St.Pölten to Mariazell - My own Pilgramages to "Mariazellerland"
The Mariazell Railway is an electrically operated 760mm ( 2 ft 5 15 ⁄ 16 in ) narrow gauge line which connects the Lower Austrian capital of Sankt Pölten with the Styrian Alpine pilgrimage centre of Mariazell . The line was opened in stages between 1898 and 1907, with a now closed branch to Wieselburg an der Erlauf . The railway is currently operated by NÖVOG . Electrification (unprecedented at the time) began in 1911 (using Alternating Current ) as the route & traffic requirements were proving too arduous for the original Steam locos , 16 E series locomotives (still used today as class 1099 ) were delivered between 1909 and 1914. The experience gained from the electrification proved to be the benchmark for later projects of the same kind. The locomotive design with two separate powered bogies is widespread today. The route runs from St.Pölten to Ober-Grafendorf , the lines only majo...