Austria Murtalbahn

[dagrizz]

A bit of a delay posting this but in June I was in Tamsweg, central Austria. Tamsweg is linked to the standard gauge system by a 760mm narrow gauge line called the Murtalbahn, running from Unzmarkt up the Mur valley via the town of Murau. There is a regular service operated by DMU's and a steam special on summer Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

On a Tuesday, we walked from Tamsweg down the valley to Predlitz then caught the train back. The walk parallels the river and railway - trains are two-hourly so many shots are of infrastructure only.

 

The valley south of Tamsweg;

 

 

 

 

 

Near Ramingstein;

 

 

This van is standard gauge; I don't know why it is preserved at Ramingstein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Predlitz;

 

 

We were hoping to catch the steam special back to Tamsweg, we tried to flag it down but it charged straight through    

 

 

 

So we had to make do with the service train.

 

 

Back at Tamsweg;

 

 

 

Here we caught up with the steam loco, resting before the return journey.

 

 

 

The line actually continues for a few miles beyond Tamsweg to the village of Mauterndorf but this section no longer has service trains and steam specials are operated at weekends by preservationists. I didn't get to see the trains but paid a quick visit to Mauterndorf station.

 

 

 

Graham

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vecchio]

Many thanks for your lovely report, makes me feel a bit homesick...

 

Now you have something to build I suppose - the steam engine should be available from Liliput, and the landscape you have on your camera...

 

Best regards

 

Vecchio

(born in Austria...)

[cnw6847]

Excellent photos, thank you for posting.

 

Lilliput have done some of the coaches and the railcars are/have been available by Leopold Halling in HOe

[duff man]

looks like you were blest with nice weather. I am an Austrian ho modeller I do however have a hard time not getting involved with the narrow gauge

thing. Some of the models are wonderful.

Great set of pictures thanks for showing them.

Craig.

[dagrizz]

Progress on my current BR layout is painfully slow so I'm not going to contemplate building another one yet. 

 

I didn't mention freight as I didn't have photos but they also run freight trains on the Murtalbahn, so there could be plenty of variety on a model layout. I've no idea what hauls them but I did see some timber wagons in a siding about 1Km beyond Tamsweg station (beyond the limit for passenger trains - you can see the line curving away in the shot of the small turntable. The timber wagons were loaded with logs when I first saw them; later in the week they had been unloaded. I couldn't stop to get a shot (I was with a group of people on a walking holiday so trains were a secondary consideration  )

 

Graham     

[cnw6847]

http://www.ingr.co.uk/vids_dig17.html

 

You may be aware of the DVD Narrow Gauge at work number 17 Timber to Unzmarkt

 

Steam and diesel operation on the Murtalbahn covering both freight and passenger services in 2003.

 

Obviously a bit older now but theres good film of the freights including narrow gauge to standard gauge loading of timber.

I would highly recommend it.

[Hobby]

Bit more efficient than the JHMD in the Czech Republic on the grass cutting front, we saw five blokes in HV vests carrying petrol powered strimmers!

[Vecchio]

Bit more efficient than the JHMD in the Czech Republic on the grass cutting front, we saw five blokes in HV vests carrying petrol powered strimmers!

 

labour cost is high in Austria - so it makes sense to buy expensive equipment and do it with 2 instead of 4 people...  

Vecchio

[Oldddudders]

I begin to realise how old I am when I remember going behind steam all the way to Mauterndorf and back, circa 1969. Sorry. 

[Hobby]

labour cost is high in Austria - so it makes sense to buy expensive equipment and do it with 2 instead of 4 people...

Vecchio

 

They had the equipment but it broke!