Mountain railway

The Heritage Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Lovedale, India.

Brienz Rothorn Bahn, ascending Brienzer Rothorn in the Swiss Alps.

Vall de Núria Rack Railway, Spain

A mountain railway is a railway that ascends and descends a mountain slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade. Mountain railways commonly have a narrow gauge to allow for tight curves in the track and reduce tunnel size and structure gauge, and hence construction cost and effort.

On steep grades the friction between the wheels and the rails cannot apply sufficient adhesion to the train's wheels so as to overcome gravity, and the train is in danger of sliding down the track. In practice this affects downhill braking capability before it affects uphill climbing ability, and some mountain railways at the lower end of the steepness spectrum rely on standard adhesion for propulsion, but use special track brakes acting directly on the rails.

Where the line is too steep to rely on adhesion for climbing, a rack railway may be used, in which a toothed cog wheel engages with a toothed rack rail laid between the tracks. A now little used alternative to the rack and pinion railway is the Fell system, in which traction and/or braking wheel are applied to a central rail under pressure. Another alternative is a cable car in which the car's weight is on rails but grasps a moving cable underneath the rails for propulsion. This is used in San Francisco's famous cable cars

Finally at the steepest end of the spectrum, a funicular railway may be used. Here a cable is used to haul counterbalanced trains up and down the track. The car itself is often custom built for the slope, with specially raked seating and steps rather than a sloped floor. Taken to its logical conclusion as the slope becomes vertical, a funicular becomes an elevator.

List of mountain railways

See also list of cog and rack railways

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Argentina

• Mendoza to Los Andes, Chile, see Chile below

Australia

• Glenreagh Mountain Railway
• Mt Morgan Rack Railway - abandoned in 1955.
• Skitube Alpine Railway
• West Coast Wilderness Railway

Austria

• Achensee Railway
• Arlberg Railway
• Mariazell Railway
• Pöstlingberg Railway ^[1]
• Semmering Railway - A world Heritage Site
• Schafberg Railway
• Schneeberg Railway

Bolivia

• Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia
• Ferrocarril de Arica a La Paz, Arica–La Paz
• Rio Mulatos-Potosí line

Brazil

• Corcovado Rack Railway
• São Paulo Railway

Canada

• BC Rail, crosses the Pacific Coast Range of the Coast Mountains (Garibaldi & Lillooet Ranges)

Chile

• Ferrocarill Arica La Paz, Arica–La Paz
• Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia
• El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza, Los Andes - Mendoza. The rebuild will be adhesion only.^[2]

China

• Qingzang railway

Colombia

• Colombian Railways

Croatia

• Lika line
• Rijeka line

Eritrea

• Eritrean Railway

France

• Artouste (Petit train d')
• La Rhune (Petit train de)
• Mont Blanc Tramway
• Montenvers Railway
• Saint Gervais-Vallorcine (Ligne de)

Germany

• Berchtesgaden Mountain Railway
• Drachenfels Railway (Drachenfelsbahn)
• Harz Railway (Harzbahn)
  • Rübeland Railway (Rübelandbahn)
  • Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen)
    • Harz Railway (Harzquerbahn)
    • Brocken Railway (Brockenbahn)
    • Selke Valley Railway(Selketalbahn)
• Murg Valley Railway (Murgtalbahn)
• Schwarza Valley Railway (Schwarzatalbahn)
• Wendelstein Railway (Wendelsteinbahn)
• Bavarian Zugspitze Railway (Bayerische Zugspitzbahn)

Greece

• Diakofto Kalavrita Railway

Hong Kong

• Peak Tramways

India

• Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - A world Heritage Site
• Nilgiri Mountain Railway - A world Heritage Site
• Kalka-Shimla Railway - A world Heritage Site
• Matheran Hill Railway
• Kangra Valley Railway
• Kashmir Railway

Isle of Man

• Snaefell Mountain Railway

Italy

• Superga Rack Railway

Japan

• Hakone Tozan Railway
• Ikawa Line, Oigawa Railway

New Zealand

• Rimutaka Incline Commenced operation in 1878 and ceased operation in 1955.

Norway

• Flåmsbana

Peru

• Empresa nacional de ferrocarriles del Peru
• Ferrocarril Central Andino (Standard gauge)
• Ferrocarril Huancayo - Huancavelica,^[3] (built to narrow gauge 3 ft /914 mm)
• Ferrocarril del sur de Peru Arequipa - Puno, (Standard gauge)
• Cusco - Machu Picchu, Cusco - Machu Picchu (3 ft /914 mm gauge)

Romania

View from Oraviţa - Anina railway in 2010.

Houses close to the Oraviţa - Anina railway.

• Ploiești - Braşov railway
• Braşov - Sibiu - Arad railway
• Râmnicu Vâlcea - Sibiu railway
• Târgu Jiu - Simeria railway
• Drobeta Turnu Severin - Caransebeş railway
• Oraviţa - Anina railway
• Cluj Napoca - Oradea railway
• Braşov - Miercurea Ciuc - Deda railway, and Braşov - Întorsura Buzăului
• Salva - Sighetul Marmatiei railway
• Adjud - Siculeni railway
• Suceava - Ilva Mică railway, and Vama - Moldovita
• Arad - Ineu - Brad
• Buzău - Nehoiaşu.

Spain

• Montserrat Rack Railway
• Vall de Núria Rack Railway

Switzerland

• Appenzeller Bahnen,
• Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren
• Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen,
• Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon railway
• Berner Oberland Bahn
• Brienz Rothorn Bahn
• Chemin de fer Aigle-Leysin, , ,
• Chemin de fer Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champéry, ,
• Chemin de fer Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets, ,
• Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye, ,
• Chemins de fer electriques Veveysans,
• Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye
• Chemin de fer Nyon-St-Cergue-Morez
• Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn,
• Gornergratbahn
• Gotthardbahn
• Jungfraubahn
• Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (formerly Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn, Furka-Oberalp-Bahn) ^[4]
• Monte Generoso Railway
• Montreux-Oberland-Bahn
• Pilatus Railway
• Rhaetian Railway
• Rigi-Bahnen (Arth-Rigi-Bahn, Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn)
• Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn
• Schynige Platte Railway
• Transports de Martigny et Régions (Martigny–Châtelard and Martigny–Orsières railways)
• Trogenerbahn,
• Uetlibergbahn,
• Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn,
• Wengernalpbahn
• Waldenburgerbahn ^[5]
• Zentralbahn (former Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn, Brünigbahn)

Taiwan (Republic of China)

• Alishan Forest Railway

United Kingdom

• Cairngorm Mountain Railway
• Snowdon Mountain Railway

United States

• Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway
• Mount Lowe Railway
• Mount Washington Cog Railway
• Georgetown Loop Railroad
• Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
• Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Vietnam

• Đà Lạt–Tháp Chàm Railway - Abandoned after the Vietnam War.

Mountain railways in fiction

The Culdee Fell Railway is featured in the book Mountain Engines, part of The Railway Series by Rev.W.Awdry.

See also

References

1. ^ Described by the operator, Linz AG Linien In German
2. ^ Se construye
3. ^ Map of Huancayo - Huancavelica
4. ^ Homepage of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (in English, German, French)
5. ^ Waldenburgerbahn

External links

• Homepage of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (in English, German, French)
• Narrow gauge railways of Switzerland (in English and German)
• El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes – Mendoza, Argentina (Trans-Andean Railways) (All others in Spanish only)
• seconstruye.com el tren Los Andes – Mendoza
• Museo Ferrocarril Transandino
• Ferrocarril Central Andina S.A.
• Ferrocarril Central Andino S.A.
• Map of central Peru Callao – Huancayo
• Map of south Peru/Bolivia Machu Picchu – Lake Titicaca – west coast pacific ocean
• Route Arequipa – Puno (Lake Titicaca)
• Route Cusco – Puno (Lake Titicaca)
• Route Cusco – Machu Picchu