The steepest railway in the world. Swiss Extreme: Coolest Railway in the World

The most dangerous section of the Pilatusban railway is at the end, when the train enters the tunnels, and tourists convulsively squeeze into their chairs. This is where the real Swiss extreme begins.

Pilatus is a mountain range in the Swiss Alps, one of the must-see places. There are three ways to get to the top of the mountain: by cogwheel railway (from Alpnachstad), by cable car (from Kriens) or on foot. Any of the methods of climbing will leave an unforgettable experience, the main thing is to guess with the weather. And she is changeable here - rain can change sunny weather without warning, and vice versa. And this sometimes several times a day.

Pilatusban - old Railway, its opening took place in 1889, and in 1937 it was electrified.

The construction of the railway was carried out according to the project of an engineer with a speaking surname Eduard Locher. An interesting fact is that when he proposed a design for a structure with two horizontally moving gears, he was called an eccentric. Today, the Locher system is one of the most common gearing designs on railways.

For reference: a cogwheel railway is a rail type of transport, the motor carriages (or locomotives) of which are equipped with one or more cogwheels. They turn on while driving. Between conventional rails, a toothed rack is laid, with which the locomotive (or cars) gearwheel meshes. This technology provides better grip on rails on slopes up to 16% or more (for dry conditions) and up to 14% (under wet conditions).

There are currently over 150 cog railways in the world. There are about 60 roads in operation constantly (in winter and summer). Switzerland accounts for 50% of all existing roads.

This country has the longest experience of operating such roads, the most modern rolling stock of its own production and the steepest roads (28% and 48% incline). In addition, Swiss roads are mostly profitable and cost effective.

Austria, Germany, Hungary and a number of Latin American countries (Brazil, Venezuela, Chile) can also boast of cogged roads.

They are used as a way to travel along tourist routes in mountainous areas or as urban passenger transport (for example, in Budapest, Zurich or Stuttgart). There are no rack railways on the territory of Russia.

On the Pilatusban route, there are 10 carriages with a capacity of 40 people each. The maximum capacity of the road is 340 people per hour. The average travel speed is 9-12 km / h.

The inside of the cars is clean and the interior is in the style of the 50s of the last century. Manual windows and the inscription "Keep out of the windows" immediately catch the eye. This is important - there are sections of the road where, by stretching your hand out of the window, you can pick mountain flowers or touch a rock.

You need to sit in the carriage facing the Pilatus peak. On the left side there are landscapes of mountains, rocks, meadows, forests, and on the right side, a stunning view of the lakes and settlements.

Well, around, as well as throughout Switzerland, one can hear the ringing of the bells of grazing cows. Those who are interested in the process of driving a train can get on the first car and observe the work of the train driver.

30 minutes on the way fly by instantly. The train makes short stops along the route.

One of them, at the Amsigen station, lasts a couple of minutes - here you can buy cheese from farmers. But not like in Russia - from the train window or on the platform, but go into the house and taste the cheese. Only the train does not wait for the tasters, they will have to take the next scheduled train.

The final section of the route is the most exciting - it is a passage through tunnels carved in the rocks, these are the same slopes of 48%, these are cliffs tens of meters high a meter from the train.

The question immediately arises in my head: "How long will we fly if the brakes fail?" Joke! Thoughts about something else - I would not drop the camera and break my neck when entering another tunnel. The only negative from driving on the road, which, however, you don't pay attention to, is the noise of the gear wheels.

At the top of Mount Pilatus Kulm there is a lot of things - hotels, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, open and covered observation decks and five hiking trails with a vertical drop of up to 60 m.

Things to do: Gaze at the scenery outside the window and flip the shutter as you ride the Pilatusban Railroad.
How to get there: Alpnachstadt is located at the foot of Mount Pilatus. You can get to Alpnachstadt by train from Lucerne (about 30 minutes) or by ferry from pier number 2 (1 hour).
Equipment: despite the temptation to reach out and pick an alpine flower, you can't lean out of the window.

Infrastructure: the train consists of 10 carriages.
How to improve the experience: Get off at one of the intermediate stops and buy cheese from local farmers. True, then you will have to delay and take the next train.
Entrance fee: 68 Swiss francs.

Opening hours: from 8:10 to 17:50. The last train will return at 18:45.
Where to stay: in the city of Lucerne or in a hotel on the top of Mount Pilatus.
What to bring as a souvenir: cheese from local farmers, many photos and impressions.

The Pilatusbahn Railway, located in Switzerland, is considered the steepest cog railway in the world, opening in 1889. Red trains, on which you can climb to the top of Mount Pilatus by a specially laid railway, are considered one of the main attractions of both the region of Lucerne and the whole of Switzerland.

The route of the road connects the city of Alpnachstadt with the top of Mount Pilatus, the train overcomes an incredibly difficult and dangerous route in 30 minutes, and on Return trip- spends 10 minutes more. At the final section of the route, it passes through a narrow tunnel, at the exit of which passengers can immediately see the edge of the cliff.

The movement along the cliff continues for several minutes, in some parts of the path the once reliable fences and embankments have long ago collapsed, so the rails protrude slightly beyond the edge of the fragile rock. At some point, the road climbs up so sharply that from afar it feels like it is completely vertical!
Sometimes it seems that the trailer seems to be hanging over an abyss. I must say, this is not an optical illusion - in some places the rails run from the cliff literally a few centimeters.

For centuries, Mount Pilatus has been considered a place where spirits, gnomes and dragons live. At least about this tell legends that many parents in Switzerland still read to their children at night. According to legend, several fairy dragons lived in the galleries on the top of the mountain, which periodically dragged up beautiful girls from the surrounding villages, and brave Swiss fellows fearlessly went to save them. Fairy tales - and the image of a dragon now adorns the entire tourist infrastructure associated with Pilatus.

Pay attention to the photos: do you see the dragon?

The mountain was also considered inaccessible because of another hero - namely, Pontius Pilate. Legend has it that the spirit of “the fifth procurator of Judea, the horseman of Pontius Pilate,” because of whom Jesus found death on the cross, took refuge in one of the local lakes. In 1387, the horror of this ghost, which was believed to be the cause of the bad weather here, led to the fact that the then government of Lucerne prohibited any climbing on the mountain. The ban was lifted only a few centuries later. According to the name of Pontius Pilate, the mountain supposedly got its name. Another version - the name of the mountain comes from the Latin word "pilleatus", which can be translated as "in a felt hat", which reflects the nature of Pilatus, often covered with fluffy clouds.

Be that as it may, at the end of the 19th century, one of the Zurich industrialists by the name of Eduard Locher (Eduard Locher) came up with the "crazy", as many believed then, the idea of building a railway straight up to the top, making it accessible to mass tourism. It should be borne in mind that at that time in the mountains of Switzerland, cable car technology reigned supreme. And it is clear that everyone was rather skeptical about Laucher's idea.
However, being an experienced engineer, he developed a system that was actually quite simple and was based on a special kind of railway, between the rails of which a toothed rack (rail) was additionally laid. Accordingly, the rolling stock of such railways must be equipped with an additional gear wheel.

This design turned out to be so revolutionary for its time that it was even shown at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889. The 4.6 km long track was built by about 600 workers, among them there were many Italians who had already worked on the construction of St. railway line... This work was enormous. But all the work was completed just 400 days after they began, and therefore the first train with passengers on the Pilatus railway passed on June 4, 1889.

Loher was definitely an ingenious engineer: when he proposed a design for a structure with two horizontally moving cogwheels, he was called an eccentric. Today, the Locher system is one of the most common gearing designs on railways.
Usually the track of a cogwheel railway consists of three rails - two regular and the third - cogwheel, located between the first two. A locomotive moving on such rails is equipped with a special gear wheel and can overcome rather steep climbs, but Laucher managed to raise the train by a record 48 degrees using two horizontally moving gear wheels. The ingenious design has been serving well for over 125 years, bringing tourists to the top of Pilatus. During all this time, only one global modernization was required - in 1937 the steam locomotive was replaced by an electric locomotive, the average speed of which is 9-12 km / h. A remarkable fact: since the time of construction, the cogged rails have not changed at all on the line, only current repairs have been carried out, and their safety margin is another 100 years of service!

The trip will last 30 minutes and will be extremely informative: in just half an hour outside the window you will see a broad-leaved forest, a mountain coniferous forest, an alpine meadow, a real tundra, rocks and, finally, a glacier - all natural landscapes from the plain to the highlands.

Currently, 10 small red carriages are constantly running along the road, each of which is designed for 40 passengers. The wagons move at a speed of no more than 12 km / h, which makes it possible to transport up to 340 passengers per hour. In all the trailers, the atmosphere of the middle of the last century was recreated as much as possible, which makes the trip even more interesting. The interior is clean and the interior is in the style of the 50s of the last century. Manual windows and the inscription "do not protrude from the windows" are striking.

If you “do not lean out” from the window, then the trip will seem as comfortable as possible, but if you still “lean out” at the right moment, you can feel the aroma of mountain flowers.

The Pilatushbahn is one of the steepest railways in the world, both literally and figuratively.

Coolest Railway in the World October 30th, 2013

Pilatusban is considered the steepest railway in the world. The entire route from the city of Alpnachstadt to the top of Mount Pilatus takes half an hour by train, making a couple of stops along the way. The most dangerous section of the Pilatusban railway begins at the end, when the train enters the tunnels, and tourists convulsively squeeze into their chairs.

This is where the real Swiss extreme begins.

Pilatus- This is a mountain range in the Swiss Alps - one of those places where "must visit". There are three ways to get to the top of the mountain: by cogwheel railway (from Alpnachstad), by cable car (from Kriens) or on foot. Any of the methods of climbing will leave an unforgettable experience, the main thing is to guess with the weather. And she is changeable here - rain can change sunny weather without warning, and vice versa. And this sometimes several times a day.

Pilatusbahn is an old railway, it was opened in 1889, in 1937 it was electrified.

There are several different types gear railways. Common serrated graft designs are the Marsh, Abta, Locher, Riggenbach, Strub, and Von Roll systems.

The construction of the railway was carried out according to the project of an engineer with a speaking surname Eduard Loher. An interesting fact is that when he proposed a design for a structure with two horizontally moving gears, he was called an eccentric. Today, the Locher system is one of the most common gearing designs on railways.

For reference, a cogwheel railway is a rail form of transport whose motor carriages (or locomotives) are equipped with one or more cogwheels. They turn on while driving. Between conventional rails, a toothed rack is laid, with which the locomotive (or cars) gearwheel meshes. This technology provides better grip on rails on slopes up to 16 or more (for dry conditions) and up to 14 ‰ (under wet conditions).

At present, there are more than 150 cogwheel railways in the world, including those in operation constantly (in winter and summer) - about 60 roads. Switzerland accounts for 50% of all existing roads. This country has the longest experience of operating such roads, the most modern rolling stock of its own production and the steepest roads (28 ‰ and 48 ‰ slopes). In addition, Swiss roads are mostly profitable and cost effective.

Austria, Germany, Hungary and a number of Latin American countries (Brazil, Venezuela, Chile) can also boast of cogged roads. They are used as a way to travel along tourist routes in mountainous areas or as urban passenger transport (for example, in Budapest, Zurich or Stuttgart). There are no rack railways on the territory of Russia.

You need to sit in the carriage facing the Pilatus peak. On the left side there are landscapes of mountains, rocks, meadows, forests, and on the right side, a stunning view of lakes and settlements is added to them. Well, around, as well as throughout Switzerland, one can hear the ringing of the bells of grazing cows. For those who are interested in the process of controlling a train, you can get on the first carriage and watch the work of the driver.

30 minutes on the way fly by instantly. The train makes short stops along the route. One of them, at the Amsigen station, lasts a couple of minutes - here you can buy cheese from farmers. But not like in Russia - from the train window or on the platform, but go into the house and taste the cheese. Only the train does not wait for the tasters, they will have to take the next scheduled train.

The final section of the route is the most exciting - it is a passage through tunnels carved in the rocks, these are the same slopes of 48 ‰, these are cliffs tens of meters high, a meter from the train. The question immediately arises in my head: "How long will we fly if the brakes fail?" Joke! Thoughts about something else - I would not drop the camera and break my neck when entering another tunnel. The only drawback from driving on the road, which, however, you do not pay attention to, is the noise of the gear wheels.

At the top of Mount Pilatus Kulm there is a lot - hotels, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, indoor and outdoor observation platforms and 5 hiking trails with a vertical drop of up to 60 m.

Things to do

Look at the scenery outside the window and click the camera shutter while traveling by train on the Pilatusban Railroad.

How to get there

Alpnachstad is located at the foot of Mount Pilatus. You can get to Alpnachstadt by train from Lucerne (about 30 minutes) or by ferry from pier number 2 (1 hour).

Equipment

Despite the temptation to reach out and pick an alpine flower, you can't lean out of the window.

Infrastructure

The train consists of 10 carriages.

How to improve your experience

Get off at one of the intermediate stops and buy cheese from local farmers. True, then you will have to delay and take the next train.

Entrance cost

68 Swiss francs.

Schedule

C8: 10 am to 5:50 pm.

The last train will return at 18:45.

Where to spend the night

In the city of Lucerne or in a hotel on the top of Mount Pilatus.

What to bring as a keepsake

Cheese from local farmers, lots of photos and experiences.

Site

Pilatusban is considered the steepest railway in the world. The entire route from the city of Alpnachstadt to the top of Mount Pilatus takes half an hour by train, making a couple of stops along the way. The most dangerous section of the Pilatusban railway is at the end, when the train enters the tunnels, and tourists convulsively squeeze into their chairs.

Pilatus is a mountain range in the Swiss Alps. There are three ways to get to the top of the mountain: by cogwheel railway (from Alpnachstad), by cable car (from Kriens) or on foot. Any of the methods of climbing will leave an unforgettable experience, the main thing is to guess with the weather. And she is changeable here - rain can change sunny weather without warning, and vice versa. And this sometimes several times a day.

Express info by country

Switzerland(Swiss Confederation) - a state in western Europe.

Capital- Bern

Largest cities: Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne

Form of government- Federal Republic

Territory- 41,285 km 2 (133rd in the world)

Population- 8.2 million people (98th in the world)

official languages- German, French, Italian, Romansh

Religion- Catholicism, Protestantism

HDI- 0.917 (2nd in the world)

Gdp- $ 701.03 billion (20th in the world)

Currency- Swiss frank

Borders with: Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Liechtenstein

The Pilatusban Railroad was opened in 1889 and electrified in 1937. The construction of the railway was carried out according to the project of the engineer Eduard Loher. It is noteworthy that when he proposed a design for a structure with two horizontally moving gears, he was called an eccentric. Today, the Locher system is one of the most common gearing designs on railways.

A cogwheel railway is a rail type of transport, the motor carriages (or locomotives) of which are equipped with one or more cogwheels. They turn on while driving. Between conventional rails, a toothed rack is laid, with which the locomotive (or cars) gearwheel meshes. This technology provides better rail grip on uphill gradients.

There are currently over 150 cog railways in the world. There are about 60 roads in operation constantly (in winter and summer). Switzerland accounts for 50% of all roads in use. Austria, Germany, Hungary and a number of Latin American countries (Brazil, Venezuela, Chile) can also boast of such roads.

However, it is Switzerland that has the longest experience in the operation of cogwheels, the most modern rolling stock of its own production and the steepest roads (28% and 48% incline). In addition, Swiss roads are mostly profitable and cost effective.

They are used as a way to travel along tourist routes in mountainous areas or as urban passenger transport (for example, in Budapest, Zurich or Stuttgart).

On the Pilatusban route, there are 10 carriages with a capacity of 40 people each. The maximum capacity of the road is 340 people per hour. The average travel speed is 9-12 km / h.

The inside of the cars is clean and the interior is in the style of the 50s of the last century. Manual windows and the inscription "Keep out of the windows" immediately catch the eye. This is important - there are sections of the road where, by stretching your hand out of the window, you can pick mountain flowers or touch a rock.

You need to sit in the carriage facing the Pilatus peak. On the left side there are landscapes of mountains, rocks, meadows, forests, and on the right side, a stunning view of lakes and settlements is added to them. Around, as well as throughout Switzerland, the bells of grazing cows can be heard ringing. Those who are interested in the process of driving a train can get on the first car and observe the work of the train driver.

30 minutes on the way fly by instantly. The train makes short stops along the route. One of them, at the Amsigen station, lasts a couple of minutes - here you can buy cheese from farmers.

The final section of the route is the most exciting - it is a passage through tunnels carved in the rocks, these are the same slopes of 48%, these are cliffs tens of meters high a meter from the train. The only negative from the trip, which, however, you don't pay attention to, is the noise of the cogwheels.

At the top of Mount Pilatus Kulm, there is a lot of things - hotels, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, indoor and outdoor observation platforms and five hiking trails with a vertical drop of up to 60 m.

This is where the real Swiss extreme begins.

Here is what the tourist osintsev writes (http://osintsev.blogspot.ru/2012/02/6.html): Pilatus- This is a mountain range in the Swiss Alps - one of those places where "must visit". There are three ways to get to the top of the mountain: by cogwheel railway (from Alpnachstad), by cable car (from Kriens) or on foot. Any of the methods of climbing will leave an unforgettable experience, the main thing is to guess with the weather. And she is changeable here - rain can change sunny weather without warning, and vice versa. And this sometimes several times a day. The Pilatusbahn is an old railway, it was opened in 1889, it was electrified in 1937. There are several different types of cog railways. Common serrated graft designs are the Marsh, Abta, Locher, Riggenbach, Strub, and Von Roll systems.

On the Pilatusban route, there are 10 carriages with a capacity of 40 people each. The maximum capacity of the road is 340 people per hour. The average travel speed is 9-12 km / h. The inside of the cars is clean and the interior is in the style of the 50s of the last century. Manual windows and the inscription "do not protrude from the windows" immediately catch the eye. This is important - there are sections of the road where you can pick mountain flowers or touch a rock by stretching your hand out of the window.

You need to sit in the carriage facing the Pilatus peak. On the left side there are landscapes of mountains, rocks, meadows, forests, and on the right side, a stunning view of lakes and settlements is added to them. Well, around, as well as throughout Switzerland, one can hear the ringing of the bells of grazing cows. For those who are interested in the process of controlling a train, you can get on the first carriage and watch the work of the driver.

At the top of Mount Pilatus Kulm there is a lot - hotels, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, indoor and outdoor observation platforms and 5 hiking trails with a vertical drop of up to 60 m.

Things to do

Look at the scenery outside the window and click the camera shutter while traveling by train on the Pilatusban Railroad.

How to get there

Alpnachstad is located at the foot of Mount Pilatus. You can get to Alpnachstadt by train from Lucerne (about 30 minutes) or by ferry from pier number 2 (1 hour).