Industrialisation triggered an increase in demand for wood and timber. Consequently, the forested area of the Schlierentäler located close to Alpnach (Canton Obwalden), caught the eye of international timber merchants. In the 19^th century, the municipality of Alpnach sold about 700 hectares of forest to these merchants. Only by applying new infrastructural technologies was it possible to transport the timber to the valley bottom. In 1870, Christian König from Berne constructed a timber railroad, stretching over several kilometres to the Schwandschlierental (Valley of the Kleinen Schliere), to facilitate the last major clear-cut. Within the context of a diploma project conducted by the Department of Environmental Sciences, ETH Zurich, the course of the timber railroad was reconstructed based on information taken from written and cartographical sources, and the discovery of some of its traces found in the area. In addition, the impact of this railroad on the landscape, i.e. forest cover, was analysed by means of map comparisons.