The Val Gardena Railway or Klausen-Plan (Grödnertalbahn in German) was a narrow gauge railway operating in the

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

of northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It was constructed in 1915/6 when the region was part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

. Construction was remarkably rapid: begun in September 1915, the line was completed and opened on 6 February 1916. This feat was accomplished by the conscripted labour of some 6,000 Russian prisoners of war. The railway was long, ran between and Plan, and had the distinction of being the highest line operated by FS with a summit (at Plan) of 1,595m above sea level. It closed on 28 May 1960. A 3.5km long section between Santa Cristina Val Gardena and Ortisei is now a public footpath, the Val Gardena Railway Trail. Locomotive no. R 410.004 (FS numbering) is preserved adjacent to the Railway Trail at Ortisei. It is an outside cylinder 0-8-0 well tank with outside frames which was built in 1916 by

Krauss Krauss is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alison Krauss (born 1971), American bluegrass musician * Alexander Krauß (born 1975), German politician * Alexis Krauss (born 1985), musician of the noise pop duo Sleigh Bells ...

of Linz (works number 7174) as no. 4154 Class IVc for the ''KUK Heeresbahn'' (Austro-Hungarian Military Railways). It was one of seven similar locomotives which worked on the line.Preserved Steam Locomotives of Western Europe Volume Two, P. Ransome Wallis, pub. Ian Allan, Shepperton, 1971 For route map and other data concerning line see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q634597. File:FS R.410.004 - Val Gardena railway 01.jpg, Locomotive FS R.410.004 of the Val Gardena Railway, restored and with new livery File:FS R.410.004 - Val Gardena railway 02.jpg, Locomotive FS R.410.004 of the Val Gardena Railway, restored and with new livery

References

760 mm gauge railways in Italy Railway lines in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol {{Italy-rail-transport-stub