News 2025.11 - The stairway to heaven on the Mariazellerbahn railway
Nine places – nine treasures, but only one winner!
The Mariazellerbahn is Austria's most beautiful place! In the grand finale of the ORF prime-time show ‘9 Plätze – 9 Schätze’ (9 Places – 9 Treasures) on 25th October 2025, the Mariazellerbahn won the title of ‘Austria's most beautiful place’ for the first time, bringing it to Lower Austria. We congratulate them on their victory, even though we have always known how unique and beautiful Austria's longest narrow-gauge railway is!
© Halling Modelle
HTP-ET7-M
Just in time for the celebrations, we were able to produce a small but exquisite series of models of the Mariazell ‘Himmelstreppe’ (stairway to heaven), the modern low-floor railcars that take you daily in the utmost comfort from St. Pölten through the picturesque Pilach Valley, past the Ötscher-Tormäuer Nature Park to the Mariazell region.
Speaking of comfort! For the first time, we are also offering a highly convenient insertion aid for the approximately 60 cm long models of the “Himmelstreppe”, because threading the many bogies under the model onto the beautiful Mariazell layout in the narrow H0e gauge is no easy task. Standard track alignment aids are too short for this impressive model, but the brand new and highly innovative solution from HALLING can be easily extended to almost 70 cm, achieving what others cannot.
The current new edition of the ‘Himmelstreppe’ is not actually a real new edition. We had kept some parts sets for a bulk buyer, which have now not been called up. As with the last edition, the 3-piece models are equipped with interior lighting, two motors and a NEM658 PluX16 digital interface. On request, we can also supply you with a matching, highly impressive display case for your ‘Himmelstreppe’. This means you can visit the ‘most beautiful place in Austria’ at any time!
