The Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway (german: Bergbahn Rheineck–Walzenhausen; RhW) is a long

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 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It links Rheineck station, in the municipality of Rheineck and the canton of St Gallen, with the village and health resort of Walzenhausen, in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Passenger service on the line now forms part of the

St. Gallen S-Bahn The St. Gallen S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn St. Gallen) is an S-Bahn-style commuter rail in Eastern Switzerland and neighbouring areas. The network connects stations in the Swiss cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Glarus, Gris ...

, branded as the S26. The line is owned and operated by the

Appenzell Railways Appenzell Railways (german: Appenzeller Bahnen, AB) is a Swiss railway company with headquarters in Herisau. It operates a network of railways in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St. Gallen and Thurgau. History The ...

company, which also operates several other railway lines in the two

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

cantons.

History

Drahtseilbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen 1897

The concession for the construction of a rail link between Rheineck and Walzenhausen was granted in 1889. The ''Drahtseilbahn-Gesellschaft Rheineck-Walzenhausen'' company started construction in 1895 and the line opened on 27 June 1896. As constructed, the line was a water operated

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

railway that linked the current upper station at Walzenhausen with a lower station at Ruderbach, some short of Rheineck station. In 1909, a connecting

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

line was opened, initially operated by a

gasolene Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic com ...

powered tram and later electrified. The owning company would subsequently change its name to ''Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen AG''. By the 1950s the funicular was showing from its age, and it was finally closed on 1 May 1958 as the result of a broken axle. That year work commenced on the conversion of the funicular to a

, using the

Riggenbach rack system 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 ...

but retaining the funicular track gauge of . The connecting tramway was regauged and connected to the new rack railway, although retaining its adhesion operation, and the resulting line was electrified at 600 V DC. To operate the new line, a single four-wheeled railcar, BDeh 1/2 1, was built in 1958. In 2006 the ''Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen AG'' company was merged into the

. The 1958-built car remains the only rolling stock on the line, and in 2014 was given a full overhaul, returning to work in May of that year. During the overhaul period, the line was replaced by a bus service.

Operation

The route is in length, has a track gauge of and is electrified using a supply at 600 V DC, supplied by

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

. Approximately of the line is equipped with the

, whist the rest of the line operates using rail adhesion. The height difference between the terminal stations is , and the maximum

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gradi ...

is 25 %. The S26 service starts from its own terminus, located on platform 1 of Rheineck's main line railway station. For about the first the line parallels the Swiss Federal Railway's Chur–Rorschach railway, before bearing right and crossing the road on a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

to reach the stop at Ruderbach. The station building here incorporates the line's single track depot, accessed via the line's only

set of points A railroad switch (), turnout, or ''set ofpoints () is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off. The most common ty ...

. Here the line joins the route of its funicular predecessor, and engages rack operation. The remainder of the line climbs at a steep gradient in a straight line to Walzenhausen, passing first through a long tunnel, and then across a long iron bridge over the Hexenkirchlitobel ravine. Finally it enters the terminus through a long tunnel under the Kurhaus. The S26 operates one or two return journeys per hour, depending on the time of day, with a single journey time of 9 minutes. Service is provided by the line's single four-wheeled railcar, BDeh 1/2 1. If this is unavailable for any reason, a substitute bus service is provided. A bus service links Walzenhausen with the upper station of the

Rorschach–Heiden railway The Rorschach–Heiden railway (german: Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn, RHB) is a railway line and former railway company in Switzerland. It is a standard gauge Mountain railway, mountain rack railway, using the Riggenbach rack system and is part of Appenz ...

at Heiden, thus providing the opportunity for a round trip via both mountain railways. The final link between

Rorschach Rorschach may refer to: * Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist ** Rorschach test, his psychological evaluation method involving inkblots * Rorschach (character), a character from the comics ''Watchmen'' * Rorschach (comic book), a 2020 comic * ...

and Rheineck can be achieved using the St. Margrethen–Rorschach line, or by ship on

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

Route

– * Rheineck * * * Walzenhausen

Gallery

References

External links

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rheineck-Walzenhausen mountain railway Mountain railways Defunct railway companies of Switzerland Rack railways in Switzerland Transport in Appenzell Ausserrhoden Transport in the canton of St. Gallen 1200 mm gauge railways in Switzerland