Travel Date:
Wednesday, 28th May 2014
From Pilatus Kulm to Alpnachstad, we sloped down on a world's steepest cogwheel railway. Enjoyed the beautiful sceneries, the lush meadows covered with Alpine flowers, past sparkling mountain streams and fascinating rock faces as we descent.
The track climbs a slope of more than 1,600 meters in just 4.6 km with an average gradient of 38% and a maximum of 48%. Engineer Eduard Locher was behind the invention of this unique system where he managed inclination of the railway to 48% and cut the length of the route in half. It started its operations using steam power on 1889 then it started to use electricity on 15 May 1937. Originally, it took an hour to reach the top using the 32-passenger steam cars with an averaged 3 to 4 kilometers per hour. Now it's using the 40-passenger electric cars which runs an average of 9 kilometers per hour and it only takes around 30 minutes to reach the summit. The line still uses the original rack rails that are now over 100 years old.
Map
Leave Your Comments
Anyone can leave comments on this site, provided that you retain two basic rules: politeness and respect for others.