomotives, and was again used for testing electric traction by Brown Bouveri, at 2.8 kV in 1915. However the Great War stopped further testing, and the electric catenary was dismantled. In 1916 the moving walkway at the Achensee end was removed, and the line extended for 400 metres to Seespitze station, where interchange with the lake steamers was provided. . During World War 2, the line worked day and night, transporting goods, prisoners of war, and evacuees to various points around the Achensee. The steam locomotives were not serviced during the war years, and no money was available after the war to repair them. A decision was taken to scrap one, 704, to keep the others going. One driving wheel set, with Riggenbach cog, was mounted on a plinth beside the booking office at Jenbach, and the locomotive was dismantled in 1956. . In 1981 the communities along the line took control from the Tyrolean Water company, who had owned it since 1950, and in 1987 the steepest parts of the line were relaid. Since then all of the running line has been relaid, with some realignment in Maurach. The adhesion section of the track is laid with 23 kg/metre screwed to wooden sleepers, whilst on the 3.42 km rack section the track and Riggenbach rack are bolted to steel sleepers at 1 metre centres. The line is crossed by roads in Jenbach (where the rack continues across the road) and at Eben and Maurach. The Achenseebahn has six coaches of which four are open-sided. The line's fifteen full-time employees have constructed a new locomotive, number 4, using parts recovered from 704, and using new cylinders cast in 1994 and a replacement boiler. There is also a proposal to extend the line by 3.2 km to the holiday village of Pertisau. The railway has recently purchased a small diesel shunter to shunt coaches at Jenbach, and locos on and off the traverser into the shed or workshop.
The workshops do more than minor repairs. here No 4 is rebuilt.
|
 
|
For source information,
see their web site.
Click on the ARG logo to return to the home page or here to go back to the previous screen.
text by Stephen Ford
updated 3rd February 2006