I have been a railfan for many years, but not traditional rail. Rather, it is more of an interest in metro systems and monorails. Depending on one’s point of view, that hobby reached its apex — or nadir — a few years ago, when I created a metro system ticket design for home and travel goods. But I may have jumped the gun on that one, because a recent trip to Germany helped fulfill a long-time travel dream: a ride on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.
Less than a 30-minute train from Düsseldorf, Wuppertal is home the world’s oldest suspension(-type) railway, called schwebebahn in German. Construction began in the summer of 1898, with the line officially opening on 1 March 1901. This website nicely summarizes important dates in the life of the Wuppertal schwebebahn.
The original goal of the railway was to connect the industrial cities of Barmen, Elberfeld, and Vohwinkel, Wuppertal (Wupper Valley) was created in 1929 after the merger of those cities.
The train runs for about 13.3 kilometers (~8.3 miles), mostly along the Wupper River.
Since 1903, it has operated between Vohwinkel in the west, and Oberbarmen in the east. Wanting to see what a terminus station was like, I rode the schwebebahn to Oberbarmen:
The current type of rail car is GTW Generation 15, which has been in service since December 2016.
As is the case in much of Europe, the railway runs by “honor system ticketing.” That is to say, you don’t need to buy a ticket to board….
If you do go my route, don’t forget to time stamp the ticket (the time stamp is on the left part of the ticket). Besides, it’s simultaneously an inexpensive and practical souvenir.
After two decades of traveling on metro systems and monorails everywhere from Rennes to Rio de Janeiro, and Chiba to Chongqing, there’s still nothing like riding with history on the Wuppertal Schwebebahn.
But wait, there’s a bonus for all you infrastructure fans.
Hop on the railline to the Alter Markt (“old market”) station, then amble over to the Rathaus Barmen, or Barmen City Hall. Enter the city hall, and walk to the main foyer. Look to the right, and you will see something banned in the United States (and many other countries):
It’s called a Paternoster Lift.
Pater noster? Latin for Our father?
That’s right. The name of the elevator comes from its design. Like a hand rotating rosary beads during a Catholic prayer, the paternoster lift doesn’t stop its perpetual cycles.
In 1868, British architect Peter Ellis introduced this elevator type at one of his Liverpool buildings. Today, they’re mostly found in government institutions (hence, the Barmen City Hall) and universities, primarily in Europe.
Since this was the first time I had ever seen a paternoster lift, I may have gotten carried away (terrible pun):
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