The Salzburg Municipal Council passed a resolution to build a fortress railway in August 1891. The railway lovingly referred to as the "Tröpferlbahn" by the Salzburg residents was completed in 1892 in the record time of only 78 days.
Tröpferlbahn or "drop railway" refers to the technology used to operate the railway. The undercarriage of the car was filled with water at the hilltop station to obtain the weight necessary to pull the car uphill hanging from the same cable. This was offset by varying the number of passengers per car. On the average approx. 80 l of water were calculated per passenger. After over 44 years of operation, the Tröpferlbahn was replaced by an electric cog railway. After 100 years of development, the Fortress Railway has become one of the most modern funicular railways.
