The oldest electric locomotive in service leads you to the Valley of Hell

The oldest electric locomotive in service leads you to the Valley of Hell

The preparations

As the Wien-Raaber Bahn reached the feet of the Semmering pass and later on, as the pass railway (the world's first-ever mountain railway) was developed, the flourishing, wet, lumber-heavy valleys in the area attracted loads of investors. Neusiedler AG wanted to build a paper mill along the Schwarza river to exploit the dense pinewood forests of the area and therefore the planning of a standard-gauge railway from Südbahn's Payerbach-Reichenau station to Hirschwang (the village at the feet of the Raxalpe, to house the paper mill) and a branch to Prien, both electrified by DC, was started.

The ÖBB 4020 electric multiple unit from Austria

S-Bahn train in the tunnel under Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna Main Station)

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) had electrified many railway lines at the very early days of mainline electrification choosing the then most-advanced low-frequency alternating current system with 15 kV, 16 (2/3) Hz AC voltage. The federal capital Wien was reached by electric trains in 1952 as the main area for electrification had been the mountain passes. In those years Austria was still under Allied occupation with the capital being inside the zone controlled by the Soviet Union but the city itself split up into four control zones very similarly to those of Berlin. But while Berlin and Germany gradually shifted into an Eastern and Western part Austria was jointly run by the four allies and in 1955 given independence.
After that, the development of the city sped up and required the establishment of a commuter railway network which later incorporated various rail links inside the city and became the Vienna S-Bahn. The main vehicle on the S-Bahn became the ÖBB class 4030 electric multiple unit which had almost the same features as the subject of the present article, only being different in exterior design and the electric systems.

Photo of the Week | The Schwarzatal-Viaduct

The Semmeringbahn is the world's first mountain mainline and a highlight of the European railway network. The whole line was designed to harmonize with nature and as such can be considered the first attempt to show that rail transportation is the green way to go. The route through the 898 m high Semmering Scheiteltunnel is soon going to start serving only the tourists after the opening of the new Semmering Base Tunnel (SBT). You should visit the Semmering Railway while it still has freight trains and railjet high-speed trains through the mountain pass.

• Additional photos