When 76 tonnes of steel go travelling…

Note: This video is only available in German

As the 76-tonne Schmidt Beilhack HB1100S, a high-performance snow blower, made its way from Tiefenhäusern near St. Blasien to the customer in Austria on 1 April, it wasn’t just two mobile cranes and a low loader that were required – the journey also demanded plenty of finesse from the specialists at Zimmermann Autokrane. With a lot of skill and a good eye, the steel giant was set down on square timbers and brought 17 km by low loader to Seebrugg, where the loading station is located. The convoy also passed through the small village of Höchenschwand on the way there, because a footbridge over the B500 prevents traffic more than 5.5 metres high from driving under it. In Seebrugg, a mobile crane was used again to set the snow blower on the rails. After an operability test, the brand-new Schmidt Beilhack HB1100S was able to cover its first kilometre on the tracks – attached to a transport locomotive from RailAdventure, it was brought to its first stop at Wörgl (Austria), where it would be picked up the next morning by the customer, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). After a few more tests, including in a low temperature chamber, the snow blower will be on hand to ensure snow-free tracks in Austria as of next winter.