The Petersberg Railway, or ''Petersbergbahn'', was a

rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

line in the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

region of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The line ran from

Königswinter Königswinter ( ksh, Köningkswinte; Low Franconian: ) is a town and summer resort in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Königswinter is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Bad Godesberg, at th ...

to the summit of the

Petersberg Petersberg may refer to: * The Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, the site of the ** Petersberg Agreement, 1949, regarding the international status of West Germany. ** Petersberg tasks, 1992 and 1997, regarding European security cooperation. Also known a ...

mountain, and was built to serve the

Hotel Petersberg Hotel Petersberg is a hotel and official guest house of the Federal Republic of Germany, termed the "Bundesgästehaus" (the official title being ''Gästehaus der Verfassungsorgane der Bundesrepublik Deutschland''). It is located on the Petersberg, ...

there. The line opened in 1889 and closed in 1958. The line had a

rail gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

of and used the Riggenbach rack design, with trains propelled by

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. From 1913, the Petersberg Railway was under the same ownership as the nearby

Drachenfels Railway The Drachenfels Railway (german: Drachenfelsbahn) is a rack railway line in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. The line runs from Königswinter, on the east bank of the Rhine, to the summit of the Drachenfels mountain at an altitude of ...

, which is still in service. Although never physically connected, the two railways used the same track gauge and rack equipment, and rolling stock was transferred between the two lines.

References

External links

*
Mountain railways Metre gauge railways in Germany Private railway companies of Germany Königswinter Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia Rack railways in Germany Railway lines opened in 1889 Railway lines closed in 1958 Petersberg (Siebengebirge) {{Germany-rail-transport-stub