3-034-648 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Righi Mountain Railway, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland, 1871. Sightseeing in the Alps - the first mountain rack railway in Europe. '...on the Righi [sic] railroad,...the centre rail and the centre wheel hold each other by cogs. The length of the Righi railroad is seven miles, from a place called Vitznau, on the shore of the Lake of Lucerne, to StaffeIhöhe, far up the mountain, the only intermediate station being Kaltbad...The whole journey up is performed in an hour and a quarter, and the fare charged is 5f., and half price for the journey down. The train consists only of the engine and a single carriage, which is not drawn but pushed by the engine. The carriage is built as lightly as is consistent with sufficient strength to carry fifty-four passengers, seated in nine rows facing the engine. This propels the carriage up the incline, which is, taking the average slope, an ascent of 1 in 7...There are four excursions up daily, and the same down. The carriages are open, with a roof to shade from the sun...The utmost caution is observed; the speed downward is not greater than that of the ascent. Very powerful brakes are acted upon by steam...The iron bridge is unusually slight in appearance, but it has been sufficiently tested'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.