The Schafbergbahn Ride with latest oil-burning steam engine to the summit (1783m): enjoy the views from the summit station; watch the diesel railcars at work and return to St Wolfgang with an original steam engine in charge. The Schafbergbahn - 24 mins This Abt rack line, which has its base in St Wolfgang, was built in 1892 by Stern & Hafferl and opened in Aug 1893. It climbs 1188m in a distance of 5.86km: there is one intermediate station where trains may pass: the summit station is about 100m below the Hotel Schafbergspitze and the highest point on the Schafberg. It is worth the short extra climb to enjoy the full panoramic view of the Salzkammergut region. Motive power on the line has seen three distinctly different forms: the original steam engines, Class 999.1 from 1893 which can handle a single 60 seat coach – they remain in service; the 75 seater Class 5099 diesel railcars from 1964 - both remain available; the oil-fired Class 999.2 steam engines introduced in 1992; they are built to resemble the real thing, but have the character of a central heating boiler! However they redeem themselves by handling 2 x 105 seat coaches with ease.

the Achenseebahn Join the Kaiser Max excursion at Reith bei Seefeld and descend to Innsbruck and Jenbach. Ride up the rack to the Achensee where a steamer trip awaits you. After your ‘cruise’ return to Jenbach and to Reith (includes lineside shots of the Achenseebahn and a 1020 cab ride from Innsbruck to Reith) The Achenseebahn - 22 mins This unusual line, opened in 1889, is based alongside the Innsbruck – Salzburg main line at Jenbach (also the home of the Zillertalbahn). Its Riggenbach rack section climbs as far as Eben from where a gentle adhesion–only section descends to the lake at Seespitz-Achensee - a total line length of 6.78km. There are three original locomotives from 1893 and one ‘replica’ recently re-constructed using parts from the fourth original locomotive that was scrapped for spares following WW2. Each can handle two of the available six coaches; the engines push their load up the steep rack section to Eben and then run round to operate as a conventional adhesion engine down to the lake. For the return journey they remain at the front of the train. The jetty at Seespitz is the boarding point for a steamer service which calls at several points on the Achensee and may be used to visit Pertisau at the northern end. Pertisau may one day see the railway as there is a proposal to extend it by 3.2m. This chapter includes lineside and on-train shots of the Achenseebahn, a lake steamer trip and the Cl 1020 hauled ‘Kaiser Max’.

The Schneebergbahn Travel from Wr. Neustadt to Puchberg with 93.1455. Board the Schneeberg train and climb the rack to the Schneeberg summit (2021m). Experience the changing weather before descending to Puchberg and observing engines being serviced and coaches put away. Return to Wr Neustadt, but not without incident! the Schneebergbahn - 27 min The Schneebergbahn has its base at Puchberg am Schneeberg (585m) which is served by a standard gauge line from Wiener Neustadt. The Schneebergbahn which opened in 1897 uses an Abt rack throughout its 9.75km climb to the summit station (1795m), the highest in Austria, and to the Hotel am Hochschneeberg Today (regrettably!) 119 seater environmentally-friendly diesel hydraulic railcar units are used for normal services - they are capable of 15km/h and have been nicknamed ‘Salamanders’ to reflect their yellow/dark green livery. The original Class 999 steam locomotives from 1896 - 1900 now operate timetabled ‘specials’: they can handle 2 x 50 seat coaches at 10km/h. And there is a surcharge! The material in his chapter pre-dates the diesels and includes a Cl 93 hauled excursion to Puchberg am Schneeberg

Questions
If you have any questions on this DVD please ask me by E-mail to twolambs@nslamb.co.uk. I may not have every answer, but, through my membership of the Austrian Railway Group , I probably know someone who does.

Technical Notes. Most scenes on the DVD were recorded in S-VHS format during the early 1990s using a Sharp VL-S860 videocamera. I have ‘borrowed’ some additional material to improve continuity in the Achenseebahn chapter from my friend Peter Jigins (my thanks Pete). A simple menu facility allows you to select the line you wish to view and a few titles and explanations have been added, but after the title sequence there is no music (or commentary). During filming the Schafberg I experimented for a few minutes with a wide-angle lens – advantageous for filming when you have to be very close to the subject, but a little odd to view when the pictures have rounded corners – I decided to make this my last experiment with the lens. price £10.00 Order online UK P+P £1 Europe P+P £1.50 Rest of World P+P £2.00 Postage will be refunded via PayPal on second and subsequent multiple purchases.
by POST with cheque payable to N Lamb Please add P&P to your order as follows: UK £1.00; EU £1.50; Elsewhere £2.00 Send to Austrian Railway Memories, 46 The Rising, Billericay CM11 2HN England

updated 12th July 2008
Design and © 2006 Ron Ferguson