Full steam ahead up the Schafberg
At the beginning of the 19th century, when people still traveled to St. Wolfgang by stagecoach and the painters of the Romantic period rediscovered St. Wolfgang, the highest rulers from Vienna and noble citizens of St. Wolfgang had themselves carried up the Schafberg. From records we know that the profession of the "chair carrier" developed in St. Wolfgang at an early stage. This was a professional association with fixed rates, fixed stands and strict rules for the safety of the persons to be carried. In addition, there had long been plans to build a rack-and-pinion railroad.
In 1872, Berthold Currant planned a railroad from Winkl near St. Gilgen to the Schafberg. He urgently needed this railroad to increase the frequency of his steamboats on Lake Wolfgang. But it was not until 1890 that the concession for a narrow-gauge local railroad Ischl-Salzburg, Mondsee-Steindorf and a rack railroad up the Schafberg with exit at St. Wolfgang was granted in the Reichsgesetzblatt. This resulted in the foundation of the Salzkammergut Lokalbahn Gesellschaft (SKGLB). The construction work was undertaken by the Stern & Hafferl company. Construction began in April 1892 under engineer Eugen Sooß. 350 mostly Italian workers completed the difficult work. Material and food had to be transported up the mountain with about 6,000 mule loads. Construction only had to be interrupted briefly during the severe frost period of the winter of 1892/93.