Vermuntbahn at Partenten, Voralberg
closed
The water and hydro-electric power company Voralberger Illwerke AG built several funiculars as part of the construction process for some of their power schemes. Many were open only for the length of construction, although some were left open in order to provide access to the higher end of the schemes. In at least two cases the funicular was opened for public use, although these have now ceased operations. These routes were connected to Schruns by narrow gauge railway, and have been noted in the ARG web page on the Montafonerbahn (http://www.austrian-railways.org/mfb1.htm).
The pendulum funicular from Partenten up to Trominier was constructed in 1928, and after the plant was completed, was used for goods traffic. However, in 1959 the open funicular cars were equipped with seating, and the route opened to the public. A control cabin at the top of each car had a flat platform alongside for remaining goods traffic, whilst there were reversible seats for 34 people. Subsequently, a cage was built around each car to provide protection to passengers, and this was later removed when the cars were rebuilt with roofs.
The line was metre gauge, 1,453 metres in length, and climbed 700 metres to the bergstation at 1,730 metres. Although having an average gradient of 55.5%, the funicular was a switchback, with a maximum gradient of 85.6%. Each funicular took 19 minutes to make the journey at an average of 1.25 metres / second.
At the top of the funicular a narrow-gauge train, now closed and removed, transported passengers from the bergstation to the dam, passing through several tunnels as it did so.
In 1994, the funicular was closed by Illwerke AG, and was replaced by a cable car running a little further up the mountainside. The talstation site was re-used for the cable-car station, but the upper one was left. The new cable car, the Vermuntbahn seilbahn, was built alongside the pipework. Subsequently, the pipework has been diverted to a new power station.
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