Rack railway
 |
Track with Von Roll system rack. |
 |
Schneeberg cog railway steam locomotive, with tilted boiler, on level track |
A
cog railway,
rack-and-pinion railway or
rack railway is a
railway with a special toothed
rack rail or rack mounted on the
railroad ties (sleepers) between the running
rails. The
trains are fitted with one or more
cog wheels or
pinions that mesh with this
rack rail. This allows the trains to operate on steeply inclined
slopes.
Most rack railways are
mountain railways, although a few are
transit railways or
tramways built to overcome a steep
gradient in an
urban environment.
The first cog railway in the world was the
Mount Washington Cog Railway in the
US state of
New Hampshire, which carried its first fare-paying passengers in 1868 and reached the summit of
Mount Washington in 1869. The first rack railway in
Europe was the
Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn on
Mount Rigi in
Switzerland, which opened in 1871. Both lines are still running today.
A number of different rack systems have been developed.
Riggenbach rack system
The
Riggenbach rack system, invented by
Niklaus Riggenbach, is the oldest form of rack railway and uses a
ladder rack, formed of
steel plates or
channels connected by
round or
square rods at regular intervals. The Riggenbach system was the first system devised, and suffers from the problem that its fixed
rack is much more complex and expensive to build than the other systems. This system is sometimes known as the
Marsh rack system, because of simultaneous invention by an American inventor,
Sylvester Marsh, builder of the
Mount Washington Cog Railway.
Abt rack system
The
Abt rack system was devised by
Roman Abt, a
Swiss locomotive engineer working for a Riggenbach-equipped line, as an improved rack system. The Abt rack features steel plates mounted vertically and in parallel to the rails, with rack teeth machined to a precise profile in them. These engage with the locomotive's pinion teeth much more smoothly than the Riggenbach system. Two or three parallel sets of Abt rack plates are used, with a corresponding number of driving pinions on the locomotive, to ensure that at least one pinion tooth is always engaged securely.
Today, the majority of rack railways use the Abt system.
Strub rack system
The
Strub rack system, invented by
Emil Strub, is similar to the
Abt rack system but uses just one wide rack plate welded on top of a flat bottom T
railway rail. It is the simplest rack system to maintain and has become increasingly popular.
|
Locher Rack system (seen from above) |
Locher rack system
The
Locher rack system, invented by
Eduard Locher, involves
gear teeth cut in the sides rather than the top of the rail, engaged by two cog wheels on the locomotive. This system allows use on steeper grades than the other systems, whose teeth could jump out of the rack. It is used on the Mount
Pilatus Railway.
Von Roll rack system
The
Von Roll rack system, by the
von Roll company, is similar to the Abt system, except that the teeth in the single blade are cut to suit the gear geometry of either the Riggenbach system cog or the Strub system cog (or
gear) wheels. Because of its simplicity, the Von Roll rack replaces the Riggenbach or Strub rack in new, or replacement, installations without the need to replace the
cogs (or
pinions) on the
electric locomotives or
EMU passenger cars.
Some rail systems, known as 'rack-and-adhesion', use the cog drive only on the steepest sections and elsewhere operate like a regular railway. Others, the steeper ones, are rack-only. On the latter type, the locomotives' wheels are generally free-wheeling and despite appearances do not contribute to driving the train.
 |
Pike's Peak cog steam locomotive on steeply graded track, showing the tilted boiler level |
Originally, almost all
cog railways were powered by
steam locomotives. The steam locomotive needs to be extensively modified to work effectively in this environment. Unlike a
diesel locomotive or
electric locomotive, the steam locomotive only works when its powerplant (the boiler, in this case) is fairly level. The locomotive boiler requires water to cover the
boiler tubes and
firebox sheets at all times, particularly the
crown sheet, the metal top of the firebox. If this is not covered with water, the heat of the fire will melt it until it softens enough to give way under the boiler pressure, leading to a catastrophic failure.
On rack systems with extreme gradients, the boiler, cab and general superstructure of the locomotive are tilted forward relative to the wheels, so that they are more or less horizontal when on the steeply graded track of the railway. These locomotives often cannot function on level track, and so the entire line, including maintenance shops, must be laid on a gradient. This is one of the reasons why
rack railways were among the first to be electrified and most of today's rack railways are electrically powered.
On a rack-only railroad locomotives always push their
passenger cars for safety reasons since the locomotive is fitted with powerful brakes, often including hooks or clamps that grip the rack rail solidly. Some locomotives are fitted with automatic brakes that apply if the speed gets too high, preventing runaways. Often there is no coupler between locomotive and train since gravity will always push the passenger car down against the locomotive. Electrically powered vehicles often have electromagnetic track brakes as well.
 |
The Schneebergbahn |
Argentina
*
Mendoza to
Los Andes, Chile, see
Chile below.
Australia
*
Mt Morgan - rack system existed until
1950s when deviated.
*
SkiTube - in Snowy Mountains.
*
West Coast Wilderness Railway in
Tasmania, originally opened in
1896 to service the
Mount Lyell copper mine and closed and completely removed in 1960s. Rebuilt and re-opened for tourists in 2003. Uses Abt system.
Austria
*
Achenseebahn,
Tyrol*
Erzbergbahn,
Styria*
Schafbergbahn,
Upper Austria*
Schneebergbahn,
Lower AustriaBrazil
*
Corcovado Rack RailwayChile
*
Ferrocarill Arcica La Paz,
Aricaâ€"
La Paz*El
Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza,
Los Andes -
Mendoza,
El Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza,
Museo Ferrocarril Transandino,
seconstruye el tren Los Andes - Mendoza (all in Spanish only)
The rebuild will be adhesion only.
France
*
Lyon Metro Line C*
Mont Blanc Tramway*
Montenvers RailwayGermany
*
Drachenfels Railway*
Wendelstein Railway*
Zahnradbahn,
Stuttgart*
Zugspitze RailwayGreece
*
Diakofto Kalavrita RailwayHungary
*
Fogaskerekű Vasút in
Budapest,
Hungary is a kind of
cog-wheel tram in the hilly Buda part of the city.
India
*
Nilgiri Mountain RailwayItaly
*
Superga Rack RailwayJapan
*
Ikawa Line, Oigawa Railway*
Usui Pass was the first
rack and pinion line in Japan, on the Shin-Etsu Line of the then Japanese National Railway. It was replaced in 1963 by a new parallel pure adhesion line.
Lebanon
* A rack railway used to exist on the climb from
Beirut to
Syria, gauge 1050 mm.
New Zealand
*
Rimutaka Incline, a
Fell incline railway, closed in 1955, and the trackbed has been turned into the Rimutaka Rail Trail, north-east of Wellington
Spain
*
Montserrat Rack Railway*
Vall de NĂşria Rack RailwaySwitzerland
*
AlpTransit Gotthard (ATG)
*
Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen (RHW)
:de:Bergbahn Rheineck-Walzenhausen*
Berner Oberland Bahn *
Brienz Rothorn Bahn*
BrĂĽnigbahn, (
Lucerne to
Interlaken)
*
BVZ Zermatt-Bahn*
Brig-Visp-Zermatt Railway*
Chemin de Fer de Martigny au Châtelard (MC/TMR)
:fr:Chemin de fer Martigny-Châtelard :de:Martigny-Châtelard-Bahn*
Chemin de fer Martigny-Orsières,
:de:Transports de Martigny et RĂ©gions*
Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye,
:fr:Chemin de fer Montreux-Glion-Rochers de Naye,
:de:Transports Montreux-Vevey-Riviera*
Chemin de fer Montreux-Territet-Glion-Rochers-de-Naye (MTGN/MVR),
:de:Transports Montreux-Vevey-Riviera*
Dampfbahn Furka-Bergstrecke (DFB)
*
Dolderbahn (Db)
:de:Dolderbahn *
Furka-Oberalp-Bahn*
Glacier Express*
Gornergratbahn*
Jungfraubahn*
Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn *
Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway*
Monte Generoso Railway*
Pilatus Railway*
Rigi-Bahnen (
Arth-Rigi-Bahn)
*
Rorschach-Heiden-Bahn,
Rorschach to
Heiden*
Schynige Platte Railway*
Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn*
Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn :de:Wädenswil-Einsiedeln-Bahn*
Wengernalpbahn*
Zentralbahn (zb)
*
Zermatt to
Täsch, part of
BVZ Zermatt-BahnSee also
List of railway companies in Switzerland &
ZahnradbahnenUnited Kingdom
*
Snowdon Mountain RailwayUnited States
*
Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway*
Mount Washington Cog Railway*
Mt Manitou Scenic Incline Railway Built in 1906, dismantled in 1990.
In fiction
The
Culdee Fell Railway is a
fictional cog railway on the
Island of Sodor in
The Railway Series by
Rev. W. Awdry. Its operation,
locomotives and history are at least in part based on the
Snowdon Mountain Railway.
*
Fell railway (friction wheels)
*
Funicular*
Mountain railway*
Rack and pinion*
Hillclimbing (railway)*
Railroad switch*
Homepage of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (in German)
*
Narrow gauge railways of Switzerland (in English)
*
Description of MGB with rail information (in German)
*Pictures from the German Wikipedia:
**
Rack systems **
Riggenbach system**
Strub system**
Abt system (3 bars)
**
Locher system**
Rack railroad switch **
Rack railroad switch of the
Wengernalpbahn in the
Lauterbrunnen station
