!!!Pferdeeisenbahn

Railway, Horse-drawn: The construction of the first railway on the 
European continent and the world's longest horse-drawn railway from 
Budweis (Ceske Budejovice, southern Bohemia) to Linz started in 
Austria in 1825 according to drafts by F. A. von  Gerstner 
(length: 128 km, gauge: 110.6 cm). Operations to Linz began in 
1832. Important experience on the construction of mountain railways ( 
Semmering Railway) was gained during construction. Between 1834-1836 
the line was extended to Gmunden via Lambach (68 km); on this 
section steam engines were used from 1855/56 onwards; between Linz and 
Lambach, however, the line was replaced by the 
Kaiserin-Elisabeth-(West-)Bahn railway in 1859/60. The section Linz- 
Budweis was converted to standard gauge for steam engines in 1872/73, 
between Lambach and Gmunden standard gauge was not introduced until 
1903.

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From the second half of the 19%%sup th/%  century onwards horse-drawn 
railways were only built for urban local transport (horse-drawn 
tramway): 1865 in Vienna (where a second company started operating in 
1872), 1873 Baden, 1878 Graz, 1880 Linz, 1891 Klagenfurt, 1892 
Salzburg. Between 1894 and 1910 these horse-drawn tramways were 
electrified. In 1977 a museum horse-drawn tramway was opened in 
Klagenfurt. A museum for horse-drawn railways was established in a 
former station house of the Linz-Budweis horse-drawn railway in 
Kerschbaum (municipality of Rainbach im Muehlviertel) in 1996; one 
museum train still operates on part of the track for visitors.

!Literature
F. Pfeffer and G. Kleinhanns, Budweis- Linz- Gmunden, 
Pferdeeisenbahn und Dampfbetrieb, 1982; P. Gaider et al., 150 
Jahre Pferdeeisenbahn Linz- Budweis, exhibition catalogue, Stadtmuseum 
Linz 1982; K. H. Knauer, Die Pferdeeisenbahn Linz- Budweis, 
exhibition catalogue, Vienna Museum of Technology 1983.


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