The Semmering Railway
Last week we took a short jaunt to Leoben. Spring is in full force and the scenery from the train was spectacular. The train between Wien and Leoben runs on the scenic Semmering Railway, one of the grandest feats of civil engineering, not just in Austria, but in the whole world. In fact, in 1998 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) named the 41-kilometer stretch a World Heritage Center Site. Although the entire trip from Wien to Leoben is picturesque, the Semmering Railway section which runs from Gloggnitz (yes, that is an actual name of a town) and Semmering (the top of the mountain pass) is breathtaking.
Over 20,000 workers built the railway between 1848 and 1854. The railway’s designer, Carl Ritter von Ghega, was, and still is, an Austrian hero, because he literally paved the way for tourism to the lower Alps. Incidentally, he used flagstone and brick rather than iron and steel, so the railway would be in greater harmony with its natural surroundings. The Semmering Railway includes over 100 curved stone bridges and 15 tunnels. Besides the gorgeous landscape along the tracks, travelers are also treated to beautiful railway stations, many of which were built from the waste material produced from tunnel construction. Such care was taken in the original construction that the railway has been in full use since its completion.
The photos you see here are sights from our train window – a few on the assent, one of the actual Semmering railway, and a few of our gentle descent. For really great photos of the Semmering Railway from outside the train, take a look at these sites. All aboard!
http://worldheritagesite.org/sites/semmeringrailway.html
http://www.semmering.or.at/en/
1 comment:
I'd love to ride that train with you some day!
Bussi!
Post a Comment