|
Vitznau–Rigi Railway Line
The Vitznau–Rigi railway line is a Swiss standard gauge rack railway that runs from on the shore of Lake Lucerne to Rigi. It was built in 1871 by the Rigibahn, and is now owned by Rigi Railways, along with the Arth–Rigi railway line, which runs on the other side of the mountain, and the Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad cable car (''Luftseilbahn Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad'', LWRK). History The Vitznau–Rigi railway (VRB) was opened on 21 May 1871 as the ''Rigibahn'' and the first mountain railway in Europe. The first rack railway of Europe had already been opened in the quarry of Ostermundigen in 1870. The quarry was officially opened for marketing reasons only in October 1871. The Vitznau–Rigi Railway was built by the engineers Niklaus Riggenbach, Ferdinand Adolf Naeff and Olivier Zschokke. At first it ran only from Vitznau (439 metres above sea level) via Kaltbad (1453 m.a.s.l.) to Rigi Staffelhöhe (1550 m.a.s.l.). On 27 June 1873,The date 23 June 1873 frequently quoted contradicts t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigi
The Rigi (or ''Mount Rigi''; also known as ''Queen of the Mountains'') is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The range is in the Schwyzer Alps, and is split between the cantons of Schwyz and Lucerne, although the main summit, named ''Rigi Kulm'', at 1,797 meters above sea level, lies within the canton of Schwyz. The Rigi Kulm Hotel, established in 1816, is located on the summit. The Rigi Kulm and other areas, such as the resort of Rigi Kaltbad, are served by Europe's oldest mountain railways, the Rigi Railways. The whole area offers many activities such as skiing or sledging in the winter, and hiking in the summer. Peaks Etymology The name ''Rigi'' is from Swiss Old High German ''*rigî'' "horizontal stratification, strip, band", from OHG ''rîhan'' "gird; pleat, string", cf. OHG ''rîga'' " row, st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
