Railways in the lower district of Solingen

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The railways in the lower district of Solingen were a local transport company of the former Rhein-Wupper district and operated two regular-gauge tram routes .

history

In 1907, the companies Elektrizitäts-AG, formerly W. Lahmeyer & Co and Felten & Guilleaume, planned to extend the Mülheimer Kleinbahn via Opladen to Langenfeld . After the line was checked by the police on July 3, 1908, the RWE, a subsidiary of Elektrizitäts-AG, signed a contract with the district of Solingen for the construction and operation of an electric tram. These were called "tracks in the lower district of Solingen". Operational management was initially transferred to RWE, and from 1936 its subsidiary, Rheinisch-Westfälische Straßen- und Kleinbahn GmbH in Essen. From July 1, 1942, Stadtwerke Opladen took over this task. The Rhein-Wupper-Kreis as the owner ran the business itself from July 1, 1947.

Originally, meter-gauge routes were planned from Immigrath via Landwehr to Ohligs and from Landwehr to Höhscheid , as well as regular -gauge routes from Opladen via Langenfeld, Immigrath and Richrath to Hilden , from Langenfeld to Benrath and from Opladen to Burscheid .

The following routes have been opened:

  • July 22, 1911: 8.0 kilometers from Opladen to Immigrath
  • September 28, 1911: 7.3 kilometers from Immigrath to Ohligs
  • March 21, 1913: 5.3 kilometers from Landwehr to Höhscheid

The network covered a length of 20.6 kilometers. Within the towns, the tracks ran along the street, outside of town on a separate route next to it. Plans to extend the line from Opladen via Burscheid and Wermelskirchen to Lennep were abandoned. The railway was in contact with neighboring companies at its endpoints: in Opladen to Mülheimer Kleinbahn AG , which was taken over by the Cologne city railways in 1933 , and to Kleinbahn Opladen – Lützenkirchen ; in Ohligs to the Solinger Kreisbahn and to the Bergische Kleinbahn AG , later Rheinbahn ; in Höhscheid to the Solingen tram . In Langenfeld there was visual contact with the Langenfeld-Monheim-Hitdorf Kleinbahn .

When the district of Solingen was added to the district of Solingen-Lennep on August 1, 1929, which was called Rhein-Wupper-Kreis from 1931, it also became the owner of the railways in the lower district of Solingen . They were first called the Opladen-Ohligs tram and later the Rhein-Wupper district's railways . Since the Rhein-Wupper-Kreis had built up a large bus network after the Second World War, but also because of the unfavorable track position in the towns, it wanted to shut down the railways as quickly as possible. Although some modernizations were carried out, the operation of the line from Landwehr to Höhscheid was ended on January 31, 1954. On June 30, 1955 it followed the route from Opladen to Ohligs. After the shutdown, several rail vehicles were sold to the Bremerhaven tram , one of which will be preserved in the Hanover Tram Museum .