early scenes on the Mittenwaldbahn, Austria-Germany

Scharnitz, about 1km south of Mittenwald

the 117 metre long Vorberg viaduct

the Hochzirl station

The Mittenwaldbahn, also known as the Karwendelbahn, is a scenically impressive 64 km mountain railway connecting Innsbruck via Seefeld (both in Tirol, Austria) and Mittenwald with Garmisch-Partenkirchen (both in Bavaria, Germany).

The Mittenwaldbahn was built as an electric Lokalbahn (local railway) in the years 1910 to 1912 by engineers and construction entrepreneurs Josef Riehl and Wilhelm Carl von Doderer and opened on 28 October 1912. It was jointly operated by the state railways of Austria and Bavaria. Intitally steam locos were used until the power stations and locomotives were ready, and then it became one of the first lines fitted with high voltage AC current, thereby having a big influence on railway electrification in central Europe.

The line climbs from Innsbruck at 582 metres altitude to reach a maximum altitude of 1,182 metres at Seefeld in Tirol before it begins to descend. The border is reached at Mittenwald, 33 km from Innsbruck. The winter-sport town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen lies at 708 metres altitude. As one might expect, the line contains several engineering works: tunnels, viaducts, embankments, cuttings. The longest tunnel is the 722 metre Schlossbachtunnel encountered 14.2 km from Innsbruck.