A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a 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 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
editArgentina
edit- Mendoza to Los Andes, Chile, see Chile below
Australia
edit- Glenreagh Mountain Railway
- Mt Morgan Rack Railway – abandoned in 1955.
- Skitube Alpine Railway
- West Coast Wilderness Railway
Austria
editBolivia
edit- Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia
- Ferrocarril de Arica a La Paz, Arica–La Paz
- Rio Mulatos-Potosí line
Brazil
editCanada
editChile
edit- Ferrocarill Arica La Paz, Arica–La Paz
- Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia
- El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes – Mendoza, Los Andes – Mendoza. The rebuild will be adhesion only.[2]
China
editColombia
editCroatia
editEritrea
editFrance
edit- Artouste (Petit train d')
- La Rhune (Petit train de)
- Mont Blanc Tramway
- Montenvers Railway
- Saint Gervais-Vallorcine (Ligne de)
Germany
edit- Drachenfels Railway (Drachenfelsbahn)
- Harz Railway (Harzbahn)
- Rübeland Railway (Rübelandbahn)
- Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen)
- Harz Railway (Harzquerbahn)
- Brocken Railway (Brockenbahn)
- Selke Valley Railway(Selketalbahn)
- Murg Valley Railway (Murgtalbahn)
- Schwarza Valley Railway (Schwarzatalbahn)[3]
- Wendelstein Railway (Wendelsteinbahn)
- Bavarian Zugspitze Railway (Bayerische Zugspitzbahn)
Georgia
edit- Borjomi-Bakuriani railway "Kukushka" (ბაკურიანი-ბორჯომი რკინიგზა)[4]
Greece
editHong Kong
editIndia
edit- Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – A world Heritage Site
- Nilgiri Mountain Railway – A world Heritage Site
- Kalka-Shimla Railway – A world Heritage Site
- Matheran Hill Railway
Isle of Man
editIsrael
editItaly
editJapan
editMexico
editNew Zealand
edit- Rimutaka Incline Commenced operation in 1878 and ceased operation in 1955.
Norway
editPeru
edit- Empresa nacional de ferrocarriles del Peru
- Ferrocarril Central Andino (Standard gauge)
- Ferrocarril Huancayo - Huancavelica,[5] (built to narrow gauge 3 ft or 914 mm, but converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in or 1,435 mm standard gauge between 2006 and 2010[6][7])
- Ferrocarril del sur de Peru Arequipa – Puno, (Standard gauge)
- Cusco - Machu Picchu, Cusco – Machu Picchu (3 ft or 914 mm gauge)
Romania
edit
- Ploiești – Brașov railway
- Brașov – Sibiu – Arad railway
- Râmnicu Vâlcea – Sibiu railway
- Târgu Jiu – Simeria railway
- Drobeta-Turnu Severin – Caransebeș railway
- Oraviţa – Anina railway
- Cluj-Napoca – Oradea railway
- Brașov – Miercurea Ciuc – Deda railway, and Brașov – Întorsura Buzăului
- Salva – Sighetul Marmatiei railway
- Adjud – Siculeni railway
- Suceava – Ilva Mică railway, and Vama – Moldovita
- Arad – Ineu – Brad
- Buzău – Nehoiașu.
Russia
edit
- Apsheronsk narrow-gauge railway – located in the Krasnodar Krai, gauge of 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in).[8][9]
Slovakia
editSlovenia
editSpain
editSwitzerland
edit- Appenzeller Bahnen
- Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren
- Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen
- Lötschberg railway line
- Berner Oberland Bahn
- Brienz Rothorn Bahn
- Chemin de fer Aigle-Leysin
- Chemin de fer Aigle-Ollon-Monthey-Champéry
- Chemin de fer Aigle-Sépey-Diablerets
- Chemin de fer Bex-Villars-Bretaye
- Chemins de fer electriques Veveysans
- Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye
- Chemin de fer Nyon-St-Cergue-Morez
- Emmental-Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn
- Gornergratbahn
- Gotthardbahn
- Jungfraubahn
- Harderbahn
- Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (formerly BVZ Zermatt-Bahn, Furka Oberalp Bahn)[10]
- Monte Generoso Railway
- Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line
- Pilatusbahn
- Rhätische Bahn
- Rigi Bahnen (Arth-Rigi-Bahn, Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn)
- Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn
- Schynige Platte Bahn
- Transports de Martigny et Régions (Chemin de fer Martigny–Châtelard and Chemin de fer Martigny–Orsières)
- Trogenerbahn
- Uetlibergbahn
- Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn
- Wengernalpbahn
- Waldenburgerbahn
- Zentralbahn (former Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn, Brünigbahn)
Taiwan
editUnited Kingdom
editUnited States
edit- Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railway
- Boca and Loyalton Railroad
- Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company
- Cascade Tunnel
- Cass Scenic Railroad State Park
- Central Pacific Railroad
- Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
- Denver and Salt Lake Railway
- Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
- Feather River Route
- Georgetown Loop Railroad
- Gilpin Railroad
- Lookout Mountain Incline Railway in Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway
- Michigan-California Lumber Company
- Mount Lowe Railway
- Mount Tom Railroad
- Mount Washington Cog Railway
- Mountain Division
- Northwestern Pacific Railroad
- Otis Elevating Railway
- Raton Pass
- Rio Grande Southern Railroad
- San Diego and Arizona Railway
- Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
- Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon Railroad
- Silverton Railroad
- Tehachapi Loop
- Uintah Railway
- White Pass and Yukon Route
Venezuela
editVietnam
edit- Đà Lạt–Tháp Chàm Railway – Abandoned after the Vietnam War.
Mountain railways in fiction
editThe Culdee Fell Railway is featured in the book Mountain Engines, part of The Railway Series by Rev.W.Awdry.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Described by the operator, Linz AG Linien In German
- ^ Se construye Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Schwarza valley line
- ^ "Georgian Railway".
- ^ Map of Huancayo – Huancavelica
- ^ "Huancavelica upgrade". Railway Gazette International. 1 Jun 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "El Tren Macho reanudó sus operaciones entre Huancayo y Huancavelica". El Comercio (in Spanish). 5 Dec 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ Apsheronsk railway
- ^ Tourist Railway
- ^ "Unsere Geschichte: Von der Visp-Zermatt-Bahn bis zur BVZ Holding AG" (in German, French, and English). Brig, Switzerland: BVZ Holding AG. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
External links
edit- Homepage of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (in English, German, and French)
- Narrow gauge railways of Switzerland (in English and German)
- El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes – Mendoza, Argentina (Trans-Andean Railways) (all others in Spanish only)
- seconstruye.com el tren Los Andes – Mendoza
- Museo Ferrocarril Transandino
- Ferrocarril Central Andina S.A.
- Ferrocarril Central Andino S.A.
- Map of central Peru Callao – Huancayo
- Map of south Peru/Bolivia Machu Picchu – Lake Titicaca – west coast Pacific Ocean
- Route Arequipa – Puno (Lake Titicaca)
- Route Cusco – Puno (Lake Titicaca)
- Route Cusco – Machu Picchu
- Homepage of the Mount Washington Cog Railway (First ever mountain climbing cog railway)