Altona Harbor Railway

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Altona Harbor Railway
Route number (DB) : 1222 (HH-Altona Kai - HH-Altona)
1223 (HH-Altona Kai - fishing port)
Route length: 1222: 2.5 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system : 1911-1932: 3000 V 25 Hz ~
1932-1954: 6300 V 25 Hz  ~
Legend
BSicon exENDEa.svgBSicon .svgBSicon .svg
Neumühlen
BSicon exDST.svgBSicon .svgBSicon .svg
0.000 0.000 Hamburg-Altona quay
            
            
0.420 0.000 Port station
            
Fishing port
            
0.645 0.000 Elbberg tunnel (15 m)
            
0.701 0.000 Haddock tunnel (973 m)
            
0.000 Altona train station (until 1895)
            
1,096 0.000 Connection until 1895
            
City-S-Bahn from the main train station
            
1.674 0.710 Hamburg-Altona
            
            
Connection train to the main train station
Freight wagons of the port railway in front of the Altona fish auction hall around 1900

The Altona Hafenbahn served after the opening of King Christian VIII. Baltic train the Altona-Kiel Railway Company (LFS) from 1845, the delivery of goods shipped already in freight cars at Altona station arrived at the quayside of the Altona harbor and ready lying there Cargo ships . Conversely, goods from the freight and especially the fishing ships to the Altona station for long-distance freight were transported on the facilities and with the vehicles of the port railway . This made Altona the first city in German-speaking countries to offer direct cargo handling between ship and rail.

First version: cable lift

A big problem was the considerable difference in height over a short distance between the station located on the high Geesthang and the quays below . A first approach for the transfer of the freight wagons to the quayside and back to the higher station was carried out with the freight wagons on special Chassis were set and these were moved by cable elevator over a 210 meter long inclined plane with an incline of 15 percent. The drive was initially carried out by a horse goblet , from 1849 with a steam engine . A picture from this time shows that the cable-operated chassis had rollers that were offset in height from one another at the front and rear according to the degree of the gradient. This enabled the railway wagons to be kept level during the transfer over the incline and, for example, to prevent loose bulk material from slipping in the direction of the incline. This elevator facility was owned by the Altona-Kieler Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft and was in operation until 1879.

  • The Inclined Plain, painting from 1855

  • Rail connection from Altona station to "Elbquai", map from 1860

  • Altona station around 1850, on the right edge a team of horses can be seen, which is hauling freight up from the port

  • Cable lift on the Altona quay around 1849

  • The terrain and traffic systems of the "Inclined Plane" are largely in the same condition in 2012.

In addition to this elevator system, there was also a trackless railway in Kaistraße, which, however, only offered towing assistance for horse-drawn carts and handcarts on Kaistraße, which is also steep, with an average gradient of 5.5 percent, in the same catchment area. This pulling aid, which was initially also powered by horses, was later electrified with direct current of 550 volts.

Tunnel route and locomotive operation

The now closed portal of the haddock tunnel on the quay side, photo from 2007

In order to expand and secure operations in view of the planned expansion of the Altona port to Neumühlen, the (AKE) decided in 1874 to build a tunnel from the Altona train station down to the Altona port. From the first train station, located about 200 meters from the beginning of the Geest slope, a straight down track was laid in a tunnel and opened on January 18, 1876. As the rail line is now almost twice as long, the gradient has been reduced to such an extent that a labor-saving locomotive train operation could already be carried out from the station. When the station was moved north to its current location in 1895, the tunnel was also extended to over 900 meters.

Electrical operation

From 1903 there was a trial operation with electric traction on the Schöneweide – Spindlersfeld branch line near Berlin, which was expanded to include a trial site near Oranienburg ("Oranienburger Rundbahn") around 1907 . After this proved successful, the companies involved were commissioned in early 1904 to equip the planned Hamburg-Altona urban and suburban railway between Blankenese and Ohlsdorf for operation with single-phase alternating current of 25 periods and 6300 volts. For this purpose, new multiple units built specifically for this route were used. From the trial operation near Berlin and Oranienburg, three electric locomotives remained , which have now been moved to the Altona port railway; This was shown to be open to electrical operation, as the poor extraction of steam and smoke from the tunnel to the Altona train station was a constant problem that had become even more acute with the extension of the tunnel. For this reason, it was decided in 1909 to electrify the Altona port railway with an overhead line system , initially on a trial basis . Apparently, however, only the connecting line (probably referring to the tunnel section) and not the connecting tracks were provided with electrical overhead lines. (In the case of the connecting railway, the specified source leaves open whether it is the tracks on the quays or the continuation in the Altona train station.)

The electric locomotives that were moved to Altona and commissioned from there on May 1, 1911, were the Prussian series EV 5 Berlin (which was only used to test the overhead contact line for two months), EV 1/2 Altona , and from 1920 Reichsbahn -Number E 73 03, and EV 3/4 Altona .

Later, the types EV 5 (II) Altona , from 1920 Reichsbahn number E 73 05 and the EV 6 Altona , from 1920 Reichsbahn number E 73 06, were also purchased from the outset for the port railway .

Technical operation, overview

  • 1845–1879: Transfer of the wagons individually over the inclined plane with cable lift and horse peg , from 1849 with drive by a steam engine and horse-drawn train operation on the flat lines at the Altona train station and on the quays.
  • 1879–1913: Operation with two-axle tank locomotives .
  • In 1909, the port railway also had two fire-free storage steam locomotives available. The steam was refueled at the facility of the "Altonaer Quai- und Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft" (AQLG). Since the AQLG switched its steam cranes to electrical operation from 1910, the operation of the storage steam locomotives was discontinued after a year.
  • 1911–1954: Electrical operation parallel to steam locomotive operation up to the complete conversion in 1913. The overhead line had a voltage of 6.3 kV at a frequency of 25  Hz . The electricity was obtained from the coal-fired power station in Leverkusenstrasse on the Hamburg-Altona city and suburban railway , which was operated with the same system. However, the voltage in the damp tunnel was limited to 3 kV in order to avoid arcing and leakage currents .
  • 1932: The voltage of the overhead line in the tunnel was increased to 6,300 volts, as only electrical driving was still possible.
  • In 1954, the electrical operation was discontinued, because in the same year the S-Bahn Hamburg, as the successor to the Hamburg-Altona urban and suburban railway, discontinued the overhead line alternating current operation, which continued to run parallel to direct current operation on busbars. As a result, steam locomotives were used again until 1956, which again caused the familiar problems in the tunnel.
  • 1956: Diesel locomotives , first of the class V 65 , were used, after their retirement in 1980, the other available classes until their final decommissioning.

Management and ownership

  • From 1845 to 1884 the Altona Harbor Railway was under the management of the Altona-Kiel Railway Company as the owner.
  • 1884: The management of the Altona-Kieler Eisenbahngesellschaft was taken over by the State of Prussia and the Royal Railway Directorate Altona, in 1887 the state of Prussia bought the company. The Altona Harbor Railway thus became part of the Prussian State Railways .
  • 1909/10: The city of Altona took over the port railway facilities and provided two storage steam locomotives for operation.
  • 1922: The city of Altona took over the port railway in addition to the port railway facilities.
  • 1923 to 1945: The management of the port railway was transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn .
  • 1925: The track systems at the Altonaer Kai were transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft.
  • 1949: The Deutsche Reichsbahn was replaced in the west by the Deutsche Bundesbahn , which now took over the management of the port railway.
  • In 1976, the handling of goods fell so far that the port railway contract between the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the city of Hamburg was terminated by the railway. The application for the closure of the port railway line was rejected by the city of Hamburg. Instead, the Hanseatic city took over the port railway facilities in 1978 and transferred the administration to the Office for Electricity and Port Construction.

Route network

Neumühlen port railway freight station in 1924

The track network of the Altona port railway last stretched from the former Union-Kühlhaus , today's Augustinum residential building , at today's museum harbor Övelgönne in the west and along the Große Elbstraße to the Altona fish market and the fish auction hall in the east (approx. 2.5 kilometers). The tunnel to the north to the Altona freight yard on Harkortstrasse (approx. 2 kilometers) was an important feeder for the shipment of fresh fish. A marshalling yard with seven parallel tracks was laid out along the Neumühlen street between the Große Elbstraße junction up to the level of the Elbe stairs .

The direct connection to the higher Altona train station was the transport route for perishable goods such as fresh fish, but also for grain imports. At the same time, the port railway connected the fishing port, Altona fish auction hall and the fish processing companies that had settled in the Altona port from 1895 onwards.

There was no direct rail connection to the nearby Hamburg port railway , as both railway companies were located on opposite banks of the Elbe and the detour via the Hamburg Elbe bridges would have been too long.

Economical meaning

The history of the Altona port railway is closely related to the developments in the Altona port. This in turn was largely determined by the landings of sea fish, the local fish processing companies and the fresh fish trade. The increasing quantities of fish landed due to the improvement of the fishing methods and the size of the fishing boats as well as the necessity of the fast transport of the perishable goods led to the increasing importance of the Altona port railway. The connection route to the train station was a fast transport route for perishable goods, at the same time the port railway as a connecting railway connected the fish auction hall, the fishing port and the fish processing companies that had settled in the Altona port from 1895 onwards. In 1877 the future cargo handling of the Altona harbor was forecast to be "at least 10 times the previous traffic ...".

The takeover of the Altonaer-Kieler-Eisenbahn by the state of Prussia in 1884 and the customs connection to the German Empire in 1888 opened up further sales markets in the hinterland and again increased the importance of the port railway. After the First World War, almost 40 percent of the “total German demand for canned fish” was produced in Altona, which was also seen as the second largest industry in Altona. In 1895 Altona was considered the largest fishing port in the German Empire . Grain imports were also added via the Altona seaport. Overall, most of the German herring catch landed in the Altona port was transported on. In 1923 about ten percent of the Altona population (18-19,000 inhabitants) lived from the fish industry.

There was a structural crisis in the mid-1920s when parts of the fishing industry migrated to the North Sea ports of Cuxhaven and Wesermünde (later Bremerhaven). In order to counteract this decline, the fishing ports of Altona and Hamburg agreed on a joint approach in 1928 with the “Lower Elbe Treaties”.

After 1945 the trade in fresh fish sank rapidly, as the fish are frozen and packaged directly on board in modern fishing ships. These goods can be landed and transported away in any port. The increasing competition from trucks also noticeably reduced the volume of goods transported by the port railway in Altona. In 1890 the Altona port railway had 16 employees, almost a hundred years later there were only two employees responsible for the port railway operations.

Shutdown

Due to the structural change in freight transport with increasing shift to truck transport, the freight transport of the port railway fell sharply; there were only two or three car transfers per month and occasional uses such as B. for the port birthday or for vehicle shows such as the 100th anniversary of the Altona Railway Directorate in 1984. After the mineral oil company "Protank" gave up its port location in 1989 and the last major commercial user Transthermos relocated its operations to another location in 1992 , the port railway was shut down.

literature

  • The Altona Harbor Railway. In: Erich Staisch (ed.): The train to the north: 150 years of rail traffic in Schleswig-Holstein; from the Christian Bahn to electrification. E. Kabel, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-8225-0298-7 , pp. 40-45.
  • Dirk Schumann (text); Association for the rescue of the Hamburg-Altona port railway e. V. (Ed.): The haddock tunnel should live! Self-published, Hamburg-Altona 1994. (New edition: Hamburg 2000, DNB 962825441 )
  • EV 5 (II) Altona. and EV 6 Altona. In: Brian Rampp: Prussia Report. Volume 10. Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck 1996, ISBN 3-89610-005-X .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Christine Lindner: The haddock tunnel - (not) a ghost tunnel in Altona? on: unter-hamburg.de
  2. ^ Uwe Hornauer, Gerhard Kaufmann: Das Altonaer Rathaus, Verlag Dölling & Galitz, photo on p. 45
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Dirk Schumann (text); Hamburg cultural authority, monument protection office (ed.): The haddock tunnel should live! Hamburg-Altona 2000. (Hamburg Monument Preservation, Issue 11)
  4. ^ The Altona - Kiel Railway (AK). on: lokomotive.de
  5. ^ Early history of electrical railways in Prussia. In: Prussia Report. Volume 10. Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck, ISBN 3-89610-005-X .
  6. ↑ Freiherr von Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System, "Test Railways"
  7. ↑ Freiherr von Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System. Volume 6. Berlin, Vienna 1914, pp. 107-114.
  8. ↑ The Hamburg city and suburban railway. In: Prussia Report. Volume 10. Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck, ISBN 3-89610-005-X .
  9. ↑ a b c d The Altona port railway. In: Prussia Report. Volume 10. Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck, ISBN 3-89610-005-X .
  10. ↑ a b c d e Dominik Schilling: The Altona Harbor Railway from 1845 until today. Master's thesis from the University of Hanover, 1990.
  11. ↑ Picture and description of a true-to-scale model of the E 73 03
  12. ↑ EV 5 (II) Altona and EV 6 Altona. In: Prussia Report. Volume 10. Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck, ISBN 3-89610-005-X .
  13. ^ Anne Frühauf: The structures of rail traffic in Hamburg. Hamburg 1994.
  14. ^ Tellkampf: The construction and operation of the Altona port railway. In: Organ for the Progress of the Railway System. Volume 36 (1877).
  15. ^ Hajo Brandenburg: The Altonaer Bahnhof through the ages. 1st edition. Munich 2001.
  16. ↑ a b Reinhardt Postelt: "When the port is alive ..." The structural and economic development of the Altona port 1918 to 1933. In: Arnold Sywottek (Ed.): The other Altona. Contributions to everyday history. Results Publishing House, Hamburg 1985.
  17. ↑ Turntable Online 1884–1984 Railway Directorate Hamburg, with pictures ( memento from July 8, 2014 on WebCite ), accessed on July 8, 2014
  18. ^ Diesel locomotive V 200 007 on the Altona port railway
  19. ↑ TEE train on the port railway

Coordinates: 53 ° 32 ′ 48 ″  N , 9 ° 56 ′ 9 ″  E