Editing Rack railway (section)

== History ==
[[File:Rack railway.jpg|thumb|Different rack systems: from the left,<br />[[#Riggenbach|Riggenbach]], [[#Strub|Strub]], [[#Abt|Abt]], and [[#Locher|Locher]].]]

A number of different designs of rack rail and matching cog wheel have been developed over the years. With the exception of some early [[#Morgan|Morgan]] and [[#Blenkinsop|Blenkinsop]] rack installations, rack systems place the rack rail halfway between the running rails, mounted on the same [[railroad tie|sleepers or ties]] as the running rails.

=== <span class="anchor" id="Blenkinsop"></span>Blenkinsop (1812) ===
[[File:Blenkinsop's rack locomotive, 1812 (British Railway Locomotives 1803-1853).jpg|thumb|Blenkinsop rack and pinion with teeth on outer side of one rail only]]

John Blenkinsop thought that the friction would be too low from metal wheels on metal rails even on level ground, so he built his [[steam locomotive]]s for the [[Middleton Railway]] in 1812 with a 20-[[Gear#Tooth profile|tooth]], {{convert|3|ft|mm|adj=on|round=5|sigfig=3}} diameter cog wheel (pinion) on the left side that engaged in rack teeth (two teeth per foot) on the outer side of the rail, the metal "fishbelly" [[edge rail (edgeways)|edge rail]] with its side rack being cast all in one piece, in {{convert|3|ft|yd mm|0|adj=on}} lengths. Blenkinsop's system remained in use for 25 years on the Middleton Railway, but it became a curiosity because simple friction was found to be sufficient for railroads operating on level ground.<ref name=Abt1910>{{cite book |first=Roman |last=Abt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA525 |title=Mountain and Rack Railways |series=[[Cassier's Magazine]] |volume=XXXVII |number=5 |date=March 1910 |page=525 }}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Fell"></span>Fell (1860s)===
{{Main|Fell mountain railway system}}

The Fell mountain railway system, developed in the 1860s, is not strictly speaking a rack railway, since there are no cogs with teeth.  Rather, this system uses a smooth raised centre rail between the two running rails on steep sections of lines that is gripped on both sides to improve friction.  Trains are propelled by wheels or braked by shoes pressed horizontally onto the centre rail, as well as by means of the normal running wheels.
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=== <span class="anchor" id="Marsh"></span>Marsh (1861) ===
[[File:New England Fall Color Tour Oct. 2012 187.JPG|thumb|right|The Marsh rack and pinion system]]
The first successful rack railway in the United States was the Mount Washington Cog Railway, developed by [[Sylvester Marsh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cog-railway.com/smarsh.htm|title=Sylvester Marsh|website=cog-railway.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100820/http://www.cog-railway.com/smarsh.htm|archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> Marsh was issued a U.S. [[patent]] for the general idea of a rack railway in September 1861,<ref name=Marsh1861>Sylvester Marsh, Improvement in Locomotive-Engines for Ascending Inclined Planes, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US33255A/en U.S. Patent 33,255], September 10, 1861.</ref> and in January 1867 for a practical rack where the rack teeth take the form of rollers arranged like the rungs of a ladder between two L-shaped wrought-iron rails.<ref>Sylvester Marsh, Improved Cog-Rail for Railroads, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US61211A/en U.S. Patent 61,221], January 15, 1867.</ref>  The first public trial of the Marsh rack on Mount Washington was made on August 29, 1866, when only one quarter of a mile (402 meters) of track had been completed.  The Mount Washington railway opened to the public on August 14, 1868.<ref>{{cite book |first=C. H. |last=Hitchcock |chapter=Chapter IV: The Approaches to Mount Washington |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLmHk2fFfbQC&pg=PA82 |title=Mount Washington in Winter |publisher=Chick and Andrews |location=Boston |year=1871 |pages=82–85 }}</ref>  The pinion wheels on the locomotives have deep teeth that ensure that at least two teeth are engaged with the rack at all times; this measure helps reduce the possibility of the pinions riding up and out of the rack.<ref name=Jehan />

=== <span class="anchor" id="Riggenbach"></span>Riggenbach (1871) ===
[[File:Zahnradbahn riggenbach.jpg|upright|thumb|left|The Riggenbach rack system]]
The Riggenbach rack system was invented by [[Niklaus Riggenbach]] working at about the same time as, but independently from Marsh. Riggenbach was granted a French patent in 1863 based on a working model which he used to interest potential Swiss backers. During this time, the Swiss Consul to the United States visited Marsh's Mount Washington Cog Railway and reported back with enthusiasm to the Swiss government. Eager to boost tourism in Switzerland, the government commissioned Riggenbach to build a rack railway up [[Rigi|Mount Rigi]]. Following the construction of a prototype locomotive and test track in a quarry near [[Bern]], the [[Vitznau–Rigi railway]] opened on 22 May 1871.<ref name=Jehan />

The Riggenbach system is similar in design to the Marsh system. It uses a ladder rack, formed of [[steel]] [[Plate (structure)|plates]] or [[Structural channel|channels]] connected by [[Dowel#In machinery|round]] or [[square]] [[Structural steel#Common structural shapes|rods]] at regular intervals. The Riggenbach system suffers from the problem that its fixed ladder rack is more complex and expensive to build than the other systems.

Following the success of the Vitznau–Rigi railway, Riggenbach established the ''Maschinenfabrik der Internationalen Gesellschaft für Bergbahnen'' (IGB) – a company that produced rack locomotives to his design.<ref name=Jehan />
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=== <span class="anchor" id="Abt"></span>Abt (1882) ===
[[File:SMR Axle on display at Llanberis 05-07-24 20.jpeg|thumb|right|Abt rack system used on the [[Snowdon Mountain Railway]].]]

The Abt system was devised by [[Carl Roman Abt]], a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] locomotive engineer. Abt worked for Riggenbach at his works in [[Olten]] and later at his IGB rack locomotive company. In 1885, he founded his own civil engineering company.<ref name=Jehan />

During the early 1880s, Abt worked to devise an improved rack system that overcame the limitations of the Riggenbach system. In particular, the Riggenbach rack was expensive to manufacture and maintain and the [[Railroad switch|switches]] were complex. In 1882, Abt designed a new rack using solid bars with vertical teeth machined into them. Two or three of these bars are mounted centrally between the rails, with the teeth of the pinions rotationally offset from each other to match.<ref>Roman Abt, Permanent Way for Mountain Railways, {{U.S. Patent|284,790}}, September 11, 1883</ref> The use of multiple bars with offset teeth ensures that the pinions on the locomotive driving wheels are constantly engaged with the rack.<ref>Roman Abt, Locomotive, {{U.S. Patent|339,831}}, April 13, 1886.</ref> The Abt system is cheaper to build than the Riggenbach because it requires a lower weight of rack over a given length. However the Riggenbach system exhibits greater wear resistance than the Abt.<ref name=Jehan />

The first use of the Abt system was on the [[Harz Narrow Gauge Railways|Harzbahn]] in Germany, which opened in 1885.<ref name=Jehan /> It was also used on the [[Diakopto-Kalavryta railway]] in 1885, the [[Snowdon Mountain Railway]] in [[Wales]] from 1894 to 1896<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://snowdonrailway.co.uk/abt-rack-railway-info/ |title=Abt Rack Railway & Technical Info}}</ref> and in 1893 by the Japanese Government Railways on the section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa in the [[Usui Pass]]. It is used today on the [[Ikawa Line]] of the [[Ōigawa Railway]].

The pinion wheels can be mounted on the same axle as the rail wheels, or driven separately.  The steam locomotives on the [[West Coast Wilderness Railway]] have separate cylinders driving the pinion wheel, as do the [[Nilgiri Mountain Railway X class|"X"-class locomotives]] on the [[Nilgiri Mountain Railway]].

=== Agudio (1884) ===
The Agudio rack system<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gamboni |first=Antonio |title=L'antica Funicolare di Superga |url=http://www.clamfer.it/11_Funicolari/Funicolare%20Superga/Funicolare%20Superga.htm |access-date=2022-04-30}}</ref> was invented by Tommaso Agudio. Its only long-lived application was on the [[Sassi–Superga tramway]] which opened in 1884. It used a vertical rack with cog wheels on each side of the central rack. Its unique feature, however, was that the 'locomotive' was propelled by means of an endless cable driven from an engine house at the foot of the incline. It was converted to use the Strub rack system in 1934.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tranvia da Borgo Sassi a Superga   |url=https://www.histouring.com/en/historical-places/tranvia-da-borgo-sassi-a-superga/ |publisher=histouring}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Locher"></span>Locher (1889) ===
[[File:Pilatus Rack.jpg|thumb|right|Locher Rack system (seen from above)]]
The Locher rack system, invented by [[Eduard Locher]], has [[gear]] teeth cut in the sides rather than the top of the rail, engaged by two cog wheels on the locomotive.  This system allows use on steeper grades than the other systems, whose teeth could jump out of the rack.  It is used on the [[Pilatus Railway]].

Locher set out to design a rack system that could be used on gradients as steep as 1 in 2 (50%). The Abt system&nbsp;– the most common rack system in [[Switzerland]] at the time&nbsp;– was limited to a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%). Locher showed that on steeper grade, the Abt system was prone to the driving pinion over-riding the rack, causing potentially catastrophic derailments, as predicted by Dr. Abt.  To overcome this problem and allow a rack line up the steep sides of [[Pilatus (mountain)|Mt. Pilatus]], Locher developed a rack system where the rack is a flat bar with symmetrical, horizontal teeth. Horizontal pinions with flanges below the rack engage the centrally-mounted bar, both driving the locomotive and keeping it centered on the track.

This system provides very stable attachment to the track, also protecting the car from toppling over even under the most severe crosswinds. Such gears are also capable of leading the car, so even flanges on running wheels are optional. The biggest shortcoming of the system is that the standard [[Railroad switch|railway switch]] is not usable, and a [[transfer table]] or other complex device must be used where branching of the track is needed.

Following tests, the Locher system was deployed on the Pilatus Railway, which opened in 1889. No other public railway uses the Locher system, although some European coal mines use a similar system on steeply graded underground lines.<ref name=Jehan />

=== <span class="anchor" id="Strub"></span>Strub (1896) ===
[[File:Crémaillère - Panoramique des Dômes.jpg|thumb|Rack railway track on the [[Panoramique des Dômes]] using the Strub system rack]]

The Strub rack system was invented by [[Emil Strub]] in 1896. It uses a rolled flat-bottom rail with rack teeth machined into the head approximately {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=in}} apart. Safety jaws fitted to the locomotive engage with the underside of the head to prevent derailments and serve as a brake.<ref name=Jehan />  Strub's U.S. patent, granted in 1898, also includes details of how the rack rail is integrated with the mechanism of a [[Railroad switch|turnout]].<ref name=Strub1898>Emil Strub, Rack-Rail for Mountain-Railways, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US600324A/en U.S. Patent 600,324], March 8, 1898.</ref>

The best-known use of the Strub system is on the [[Jungfrau Railway|Jungfraubahn]] in Switzerland.<ref name=Jehan /> 

Strub is the simplest rack system to maintain and has become increasingly popular.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wrinn|first=Jim|date=19 Aug 2020|title=Rebuilding a railroad above the clouds: Pikes Peak's cog|url=http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/staff/archive/2020/08/19/rebuilding-a-railroad-above-the-clouds-pikes-peak-39-s-cog.aspx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200820170808/http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/staff/archive/2020/08/19/rebuilding-a-railroad-above-the-clouds-pikes-peak-39-s-cog.aspx|archive-date=20 August 2020|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Trains |quote=…new Strub cog rails, the most technologically advanced and least maintenance intensive system from Switzerland.}}</ref>
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=== <span class="anchor" id="Morgan"></span> Morgan (1900)===
[[File:MorganRack.jpg|thumb|The non-powered variant of the Morgan rack, from the 1919 Goodman catalog]]

In 1900, E. C. Morgan of [[Chicago]] received a patent on a rack railway system that was mechanically similar to the Riggenbach rack, but where the rack was also used as a [[third rail]] to power the electric locomotive.<ref name=Morgan1900>Edmund C. Morgan, Electric-Railway System [https://patents.google.com/patent/US659178A/en U. S. Patent 659,178], October 2, 1900.</ref>  Morgan went on to develop heavier locomotives<ref>Edmund C. Morgan, Electric-Railway System [https://patents.google.com/patent/US772730A/en U. S. Patent 772,730], October 18, 1904.</ref> and with J. H. Morgan, [[Turnout (rail)|turnouts]] for this system.<ref name=Morgan1904a>Edmund C. Morgan and John H. Morgan, Switching System for Combined Third and Traction Rails for Electric Railways, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US772732A/en U. S. Patent 772,732], October 18, 1904.</ref>  In 1904, he patented a simplified but compatible rack, where the teeth on the engine pinions engaged square holes punched in a bar-shaped center rail.<ref>Edmund C. Morgan, Combined Third and Traction Rail for Electric Railways, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US753803A/en U. S. Patent 753,803], March 1, 1904.</ref>  J. H. Morgan patented several alternative turnout designs for use with this rack system.<ref>John H. Morgan, Switching or Crossover Device for Traction Rack Rail Systems, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US772736A/en U.S. Patent 772,736], October 18, 1904.</ref><ref name=Morgan1904b>John H. Morgan, Throw Rail for Combined Third and Traction Rail Switching, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US772735A/en U.S. Patent 772,735], October 18, 1904.</ref>  Curiously, Morgan recommended an off-center rack in order to allow clear passage for pedestrians and animals walking along the tracks.<ref name=Morgan1900 />  Some photos of early Morgan installations show this.<ref name=Electrical1907>Electric Locomotives, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-urNAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA181 The Electrical Magazine], Vol. VII, No. 3 (March 30, 1907); p. 179.</ref>  A simplified rack mounting system could be used when the Morgan rack was not used for third-rail power<ref>Edmund C. Morgan, Cog wheel railway, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US1203034A/en U.S. Patent 1,203,034], October 31, 1916.</ref> and the Morgan rack offered interesting possibilities for street railways.<ref>Edmund C. Morgan, Traction Rack for Railways, [https://patents.google.com/patent/US772731A/en U. S. Patent 772,731], October 18, 1904.</ref>  The Morgan rack was good for grades of up to 16 [[Percent sign|percent]].<ref>Conveying Machinery – Motor Haulage, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NxUHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1145 Mechanical Engineer's Handbook], McGraw Hill, 1916; p. 1145.</ref>

The Goodman Equipment Company began marketing the Morgan system for [[mine railway]]s, and it saw widespread use, particularly where steep [[Grade (slope)|grades]] were encountered underground.<ref>J. J. Rutledge, Recent Improvements in Coal Mining in Illinois, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hOUZAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA186 Mining Magazine] Vol. XIII, No. 3 (March 1906); p.  186.</ref><ref>Frank C. Perkins, Development of Electric Mine Locomotive, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iisAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3 The Mining World], Vol XXIX, No. 1 (July 4, 1908); p. 3.</ref><ref>Goodman Rack Rail Haulage, [https://archive.org/details/goodmanminingha01compgoog/page/n205 <!-- pg=198 --> Goodman Mining Handbook], Goodman Mfg. Co., 1919.</ref>  By 1907, Goodman had offices in [[Cardiff, Wales]], to serve the British market.<ref name=Electrical1907 />  Between 1903 and 1909, the McKell Coal and Coke company in Raleigh County, West Virginia, installed {{convert|35000|ft|m|sigfig=3}} of Morgan rack/third-rail track in its mines.<ref>H. H. Stock, New River Coal Field, W. VA., [https://books.google.com/books?id=vJPmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA513 Mines and Minerals], Vol. XXIX, No. 11 (June 1909); p. 513.</ref>  Between 1905 and 1906, the Mammoth Vein Coal Company installed {{convert|8200|ft|m|sigfig=3}} of powered rack in two of its mines in [[Marysville, Iowa#Everist|Everist, Iowa]], with a maximum grade of 16%.<ref>E. C. DeWolfe, Operations of Mammoth Vein Coal Co., Bussey, Iowa., [https://books.google.com/books?id=BPBZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80 The Black Diamond], Vol. 37, No. 5 (August 4, 1906), p. 28.  Note, the article systematically misspells Everist as Everts, a spelling contradicted by all other sources.</ref>  The Donohoe Coke Co. of [[Greenwald, Pennsylvania]] had {{convert|10000|ft|m|sigfig=3}} of Goodman rack in its mine in 1906.<ref>Plant of the Donohoe Coke Co., Greenwald, Pa., [https://books.google.com/books?id=BPBZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP38 The Black Diamond], Vol. 37, No. 1 (July 7, 1906), p. 28.</ref>  The Morgan system saw limited use on one [[common carrier]] railroad in the United States, the [[Chicago Tunnel Company]], a [[Narrow-gauge railway|narrow-gauge]] freight carrier that had one steep grade in the line up to their surface disposal station on the [[Chicago]] lakefront.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VJvmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA513 "Third- or Rack-Rail Haulage"], ''Mining and Minerals'', May 1904; p. 513.</ref>

=== Lamella <!-- In what year was this invented? --> ===
[[File:Howitworks.JPG|thumb|right|Lamella system on [[Skitube Alpine Railway]] in [[New South Wales]], Australia]]

The Lamella system (also known as the Von Roll system) was developed by the [[Von Roll Holding|Von Roll company]] after the rolled steel rails used in the Strub system became unavailable. It is formed from a single blade cut in a similar shape to the Abt system, but typically wider than a single Abt bar. The Lamella rack can be used by locomotives designed for use on the Riggenbach or the Strub systems, so long as the safety-jaws that were a feature of the original Strub system are not used. Some railways use racks from multiple systems; for example, the [[Appenzeller Bahnen|St. Gallen Gais Appenzell Railway]] in Switzerland has sections of Riggenbach, Strub, and Lamella rack.<ref name=Jehan />

Most of the rack railways built from the late 20th century onwards have used the Lamella system.<ref name=Jehan />