Kahlenbergbahn - The 1st Austrian Cog Railway (Historic Railway) - AKahlenbergbahn - The 1st Austrian Cog Railway (Historic Cog Railway) - AHistory of the Kahlenbergbahn Cog Railway Kahlenberg can be reached by car or by bus (Bus line 38A) via the picturesque Höhenstraße, part of which is cobblestone. The first Austrian cog railway was built to Kahlenberg in 1872 and 1873 and opened in 1874. It was designed by Carl Maader. The track climbed 316 meters over 5.5 km and started from the train station in Nußdorf (today the end station of the tram-line D) and connected through Grinzing and Krapfenwaldl to the Kahlenberg Hotel, which opened in 1872. An average of 180,000 passengers used the train line each year. After World War I, the Vienna municipality converted the trams to electric power. The surrounding citizens had already dismantled large parts of the track during the war. On September 21, 1920, the line was finally shut down. The Kahlenbergbahn had its starting point in the Nussdorf station, today located at the turning loop of the tram line D. From there it ran westwards, on the former route is now the rack railway road. Then it crossed Kahlenberger Straße (the two bridge abutments have been preserved) and climbed further west via Unterer Schreiberweg. From the Grinzinger Steig the railway took a northwesterly course and reached the Grinzing station at the Mukenthalerweg and then the Krapfenwaldl station at the Krapfenwaldlbad. There it turned further to the northwest (today "Forstweg Rack Railway") and, after a left turn, reached today's Höhenstraße, which uses the route of the rack railway in this section. In a long right-hand bend, the railway crossed the Schreiberbach just below its source and turned east, where it reached the Kahlenberg terminus. Until 1876, this was in front of the last left turn of today's Höhenstraße, then the railway was extended to a single track up to the summit and a new terminus was built at the location of today's Kahlenberg transmitter building. Kahlenbergbahn 1874 to 1919 (Zahnradbahn) The Kahlenbergbahn was a standard-gauge steam-powered rack railway that operated from 1874 to 1919. It led from the Vienna district of Nussdorf to the Kahlenberg. Kahlenbergbahn Route The Kahlenbergbahn had its starting point in the Nussdorf station, today located at the turning loop of the tram line D. From there it ran westwards, on the former route is now the rack railway road. Then it crossed Kahlenberger Straße (the two bridge abutments have been preserved) and climbed further west via Unterer Schreiberweg. From the Grinzinger Steig the railway took a northwesterly course and reached the Grinzing station at the Mukenthalerweg and then the Krapfenwaldl station at the Krapfenwaldlbad. There it turned further to the northwest (today "Forstweg Rack Railway") and, after a left turn, reached today's Höhenstraße, which uses the route of the rack railway in this section. In a long right-hand bend, the railway crossed the Schreiberbach just below its source and turned east, where it reached the Kahlenberg terminus. Until 1876, this was in front of the last left turn of today's Höhenstraße, then the railway was extended to a single track up to the summit and a new terminus was built at the location of today's Kahlenberg transmitter building. Kahlenbergbahn Story Kahlenbergbahn Planning and Late Construction In view of the world exhibition of 1873, it was planned to build a cog railway based on the Swiss Vitznau-Rigi railway as an additional attraction. In March 1872, a consortium led by the mountain railway pioneer Niklaus Riggenbach (1817-1899) laid the k.k. Department of Commerce is presenting a corresponding project. Other members of this interest group included Viktor Ritter von Ofenheim, Achilles Thommen and Johann von Winiwarter. With the concession of August 10, 1872, for the construction and operation of a locomotive railway with cogwheel operation from Nußdorf to the plateau of the Kahlenberg, the concessionaires (including the Union Bank) were among others. only obliged to establish one track, leaving a second track at their discretion. As a further concessionaire obligation, the free transport of letter mail and postal employees was stipulated. The inspection of the Döbling - Heiligenstadt - Nußdorf - Kahlenberg line by commission took place on August 23, 1872, and in the same month all the preparations were made for the timely start of construction. Since, unlike other railway concession procedures, cogwheel railways, which are more or less pure pleasure railways, did not enjoy state benefits and in particular no expropriation rights, the start of construction was delayed until May 1873 due to frequent complaints from residents and exorbitant property purchases. The construction took place under the supervision of the mountain railway pioneer Oliver Zschokke. Due to the delays, the very carefully built railway could not be completed until the year after the World Exhibition and opened on March 7, 1874, which means that it failed to serve its original purpose as an attraction for the World Exhibition. The Kahlenberg Railway was the second mountain railway in Europe after the Rigi Railway and (after the Mount Washington Cog Railway) the third in the world. It was followed in the same year by the largely similar Schwabenberg Railway in Budapest. The operational opening of the Kahlenbergbahn by March 10, 1874 was an indispensable requirement of a land seller, to whom the land provided would otherwise have reverted free of charge. The double-track line had been routed in a very complex manner and equipped with the Riggenbach cog wheel system. At its exit in Nussdorf, in today's 19th district of Vienna, a station area with reception building, coach house and heating house was built. Since no rack railway points had been developed at that time, transfer tables were set up at the end points and in the depot to maneuver the vehicles. Kahlenbergbahn Competition Since July 1873, the cable car leading from the Danube bank in the direction of Kahlenberg to the Leopoldsberg (also known as the cable car to the Leopoldsberg) and the newly built hotel on the Kahlenberg were owned by the Austrian mountain railway company, which belonged to the Union-Baugesellschaft, this competition initially prevented the construction of the cog railway except for After the funicular railway ceased operations in 1876, the Kahlenbergbahn-Gesellschaft bought both the funicular and the hotel, which had gotten into financial difficulties. The rack railway had thus reached a route length of 5.5 km. The ascent took 30 minutes and the descent 25 minutes. At the new terminus, the Stephaniewarte, planned by Helmer & Fellner, was built by the railway company in 1887 from the bricks of the demolished machine house of the funicular. Kahlenbergbahn Better Connection With a document dated January 20, 1885, the Kahlenberg Railway Company (System Rigi) received the concession to build and operate a tramway from the Schottenring in Vienna to the station of the Kahlenberg cog railway in Nußdorf - e.g. Determining that within the lines of Vienna horse power would be used, outside of it suitably designed locomotives. On July 16, 1885, the Linienwall-Nußdorf section was opened, which was later operated by the New Vienna Tramway Company on behalf of the concessionaire. With the connection of the two sections of the line (today line "D" of the Vienna Lines), the rack railway (with its Nussdorf station building expanded in 1885) received the desired connection to the Vienna tramway and thus a direct connection to the more densely populated Vienna urban area. So nothing stood in the way of the development of the Kahlenberg into one of the most popular destinations for the Viennese. In addition to transporting people, the railway was also responsible for the water supply for the residents of the Kahlenberg, the water was brought up the mountain in their own cistern wagons. In 1890, a separate power station was built to supply the hotel and the mountain station. When the shares in the Kahlenbergbahn changed hands, the entire Board of Directors of the company resigned in May 1897. The opening of the Vienna Stadtbahn in 1898 brought hardly any significant increase in passengers on the cog railway, but the introduction of electric operation on the tram from August 1903 did. Kahlenbergbahn Modernisation Plans In the years from 1905, there was a clear need for renovation of the outdated railway. In the years 1894, 1907 as well as 1911/12 and 1914 more and more detailed plans for the conversion and electrification of the railway were articulated. In 1911, the Kahlenbergbahn-Gesellschaft aimed at a renovation project, according to which an electrification of the Kahlenbergbahn and the creation of a residential area were planned. The undertaking, in particular the construction of a residential area on the mountain, was viewed by exponents of the municipality of Vienna as a competitor project to the Cobenzl that endangered the forest stocks and was not considered worthy of funding. At the same time, the project (unlicensed and unrealized) for a wing railway branching off at the Krapfenwaldl stop was developed to open up the Cobenzl with the Kahlenbergbahn, which is now in need of renovation. As a detailed map from 1913 also shows, an extensive rerouting of the railway was planned uphill from the Grinzing stop. The railway was now planned as a pure adhesion railway, the railcars and sidecars to be supplied by the Grazer Waggonfabrik and Siemens-Schuckert (one even thought of double-deck railcars with an open upper deck!) would have been equipped with magnetic track brakes. Overall, costs of 1.8 million crowns were expected. However, it was not possible to agree on loans for the ailing company with the banks. The concession obtained in 1912 with the aim of electrification and a financially favorable adaptation to build and operate a standard-gauge narrow-gauge railway to be operated with electricity (the existing railway had been licensed as a locomotive railway with cogwheel operation) remained unredeemed when the First World War broke out. In 1914 a first extension of the deadline followed, a second (1917) provided for the implementation of the concession until August 1920. | |||||
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