Steyr Valley Railway
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The Steyr Valley Railway (german: Steyrtalbahn) was a
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
railway in
Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...
, which ran along the valley of the River Steyr from
Garsten Garsten is a municipality in the district of Steyr-Land in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. History Garsten was first mentioned as Garstina in documentation around 990, and a monastery was founded there in 1082. After being fully rebuilt in B ...
through Steyr, Grünburg and
Molln Molln is a municipality in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Aust ...
to
Klaus Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...
, with a branchline to
Sierning Sierning is a municipality in the district of Steyr-Land in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Sierning is located between the city of Steyr and the health resort Bad Hall Bad Hall () is a market town in the Steyr-Land district of th ...
and
Bad Hall Bad Hall () is a market town in the Steyr-Land district of the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Its name, Bad Hall, means "salt bath," a reference to its long history of baths and spas. It is renowned for its saline springs, strongly impregnated wi ...
. A section of the line has been retained as a museum railway.


History

The main industries of the Steyr valley were forestry and metalworking. Timber obtained in the area was of a quality useful only for building and firewood or for the charcoal or paper production. Road transport was too expensive, and rail transport was required so the timber could be harvested profitably. In 1868 the Rudolf Railway (''Rudolfsbahn'') connected the city of Steyr to the railway network. By 1887 the Krems Valley Railway (''Kremstalbahn'') reached Bad Hall and Klaus. In 1888 Josef Ritter von Wenusch received a concession for a narrow-gauge railway from Garsten to Grünburg, with a possible extension to Klaus. In the same year the Steyr Valley Railway Company (''Steyrtalbahn AG'') was created and started building the railway. 1889 saw the opening of the railway to Grünburg, one year later the line was extended to Agonitz. The extension of the line to Klaus was opposed by the Krems Valley Railway Company (''Kremstalbahn AG''), who were afraid of losing a part their traffic to the Steyr Valley Railway. The ''Steyrtalbahn'' therefore concentrated on building the branch line from Pergern to Bad Hall, which was opened 1891. After the nationalization of the Krems Valley Railway Company in 1902, the extension of the line to Klaus was again taken up. Construction commenced in 1908 and the extension opened in 1909. Thus the Steyr Valley network achieved its largest expansion (55 km).


Developments up to 1918

Apart from some early setbacks traffic on the Steyr Valley Railway developed positively. There was an
operating surplus Operating surplus is an accounting concept used in national accounts statistics (such as United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA)) and in corporate and government accounts. It is the balancing item of the Generation of Income Account in ...
and even a modest dividend could always be paid. Growth in the railway was financed by capital increases. Large shareholders in the company included the Steyr armaments company, the Steyr savings bank. and finally also the State of Upper Austria and city of Steyr for construction of the section Agonitz to Klaus. In the First World War the line was important in providing transportation for armament makers between Steyr and Letten. A temporary roll-block wagon transfer system was provided to Letten from 1916 to 1918.


Developments up to 1945

The end of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
saw economically difficult times began for the Steyr Valley Railway. Motor buses became a serious competitor, with motorbus lines between Steyr and Bad Hall, and Steyr to Grünburg. Particularly badly hit was the Bad Hall branch, where a connection existed to the Krems Valley Railway, and a majority of the passengers moved to the motorbus. All redevelopment efforts failed and in 1931 the railway was taken over by the Austrian Federal Railways (BBÖ). The branch line to Bad Hall remained unprofitable under the BBÖ, and the section Sierning to Bad Hall was closed in 1933 and dismantled at the beginning of the 'forties. After the
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
and the incorporation of Austria into
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 Steyr Valley Railway became part of the German National Railways (
Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
or DR). The Steyr Valley Railway Company was dissolved in 1940, the railway lines became the property of the DR and thus after 1945 the property of the
ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...
.


Development after 1945

The Steyr Valley Railway got through the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
without damage, nevertheless rebuilding the track was necessary. This was not done however, as there was war damage in other areas to repair first. The light track prevented the employment of the new narrow gauge diesel locomotives (class 2095) which were introduced from 1958, so that the railway continued to operate exclusively with steam engines. Further attempts to reduce costs led in 1967 to the closure of the remaining section of the branch line, while in 1968 road buses replaced passenger trains on the section between Klaus and Molln. On 14 March 1980 a rock slide blocked the line between Leonstein and Haunoldmühle. The next day the line was cleared and services started up again. 14 days later however a commission came to the conclusion that trains could not work the route reliability. As a result, the section Grünburg to Molln was closed. Two years later the remaining line to Grünburg was closed.


Locomotives

For the opening of the line
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 ...
built three saturated steam 0-6-2T locomotives. Three further locomotives were built in 1914. The locomotives are regarded as the precursors of the famous U class.


Steyrtalbahn after the shutdown

The
Austrian Society for Railway History The Austrian Society for Railway History (german: Österreichische Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte or ÖGEG) is an Austrian society that was formed from a group of railway fans, who got together around 1971 in order to look after working stea ...
(ÖGEG) took over the line from Steyr to Grünburg and have operated it since 1985 as museum railway with steam locomotives. Museum operations are on Saturdays and Sundays from the beginning of June to the end of September with special trains at any time. All other remaining railway tracks were dismantled, with much of the route converted to a bicycle path.


References

*Christian Hager, Peter Wegenstein: Steyrtalbahn. Schmalspurstrecken Garsten–Steyr–Klaus und Pergern–Bad Hall Verlag Denkmayr, Linz1988, *Walter Kroboth, J.O.Slezak, H.Sternhart: Schmalspurig durch Österreich. Slezak, Wien 41991, *Elmar Oberegger: Die Steyrtalbahn. Garsten-Steyr Lokalbahnhof-Pergern-Bad Hall/Klaus, Sattledt 2007(Veröffentlichungen des Info-Büros für österreichische Eisenbahngeschichte 14). :''Information in this article is taken from the German Wikipedia article on this subject.'' {{coord, 48, 02, 25, N, 14, 23, 10, E, type:landmark_region:AT-4_source:dewiki, display=title Heritage railways in Austria Railway lines opened in 1889 760 mm gauge railways in Austria