Mountain railway
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.
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 (British English: lift).
List of mountain railways
Australia
Austria
- Mariazellerbahn
- Pöstlingbergbahn de:Pöstlingbergbahn Beschreibung durch den Betreiber, Linz AG Linien
- Schafbergbahn
- Schneebergbahn
Brazil
Canada
- BC Rail, crosses Rocky Mountains
Chile
- Ferrocarill Arcica La Paz, Arica–La Paz
- El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza, Los Andes - Mendoza. The rebuild will be adhesion only.
China
France
- Ligne Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine, de:Bahnstrecke Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine, fr:Ligne Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine
- Mont Blanc Tramway
- Montenvers Railway
Germany
- Berchtesgaden Mountain Railway
- Drachenfels Railway
- Harzer Schmalspurbahnen
- Murgtalbahn, de:Murgtalbahn
- Wendelstein Railway
- Zugspitze Railway
Greece
India
Isle of Man
Italy
Japan
New Zealand
- Rimutaka Incline Commenced operation in 1878 and ceased operation in 1955.
Norway
Peru
- Empresa nacional de ferrocarriles del Peru
- Ferrocarril Central Andino, (Standard gauge)
- Ferrocarril Huancayo - Huancavelica, Huancayo - Huancavelica (Narrow gauge, 36 in or 914 mm)
- Ferrocarril del sur de Peru Arequipa - Puno, (Standard gauge)
- Cusco - Machu Picchu, Cusco - Machu Picchu, (36 in or 914 mm gauge)
Spain
Switzerland
- Appenzeller Bahnen, de:Appenzeller Bahnen
- Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren
- Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen, de:Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen
- Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon railway
- Berner Oberland Bahn
- Brienz Rothorn Bahn
- Chemin de fer Aigle-Leysin, fr:Chemin de fer Aigle-Leysin, fr:Transports Publics du Chablais, de:Transports Publics du Chablais
- Chemin de fer Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champéry, fr:Chemin de fer Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champéry, de:Transports Publics du Chablais
- Chemin de fer Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets, fr:Chemin de fer Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets, de:Transports Publics du Chablais
- Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye, fr:Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye, de:Transports Publics du Chablais
- Chemins de fer Electriques Veveysans, de:Transports Montreux-Vevey-Riviera
- Chemin de Fer de Martigny au Châtelard, fr:Chemin de fer Martigny-Châtelard, de:Martigny-Châtelard-Bahn
- Chemin de fer Martigny-Orsières, de:Transports de Martigny et Régions
- Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye
- Chemin de fer Nyon-St-Cergue-Morez
- Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn, de:Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn
- Gornergratbahn
- Gotthardbahn
- Jungfraubahn
- Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (formerly Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn, Furka-Oberalp-Bahn)
- Monte Generoso Railway
- Montreux-Oberland-Bahn
- Pilatus Railway
- Rhaetian Railway
- Rigi-Bahnen (Arth-Rigi-Bahn, Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn)
- Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn
- Schynige Platte Railway
- Trogenerbahn, de:Trogenerbahn
- Uetlibergbahn, de:Uetlibergbahn, part of Sihltal-Zürich-Uetliberg-Bahn, de:Sihltal-Zürich-Uetliberg-Bahn
- Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn, de:Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn
- Wengernalpbahn
- Zentralbahn (former Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn, Brünigbahn)
External links
- RAIL-INFO SWITZERLAND (in English)
See also
United Kingdom
United States
Mountain railways in fiction
The Culdee Fell Railway is featured in the book Mountain Engines, part of The Railway Series by Rev.W.Awdry, where it runs from Kirk Machan to the summit of Culdee Fell on the Island of Sodor. The line is based on the Snowdon Mountain Railway in North Wales.
See also
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
