Höllentalbahn

With the Höllentalbahn (Höllental Railway) from Payerbach to Hirschwang, a narrow-gauge tourist railway has resumed its summer operations. Mystery tester Karl Piaty Sr. visited the railway on Sunday, July 31, 2016. To put it simply: the sheer amount of volunteer work makes this railway a highlight among Austria's museum railways. Not only the train service, but also the entire surrounding area, such as the Reichenau substation and the workshop in Hirschwang, is well worth a visit. The fact that there was already an electric locomotive here in 1903 demonstrates the historical significance of electric propulsion. While standard-gauge railways are now largely CO2-free thanks to electricity, this is not yet the case for narrow-gauge railways. However, the Höllentalbahn and Mariazellerbahn demonstrate that electric propulsion is also a viable option for the 760 mm narrow gauge. Other railways of this gauge in Austria should therefore consider the battery-powered ETA 1 version for short routes when investing, for the sake of the environment. Back to the exemplary environmentally friendly railway in the Höllental valley. The only drawback is the fact that this railway doesn't connect to the Rax cable car station. Although this was once possible, Hirschwang is now the "terminus." The excellent connection in Payerbach, combined with a trip to the Rax cable car, would make it a true tourist hotspot. But here, as so often in Austria, the tourism aspect seems to have been somewhat neglected. These dedicated volunteer railway enthusiasts of the Höllentalbahn can't finance the missing section, but perhaps someone will come along who values ​​diligence and perseverance more than money; it wouldn't be the first time such a "miracle" has happened. Until then, it should be said that even the existing section deserves to be well-visited. More information: http://www.lokalbahnen.at/hoellentalb... With the Höllentalbahn from Payerbach to Hirschwang, a narrow-gauge tourist railway has once again begun its summer operations. Mystery Tester Karl Piaty Sr. I visited the railway on Sunday, July 31, 2016. To get straight to the point: the sheer amount of volunteer work makes this railway a highlight among museum railways in Austria. Not only the train operations, but also the entire surrounding area, such as the Reichenau substation and the workshop in Hirschwang, are worth a visit. The fact that there was already an electric locomotive here in 1903 demonstrates the historical significance of electric propulsion. While standard-gauge railways are now largely CO2-free thanks to electricity, this is not yet the case for narrow-gauge railways. However, the exceptions of the Hölltalbahn and Mariazellerbahn show that electric propulsion is also a topic of discussion on the 760 mm narrow gauge. The other railways of this gauge in Austria should therefore consider the battery-powered version ETA 1 for short-distance routes when investing, for the sake of the environment. Back to the exemplary environmentally friendly railway in the Höllental. The only drawback is that this train doesn't connect to the Rax cable car station. Although this was once possible, Hirschwang is now the end of the line. The excellent connection in Payerbach, combined with a trip to the Rax cable car, would make it a true tourist hotspot. But here, as is so often the case in Austria, the tourism aspect seems to have been somewhat neglected. These dedicated volunteer railway enthusiasts of the Hölltalbahn can't finance the missing section, but perhaps someone will come forward who values ​​diligence and perseverance more than money; it wouldn't be the first time such a "miracle" has happened. Until then, it should be said that even the existing section deserves to be well-visited. More information: http://www.lokalbahnen.at/hoellentalb...