Museum Tauernbahn

About the museum

The starting point was the rescue of an old locomotive shed: when ÖBB wanted to demolish the former electric locomotive shed next to Schwarzach-St. Veit station at the end of 1993, railway enthusiasts came together to set up a museum on the Tauern Railway there. In 1996 they founded the museum and model-building association “Museum Tauernbahn”; the market town of Schwarzach rented the shed and made it available to the association.

Next to the shed, built around 1930, a simple new building was constructed to plans by the architect Adolf Krischanitz, a native of Schwarzach, and was completed in 2002. The first museum season began in May 2003, and the official opening followed in 2005 for the 100th anniversary of the Schwarzach – Bad Gastein line. The museum is still run largely by volunteers and holds the Austrian Museum Seal of Quality.

In 2013 the municipality acquired the site including the Dienerwohngebäude built in 1904, an early residential building for railway employees. After renovation in 2017–2019, it is used for special exhibitions and as the Salzburg Railway Archive. In 2019 the museum received the Salzburger Museumsschlüssel.

On display are the construction of the Tauern Railway as the second route to Trieste, the specialist areas of railway operations from telecommunications to locomotive services, and on the upper floor a true-to-scale model railway with sections of the line.

Highlights

• Exhibition “Die Tauernbahn – der (z)weite Weg nach Triest” on railway construction from 1902
• Electric locomotive shed with signal boxes, overhead lines, telecommunications technology and a working switchgear
• Museum locomotive 1245.514 in the outdoor area, can also be viewed from inside
• H0 model railway (16 × 5 m) with stations, bridges and viaducts of the Tauern Railway
• Recreated office of a halt and loading point around 1950
• New museum building by architect Adolf Krischanitz

Permanent exhibitions

• Die Tauernbahn – der (z)weite Weg nach Triest – The construction of the Schwarzach – Bad Gastein – Spittal line from 1902: reasons, route, tunnel and bridge building, and the life of the railway construction workers.
• Remisenrundgang – Original exhibits from telecommunications, safety services, overhead line technology, track and locomotive services in the former electric locomotive shed, plus an office and museum locomotive in the outdoor area.
• Modellbahnanlage Tauernbahn – An H0 layout about 16 metres long with the stations Angertal and Mühldorf-Möllbrücke and trains of the 1960s and 1970s, operated to its own timetable.

Founded

2003

Operated by

Museums- und Modellbauverein „Museum Tauernbahn“

Admission & discounts

Discount also for visitors arriving by train.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

Family ticket from one child; children can walk through the museum locomotive and, on museum days, experience the Tauern Railway from the driver's perspective at the driver's cab. For kindergarten and primary school groups there are railway stories to be read aloud in the old carriage.

Getting there & parking

By car via the B311 to Schwarzach, turn right into the town before the bypass tunnel and follow the signs “Museum Tauernbahn” or “ÖBB Bahnhof”; the museum is 150 metres past the station.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit