The Larchwandschragaufzug is an inclined lift, also known as funiculars, located at Kaprun in Austria inside the Hohe Tauern National Park. Stretching 810 meters over a vertical distance of 431 meters on 8,200 millimeter gauge, it is the largest funicular system in Europe.
The funicular entered operation in 1952 to transport heavy loads up the steep slopes to the power plants on the high-altitude dam reservoirs above Kaprun. Over the years the funicular was increasingly used to transport tourists. The construction of a connecting tunnel finally led to the transportation of heavy loads being transferred to this alternative route, and the funicular began to be used exclusively for tourism purposes. What makes Lärchwandschrägaufzug such an attraction among tourist and locals is the open roofed carriage.
The original funicular was built in 1941 and had a track width of 3,600 mm, and could haul up to 9 tons of load. It soon turned out that the capacity of the lift was not sufficient to transport construction materials for the the power plant and the funicular was rebuilt in 1952 with today's track width and a load capacity of 60 tons.
Sources: Leitner Ropeways / Wikipedia
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