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List of rack railways

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: Rack railway
See also: Mountain railway § List of mountain railways

This is a list of rack railways, both operating and closed.

Angola

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Argentina

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Australia

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  • West Coast Wilderness Railway in Tasmania, originally opened in 1896 to service the Mount Lyell copper mine and closed and completely removed in 1960s. Rebuilt and re-opened for tourists in 2003. Uses the Abt rack system. 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge.
  • Mt Morgan Rack Railway on Mount Morgan – rack system existed until 1952 when the line was deviated. Used the Abt rack system. 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge.
  • Ellalong Colliery – underground Lamella rack – installed in 1984
  • Skitube Alpine Railway – Lamella rack – in the Snowy Mountains, opened in 1987; 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge.
  • Blue Mountains sewerage project – temporary 610 mm (2 ft) gauge construction railway, 1995

Austria

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Bolivia

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Brazil

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Corcovado Rack Railway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Chile

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China

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Czech Republic

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France

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Germany

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Stuttgart Rack Railway with wagon to transport bicycles

Greece

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Hungary

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India

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Indonesia

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The State Railways of West Sumatra in 1898

Both railways used the Riggenbach system.

Italy

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Rack railway Saline-Volterra, built with Strub system. Italy, about 1920
  • Mont Cenis Pass Railway; temporary while main tunnel built.
  • Vesuvius Funicular (1880–1944; originally built as a funicular and then changed to a rack railway. It was the only railway climbing an active volcano. It was destroyed various times by Vesuvius eruptions. With its last destruction in 1944, it was never built again. It is famous worldwide as a result of the song "Funiculì Funiculà" written about it)
  • Opicina Tramway (1902–1928; rack replaced with a funicular section)
  • Rittnerbahn (rack section closed)
  • Superga Rack Railway
  • Principe–Granarolo rack railway in the city of Genoa
  • S.Ellero – Saltino (1892–1922; it was the first rack railway built in Italy)
  • Lagonegro-Castrovillari-Spezzano Albanese of Ferrovie Calabro Lucane (1915–1978; it consisted of a series of separated lines which had to be unified into a single one but the project was never completed)
  • Vibo Valentia-Mileto of Ferrovie Calabro Lucane (1917–1966; it was a local rack railway localized in south Italy)
  • Rocchette-Asiago (1910–1958; it was the highest Italian rack railway)
  • Catanzaro Città – Catanzaro Sala of Ferrovie della Calabria (Actually on service; it connects the city of Catanzaro to the borough of Sala)
  • Paola-Cosenza of Ferrovie dello Stato (1915–1987; it was replaced by a tunnel)
  • Saline-Volterra of Ferrovie dello Stato (1863–1958; it was part of a railway which connected Cecina to Volterra. Downstream flat line, from Cecina to Saline, is actually on service)
  • Dittaino-Leonforte of Ferrovie dello Stato (1918–1959; it was located on the island of Sicily)
  • Dittaino-Piazza Armerina of Ferrovie dello Stato (1912–1971; it was dismissed after a series of landslides which damaged some parts of the line)
  • Lercara Bassa-Filaga-Palazzo Adriano-Magazzolo of Ferrovie dello Stato (1924–1959; it was used for mining and workers transports in Sicily )
  • Agrigento-Naro-Licata (1911–1960; it was used to transport sulfur extracted from mines located on the island of Sicily)

Japan

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Lebanon

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  • A rack railway used to exist on the climb from Beirut to Syria, gauge 1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in).

Mexico

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  • The 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Mapimi Railroad in Durango State had a short Abt rack section from El Cambio to Ojuela. The maximum grade was 13.6% and it was worked by two Baldwin 0-6-2T steam locomotives built in 1896 and two Baldwin 2-6-2T steam locomotives built in 1898 and 1900. The railroad closed in the early 1930s.[6]

Panama

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  • Large ships are guided through the Panama Canal Locks by electric locomotives known as mulas (mules), running on rack rails on the lock walls. The new locks, projected to open in 2015, will use tugs.

Philippines

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  • The Manila Railway and Manila Railroad companies (now the Philippine National Railways) briefly operated oil burning cog locomotives starting in 1914 until 1917. One of these locomotives were named Mirador, named after one of the mountains along the proposed Aringay–Baguio line.[7]

Portugal

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Romania

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Slovakia

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South Africa

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Spain

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Switzerland

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United Kingdom

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United States

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The Mount Washington Cog Railway in 2006

Venezuela

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Vietnam

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  • The Đà Lạt-Tháp Chàm Railway in Southern Vietnam. Abandoned after the Vietnam War, although a 7 km section remains in use as a tourist attraction. Built in the 1920s, the 84 km line had a cogwheel part 34 km long, running through four tunnels with a total length of almost 1,000 meters, taking trains from the Krongpha Pass up the Ngoan Muc (Bellevue) Pass to Da Lat.

References

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  1. ^ "trains-worldexpresses.com". trains-worldexpresses.com. Archived from the original on 2009-01-22.
  2. ^ "Railpage". Railpage. Archived from the original on 2014-06-02.
  3. ^ Morrison, Allen (1992). The Tramways of Chile: 1858–1978. New York: Bonde Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN 0-9622348-2-6.
  4. ^ "Se construye". seconstruye.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10.
  5. ^ "四川这条铁路是我国首个山地铁路，长约123公里，桥隧比达98.34%". Sohu (in Chinese). 31 March 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  6. ^ "The Railroads of Peñoles". www.mexlist.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28.
  7. ^ J.D.H. Smith. "Manila RR Steam Locomotives". Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  8. ^ "Historical Sites in the Eland's Valley, Gateway to the Kruger National Park - stay over with us on your way to the Big Five in South Africa". Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  9. ^ "Large Photo 169A – Quincy & Torch Lake Cog Railway heads to Hancock". www.michiganrailroads.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-27.
  10. ^ Carruthers, John (1889). "The Trincheras Steep Incline on the Puerto Cabello and Valencia Railway, Venezuela". Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 96. doi:10.1680/imotp.1889.20790.
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