The Reisszug (also spelt Reißzug or Reiszug) is a private
cable railway
A cable railway is a railway that uses a Wire rope, cable, rope or chain to haul trains. It is a specific type of cable transportation.
The most common use for a cable railway is to move vehicles on a Grade (slope), steeply graded line that is t ...
providing goods access to the
Hohensalzburg Castle at
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. It is notable for its extreme age, as it is believed to date back to 1460. A wall for its protection was errected in 1461 and a source mentions it in 151
The Reisszug should not be confused with the
Festungsbahn (Salzburg), Festungsbahn, a funicular that provides public access to the Hohensalzburg Castle, and which dates from 1892.
[
]
History
The line was first documented in 1515 by Matthäus Cardinal Lang, who would later become Archbishop of Salzburg. These dates would make it the oldest cable railway still in existence, and possibly the oldest existing railway
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 ...
. It has been claimed as the oldest funicular railway
A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...
, although in the absence of evidence that it ever used a counterweight, this is debatable.Nonnberg Abbey
Nonnberg Abbey () is a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, Austria. Founded by Saint Rupert of Salzburg, it is the oldest continuously existing convent, nunnery in the German-speaking world. The monastery complex is today ...
, below the eastern walls of the castle. It then rises up at a gradient of 65% to the central courtyard of the fortress, on its way passing through five concentric defensive walls. At the point where the line passes through each wall is a gateway, each of which can be closed by a sturdy wooden door. The presence and obvious age of the gateways serves to confirm Cardinal Lang's description of the line.rails
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
* Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' (1967 fi ...
and wheels were soon adopted. Haulage was accomplished by a hemp
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...
rope
A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...
. Until 1910 the line was operated by human or animal power. Over the years the line has been modified and rebuilt several times, most recently between 1988 and 1990. Today it uses steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
rails and a steel cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
. Traction is provided by an electric motor
An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
, and a closed-circuit-television system is used to monitor its operation.
Technical parameters
In its current incarnation, the line has the following technical parameters:[
]
See also
* Salzburg S-Bahn
References
External links
Funimag article on the Reiszug
{{Funiculars in Austria
Rail transport in Salzburg
Railway lines in Austria
Funicular railways in Austria
1300 mm gauge railways in Austria