A trip up Stoosbahn--world's steepest funicular railway

[Sacto1985]

Here is a front view video of the new Stoosbahn funicular railway from Hintere Schlattli in the municipality of Schwyz up to the village and mountain resort of Stoos, above Morschach.

 

 

It's so steep (over 100% grade!) that they had to design a special railcar where parts of the train rotate to keep a flat level inside the cabins. You can see why in this picture of one of the two railcars:

 

[Socimi]

2 hours ago, Sacto1985 said:

 

 

It's so steep (over 100% grade!) that they had to design a special railcar where parts of the train rotate to keep a flat level inside the cabins.

 

 

100% means a 45 degree track, not very impressing considering many funiculars runs at around the same gradient.

(In my region the Como-Brunate funicular runs at a nearly identical gradient)

 

http://expo2015notizie.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/V012_brunate2_gande.jpg

 

What's unusual is that they have the terminals with the track parallel to the ground (grade 0), while the main line is at 45; this means that the gradient of the track changes during the travel, therefore the cabins need to adapt to the new gradient, while standard funiculars maintain an equal gradient on all the track.

 

What i see here is, basically, a system that has been unnecesarily complicated, especially considering the  original stoosbahn was a pretty standard funicular. What i wonder is why thy decided to rebuild it with such a different system, when they could have simply modernized 

the cars and the terminuses for much, much less.

 

http://standseilbahnen.ch/images/aktuell/6430.01-alte-stoosbahn-2013-1280960.jpg

Edited December 21, 2017 by Socimi

[Khaul]

Well, yes, but if being sensible does not give you a cool video in YouTube and lots of publicity.

[Sacto1985]

I believe at some points on the this line, the gradient is 110%, the highest in the world for a funicular railway that is used for regular commuter services (the Katoomba Scenic World Railway in Australia is a tourist-only ride).