railroad - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2007 - 75 Euro Cent
Theme: Traffic, Transportation & Mobility
Country | Austria / II. Republic of Austria |
Issue Date | 2007 |
Face Value | 75.00 |
Edition Issued | 500,000 |
Printing Type | combination printing |
Stamp Type | Commemorative |
Item Type | Stamp |
Chronological Issue Number | 2012 |
Chronological Chapter | OOS-OE2 |
SID | 734554 |
In 57 Wishlists |
The Bregenzerwald Railway - a narrow gauge railway with a track gauge of 760 mm typical of Austria - opened up the area of the Bregenz Forest, which was once accessible from the Rhine Valley only via mule tracks. From the Vorarlberg provincial capital Bregenz, the route ran for 19 km through the wildly romantic Engen valley of the Bregenz Ache and reached Egg, the largest town in the Bregenzerwald. Then the route continued to Andelsbuch through the forest Bersbucher to the terminus in Bezau. The total length of the railway line was 35.4 km. Today only 6.1 km of the trains of the museum train travel on the Bezau - Bersbuch route in the "rhythm of the old days". From the original idea of a horse-drawn railway to the museum railway is 100 years. Applications for the approval of a narrow-gauge railway until the groundbreaking ceremony took almost ten years. After only two years of construction, the line was opened in spite of destruction by flooding and bankruptcy of the construction company on September 15, 1902. Steam locomotives of the class U drove the route. In 1937 diesel-electric luggage railcars of the 2041 / s series (today 2091) gradually replaced the old steam trains. At the beginning of the 1960s, four diesel locomotives of the series 2095 and a displacement locomotive of the series 2092 were used and secured the railway operations until 1980. The beginning of the end of the Bregenzerwald Railway was caused by a natural disaster. A huge rockfall moved on July 14, 1980, the railway line at Kennelbach. After that only more sections could be driven. After another landslide, the railway was shut down in 1983. On January 29, 1985, there was the official Aus. So that the "Wälderbähnle" does not fall into oblivion, in November 1985 the association "Bregenzerwaldbahn-Museumsbahn" was founded. After seven years of operational rest and great efforts of the club a 5km long piece of Bezau could be made passable close to the station Schwarzenberg. For the anniversary "85 years Bregenzerwaldbahn" there were first public trips with the diesel locomotive "Hilde". The club acquired in 1992, the original Wälderbahnlok U25, had rebuilt wagons, gradually expanded the fleet and also reached an extension of the route to the station Bersbuch. The collapse of the railway bridge over the Bregenz Ache after the flood in May 1999 had threatened the existence of the club dramatically. The newly built, 69m long Sporenegg bridge is now the landmark of the museum railway. Thousands of volunteer working hours annually ensure driving. The public trips are very popular, over 40,000 passengers per year make the shortest museum train in Austria to the most successful.