Creasta dl Dragun Railway
| Creasta dl Dragun Railway | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Sass dla Porta Branch Line |
| Native name | Diramazion Sass dla Porta |
| Status | Disused |
| Locale | Comuns Costa and Guargne |
| Termini | Creasta dl Dragun railway station Gran Daora Junction railway station |
| Stations | 3 stations, 7 halts |
| Services | 2 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1870 (lower section) 1874 (upper section) |
| Closed | 1913 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 39+1⁄2 km (24.5 mi) |
| Number of tracks | Single track |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge (lower section) 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) (upper section) |
| Old gauge | 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) (whole route) |
| Operating speed | 60–120 km/h (37–75 mph) |
| Highest elevation | 894–1,944 m (2,933–6,378 ft) |
| Rack system | Caviezel |
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The Creasta dl Dragun Railway (lit. Dragon's Ridge Railway) is a disused railway on the border between Provinzia Inn and Trentin in Tirol. It ran 39+1⁄2 kilometres (25 mi) from Creasta dl Dragun mines to the Veres Line in Frazion Sief. The branch line was opened first in 1870 to transport copper from the mines in the Sass dla Porta to the Mayr Main Line in Pescosta. From 1876 it was used to carry mine-workers from Rina and Verocai and became the first public rack and pinion railway to carry passengers in Tirol. The line was built and operated by the Costa Mining Company, which likewise operated the Sass dla Porta mines. The mines closed between 1890 and 1910, with the railway ceasing regular operation in 1911. In 1913, the tracks were dismantled and sold.
Since the closure of the line in 1913, there have been a number of proposals for its reopening, alongside the reopening of the connected Veres Line. The popularisation of the Sass dla Porta in Carle Felix Gana's Lijendes Ladines increased travel to the region two-fold between its release in 1932 and 1942. The mayors of the local villages of Verocai, Rina and Pescosta proposed the re-establishment of the lower section of the line in 1938. Further proposals were made for reopening in the following decades as tourism further increased. The Labour Party committed to the reopening of the Veres Line in their 2005 manifesto, and following a successful feasibility study pressure for similar studies on the feasibility of the reopening of the Creasta dl Dragun railway. In the 2023 Tirol government formation, the Free Voters of Trentin insisted upon the commencement of a feasibility study as a condition for their involvement in the coalition government.
Name
"Sass dla Porta Branch Line" was the initial name of the line on construction, due to plans by the Costa Mining Company to expand operations to other parts of the Sass dla Porta. When the company failed to acquire further mining rights, and the line was expanded to reach Creasta dl Dragun station the line became known as the Creasta dl Dragun railway.
Gauge and technical specification
The railway was initially constructed in 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) gauge, a common narrow gauge used in mountainous railways in Tirol throughout the 19th century. The narrower gauge allowed for shorter turning radii and a lower loading gauge for the high altitude tunnels on the route alignment.
The upper section of the railway, beyond Gran Daora railway station is a rack and pinion railway, in order to traverse the high grades in the ascent of the ridge. The railway uses the Curtbar rack system using a ladder rack, formed of steel plates or channels connected by round or square rods at regular intervals.
The complex rack and pinion system and the limited loading gauge of the tunnels on the upper section have rendered changes to the track gauge more expensive. When the lower section was regauged to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge in 1901, to allow for through-services to and from the standard gauge Veres Line, the upper system retained the 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) gauge. As a result all services changed locomotive at Gran Daora station from 1884 until the line's closure in 1913.
History
Origins and construction (1840s–1870)
Modern copper mining began in the mid 19th century, with the first copper mine, Ram Marmota opening in 1846. Over the subsequent two decades three further mines were opened in the Sass dla Porta. Three of the four mines were based in the Creasta dl Dragun ridge and engineers in the Costa Mining Company were commissioned to find a solution for the transportation of the ore from this remote alpine outpost to the mainline railway running through the Costa and Mayr valleys. Initial proposals included gravity railway systems, including a funicular, however these proposals were rejected as they would have required dual tracks, a straight alignment and wider tunnels. Alternative proposals included plans for an aerial cableway from the outpost, but the lack of a direct line of site from the outpost to the landing by Lech Braies rendered such a system impossible.
The first proposal for a rack and pinion railway came from Leza Caviezel, a junior engineer who had previously worked on the Aut Armentaroia Railway in Provinzia Ziller. The Armentaroia railway utilised a third "friction rail" which was gripped horizontally by two central wheels on locomotives. Caviezel proposed a system with a central rack in place of the friction rail, with a central pinion on the locomotive axel to allow for traction in the steep ascents and descents required. Following a successful prototype Caviezel's design was patronised by Steaffan Gmür, then the owner of the Costa Mining Company. Following a full survey of the ridge, Caviezel proposed an alignment running up a steep-sided gorge that avoided the need for any tunnelling.
The construction of rack and pinion railways was prohibitively expensive, and the tunnelling costs alone exceeded the cost of the entire Mayr Main Line. In this period, however, the Costa Mining Company had recently uncovered gold reserves in their southern mines, doubling their revenue and rendering them the wealthiest Tiroler company in the period. Their investment in the project was seen as not only an investment in future infrastructure, but also a statement of power.
After construction began on the initial alignment the rockface in the gorge was found to be too unstable for any construction. The initial alignment was adapted above the Gran Daora station introducing a 250m tunnel through the southern spur of the Creasta dl Dragun. Construction of the new alignment began in July 1868 and the construction of the viaducts and tunnels of the upper section were completed by mid 1869. The steel rails and rack were laid throughout the latter half of the year. The line was fully completed in June 1870.
Simultaneously to construction, Caviezel had constructed a prototype locomotive for usage on the line at a foundry in nearby Pescosta. Caviezel was subsequently contracted to produce three further rack locomotives. The Caviezel locomotives could run at a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour (12.4 mph) on the rack and pinion section uphill, and 30 kilometres per hour (18.6 mph) downhill, however the lack of additional passing loops limited them to the uphill speed in both directions in full operation. On the lower section of track the locomotives could run at the maximum speed of 60 kilometres per hour (37.3 mph) in both directions.
Early operation (1870–1876)
Full operation of the line began in August 1870 for the transportation of raw copper. Formally the railway was solely for freight and equipment transportation at this point, however the use of the railway by miners to reach the ridge's mines became widespread shortly after opening.
Three locomotives operated simultaneously on the line, using a "one engine in steam" policy to prevent collisions. Tokens were traded at the passing loop on the Creasta ascent of the upper section and at the passing loop at Nord Halt on the lower section. Locomotives could also pass at the Gran Daora passing loop, which would become Gran Daora station, however this was never timetabled. The locomotives were housed primarily at a yard at the line's junction with the Veres Branch Line, but there were sufficient sidings at the peak to station all three locomotives.
On opening there were no formal stations, due to the status of the line as a de jure freight line. There were two depots, at either end of the line for the loading of copper from the mines and the offloading onto the standard gauge Veres Branch Line.
The line operated successfully during its early years, carrying large quantities of raw copper ore for processing in nearby Pescosta. It also became increasingly effective at bringing in a wider workforce that could be drawn from further afield via the railway. It carried raw copper down from the mountain and general goods, mining equipment and food up to the mines. Overall the railway allowed for a more than ten-fold increase in the production of the mines due to the increased transport capacity, reaching 8,000 long tons (8,100 t) by 1876. Despite high construction costs, operating costs for the railway were relatively low compared to alternative systems.
Passenger services (1876–1890)
In 1876, following an incident in late 1875 where a mine-worker had fallen to his death from an overloaded carriage, the Costa Mining Company began enforcing a ban on the usage of the freight trains as transport. The vastly inflated workforce, however, had become increasingly dependent on the train for transport from towns as far afield as Vèra. To maintain this workforce the company purchased six narrow-gauge passenger carriages, and began the first passenger services on the line. In addition to providing transport for mineworkers, the service also allowed for the purchase of tickets by the general public to travel on the railway, primarily for family and friends of the mineworkers.
The passenger services were initially operated as additional carriages on primarily freight trains. From 1880, the locomotives on the line were replaced with five new locomotives. Three of the locomotives operated freight trains with no passenger carriages, the remaining two being used as purely passenger trains, operating a bihourly service between Gran Daora Junction station and the Creasta dl Dragun station.
Throughout the 1880s a number of halts opened to allow for a more comprehensive passenger service along the line. Becker Halt opened in 1882, followed by Puentsud Halt and Collaz Halt in 1884. In 1885 Jouf Halt was established to serve a nearby mountain refuge. Finally Nord Halt, Lech Halt and Autlech Halt serving the village of Norden and two of the smaller lakes on the line.
Wartime and postwar decline (1890–1910)
With the outbreak of the Tiroler Civil War in 1890, the Sass dla Porta and the entire railway fell under the control of the Republicans. The royalist leadership of the Pescosta Mining Company was imprisoned and two of the five mines operational before the start of the war were never reopened. The mines were subsequently operated by a workers' council of the remaining miners. The Caporin Offensive of 1892 saw the capture of Pescosta, the Sass dla Porta and the northern parts of the railway by the Royalists. During the offensive the railway was utilised by Republican forces to bring munitions to the front but was heavily damaged by royalist artillery.
The collapse of the Caporin Offensive in late 1892 saw the recapture of this territory by republican forces, but the damage from the offensive and proximity to the front prevented the repair of the railway and the operation of the mines until the conclusion of the war.
Following the end of the civil war and the 1893 Red Winter, the Workers' Council of miners was dismantled by the liberal government and the Costa Mining Company was reestablished under its original owners. The tariff-removal policies of the post-war liberal government saw the mass-import of copper from neighbouring Quebecshire and the three remaining mines saw profits increasingly falling. By 1900, the passenger service on the line was more productive than the copper mines on the Creasta dl Dragun. In 1901, the lower section of the line was re-gauged to standard gauge, allowing for services through from Gran Daora station to other stations on the national network. Following this change of gauge, Gran Daora station required a change of locomotive in order to transit through.
In 1910, the last operational copper mine closed, and freight services to the Creasta dl Dragun halted. Following this closure passenger usage of the line declined substantially and in the final months of 1910 the line failed to turn a profit.
Closure and dismantlement (1910–1913)
With the closure of the mines, and the decline in passenger usage over the course of 1910, the line was closed in its entirety in March 1911. The Costa Mining Company retained the infrastructure and maintained the line for occasional usage by the company in the decommissioning of the mines, and usage by the Tiroler Defence Forces.
By 1913, the costs of maintenance of the railway, and the locomotives for its operation proved greater than the benefit of continued operation. The company sold the locomotives to operators of other Tiroler narrow-gauge railways using the Caviezel system. The tracks on the alignment were mostly dismantled and sold as scrap metal. The tunnels, cuttings, viaducts and embankments of the alignment were left in tact, and fully navigable.
Post closure (1913–present)
The publishing of Lijendes Ladines in 1932 saw a drastic increase in the number of visitors to Lech Braies. In 1933, just twenty years after the dismantlement of the railway, the number of daily journeys to the area exceeded the peak at any point during the railway's operation.
The line has decayed since its full closure due to a lack of maintenance. The alignment was fully navigable until 1944, when a cave-in within the Creasta Granda tunnel obstructed the route. A full survey of the route was conducted in June 1964 where major structural issues were found in the viaducts and tunnels of the lower sector which saw the closure of the route to foot-traffic. In 1970, a number of sections on the Marmota Viaduct collapsed.
The Pescosta coalition ministry committed to a feasibility study on the line in the 2023 Tirol government formation, as a precondition for the entry of the Free Voters of Trentin into the coalition. Whilst such a study has not yet commenced, preliminary surveys have been undertaken.
Early surveys studying the feasibility of the reopening of the line in 2024 found no further collapses. None of the viaducts were found to be sufficient to bear the load of any rail service without substantial engineering works.
Route
The main terminus of the line was at the Gran Daora Junction, where prior to the lines re-gauging, transhipment sidings were used to transfer the raw copper ore from the narrow gauge railway to the Veres Branch Line. The junction, standing at only 894 metres (2,933 ft) marked the lowest point on the railway. Initially moving north-east from the junction, it followed the side of a broad combe of the Soach valley. Crossing two minor roads at grade, the railway then reaches the Puentsud Halt near the hamlet of the same name. A kilometre further along the line a large farm contemporaneously owned by the Becker family surrounded the railway and a further halt provided access to the farm.
Following the Becker Halt the railway began its incline towards the Zenzenìghe Edge with an increasing embankment. Over the following five kilometres the railway ascended to 910m at Nord Halt, the site of a historic inn. The embanked track passed over a further minor road at the start of the Zenzenìghe Viaduct. The viaducts and tunnels beyond this point remain mostly navigable. The Zenzenìghe Viaduct is the first viaduct on the course of the railway passing over the increasingly rough terrain under the Zenzenìghe Edge. As the gradient of the ridge increases the viaduct reaches the entrance portal of the Zenzenìghe tunnel, a relatively short tunnel at only 20 metres (66 ft) passing through the first ridge of the Zenzenìghe Edge. The exit portal of the tunnel meets a second viaduct passing through the picturesque Val Zenzenìghe before entering the 28 metres (92 ft) Marmota Tunnel. The tunnel exits onto the partially collapsed Marmota Viaduct. The viaduct bridges the Collaz Valley, declining in altitude, reaching an embankment where the Collaz Halt (891 m) provided access to a nearby hamlet. The hamlet was abandoned in 1967 following a landslide.
The Collaz embankment rises to meet the Listolade cutting and the subsequent Listolade tunnel through the ridge of the same name. The bridge exits onto the longest viaduct on the route spanning the entire Travenanzes valley from a starting altitude of 925 m to 950 m at the end of the viaduct, across a five kilometre stretch. At the end of the viaduct the route meets the Sass dla Porta massif, contour hugging the southern slope of the south-west spur of the massif. The track was partially cut into the slopes in this stretch inclining throughout the course of the slope to meet the Jouf Halt, the location of the historic mountain pass route to Lech Braies.
The railway followed the western side of the Braies valley for 800 metres before reaching the Gran Daora station at an altitude of 1051 m. At this point prior to the regauging of the lower stretch of the line, rail services would use the passing loop and continue on the racked section of track beyond the loop. Following the regauging of the line, transhipment sidings at this point were used to transfer goods from the narrow gauge and racked upper section to the standard gauge locomotives on the lower section. Platforms are still in place at this station where passengers moved from narrow to standard gauge trains.
Beyond this section the gradient of track increased substantially ascending the Creasta dl Dragun. Over 400 m the railway ascends 80 m to the Lech Halt. The railway subsequently passed over the Ententuel Gorge and a further passing loop before the Creasta Granda tunnel, which passed through the southern spur of the Creasta dl Dragun. The tunnel had a substantial incline exiting to the Lake Autlech, reaching shortly after the Autlech Halt.
The final stretch of the railway along the ridgetop of the Creasta dl Dragun over 300 m, to the railway station via the Creasta Pizo tunnel. Beyond the final station a small set of sidings and a few light rail lines from mine entrances were established varying in position and usage throughout the period of operation.
Proposed reopening
1938 proposal
In 1938, a doubling in travel to the Sass dla Porta between 1932 and 1942 saw the first proposal for the reopening of the line. The mayors of Verocai, Rina and Pescosta proposed the re-establishment of at least the lower section of the line to provide better access to the area. The League Party Minister for Transport Cla Rocca was petitioned by the mayors to request funding for the reconstructing and the tracks. However, there was no interest from the privately owned Tiroler railway companies, none of which saw the line as a potentially profitable line. Rocca, who had played a key part in opposing any nationalisation of the Tiroler railways, was ideologically opposed to any government intervention and the proposal saw little progression.
1964 proposal
In 1964, growing concerns around road damage to the small number of dirt tracks that accessed the area saw increasing support for the reopening of the line. Three local deputies of the National Council, all belonging to the ruling League Party, petitioned the Ministry of Transport to conduct a survey into the state of the route. The survey found major structural issues that saw the closure to pedestrians of many parts of the route. In 1965, the ministry determined the cost of rail would cost a minimum of 40 million schillings. The collapse of parts of the Marmota Viaduct in 1970 saw the abandonment of the proposed reopening in favour of the metalling of the tracks to Lech Braies for road traffic.
Recent proposals
The 2023 Tirol legislative election led to a hung parliament, and for the first time in Tiroler political history the Free Voters of Trentin (VLT) held the balance of power. As a precondition for entering a coalition led by the League Party, Bërtold Meller, leader of the VLT insisted on the review of a number of closed lines wholly or partially within Provinzia Trentin. This demand included the creation and consideration of a number of proposals for the reopening of the Creasta dl Dragun railway. The final coalition agreement committed the Pescosta ministry to a feasibility study on the line, to be undertaken by 2026. The study is due to begin in March 2025, a number of partial studies have been conducted following the coalition agreement with no evidence found of further collapses besides the 1970 collapse of the Marmota Viaduct and earlier cave-in of the Creasta Granda tunnel.
There are a number of proposals for the goal of any reconstruction. The Greens have proposed the transformation of the route into an accessible walking and cycling route similar to other disused railways in the region. The VLT support the return to a railway service, but have not committed to a full passenger service, with some proposals to turn the route into a privately owned heritage line. Amongst those advocating for the creation of a heritage line, there are disagreements as to how the line be restored, whether the lower section should be standard gauge, or the original narrow gauge. Advocates for the establishment of a heritage line include Veres Nord CDT Andri Castlunger of the VLT who has argued in favour of the re-establishment of the full line, including the upper racked section.
The lack of substantial progress in the first two years of the coalition ministry has attracted criticism from the Tiroler Railways Group, a pro-rail pressure group which argue the economic case for reopening the railway is clear due to the large volume of tourists visiting Lech Braies each year.
In popular culture
Lijendes Ladines
Carle Felix Gana wrote about the line in the appendix to his most popular work Lijendes Ladines, referring to it as a "blight on the sacred site of the Sass dla Porta". Gana was reported to have been delighted by the closure of the line, but disappointed by the failure to move to dismantle the railway.
White War
In the ART's 2004 drama White War a fictional story about the experiences of a Republican soldier in the Tiroler Civil War, the protagonist Hugo Nöia travels on the railway repeatedly from his station near the Sass dla Porta. During the Caporin Offensive his carriage is struck by a Monarchist artillery shell during the retreat.