Reisseck Railway

The Reißeck Railway once climbed from the Möll valley in Carinthia up into the small Reißeck mountain range. It linked Kolbnitz at 719 metres with the Berghotel Reisseck at 2,250 metres and even higher sections at about 2,400 metres. The system combined a metre-gauge mountain railway and a three-part funicular, both built to serve the nearby Reisseck-Kreuzeck power station. Passenger services later became the main purpose, carrying visitors to the hotel and scenic viewpoints. The railway closed in 2016 during work at Schoberboden and never reopened. The funicular alone stretched for about 3,500 metres and rose 1,517 metres through gradients as steep as 82 per cent. Each section used coaches with 64 seats pulled by thick cables wound on drums 3.85 metres across. A 4,234.5-metre pipe ran beside the funicular, carrying water from four alpine lakes down to the storage reservoir in the valley. In 2018 the funicular made one final trip to move a pump motor before being dismantled in 2022. Today the route is quiet, but the surrounding mountains remain striking. The valley below shows the scale of the former engineering works, while the peaks above still frame views once enjoyed by railway passengers. The nearby Kreuzeck funicular on the opposite side of the valley continues to operate, offering a reminder of the era when mountain railways opened these heights to visitors.