Photo : S Ford 23 103 in Vorchdorf Depot | Austrian Railway Group | ![]() | ||
Stern & Hafferl Verkehr
| ||||
Promoted in 1897 as a light railway to connect Lambach with Vorchdorf and Grünau im Almtal, the standard-gauge branch line between Lambach, on the ÖBB Westbahn between Salzburg and Linz, and the market town of Vorchdorf, was opened in 1903. The section onward to Grünau was never constructed, as a standard gauge line from Wels was constructed. The line was operated by a local company until 1 May 1931, when it was absorbed by Stern und Hafferl. Electrified at 750V DC from 14th November 1931 (later raised to 800V DC), the line is still operated by S&H, who call it the Vorchdorferbahn. The line leaves Lambach station in a north-easterly direction, describing a 200 ° bend over the River Traun. The service shares track with the non-electrified ÖBB branch to Gmünden Seebahnhof (now disused for passenger services, but still open for freight as far as the paper making plants at Laarkirchen and Steyrmühl). At the first halt, Hst Stadl-Paura, the two route separate. The Vorchdorferbahn then heads in a generally south-easterly direction, through Bad Wimbach-Neydharting, and a number of halts, including Au and Feldham, before passing under the A1 motorway and entering the market town of Vorchdorf.The line passes through Vorchdorf station, 14.66 km. from Lambach, where the passenger services terminate, to the ACAMP garden furniture factory at Eggenberg alongside the Eggenberg Brewery, brewers of "Samichlaus", at 14° proof, the strongest beer in the world, and brewed only once a year on December 6th. The total length of the line is 15.22 km. At Vorchdorf, the line shares station area with the metre-gauge Vorchdorf - Gmünden line, the Traunseebahn, whilst the main Stern und Hafferl workshops are also located here, at the north end of the station area. The workshops were built in the period 1943-1947, and are unusual because they deal with two gauges (metre and standard gauge) in the same building. Usually stored outside, near the narrow gauge station, are a line of tramcars awaiting conversion. S&H have specialised in converting vehicles for further use on their system, but because of lack of workshop space, these vehicles can sometimes be stabled for several years before being taken in for conversion. Local goods traffic is hauled by one of the five electric railcars, the newest dating from 1953. However goods traffic to the factory is in the charge of E24 010, a Krauss Maffei steeple-cab locomotive built in 1910 for Wuppertal Tramways in Germany. The Traunseebahn, like other S&H lines, has special offers to tempt tourists, including "Ride and Beer", to Eggenberg, and a visit to a water-driven smithies mill at Bad Wimbach-Neydharting. Information is available, in German, from the Stern und Hafferl website. |
Look at some video :
On the Stern und Hafferl
standard gauge line from Lambach to Vorchdorf,
S&H 20 113, and LVE 24 103 pull into one of the
through lines having shunted up to Eggenberg
Brewery. Both built in 1912 by Graz Waggon-
Maschinenbau und Stahlwerk AG, now SGP,
they are still in daily use.
|
ARG Lambach Vorchdorf - Gallery |