The Steyrtalbahn, which opened in August 1889, was the first 760mm gauge railway to be built in Austria. Initially it served the Steyr valley as far as Agonitz (31.7km - reached in Nov 1890). It achieved two connections between Garsten, on the Kronprinz Rudolf-Bahn, and the Kremstalbahn: the first was to the west at Bad Hall (22km - reached in 1891) and the second was to the south at Klaus (39.8km - reached in 1909).

The Bad Hall line was cut back to Sierning in 1933. Thereafter the lines were unchanged until 1967 when the remainder of the line between Pergern & Sierning was closed. In 1968 passenger services were cut back from Klaus, terminating at Molln, but freight continued through to Klaus. Finally, in 1982 a landslide at Haunoldmühle resulted in total closure.

A long campaign eventually achieved partial re-opening in 1985 as a ‘Museumsbahn’ operated by the ÖGEG (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte) between Steyr Lokalbahnhof and Grünburg – a distance of 16.7 km. Notable places on this preserved stretch are the Baroque church at Christkindl and the 80m bridge over the River Steyr at Waldneukirchen. Having lost the original sheds at Garsten when the line was closed, the ÖGEG has established its works at Grünburg where additional shed capacity has been built.

Today the ÖGEG runs steam-hauled trains between Steyr Lokalbahnhof and Grünburg at weekends from June until September. Journey and stock details are available from the ÖGEG website Steam locomotives used in recent years have been ex ÖBB ‘U’ Class 298.53 and ex-Heeresfeldbahn/ÖBB Class 699.103.

Photos of the depots on the ARG Depots page.