Railway line Düren – Inden

Düren-Inden
Former station building of Merken (track side) in 2014
Route length:	11.1 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	600 V  =
Legend 0.0 Düren handover Trolley pits Düren Pbf. (to the state and tram) Roller mill DKB - Ringbahn (normal gauge) 2.0 Schull Birkesdorf Post 2.8 Birkesdorf Bhf. Rur 3.6 Muhlhoven 3.9 Hoven Hp. Hoven 5.7 Remember station 7.2 Vilvenich 8.7 pier 11.0 In the transition to the state railway

The Düren – Inden railway was a narrow-gauge, small - scale rail link operated by Dürener Eisenbahn AG (DEAG), previously Dürener Dampfstraßenbahn AG (DDAG). It led from Düren station via Birkesdorf , Hoven , Merken and Pier to Inden .

The line was initially opened as a steam tram and was primarily used for freight transport to industrial companies in the north of the city ​​of Düren and in Birkesdorf; In the course of time, however, a rather dense passenger traffic developed .

From 1939 the DDAG line was included in the rail freight tariff as a small railway similar to that of a branch line, and the company changed its name to Dürener Eisenbahn AG (DEAG).

history

opening

• April 1, 1893: Düren - Birkesdorf (freight traffic)
• June 1, 1894: Düren - Birkesdorf (passenger traffic)
• January 1, 1901: Birkesdorf - remember
• January 20, 1908: Remember - Pier
• November 20, 1913: electrical operation, passenger traffic
• July 3, 1927: Pier - Inden
• 1941: electrical operation, freight transport

The beginnings

Remnants of a 3-rail track in an industrial company in North Düren on Paradiesstrasse (2009). The (inner) narrow-gauge track branched off from the DEAG line in Josef-Schregel-Strasse and led through various factories and via Veldener Strasse to this location.

The railway line began as a freight transport steam tram, which was intended to provide industrial companies in the north of the city of Düren and in Birkesdorf with a connection to the state railway at Düren station. The project was significantly advanced from 1888 by the industrialist Felix Heinrich Schoeller . The Düren - Birkesdorf line was opened for freight traffic on April 1, 1893. Passenger traffic was initially not the focus of this route and was only started about a year later on June 1, 1894.

Further expansion and electrification

Old catenary masts on the route of the siding from the DEAG line to the powder coating factory CWS Powder Coatings GmbH south of Merken (2015). The Gebr. Schmitz paper mill, which had been using this siding since 1901, was located on the factory premises until the Second World War.

Even before the First World War, the line from Birkesdorf to Merken and Pier was extended, whereby the respective financial situation had a decisive influence on the construction of the railway, as the railway was completely privately financed. The Rur bridge between Birkesdorf and Hoven in particular was a significant part of the cost. From November 20, 1913, passenger traffic could be switched to electric operation, but the First World War prevented the extension of the line to Inden. This could only be put into operation on July 3, 1927. Freight traffic was initially operated electrically from 1941 onwards. Since many of the sidings did not yet have a contact line , the complete conversion to electrical traction could not be completed until 1952.

Decline and shutdown

The back of the former station building in Merken (2014)

After the Second World War , DEAG tried to modernize passenger transport by purchasing used, but still quite young, tram cars. Nevertheless, the conversion to trucks and buses began in 1960 . A report has been received from this year:

“The freight trains squeezed between the trams that ran every quarter of an hour, then disappeared to let the railcar pass, then continued to work, often halting because parked cars were obstructing the passage of the freight train. The freight traffic was hectic, fast, brisk, a freight train left the transfer station almost every hour. "

- Gerd Wolff: Deutsche Klein- und Privatbahnen , Volume 4, Page 78

The final cessation of rail traffic took place on June 30, 1965, although the concession would have expired in 1967 anyway.

Passenger traffic was taken over by three bus routes:

• B: Düren - Birkesdorf
• D: Düren - Inden
• L: Pier - Lucherberg  - Lamersdorf  - Inden - Pier ( round trip )

From 1965 onwards, freight traffic was carried out exclusively as a forwarding company with trucks.

Projects not implemented

Since the tram route of the Dürener Kreisbahn (DKB) from the market to the train station was not put back into operation after the Second World War, DEAG tried to extend its route ending at the train station into the city center to Kaiserplatz. The planned route should initially run on a single track through Josef-Schregel-Strasse to just before Wirteltorplatz , then double-track through Schenkelstrasse to Zehnthofstrasse . From here, a large loop was to be driven in a single-track block bypass via Wilhelmstrasse , Kaiserplatz and Zehnthofstrasse in order to serve the new central DKB stop at Kaiserplatz.

At the end of 1950, the DKB asked DEAG for permission to relocate a third rail at its own expense in the DEAG line between Düren and the intersection with the ring line near Birkesdorf-Süd. In this context, a link with the Ringbahn was planned, so that a direct tram connection from Mariaweiler via Birkesdorf to Düren city center would have been created. Due to discrepancies between the city of Düren, the DKB and DEAG, these plans were not implemented.

This also meant that the planned extension of the DEAG line to Kaiserplatz had become obsolete, even though tracks had already been laid in Josef-Schregel-Strasse.

literature

• Ronald Copson: Dürener Eisenbahn A.-G. , Kleinbahn-Bücher, Verlag Wolfgang Zeunert, Gifhorn, 1976, ISBN 3-921237-26-3 , 32 pages
• Dürener Kreisbahn GmbH (Ed.): 75 years of Dürener Kreisbahn ; Düren, 1983
• Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways , Volume 4: North Rhine-Westphalia - southern part; EK-Verlag, Freiburg, 1997
• Dieter Höltge / Axel Reuther: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany , Volume 7: Cologne, Düren, Aachen; EK-Verlag, Freiburg, 2001

Web links

• 60 years of the Düren Railway

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways, Volume 4: North Rhine-Westphalia - southern part; EK-Verlag, Freiburg, 1997, pp. 72-84
2. ↑ ^{a b} Dürener Kreisbahn GmbH (Ed.): 75 years of Dürener Kreisbahn ; Düren, 1983, p. 52
3. ^ Dürener Kreisbahn GmbH (ed.): 75 years of Dürener Kreisbahn ; Düren, 1983, p. 53
4. ↑ ^{a b} Dürener Kreisbahn GmbH (Ed.): 75 years of Dürener Kreisbahn ; Düren, 1983, p. 54
5. ^ Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways, Volume 4: North Rhine-Westphalia, southern part . Page 78, EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997, ISBN 3-88255-660-9
6. ↑ With a ticket from Nörvenich via Düren to Inden. In: Dürener Zeitung. August 19, 1950, accessed March 6, 2012 . 
7. ↑ The tram should go. In: Dürener Zeitung. November 21, 1950. Retrieved February 8, 2012 . 
8. ↑ Wisoveg - Festschrift BKB-MLB. Retrieved February 8, 2012 .