Branch line Schöneweide – Spindlersfeld

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Schöneweide – Spindlersfeld
Route number (DB) : 6143
Course book section (DB) : 200.47
Route length: 4.1 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system : from 1929: 750 V  =
Power system : 1903-1906: 6 kV 25 Hz  ~
BSicon STR.svgBSicon STR.svg
from Berlin Görlitzer Bf and from Berlin Ostkreuz
BSicon BHF.svgBSicon SBHF.svg
−0.085 Berlin-Schöneweide
BSicon xABZgr.svgBSicon STR.svg
to Görlitz
BSicon xKRZo.svgBSicon ABZgr.svg
to Königs Wusterhausen (S-Bahn)
BSicon eBS2l.svgBSicon BS2r.svg
Station without passenger traffic
0.974 Berlin-Schöneweide East ( Bft )
   
to Berlin-Schöneweide main workshop
S-Bahn stop ...
2.203 Berlin Oberspree (formerly Bf)
Plan-free intersection - below
Outer ring
   
Factory connection W. Spindler
   
4.043 Berlin-Spindlersfeld (formerly Bf)

Swell:

The Schöneweide – Spindlersfeld branch line is a single-track main line that runs exclusively through Berlin . The approximately four-kilometer-long route has two other stations in addition to the Berlin-Schöneweide branch station and is served by the Berlin S-Bahn every 20 minutes.

course

Crossing under the outer ring, in the background a class 476 train , 1997

The route begins at Schöneweide train station (formerly Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal), threads out of the suburban tracks of the Görlitzer Bahn and turns east. Shortly after the transfer over the Adlergestell , which begins here, the connection branches off to the former Reichsbahn repair shop in Berlin-Schöneweide , today's main workshop of the Berlin S-Bahn. The route continues to fall to ground level. The Oberspree stop is located behind the Oberspreestrasse level crossing . Shortly after this stopping point, it turns slightly to the right and continues straight for almost a kilometer. After another right-hand bend, the underpass of the outer ring follows shortly thereafter, followed by the Spindlersfeld terminus .

history

Installation

Location of the factory and Spindlersfeld train station (top right), around 1896

The largely single-track line, including both stations, was opened to passenger traffic on April 1, 1892. Since November 15, 1891, it has been used for goods traffic to and from the W. Spindler factory , after which the entire surrounding area is named. In addition to serving as a supplier for important goods, especially hard coal , it also served as a feeder for the workers, similar to the Siemens railway built in the late 1920s . The construction of the line was significantly promoted and financially supported by the sons of the company founder, the brothers William and Carl Spindler .

Electrical test operation 1903–1906

Experimental railcar for journeys between Schöneweide and Spindlersfeld of the UEG / AEG, 1903
Trial train with two railcars and three set passenger cars, around 1905

From August 15, 1903, an electrical test operation with overhead lines and low-frequency alternating current (6 kV 25 Hz) was started on the line by the Union-Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (UEG), which merged with the AEG the following year . This was preceded by the realization that the lower the frequency, the less sparking on the motor's commutator . This led to the development of the Winter-Eichberg motor as the first usable motor for low-frequency single-phase alternating current. After the engine had been successfully tested on the UEG factory premises, the developers looked for a suitable route for practical use. The Prussian State Railways made the branch line available for the test runs. At that time, the traffic was comparatively low, with peaks mainly occurring during rush hour . In addition, the railcars could be quickly towed from Schöneweide in the event of an accident .

The overhead line consisted of two suspension ropes that were insulated and attached to the masts . The contact wire was suspended from these at a distance of three meters. Compared to a single contact line, the construction provided greater contact reliability, which was a prerequisite for the desired speeds of 60 km / h. The suspension also ensured that if the contact wire breaks, it will hang at least two and a half meters above the ground. The traction current was obtained from the headquarters of the Berliner Elektrizitätswerke in Niederschöneweide , only a new switching house had to be built.

Initially, a railcar was available for operation, but another identically constructed railcar and three suburban cars were used on the route by February 1904. The two railcars with the road numbers 2051 Berlin and 2052 Berlin were originally intended for use on the Murnau - Oberammergau local line , but could not be accepted there due to the insolvency of the electrical equipment manufacturer. Until July 3, 1904, the railcars operated exclusively between the steam-powered suburban trains that were still in use. From July 4, 1904, the vehicles were released for public transport. In rush hour traffic, journeys were increased by additional steam trains. The travel times were not shortened because steam trains still had to help out in the event of an accident.

At the same time as the tests on the Spindlersfeld route, AEG and Siemens & Halske , who had merged to form the study society for electrical rapid transit systems, carried out test drives with three-phase current on the military railway between Marienfelde and Zossen .

As early as 1904, the Prussian State Railways made the decision to test single-phase alternating current on a larger network under tougher conditions. The choice fell on the Hamburg-Altona urban and suburban railway . In 1905 , the AEG had two closely coupled railcars built for use and fitted out in the Tempelhof railway repair shop . The cars were then used on the branch line. On March 1, 1906, the trial operation ended after around three years in order to create construction space for the elevation of the Görlitzer Bahn. Although only limited in time, the electrical test operation between Niederschöneweide-Johannisthal and Spindlersfeld was an important component on the way from the direct current system with relatively low voltage to the use of high-voltage single - phase alternating current, which is preferred today .

Due to the elevation of the Görlitzer Bahn , the old suburban platform in Schöneweide station, where the electric trains were previously dispatched, had to give way. In addition, it was necessary to rebuild the route with a simultaneous elevation up to shortly before Oberspree. The level crossings over the Adlergestell and Hartriegelstraße were replaced by overpasses.

Admission to the Berlin S-Bahn network

On February 1, 1929, the second electrical operation began, this time it was carried out via a side, coated from below busbar and 750 V direct current , the power system of the Berlin S-Bahn . The trains ran during rush hour as train group  F "Friedrich" over the Nordring and the Stadtbahn to Friedrichshagen . Before that, on October 15, 1927, another connection to the newly built Reichsbahn repair shop in Berlin-Schöneweide went into operation.

In the Germania plans of the National Socialists , the double-track expansion of the branch line was envisaged. The S-Bahn platform was to be relocated to the newly built outer goods ring , where a platform-level change to a possible outer ring S-Bahn would have been prepared.

The former branch to the Spindlerfabrik is now a footpath and bike path, 1997

post war period

The line was only slightly damaged in the Second World War and resumed operation after a quarter of a year. In December of the same year, the first accident involving the Berlin S-Bahn after the end of the war occurred on the route. A local freight train and an S-Bahn collided head-on on the single-track bridge over the eagle frame, leaving four dead and several seriously injured. The dispatcher who was responsible for the section and whose human error had caused the accident was then sentenced to death by the Soviet administration. However, his fate after the verdict was announced is unclear.

From 1952, the trains ran again beyond Schöneweide: They went as train group N "North Pole" over the Nordring to Spandau West . In 1956/1957 the overpass over the eagle frame was rebuilt. The reason was the expansion of the road to two directional tracks. The new building was built using steel construction, the line itself was expanded to two-track up to the connection to the Raw Schöneweide. Trains to and from the Reichsbahn repair shop or to Spindlersfeld can no longer block each other's route, and incidents like the one on December 15, 1945 are now circumvented.

After the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, the connections to and from Spindlersfeld changed again. The train group was initially withdrawn to Schönhauser Allee , after the completion of a separate pair of tracks for the curve to Pankow , it was extended to Blankenburg .

The "Mini Otto"

From January 31, 1976, the so-called "Mini-Otto" operated on the route. The name was made up of the length of the train used, a quarter train, ie “Mini”, and the radio call name of train group O “Otto”. The train group designation was changed because the West Berlin section of the old train group continued to run as the "North Pole". To avoid confusion, the Deutsche Reichsbahn quickly gave the East Berlin counterpart a new name.

Normally, at least half-trains (for example ET + EB + EB + ET) were used on the Berlin S-Bahn; By the end of the war, the DR had all former control cars (ES) converted into sidecars (EB). The materials from the former driver's cabs were used to replace the other railcars (ET). After 1945, however, it had some units dismantled into tax quarters (ET + ES), and in 1952 it also took over eight quarter trains (ET + ES) from the works railway of the Peenemünde Army Research Institute . In Berlin these were called the Peenemünder Viertel.

The decisive factor for the use of a quarter train was the increasing population in the northern districts of Berlin, especially Buch . In order to accommodate the growing population, the DR repaired the second track in Karow station , which went to the Soviet Union as a reparation payment after 1945 , so that it could run on the line every 10 minutes. The new group of trains that ran between Buch and Alexanderplatz was named "Ludwig". The train group "Otto" now ran between Blankenburg and Spindlersfeld on weekdays.

At the weekend, however, “Ludwig”, coming from Buch, ended in Schöneweide, while “Otto” commuted between Schöneweide and Spindlersfeld. Until the start of the 10-minute cycle, which also applied on weekends, the trains ran continuously from Buch to Spindlersfeld, with the train group designation changing in Schöneweide. However, the new cycle resulted in unfavorable arrival and departure times in the direction of Spindlersfeld. The circuits were therefore separated again, and the branch line was served with two separate circuits. Since the traffic on the route is quite sparse, the use of quarter trains was sufficient. So the “Mini-Otto” was used in the form of two Peenemünde quarters. In the event of a larger number of passengers or the failure of one of the two trains, half-trains from the Grünau depot were used. The use of the "Mini-Otto" ended on May 31, 1986 after more than ten years.

After the turn

Oberspree railway station, the edge of the platform in the left edge of the picture shows the location of the former second track, 2006

Freight trains ran to Spindlersfeld until the mid-1990s, after which both the necessary systems and the siding in Schöneweide were removed. The siding to the former W. Spindler laundry, on the other hand, was converted into a cycle path .

The S-Bahn bridge over Rudower Straße / Hartriegelstraße is the last bridge with Hartung's columns in Berlin that will continue to be used (as of June 2012). In 1992 the bridge and the pillars were repainted. The cast iron pendulum supports were secured against road traffic with strong collision protection. The capitals are no longer present on these columns .

The route is currently served by the S47 S-Bahn line from Hermannstrasse . According to the plans of the Berlin Senate and the S-Bahn from 2003, it is to be continuously expanded to two tracks so that it can run every 10 minutes. On the other hand, Spindlersfeld has to be dismantled to a stopping point and a branch line block from Schöneweide has to be set up. This means that only one train can travel the route at a time.

Train stations

Oberspree

Oberspree station with a train arriving from Spindlersfeld, 1991

Oberspree train station is about halfway along the route where Oberspreestrasse crosses the tracks. It was opened with the start of passenger traffic on April 1, 1892. In addition to the continuous main track, the station initially had a crossing track with a central platform in between. The station building was on Bruno-Bürgel-Weg, which runs parallel to the route . The dispatcher was on duty at the Osp signal box in the supervisory building on the platform. The tension weights were attached next to the tracks.

In 1970 the station building was demolished. The DR closed the crossing track in 1973, changing the status of a train station to a stopping point. The last use of the crossing track took place during the Xth World Festival of Youth and Students in 1973. This gave up the possibility of a train crossing and thus a 10-minute cycle. Train crossings in the event of delays and with freight trains took place either in Schöneweide station on the bridge over the eagle frame or in Spindlersfeld, where track 9, which was mainly intended for goods service journeys on the sidings, was also equipped with a power rail. In 1976, a level access was created over the track. In September 1984 it was removed as part of a superstructure renewal after the access points had already been removed. The last step at the station for the time being was the construction of the steel pedestrian bridge, which was completed in December 1997.

Spindlersfeld

Spindlersfeld station with the S47 train, 2006
Spindlersfeld station with a class 277 train , 1991

The Spindlersfeld terminus is at the intersection of Oberspreestrasse and Ernst-Grube-Strasse. In addition to the platform for the S-Bahn, there was a loading ramp at the goods shed and a loading street on one side. On the other side there was also a loading line for the freight wagons of VEB Müllabfuhr, today's Berliner Stadtreinigung , after the siding for garbage loading was closed. There were sidings to VEB Rewatex, formerly W. Spindler, and from the late 1980s to VEB Dampfkesselbau, later VEB container construction. In 1983 the DR tore down the southern of the two loading lanes and instead laid four new freight tracks.

In 1988, as part of rationalization measures, the mechanical interlockings Spf and Swt were closed and an electromechanical interlocking Spf was put into operation in the supervisory rooms at the station . The level crossing , which was previously monitored by the SWT interlocking system , was included in the signal dependency . The shape signals were replaced by HI signals . After the fall of the Wall , the facilities for freight traffic and the Rewatex siding followed. Today, apart from some track fragments in the ground, there are hardly any memories of the former importance of the facility.

In 2006 the platform was moved to Oberspreestrasse, which shortens the transfer route from the S-Bahn to the tram to Köpenick or Adlershof . The old entrance on Ernst-Grube-Strasse was retained. The signal box set up in the supervisory building in 1988 went out of service on November 12, 2010, and the station was operationally downgraded to a stopping point. Since then, the Bernstadter Weg level crossing has been monitored by the driver using monitoring signals . Since then, a branch line block has been set up along the entire route , the dispatcher in Schöneweide is responsible.

Web links

Commons : Zweigbahn Schöneweide-Spindlersfeld  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. DB Netze - Infrastructure Register
  2. a b c d e Mike Straschewski: The branch line Schöneweide - Spindlersfeld. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2017 .
  3. ^ Early history of electrical railways in Prussia . In: Prussia Report . tape 10 . Hermann Merker Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck, ISBN 3-89610-005-X , p. 12 .
  4. a b c d Hans-Joachim Hütter: Between Schöneweide and Spindlersfeld. The electrical test operation from 1903 to 1906 . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter e. V. (Ed.): Electricity instead of steam! 75 years of the Berlin S-Bahn. The great time of electrification . Verlag GVE, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-89218-275-2 , p. 19-22 .
  5. ^ Michael Braun: Between Kreuzberg and KW. Suburban traffic on the Görlitzer Bahn (part 2) . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 4, 1991, pp. 80-90 .
  6. ^ Bernhard Strowitzki: S-Bahn Berlin. Story (s) for on the go . 2nd Edition. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89218-073-3 , p. 178 .
  7. ^ Deutscher Bahnkunden-Verband (Ed.): Network plan for the redesign of the Berlin railway systems from May 15, 1941 . Reprint of the original network plan of the Reichsbahnbaudirektion. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89218-094-6 .
  8. a b c d Mike Straschewski: The mini Otto. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. July 26, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  9. Achim Bartoschek: BE02 Berlin-Koepenick: siding Spindlersfeld. In: www.bahntrassenradeln.de. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
  10. a b c d Mike Straschewski: Spindlersfeld. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. October 26, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2017 .
  11. a b Mike Straschewski: Oberspree. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. October 26, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2017 .
  12. Detlef Rudnick: Working on the signal box Swt. In: www.stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de. October 26, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2017 .
  13. ^ Bernhard Strowitzki: S-Bahn Berlin. Story (s) for on the go . 2nd Edition. Verlag GVE, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89218-073-3 , p. 181-183 .