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Welcome to a ride on Germany’s steepest mainline adhesion railway, the Höllentalbahn. Literally translated, Höllentalbahn would be “hell’s valley railway“ in english. The origins of the name are not clear. One theory is that French soldiers, who often had to march through the deep dark valley may have given it this name. At the exit of the valley, there is a town called “Himmelreich” or “heaven” in english - which may have been named as a result of the relief of having passed through. Another theory is that the name stems from the word “Höhle”, meaning cave. Whatever the origin, it’s definitely an interesting part of the German black forest. The railway also has a very interesting history which actually went on to influence France’s implementation of their 25 kV 50 Hz power system. Construction of the line from Freiburg to Neustadt was completed in 1887. Due to the steep gradients, portions of the line operated as a rack railway until 1933. The racks we
