Auto train for a rack railway
The Appenzeller Bahn (AB) in Switzerland has ordered a rack-and-pinion rail vehicle for its 1.96km long Bergbahn Rheineck–Walzenhausen. The line has one intermediate station at Ruderbach. What is most unusual for this rack railway is its new vehicle is to be fully automated and have no driver – thus the…
Swiss rack lines’ new trains
The Pilatus, Rigi and Gornergrat rack railways recently got some very smart looking and futuristic new stock. The designs are a radical departure from the classic look that has been a feature of the Swiss rack lines for years. Even when the Wengernalp and Jungfrau Bahn acquired new stock a…
Pilatus Bahn 130 #3
How did the mountain get its name? How did Pilatus get its name? There are various claims, the biggest of all is that its named after the Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. His cursed body simply refused to stay buried so the Romans brought it here around AD/CE 37-39. In…
Pilatus Bahn 130 #2
How a railway was built up Pilatus: This continues from the first part of the Pilatusbahn feature celebrating its 130th anniversary. No doubt the idea of a railway up Pilatus has a fairly substantial history. The earliest was a sort of wooden tramroad, or rolling railway, which transported logs and…
Pilatus Bahn 130
The Pilatus Bahn at 130. Switzerland’s famous rack railway and the steepest example in the world opened to the public on 4th June 1889. The line uses a unique patent of rack rail devised by Eduard Locher who realised the normal types of rack railway would not be able to…