Semmering Railroad - 4

The Semmering Railroad - this is part 4 of the presentation.

Also available are from north to south part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5; anniversary 150 years and a gallery with winter images. For geographical orientation click on the area map symbol left!

This 4th part deals with the section between Kalte Rinne viaduct and the Semmering station, the place with the highest altitude of the line.

A lot of good photo locations for railway images, which one may recognize on older photographs, are totally overgrown today.

Generally it seems, that today's vegetation is much tighter than that of former times. So there is need to investigate for new shooting locations. A part of my stimulation to take pictures at the Semmering mountain, I got from the book “Die Semmeringbahn” of Harald Navé and Alfred Luft.

This book intensively deals with the final years of steam operation in the 40s and 50s of last century, but also includes material from the very early Ghega times. More or less all questions combined with the Semmering line are answered in this book.

Besides a lot of first class photographs, the authors tell a lot of stories about the conditions under which photographs were taken at that time (low speed material, rare colour films, climbing trees for shots, etc.). Unfortunately the book is sold out since several years.

  As already mentioned today we meet a rich vegetation at the Semmering. Many of good former photo spots overgrow. Maybe the forest owners will create new photo spots when looking after "older wood substance" (about 1993).  
 

This section between Kalte Rinne - and Adlitzgraben viaduct is a line part, which is not photographed really oftentimes. The rock face in the back belongs to the Spiesswand which is located a bit uphill the Breitenstein station. Sometimes images directly beg for the square format, this is one of those (6/2005).

  
 

Close here the milestone indicating a distance of 100 kilometres from Vienna is located. At Ghega's age this line section was still free of trees, from an outlook terrace at the opposite slope which today is fully overgrown, people could watch railroad traffic easily (6/2005). (top of page)

  
 

The next Semmering building uphill is the viaduct crossing the lower Adlitzgraben. IC 538 ADEG is on its way downhill. The red carriages represent the style of one generation step in the past (5/2003).

  
  In case of passing the Adlitzgraben viaduct by train, the left side window outlook is highly authentic. In contradiction to the outer side, which during several decades was equipped with a lot of stabilizing concrete, the inner viaduct side mostly is still genuine Ghega style (5/2005).  
  The lower Adlitzgraben viaduct from an opposite slope view. An Intercity train drives uphill. This viaduct is located about 2 km uphill of the Kalte Rinne viaduct, it has 8 arches and a length of 151 m. Track elevation is 24 m above valley floor (10/2004). (top of page)  
  The Weberkogel tunnel is the next building following the lower Adlitzgraben viaduct. The stopping train has passed the viadukt and will enter the Weberkogel tunnel in a few moments. This image shows the train using the "wrong" track (9/2002).  
  A train with two locos class 1044 is leaving the uphill exit of the 407 meters long Weberkogel tunnel. Now a rather short open area of about 450 m length follows and then the train will again disappear in the next tunnel, named Wolfsbergkogel tunnel (9/2002).  
  This freight train passes the short open distance between the Weberkogel - and the Wolfsbergkogel tunnel. The picture is taken from the area of a further former railroad attendant building. In periods of high train frequency, both uphill tracks are used in parallel. But a photograph of such situation I could not catch ever till now (9/2002). (top of page)  
 

A grafitti decorated train leaves the uphill Wolfsbergkogel tunnel exit. It's IC 559 Stadt Bruck an der Mur which is in operation as a railcar train this day. The elevation distance between here and the Semmering station is just 11 meters of 457 vertical meters at all (5/2003).

  
  After having passed the Weberkogel - and Wolfsberg tunnel the track reaches this nice location. In the closer background the Wolfsbergkogel station is visible and in the far background the old Kurhaus hotel which is out of service since long time. Under rainy weather conditions the stopping train approaches the Kartnerkogel tunnel, which is the last north ramp tunnel (9/2002)  
  This open view is possible because of stub up works which happened here in 2004. In the background the Kartnerkogel tunnel and in the middle the Kartnerkogel viaduct with 3 arches, crossing the upper Adlitzgraben (5/2004).
(top of page)		  
  After exiting the Kartnerkogel tunnel, the area of the Semmering station is reached. A single class 1116 loco of the Gysev company hauls its freight train the last vertical meters up to the final elevation of 894 m above sea level (8/2005).  
  The opposite direction shot shows a train which short time ago had departed the Semmering station. With a power of 5,5 MW class 1044 belonged to the most powerful engines in Europe, when delivery started in 1974 (7/2003).  
  At the Semmering station frequently faster trains pass slower ones. The freight train in the middle is passed by the inter city left. In the background right a head of the stopping train to Mürzzuschlag is still visible (8/2003).
(top of page)		  
  Semmering station view. The portal of one of the both summit tunnels is visible in the back. In the middle the station building and at the right the former water reservoir tower (10/2001).  
  With 894 m above sea level, the line reaches its highest elevation at the Semmering station. Since Gloggnitz at 437 m the line rose by 457 meters in altitude within 28 km distance. The flat area in the foreground seems to consist of material which came from building the new tunnel. At Ghegas time here was located a ditch (10/2004).  
  The track pattern when coming close to the tunnels. Today the track system looks a bit different. It was reconstructed some years ago (photo 1988). (top of page)  
 

Directly behind the Semmering station trains disappear in one of two main tunnels. This stopping train uses the newer one which was opened in 1952. At the right the portal of the 100 years older one, which belongs to the original Ghega construction (5/2003).

For more information go to part 5.

 

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Last Update: August 2005 - send me an email
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