On the Austrian Straight and Narrow Part 7

 Sunday, 8th August 1982

Today's Travels 1

From Linz (centre-right) due west on the orange line to
Neumarkt Kalham (centre) and back to Linz on the main line via Wels.

On what I recorded as a "cloudy day, threatening rain" I made an early start (for a Sunday) on the Linzer Lokalbahn, yet another Stern und Hafferl enterprise, departing at 08.40 from the Lokalbahn's separate station in the town.

The Lokalbahnhof at Linz

This was a standard gauge line and I recorded the train as being "a two car set". Being a Sunday morning I wasn't surprised to find that there were only two other passengers on board, although I was surprised to find that they were fellow railway enthusiasts.  At Niederspaching, seemingly a random location, we were all required to change trains. I managed to get this photo during the process, showing the train I'd come on from Linz (left), that which I changed on to (right) and the railway enthusiasts as well.  The onward railcar was a larger version of that encountered the previous day at Gmunden and of a similar era.

Changing trains at Niederspaching. Not just me taking photos!

 

It must have been an unremarkable run and we were soon back on the main line at Neumarkt Kalham, where I joined the 10.49 express back to Linz. This was bang on time, quite impressive for a train that had started its journey in Dortmund, north Germany, at 22.18 the previous evening (and was conveying through carriages to Budapest). The journey back to Linz took 46 minutes. It had taken an hour longer on the shorter, but much slower, Lokalbahn route.

Today's Travels 2: From Linz to Lunz.

From Linz (centre left) east to Pöchlarn(centre-right) and south to
Lunz am See returning to Amstetten and back to Linz.

The afternoon started with a fast, on time, run on the main line towards Wien as far as Pöchlarn, where I changed onto the standard gauge "Erlauftalbahn" and a diesel multiple unit to Kienberg-Gaming. I noticed that the guard, when checking tickets, responded with a "Mais Oui" when shown the Austria Ticket and wondered whether they got more French visitors than English as several others had done the same.

The DMU from Pöchlarn at Kienberg-Gaming

If you are following the route on the above map, which is a much more recent one, you'll see that the line from Pöchlarn no longer reaches Kienberg Gaming, stopping short at Sheibbs. (I've added the missing bits in blue dots). This has left the Ybbstalbahn as an isolated line which is now shown as a "heritage railway". At the time of my visit however it was very much part of the Austrian State Railway network, albeit on the narrow gauge. I'd noticed another narrow-gauge line on the way down from Pöchlarn at Wieselberg, but try as I might, couldn't find a way to fit it in to the itinerary. It too no longer has a passenger service.

The train from Wieselburg to Gresten, which I had no time to ride.

The narrow-gauge ÖBB train from Kienberg Gaming
to Lunz am See with its tiny four-wheeler coaches.

Kienberg-Gaming was the start of a 760mm narrow-gauge line operated by the Österreichische Bundesbahn (Austrian State Railway), known as the Ybbstalbahn after the valley through which it runs. A narrow-gauge diesel loco hauled a short rake of tiny four-wheeled carriages. Terminus of the line was Göstling an der Ybbs, but I was to ride only as far as Lunz-am-See, from where a branch ran westwards to Waidhofen-an-der-Ybbs (also now discontinued and shown on the map in blue dots).

I had a 45-minute connection at Lunz, which was plenty of time, especially as it poured with rain throughout my stay. The 16.44 on to Waidhofen was an identical train to that from Kienberg Gaming and I recorded the journey as being along "a lonely, haunting line, clinging to wooded hillsides in a lowly-populated region before joining the valley floor for the rest of the way". That probably explains why, unlike many of Austria's minor lines, it has not survived apart from a short section at the Waidhofen end.

The train from Kienberg Gaming to Göstling an der Ybbs
leaving Lunz am See and giving a flavour of the lonely Ybbstalbahn.

More typical scenery on the Ybbstalbahn

The handful of passengers alighting at Waidhofen

At Waidhofen we were back on  the standard gauge and the 1844 to Amstetten was an unremarkable main line train. At Amstetten a Tyrolean gentleman was playing his accordian so loudly it could be heard throughout the station, but I didn't have long to wait for the 19.17 "Rosenkavalier" Wien - München express which, like every other train today had been on time - and on a Sunday as well!

I decided not to risk disappointment with another trip to eat at the top of the Postlingberg (it was probably her night off anyway) and settled for a pub crawl, visiting the "Sixpence Bar" (yes, really) for some Freistädter  beer and the Rathausstüberl for some Schläger Klosterbräu, although my notes for the latter pub say "beware of the house drunk"!

I finished off the evening in a more typically English manner - having discovered on my wanderings the "Shakuntla" Indian restaurant at a tram stop on Line 1 to Kleinmünchen The diary records that I had papadums followed by "Lamm Madras" with chapatis and pullau rice, which contained peas and nuts and cost an extra 4 schillings. It also records that I  quite enjoyed the curry and that the chapatis were "almost Bradford standard" (praise indeed). I had some excellent Austrian ice cream as a pudding and washed the lot down with a bottle or two of "Hopfenperle" beer.  I noted that the bill came to 180 schillings. At the time there were 20 Austrian schillings to the £, which for someone like me brought up in the pre-decimal currency era at least made the conversion easy, although £9 for a curry in 1982 would have been expensive back home.

to be continued...