Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway
The Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway was a railway company during the time of the Austrian Empire. Its main line was intended to connect Vienna with the salt mines in Bochnia near Kraków. The name is still used today in referring to a number of railway lines formerly operated by that company.
History
The Nordbahn, financed by Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, was Austria's first steam railway company. The first stretch, between Floridsdorf and Deutsch Wagram, was opened in 1837. An extension to Vienna was built in 1838, and the track through Břeclav to Brno in 1839. The first train from Vienna arrived in Břeclav railway station on 6 June 1839. By 1841, the railway had reached Přerov and Olomouc and in 1842 Lipník nad Bečvou. An extension to Ostrava and Bohumín was completed in 1847.The Nordbahn never directly reached Kraków or Bochnia. The first rail connection to Kraków via Bohumín, Kozle, and Mysłowice was provided by the Prussian Wilhelmsbahn and Oberschlesische Eisenbahn. The line from Mysłowice to Kraków was built by the Krakau-Oberschlesische Bahn. An entirely Austrian rail route from Vienna to Kraków did not exist until, in 1856, the k.k. Östliche Staatsbahn, a descendant of the Kraków and Upper Silesian, opened a branch form Trzebinia via Oświęcim to Czechowice-Dziedzice, where it met the Northern Railway.
The Northern Railway company was nationalized in 1907. It also owned many coal mines and other industry enterprises in the Ostrava region. After the nationalization of its railway network, the company continued to operate its coal and industry businesses.
The original Nordbahnhof in the Austrian capital was destroyed in World War II. It was rebuilt and re-opened in 1962 as Wien Praterstern together with the bridge across the Danube. Today's express trains from Vienna to Brno now leave from Wien Hauptbahnhof, and Praterstern is served by suburban and regional trains only.
Lines in Central Europe built by the Nordbahn in the period up to 1856
Town names are indicated as they were at the time of opening.- Floridsdorf–Deutsch Wagram. First steam-powered railway in Austria.
- Wien –Gänserndorf
- Gänserndorf–Lundenburg. The oldest steam-powered railway in today's Czech Republic
- Lundenburg–Brünn
- Lundenburg–Göding–Altstadt–Prerau
- Prerau–Olmütz
- Prerau–Leipnik
- Leipnik–Weißkirchen – Ostrau – Oderberg
- Ostrau–Troppau
- Oderberg–Petrowitz bei Freistadt–Auschwitz; Czechowitz-Dzieditz–Bielitz
- Auschwitz–Krakau. This line was built by the Eastern National Railway in 1856, and later taken over by the Northern Railway.
Telegraph service
The railway used a telegraph system designed by Alexander Bain, in particular along the Vienna to Bochnia line, as late as 1886; the system was slower at messaging than the later Morse systems.Rolling stock
Steam locomotives of the first period (1837–1842)
Austria and MoraviaSamson, Hercules, and VulcanVindobonaSaturn and MercurColumbusJupiter, Gigant, Concordia, and BrunaRaketeBucephalusMagnet- NordsternAtlas and VestaPatriaNew York
- Minotaurus and AjaxAdler and PfeilBaltimore
- Virginia und FloridaPhönix, Meteor, Titan, and PlutoOlomucia and CometTheseus and CentaurPlanet, Delphin, Blitz, and NeptunCyclop and Goliath
Steam locomotives of the second period (1844–1906)
Koloss and ElephantDonau to AetnaAdonis to GanymedOrpheus, Aeolus, and UlyssesPrometheus to AndromedaOrion and LuciferAeneas to OrestesNestor to Ariadne, Bihar to Üllö, Jason IIAustria II to SalamanderHebe I, Proserpina and Daphne IVulcan II to Glaucos IFortuna I to Leda ITiger to Mora- Telegraph I bis Euterpe IVindobona II to FloraAntilope I to MazeppaTiberius to Pilades
- Borsig 815–820, 828–833Jupiter II to Clio