World of Ships – May 2018

ABOVE Not many passengers for Kaiser Franz Josef 1 during a morning run to St Wolfgang.

ABOVE Kaiser Franz Josef with much-enhanced appearance after renovation in 2008.

32 I World of Ships I Paddle Steamers

KAISER FRANZ JOSEF 1

OWNER Salzkammergutbahn

BUILT 1873 as steamer by Mayer Werft, Linz, with engine

from Machinen Fabrik, Chemnitz

WIDTH 4.3m (hull), 8.5m (over paddles)

DISPLACEMENT 46.6 tons

PASSENGERS 225

MACHINERY (since 1954) Six-cylinder Klockner Humboldt

Deutz diesel engine of 105hp

Hailed as a ‘technical achievement’ when

introduced in 1873, the paddle steamer

Kaiser Franz Josef 1 was a key element in

efforts by the narrow gauge Salzkammergut

Lokalbahn railway to develop tourism on

Wolfgangsee, with a further major investment

building a rack railway from a terminal

large illuminated ‘100’ sign mounted on top of

the wheelhouse. Later the same year, Kaiser

Franz Josef I became ‘Yukon Star’, playing

the part of an Alaskan gold rush steamer in a

major film, for which she had awnings fitted

covering fore and aft decks and a sail attached

to the mast.

Wolfgangsee operations came under the

control of OBB Austrian State Railways,

but in 2006 there was a switch under the

wing of Salzkammergutbahn, a subsidiary

of the transport department of the City of

Salzburg. Before the start of the 2008 summer

season Kaiser Franz Josef 1 underwent a

refurbishment, including a new steamer-style

stovepipe funnel. Saloons fore and aft on the

lower deck retain wooden bench seating, with

the top deck aft now sporting an awning.

ABOVE Kaiser Franz Josef pictured after a

renovation which included the fitting of a traditional

steamer-style funnel.

ABOVE Kaiser Franz Joseph 1 after she had

been converted to diesel power in 1954 and with

the small new funnel hidden by the wheelhouse.

(Russell Plummer)

close to St Wolfgang village to the top of the

1,783m Schafberg peak. Ironically, while the

vessel and rack railway, still with daily steam-

powered summer trips, continue to prosper,

the railway line itself was closed in 1957 and

few traces of it now remain.

Built by Mayer Werft, Linz, and assembled

in Strobl at the eastern end of the lake, Kaiser

Franz Josef 1 was powered by a two-cylinder

engine built by Machinenfabrik Chemnitz,

and could carry up to 196 passengers. Steam

gave way to diesel, with a 105hp six-cylinder

Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz geared engine

installed in 1954, when the original tall funnel

was replaced by a lower more modern-looking

structure, which was later lengthened. In

1973 the vessel’s centenary was marked by a

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