The Brauneck mountain railway is getting a new suspension cable. A technical challenge that employees have to overcome at dizzying heights.
Lenggries – There is a major measure on the agenda for this year’s spring overhaul of the Brauneck mountain railway. As reported, one of the four cables of the cable car is currently being replaced. A technical challenge. After all, the kilometer-long rope weighs an impressive 15 tons.
A suspension cable has been in service at the Brauneck mountain railway for around 30 years
The Brauneck mountain railway is a so-called two-cable gondola, as Stefan Schnitzler, managing director of the mountain railway, explains. “The support cable essentially acts as a rail. The cabins ride on it here. The pull rope is then responsible for moving the cabins.”
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A suspension cable is in service at the Brauneck mountain railway for around 30 years, then it has to be exchanged for a new one. The company's employees are currently in the process of replacing one of the four supporting cables of the railway, which was built in 1957. According to Schnitzler, it had defects and therefore had to be replaced after just 20 years. “We already knew that during assembly,” he explains on site. “When the support cables were replaced 20 years ago, it was noticed that one of them had production defects, which would affect the service life. We contacted the manufacturer at the time and they provided us with a replacement rope. That’s what’s being used now.”
Ropes at the Brauneck mountain railway are checked four times a year
The ropes are checked four times a year by the mountain railway employees. In addition, magnetic inductive tests take place regularly. “During the last test it was clear that we would have to change this rope this year.” Schnitzler explains: “Such a support rope consists of around 78 wires from the core to the outer layer, which can withstand tons of load.”
As robust as the constructs are, they are not immortal: “During operation, the ropes are always slightly deformed, which means that individual wires can break over time. Over time, these breaks accumulate until the rope is ready to be discarded.” According to the regulations, a maximum of two wire breaks can occur on a meter of rope.
The new support cable for the Brauneck mountain railway is a total of 2.2 kilometers long and costs around 100,000 euros. It wasn't an easy undertaking to get the multi-ton colossus to the cable car. With a total of ten employees, the mountain railway company mastered this challenge on its own. “We attached the new rope to the pull rope and transported it up with the cable car. We then attached the rope at the top of the station. Our employees were also at all the supports to remove the old rope and attach the new one,” said Schnitzler. And the worn-out suspension cable? “It came down as much as the new thing came up,” he says with a laugh.
Brauneckbahn starts the season on April 27th
We are currently still waiting for the company that is responsible for the cone construction to attach the rope to the valley station - the rope has a load capacity of 120 tons. “Special casting work is necessary for the fastening in the valley station, which we cannot carry out ourselves.” The work, which has been ongoing for seven days, is scheduled to be completed this Friday. “Then there is still the standard inspection work in the stations, i.e. checking the tires, V-belts and all mechanically moving parts.”
Once everything has been checked and everything on the new suspension cable is in place and attached, experts check the construction one last time before the Brauneck mountain railway gets underway on April 27th and starts the season.
(February)