| As if having one narrow gauge railway is not normally enough to make a small town like Jenbach in the Tirol of great interest, the place actually has two! On the north side of the main line station is the terminus of the rack operated Achenseebahn, which climbs up through the woods into an area of lush mountain meadows to serve the ski resort at Maurach and then continues along the final flat valley floor to the lakeside at Seespitz. From here you may continue your jouney to the main lakeside resort at Pertisau by boat.
The line has three identical engines built for the opening of the line in 1889. The lower part of the line is a rack and pinion railway on the Riggenbach system. Watching these engines on the move is quite disconcerting as parts of the outside motion seem to operate in the opposite direction to what you might normally expect of a locomotive operating on adhesion only. It is of course a tourist railway pure and simple but none the less to be enjoyed as an example of 19th century engineering at its very best. |
Locomotive number 1 is the first of three surviving engines from the original batch of 4 delivered for the opening of the line in 1889. It is seen here at the very limit of the line at the lower terminus at Jenbach on 31 August 1968. 900x576 AB_1_Jenbach_31-8-68.jpg |
Jenbach again taken a few metres further up the line with locomotive number 2 running round its train on 13 August 1970. The motor coach in the background is a nice period piece as well, and would grace a museum collection today 900x585 AB_2_Jenbach_13-8-70.jpg |
A close up of the wheels and motion of locomotive number 3. The upper wheel is linked to pinion cogs which engage the rack between the rails on both the ascent and descent. This wheel and its motion revolve in the opposite direction to the rail wheels which is most disconcerting when seen for the first time. 900x559 AB_3_a_21-8-74.jpg |
|
The Achenseebahn engines were all built at Floridsdorf, Vienna in 1889, and operate on the Riggenbach rack system. Cabside detail of loco number 3 900x615 AB_3_b_21-8-74.jpg |
The lakeside terminus is at Seespitz, where the train connects with the boat services on the lake. Integration is nothing new! Loco 3 simmers in the summer sun awaiting the next arrival of trippers off the boat. 900x585 AB_3_c_Seespitz_21-8-74.jpg |
Taken from across the road at Seespitz, the background of lake and mountains is breathtaking, and up here you are 900 metres above sea level and the air is much fresher than down in the Inn valley with its traffic and motorway pollution. The lake may look very tempting on a warm day, but would-be bathers are warned that this lake is fed by glaciers high in the mountains and the water is always bitterly cold 900x569 AB_3_d_Seespitz_22-8-78.jpg |
|
This view of loco 3 at Seespitz clearly shows the inclined boiler arrangement. When climbing the rack section the boiler is level 900x585 AB_3_e_Seespitz_22-8-78.jpg |
Yet another shot taken at Seespitz on 22 August 1978 showing loco 3 and train waiting for the next boat connection from Pertisau 900x585 AB_3_f_Seespitz_22-8-78.jpg |
It was early morning when I got this shot of loco 3 with a single coach taken on the upper section near Maurach. The final part of the line runs along the flat valley floor formed by retreating glaciers, but it is worth remembering that at this point we are 900 metres above sea level 900x585 AB_3_g_Maurach_22-8-78.jpg |
|
Loco number 3 reaches the top of the rack section at Eben with a two coach train on 24 August 1978 900x585 AB_3_h_Eben_24-8-78.jpg |
There is a passing loop at Eben where loco 3 has detached itself from the lower end of the train and will run round the train to pull it in normal fashion for the final part of the journey along the high valley to Seespitz 900x556 AB_3_i_Eben_24-8-78.jpg |
