A photochrom postcard of a rack and pinion mountain railway, or cog railway, published by Photoglob, c. 1900. The photograph shows a railway climbing the Rigi mountain in Switzerland.

A photochrom postcard of a rack and pinion mountain railway, or cogwheel railway, published by Photoglob, c. 1900.

The photograph shows a railway running up the Rigi mountain in Switzerland. Rigi has the first mountain railway built in Europe, built by the engineer Niklaus Riggenbach (1817-1899) in 1870. Unlike a funicular railway, which is usually steeper and uses ropes or cables, the rack and pinion system has a moving locomotive.

The photochrom process was a form of photolithographic colour printing developed around 1900. The process was used widely to produce scenic and tourist views and for reproductions in art books.