European Railroad Discussion > Zacke! The Urban Cog Tram in Stuttgart Germany

My main reason for wanting to come to Stuttgart was that it is close to Esslingen, one of the three cities operating trolleybuses or Obuses which from what I can figure out is short for Oberleitungsbussystem which Google translates into Catenary Bus System which makes sense. I study the Hell out of Esslingen and then looked at how to get there. I discovered the Seilbahn and then also discovered the Zacke which is even more unique than the three trolleybus systems in Germany. Stuttgart is a city built on the hills, it reminds a lot of Pittsburgh. The Zacke instead of being an adhesion tram is actually a cog tram operating totally within the city between U-Bahn routes at Marienplatz at the bottom and the U-Bahn routes at Derloch at the top. There are two cars out at any time and they pass at Wielandshöhe Halt. Instead of posting the many pictures I took the video shows the steepness of the grade as well the interior of the car. This is on a Sunday. Although the trip I videoed was light the trip coming up was a crush load due to a group sightseeing. If you go to Stuttgart, ride the Zacke. 

http://www.ssb-ag.de/Zahnradbahn-230-0.html
http://www.ssb-ag.de/files/zacke_131125a_lr.pdf

1) Zacke Historical Posters in Marienplatz.​

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2) The big crowd waiting to go up the hill at Marienplatz.
3) A look through the window at the operator controls.
4) The Zacke still has what looked like a hand operated Controller.

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5) I don't know how many people were on board but I'd start with a lot.
6) The two Zacke trams pass at Wielandshöhe Halt. 
7) Derloch, the top of the hill.

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Paul went back to the hotel to try and sleep, which did not happen. Bill and I rode down the hill again but only to the Liststraße Halt.
8) There is a clock at Derloch, not sure if the line is headway timed or signal controlled.
9) The cog tram cars on the Zacke have three builders named on the step plates.
10) I took this shot standing straight up. This is not even the steepest part of the grade.

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There are turnouts at Wielandshöhe Halt for the passing loop and here at the Liststraße Halt for the track that goes into the shops.
11-13) Turnout.

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Bill wanted to see what the shop looked like. It looks like the Zacke cars are moved with a transfer table and that only four stalls still have wire into them. This would be an interesting place to see what was behind those doors.
14-15) The shop buildings for the Zacke.
16) We walked from the shop to see the Zacke climbing the hill from the Marienplatz again. This line is scenic and unique, although we could have spent more time here I needed to go ride trolleybuses so left Bill and headed for Esslingen after a quick stop at the hotel. Oh yes these are all from the same Sunday April 24 2016 that I posted all the tram pictures from. The first day over in Europe you got to find something to keep you awake!

Thank you for looking!

Jim

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Thanks for posting all of these photos.

I am very interested in the track work and the switches. Trying to figure out how the cog part moves

Posted from iPhone

I took more of the turnout while I was there. I think these are more or less in order going from the points back.

Jim

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I'm sure this turnout is expensive but you never felt going through it. It is precise. Picture 13 shows the turnout in it's entirety.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/16 06:52 by tq-07fan.

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