Cogwheel trains are an iconic part of Switzerland's proud rail history. A look back through the archives of the first Alpine cogwheel line, between the cantons of Lucerne and Schwyz. The Rigi mountain railway, Europe's earliest cogwheel railway, is turning this year.
At an altitude of 1, metres, the Rigi isn't the highest mountain in the region. Still, it is undoubtedly the most famous. It paved the way for alpine tourism in Switzerland and sparked a continent-wide trend. Swiss engineer Niklaus Riggenbach was the first in Europe to build such a cogwheel railway. Two journalists from the Zurich daily newspaper were among those invited to "see this marvel of technology become the first train to climb to 1, metres".
In a newspaper clipping in Gothic font, one of them recounts his experience. The journalist sweeps away the fears of some observers that the venture β relying on a new technology to haul a train up a precipice β was too risky.
I can say with a clear conscience that the Rigi line seems to me safer than any lowland line. I would not have believed it eight days ago. They never run, they merely lengthen their strides. Others were quick to follow suit. The 5-kilometre, hour-long journey generated a tourism boom in the region.
Four years later, another line was inaugurated, also on the Rigi, departing from Arth in the canton of Schwyz the two companies merged in The popularity of cogwheel trains spread throughout the Alps, culminating in the construction, from to , of the Jungfrau Railway at an altitude of 3, metres.
