MOUNTAIN RAILWAY

Semmering Railway, Austria

The Semmering railway was constructed between 1848 and 1854 by some 20,000 workers under the project's designer and director Carl von Ghega. The construction features 14 tunnels (among them the 1,431 m vertex tunnel), 16 viaducts (several two-story) and over 100 curved stone bridges as well as 11 small iron bridges. The stations and the buildings for the supervisors were often built directly from the waste material produced in the course of tunnel construction.

Across an overall track length of 41 km the Semmering railway overcomes an altitude difference of 460 m; on 60% of its length the gradient is 20-25‰ (2-2.5%, equivalent to a 1-meter difference in altitude on a 40 m route distance), and 16% exhibit a curvature radius of only 190 m. This was an entirely new technical dimension of railway construction, and new instruments and methods of surveying had to be developed to handle the resulting challenges. Also, new technologies were employed for the Engerth locomotives because the types in general use at this time could not handle the extreme gradients and turning radii.

Even while being built the Semmering railway was perceived as an effort of "landscape gardening", i.e. it attempted a harmonious combination of technology and nature. The unique travel experience which the Semmering railway offered contributed significantly to the original opening of the Semmering region for tourism. Numerous hotels and mansions are witnesses of this epoch. This enormous upswing to the turn of the century and the revaluation of the region as a winter sports area in the first third of the 20th Century were interrupted first by World War I and then by the changed recreational needs of the population. Therefore this unique culture landscape could be preserved with little change. A trip on the Semmering railway, which is in full use 150 years after its building, still impresses the traveller as a special experience by its varied landscape, the typical style of its mansions and the characteristic sequence of viaducts and tunnel constructions.

In 1998 the Semmering railway was added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

List of mountain railways

Mountain railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   

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

Semmering Railway - A world Heritage Site 

Schafberg Railway

Schneeberg Railway

Bolivia

Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia 

Ferrocarril de Arica a 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 

Chile

Ferrocarill Arica La Paz

Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia 

El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza, Los Andes - Mendoza. 

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

see Main article: Mountain Railways of 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, (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

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

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 

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.