500mm light rail project

Train of the railway in the garden of the FEZ

Range of the 500mm light rail project

Route length:

approx. 2.10 km

Gauge :

500 mm ( narrow gauge )

Country:

Germany

State:

Berlin

Legend


		Verification frame (change to BPE , previously Bf)

		Road to the farm yard
		palace

		Museum (center of operations)


		Eco island
		Water basin

		Forest meadow

		Circus (dismantled)

		playground

The 500mm light railway project (own spelling) is a museum light railway in the leisure and recreation center in the Berlin district of Oberschöneweide in the eastern part of the Wuhlheide public park . It connects the Eichgestell station of the Berlin Park Railway with the playground of the leisure and recreation center 2 km away. Driving days take place throughout the year.

The association 500mm Feldbahnprojekt eV is recognized as a non-profit organization and finances the field train collection and the operation exclusively from donations, a fare is not charged. Besides the older Feldbahn-Museum 500 in Nuremberg , it is the only collection of material of this gauge in Germany.

prehistory

Originally, a route for the use of bicycle trolleys was supposed to be built in order to offer the visitors of the railway model club an opportunity for physical activity. It was only during the search for suitable track material in autumn 1990 that the decision not to limit it to a handcar operation took shape.

Excavations in the area around Herzfelde / Hennickendorf , east of Berlin, led to a real Feldbahnfieber of those involved. Research was carried out in a targeted manner, partly in the literature and contacts were made. The first locomotive was bought in the spring of 1991.

The track width came about by chance due to the first relics of the field railway. However, the 500 mm gauge makes the collection something special today, as there are only a few collections or tracks left in this gauge.

history

The first finds come from Herzfelde (east of Berlin). Several track bays , two almost complete points and a turntable were recovered there. Further yokes and the first wagons were then found on the company's premises there. The 500 mm gauge had only been retained in the immediate kiln area of the brickworks, otherwise the company had switched to 600 mm gauge years earlier.

In February 1991 the first locomotive, an Ns1 , was bought with the involvement of the Treuhandanstalt . It was used at the Zehdenicker brickworks in Mildenberg until 1990 . At the end of the year, a rail pen was exchanged for Berlin. In the past, these two locomotives mainly handled visitor traffic.

By the beginning of 1995, a route with the three stations “Museum”, “Palace” and “Eichgestell” had been created from the original circuit of draisines. It has a total length of 1.2 km. Since then, it has been possible to travel to the “Eichgestell” station and change to the park railway there . In 1995 the railway was tested for the first time by TÜV Berlin-Brandenburg.

In 1996 the previous EPZ light rail project was converted into a registered association in view of the secure legal basis. Since then it has been called "500mm Feldbahnprojekt eV" in the FEZ Wuhlheide.

Between 1996 and 1998, with the takeover of increasingly heavier vehicles, it became necessary to replace the rails with the stronger S18 profile on the track built up to that point, which consisted of rails with light profiles (S10 and S12). This made it possible to use all vehicles freely.

In 1999, the track system was expanded by building a new line to include the two intermediate stops “Eco Island” and “Circus”. In 2000 the route was extended to the “Spielplatz” stop. Thus, up to this point in time, the club had a route length of around 1.9 km with a total of 25 points and 5 intermediate stops.

At the beginning of 2006, the construction of a new route section began. Branching off between the bathing lake and the water basin, a turning loop was built around the barbecue area at the circus. This makes it possible to carry out a driving operation even when the playground is not accessible. With the new train station right at the water basin, the previous “Circus” stop became superfluous and was subsequently dismantled. In the course of the further expansion of the line, an additional track connection was built between the water basin and the previous line at the beginning of 2007.

vehicles

LKM Ns 2f of the 500mm light rail project in the palace station

Gas station built around 1910

Locomotives

In 2014 the collection comprised 15 locomotives (11 diesel and 4 battery locomotives).

Diesel locomotives

4 diesel locomotives type Ns 1
Diesel locomotives type Ns 2f
Diesel locomotive type Schienenkuli
Diesel locomotive type BN15
Diesel locomotive type BN30
Diesel locomotive type GZ30B
Diesel locomotive type GK 9 B
Diesel locomotive type CDL 20

Battery locomotives

Battery locomotive El 9-01
Battery locomotive 1A5
ASF battery locomotive
Metalist battery locomotive

dare

The collection includes about 150 Loren and Hunte and various accessories, including a gas station built in 1910, several bricks, molds for the production of bricks, various switch types and emerging forms. There are also passenger cars that come from mines and escort cars. Some lorries were also converted into passenger cars.

Web links

Commons : 500mm Feldbahnprojekt eV - album with pictures, videos and audio files

52.460555555556 13.549722222222Coordinates: 52 ° 27 ′ 38 " N , 13 ° 32 ′ 59" E