Vitznau–Rigi Railway Line
The Vitznau–Rigi railway line is a Swiss standard gauge rack railway that runs from on the shore of Lake Lucerne to Rigi. It was built in 1871 by the Rigibahn, and is now owned by Rigi Railways, along with the Arth–Rigi railway line, which runs on the other side of the mountain, and the Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad cable car (''Luftseilbahn Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad'', LWRK). History The Vitznau–Rigi railway (VRB) was opened on 21 May 1871 as the ''Rigibahn'' and the first mountain railway in Europe. The first rack railway of Europe had already been opened in the quarry of Ostermundigen in 1870. The quarry was officially opened for marketing reasons only in October 1871. The Vitznau–Rigi Railway was built by the engineers Niklaus Riggenbach, Ferdinand Adolf Naeff and Olivier Zschokke. At first it ran only from Vitznau (439 metres above sea level) via Kaltbad (1453 m.a.s.l.) to Rigi Staffelhöhe (1550 m.a.s.l.). On 27 June 1873,The date 23 June 1873 frequently quoted contradicts t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rigi
The Rigi (or ''Mount Rigi''; also known as ''Queen of the Mountains'') is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The range is in the Schwyzer Alps, and is split between the cantons of Schwyz and Lucerne, although the main summit, named ''Rigi Kulm'', at 1,797 meters above sea level, lies within the canton of Schwyz. The Rigi Kulm Hotel, established in 1816, is located on the summit. The Rigi Kulm and other areas, such as the resort of Rigi Kaltbad, are served by Europe's oldest mountain railways, the Rigi Railways. The whole area offers many activities such as skiing or sledging in the winter, and hiking in the summer. Peaks Etymology The name ''Rigi'' is from Swiss Old High German ''*rigî'' "horizontal stratification, strip, band", from OHG ''rîhan'' "gird; pleat, string", cf. OHG ''rîga'' " row, st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rigi–Scheidegg Railway
The Rigi–Scheidegg railway (; RSB) is a former railway line built high on the Rigi massif on the cantonal border between Lucerne and Schwyz in Switzerland. Today the line's trackbed, which is in length, and includes a tunnel and several bridges, is a rail trail, which serves as a panoramic footpath in summer, and as a route for cross-country skiing in winter . Even before the Vitznau–Rigi rack railway was opened in 1871, the Rigi Massif was a major tourist attraction, with a number of grand hotels occupying various locations on the massif. One of these was at the summit of the Scheidegg peak, which was not served by either the Vitznau–Rigi line or the Arth–Rigi rack railway that followed it. In order to provide easier access for its guests, the Rigi–Scheidegg railway was built to provide a link to Rigi Kaltbad on the Vitznau–Rigi line. The line opened in two stages, with the stage from Kaltbad to First opening on the 14 July 1874, and the section from First to Sc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mountain Railways
A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a mountain range, mountainous region. It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes, or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the summit. Mountain railways often use narrow gauge railways, narrow gauge tracks to allow for tight curves in the track and reduce tunnel size and structure gauge, and hence construction cost and effort. Where mountain railways need to climb steep gradients, they may use steep grade railway technology, or even operate as funicular railways. List of mountain railways Argentina * Mendoza, Argentina, Mendoza to Los Andes, Chile, see Chile below Australia * Glenreagh Mountain Railway * Mount Morgan, Queensland, 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 � ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1871 Establishments In Switzerland
Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the south German states unite into a single nation state, known as the German Empire. The King of Prussia is declared the first German Emperor as Wilhelm I of Germany, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The Constitution of the German Confederation comes into effect. It abolishes all restrictions on Jewish marriage, choice of occupation, place of residence, and property ownership, but exclusion from government employment and discrimination in social relations remain in effect. * January 21 – Battle of Dijon: Giuseppe Garibaldi's group of French and Italian volunteer troops, in support of the French Third Republic, win a battle against the Prussians. * February 8 – 1871 French legislative election elects the first legislature of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railway Lines Opened In 1871
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and rail freight transport, freight transport globally, thanks to its Energy efficiency in transport, energy efficiency and potentially high-speed rail, high speed.Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower friction, frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by Diesel locomotive, diesel or Electric locomotive, electric locomotives. While railway transport is capital intensity, capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rack Railways In Switzerland
Rack or racks may refer to: Storage, support and transportation * Amp rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Autorack or auto carrier, for transporting vehicles in freight trains * Baker's rack, for bread and other baked goods * Bicycle rack: ** Bicycle parking rack ** Bicycle stand, for holding bicycles in service, storage, or transport ** The luggage carrier of a bicycle * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin mounted on armored fighting vehicles * Clothes rack, or clothes horse * hatstand, also known as a coat rack, hall rack, or hat rack * Drum rack, part of a drum kit * Drying rack, for clothing * Ejector rack or hardpoint for attaching external loads to an aircraft * Firearm rack * Flat rack container, a type of railroad freight car * Hay rack, for feeding animals * Laboratory drying rack, a for hanging and draining glassware * Music rack or music stand, to hold sheet music for performance * Newspaper rack, a newspaper vending machine * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Standard-gauge Railways In Switzerland
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia, Finland, Uzbekistan, and some line sections in Spain. The distance between the inside edges of the heads of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary/British Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which is equivalent to 1,435.1mm. History As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rail heads) to be used, as the wheels of the rolling stock (locomotiv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railway Lines In Switzerland
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by diesel or electric locomotives. While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railroad Switch
A railroad switch (American English, AE), turnout, or (set of) points (Commonwealth English, CE) is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one Rail tracks, track to another, such as at a Junction (rail), railway junction or where a Branch line, spur or Siding (rail), siding branches off. Design The parts of a turnout are known by different names in different jurisdictions. The main terms in U.S. and UK usage are shown in the selectable diagrams. In this article, the U.S. term is listed first and UK second, in parentheses. The most common type of switch consists of a pair of linked tapering rails, known as ''points'' (''switch rails'' or ''point blades''), lying between the diverging outer rails (the ''stock rails''). These points can be moved laterally into one of two positions to direct a train coming from the point blades toward the straight path or the diverging path. A train moving from the narrow end toward the point blades (i.e. it ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |