Visit: the 17th of sept. 2024

In the middle of the chaos of the once-in-a-century floods in Austria with countless canceled or interrupted train connections I tried my luck and luck was with me as I was able to board a train very early in the morning from Vienna to Muerzuschlag from where I had to take another train to Semmering.Shortly after 8.00am I arrived at Semmering. It was like a miracle that I reached Semmering by train, as many metro lines and tram connections in Vienna were canceled.

I took some photos of the historic train with the Unesco plaque next to the train tracks of the station. Then I went inside the station and read through the information boards about why Semmering was a masterpiece of rail construction.
Outside the train station there is a large information board with the possible trails in the area. Since I was always looking at the Austrian railway app with one eye to know if and when I could return to Vienna by train, I decided that I should  take a shorter trail than the one originally thought. I had to somehow get from Vienna via Salzburg to Munich that day because I had an appointment in the Bavarian capital Munich early in the morning the next day.

I decided to take the so-called "railway"(bahnweg in german) route. A trail that first leads uphill to the 20 Schilling view (the viewpoint offers a special view of the 184 meter long and 46 meter high “Kalte Rinne” viaduct....I didn't see any of it because there was quite heavy fog) and from  there down along the train tracks back to Semmering train station. On the way up I made a detour to the Semmering hotel district with its old luxury hotels. The most interesting part of the trail for me, with all the fog, was the part along the train tracks with its small viaducts and rich animal life (deer, wild boars, squirrels and deer). On the entire route I didn't meet a single person that day. I was faster than I thought and reached the station around 10.20am. In the empty station a loudspeaker announced that a significantly delayed czech train to Vienna would arrive in a few minutes. Apart from 2 czech employees in the dining car and an austrian conductor and 2 fellow passengers, the entire express train with its approximately 15-16 carriages was empty. What an experience!  To visit the WHS Semmering in the middle of the chaos of the floods of the century in Austria.
The WHS semmering itself was overall only mildly interesting for me. The possibly future serial legacy of the paper mills - I visited the paper mill in Zwoenitz,Germany, two days later - was much more interesting.