On the Austrian Straight and Narrow Part 4

 Thursday, 5th August 1982

Today's Travels (1)

The second of the narrow-gauge lines from Jenbach, which itself lies on the Innsbruck-Salzburg main line (centre-left on the above map), is the Zillertalbahn, which as the name suggests runs through the valley of the River Ziller to Zell am Ziller and on to Mayrhofen.  Unlike my out-and-back trip to Achensee, this line would form part of a through journey that would eventually see me reach Salzburg.

I left Jenbach on the 0943, which unlike yesterday's train to Achensee, was hauled by a powerful diesel locomotive that looked huge, despite the track gauge being only 760mm - even narrower than the Achenseebahn's metre-gauge.

My Zillertalbahn train at Jenbach.

The line is used by a mixture of local people, tourists and railway enthusiasts who come, as I did, for the occasional steam-hauled trains. I rode as far as Zell am Ziller behind the diesel on what, despite the track gauge and elderly coaches, would have been a very ordinary train - apart from the guard who the diary records "was a bit of a character" and entertained the passengers with impromptu yodelling performances.

At Zell am Ziller I changed to a steam-hauled train to complete the journey to Mayrhofen.

The steam-hauled train on to Mayrhofen at Zell am Ziller

Mayrhofen was the end of the line. But I wasn't planning to return by train. The "Austrian Travel Wonderland" book that was the inspiratiopn for the holiday recommended a number of Post Bus routes which, although not penetrating quite as high into the Alps as their Swiss equivalents, did nevertheless offer a scenic trip as well as bridging the gap between the rail lines.

The Post Bus I assumed was going to Krimml

As far as I can recall, my Austria Ticket included travel on the post buses so I probably had minimal interaction with the driver of what I took to be the bus to Krimml when boarding at Mayrhofen. At first, the bus returned down the Ziller valley paralleling the railway and allowed me to take a photo of the train from the bus, before turning sharp right and steeply up towards the Gerlos Pass.

My Zillertalbahn train returning to Jenbach as seen from the Post Bus

The top of the pass - at around 1500m - was covered in cloud and I was somewhat concerned when the bus pulled off the road into a parking area and the driver switched off the engine! By now I was the only passenger. Was this the end of the journey and had I got the wrong bus?  But shortly afterwards another bus pulled up alongside and it was obvious that I was expected to change buses as both would be returning whence they came. We soon came down out of the clouds and enjoyed some spectacular views looking down towards Krimml - and the Krimml Falls - as the driver negotiated the hairpin descent.

Fellow passengers enjoying the views as we descend towards Krimml

Krimml was - and still is - the terminus of yet another narrow gauge line, like the Zillertalbahn with a 760mm track gauge. There was a steam loco at Krimml station, but it was operating on a special train for which my ticket wasn't valid, so it was a diesel that took me down the Salzach valley to Zell am See and the main line.  At the time the line was one of many narrow guage lines operated by the Austrian State Railway, although it is no longer part of their network.

The steam special and my diesel-hauled train at Krimml.

Today's Travels, part 2

From Zell am See (bottom left) to
Salzburg (centre) via Bischofshofen

By now it was late afternoon. My onward train from Zell am See was the 17.32 "Enntal" named train to Bischofshofen, where I changed to the "Bundeslander", which got me to Salzburg bang on time at 19.07.

The "Enntal" for Bischofshofen entering Zell am See. Note how passengers are
expected to walk across the tracks at Austrian stations!

People flock to Salzburg for its culture and history, but I apparently had an "interesting evening out" watching the trolleybuses and drinking Brau-AG, Steigl and Schnaitl beer, the last of which was a dark brew that came in a silly glass (?).

My evening entertainment in Salzburg.

to be continued...