Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen railway line

Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen
Route number (DB) :	6298
Course book section (DB) :	570
Route length:	74.506 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Top speed:	160 km / h
Dual track :	Neudietendorf – Plaue (Thür) Gehlberg – Oberhof (Thür)
Legend from Halle (Saale) Hbf 0.470 Neudietendorf 248.54  m according to Bebra Federal motorway 4 3.380 Brawn bridges 255.48  m 5.710 Haarhausen 265.57  m Industrial area "Erfurter Kreuz" 9.950 Arnstadt Hbf 279.17  m to Ichtershausen to Saalfeld Gera 11.310 Arnstadt South 281.4  m 12.180 Block tails mill 15.000 Siegelbach block 18.170 Plaue (door) 331.08  m to Ilmenau 24.170 Graefenroda 380.58  m to Gotha 27.970 Dörrberg (formerly Block) 446.04  m 30.330 Tunnel am Zwang (104.5 m) 493  m Federal motorway 71 32.300 Kehltal block 532.85  m 35.590 Gehlberg 598.44  m 36.850 Fire control tunnel (3039 m) 621.44  m 39.890 Federal motorway 71 40.070 Oberhof (Thür) 640.05  m 45.450 Zella Mehlis 543.3  m to Wernshausen 45.940 Zella tunnel (233 m) 539.2  m Federal motorway 71 48.100 Block Struth 51.200 City Viaduct Suhl 51.690 Suhl 427.61  m to Schleusingen Federal motorway 73 55.240 Suhl-Heinrichs (formerly Bf) 395.45  m 56.000 Mäbendorf 58.200 Dietzhausen 374.48  m 65.030 Rohr (Thür) (formerly Bf) 330.59  m from Lichtenfels 71.690 Grimmenthal 301.9  m to Eisenach 72.900 Werra from Meiningen 74.980 Ritschenhausen 314.61  m to Schweinfurt

The Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen railway is a main line in Thuringia . It branches off the Halle – Bebra railway line in Neudietendorf and leads via Arnstadt and Suhl to Ritschenhausen , where it joins the Schweinfurt – Meiningen railway line . The route is part of the national main connection from Erfurt to Schweinfurt . It crosses under the ridge of the Thuringian Forest in the Brandleitetunnel near Oberhof .

history

Simplified elevation profile of the route

In 1867, the first section of the ten-kilometer line from Neudietendorf to Arnstadt was put into operation as a branch line by the Thuringian Railway Company . In 1879 the line via Plaue to Ilmenau was extended (see also the Plaue – Themar line ). The crossing of the Thuringian Forest and the closing of the gap between Plaue and Ritschenhausen was tackled in 1879 by the Prussian State Railway . The inauguration of the Suhl - Grimmenthal section followed three years later . Finally, in 1884, Grimmenthal was connected to Ritschenhausen on the then Bavarian railway line Schweinfurt – Meiningen and the 33 kilometer long section between Plaue and Suhl was completed. During the construction of this section of the route with ramps with an average gradient of 20 ‰, the 3,039 meter long fire control tunnel in particular was very complex and took almost four years to build . From August 1, 1884, the first through trains could finally run on the initially single-track line.

The line quickly developed into an important north-south connection, so that the double-track expansion between Neudietendorf and Grimmenthal took place between 1886 and 1893. Until the establishment of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920, the Ritschenhausen (built in 1874 and now a listed building) and Meiningen (built in 1858 and 1874) were common border stations of the Prussian and Bavarian state railways. There the locomotives were changed on trains in the direction of Erfurt or Schweinfurt.

In 1938 the Lütschestausee was built to ensure the water supply for the steam locomotives . He ensures that the Wilde Gera in Liebenstein contains enough water to supply the water towers in Plaue and Arnstadt with soft water in pipes along the route . From Liebenstein the Wilde Gera flows over shell limestone and the water is then too hard to be used in steam locomotives.

After the Second World War , the line south of Ritschenhausen in the direction of Bavaria was interrupted by the border between the American occupation zone and the Soviet occupation zone . In 1946, as part of the reparations payments, the second track was dismantled except for the Gehlberg - Oberhof section . The route remained an important link between southern Thuringia and Erfurt. It was not until thirty years later that it was possible to drive on two tracks again, at least between Neudietendorf and Plaue. In 1984, the Neudietendorf – Arnstadt section was electrified because there was insufficient capacity in connection with the Meiningen – Berlin city ​​express train pair at Erfurt's main train station to change locomotives, provide additional passenger coaches and handle the wagons at night. Trains with seven cars drove across the Thuringian Forest.

On May 4, 1998, the catenary between Neudietendorf and Arnstadt was taken out of service and then gradually dismantled . The catenary masts made of reinforced concrete had alkali damage and, according to Deutsche Bahn, renovation was not economically justifiable due to the scarce use. Only a few steel catenary masts remained along the route.

Between 2003 and 2008 the line was prepared for the use of tilting technology trains . The expansion was completed with the timetable change in December 2008. Among other things, the fire control tunnel was closed and renovated for almost a year and an electronic signal box (ESTW) was installed in Arnstadt, which monitors the Neudietendorf – Rentwertshausen section.

business

Despite some operational obstacles, such as the maximum 23.8 ‰ steep ramps in the Thuringian Forest , the line was part of a major north-south connection in long-distance traffic until 1945. It is part of the shortest connection between Berlin and Stuttgart.

Tourist traffic

Deutsche Bahn passenger train in Zella-Mehlis (1994)

Regio-Shuttle of STB in Suhl, direction Erfurt (2007)

As early as the early 1890s, an express train ran from Berlin to Stuttgart via Erfurt – Meiningen – Schweinfurt. In 1914 there were even three express trains on this route, all of which still drove via Meiningen and made heads there.

The highlight was the year 1938 with one pair of long-distance express trains and five pairs of express trains daily , which ran from Berlin via Erfurt – Schweinfurt – Würzburg to Stuttgart. The FD 8, for example, had through cars to Zurich and Ventimiglia . The pair of night trains D 13/14 even ran through coaches to Rome and Naples . The high-quality passenger trains were covered by the 39 series . Since the tensile load was usually more than 250 tons, these had to be pushed on the ramps in front of the fire control tunnel.

After the Second World War, there were long-distance trains from Meiningen via the regional capitals of Suhl and Erfurt to Berlin, Dresden , Görlitz , Leipzig , Halle (Saale) and Stralsund . In 1981 there were eight pairs of trains, including the Rennsteig city ​​express and a city ​​express train to Berlin.

With the opening of the border and the closing of the gaps, long-distance trains between Meiningen and Berlin were no longer available. The old connection between Berlin and Stuttgart was revived for a few years after reunification with a pair of interregional trains under the same name. From 1997 it operated between Erfurt and Stuttgart; in 2001 the train was completely discontinued.

In the 2018 timetable, the Mainfranken-Thuringia Express (RE 7) of Deutsche Bahn runs on the route every two hours from Erfurt via Schweinfurt to Würzburg. The STB 44 line of the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn from Erfurt to Meiningen with stops at all stations also runs every two hours, more frequently during rush hour. Furthermore, six regional express train pairs operate between Erfurt and Meiningen (STx 50). The trains of the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn (until 2017 Erfurter Bahn ) from Erfurt to Ilmenau (STB 46) also run between Neudietendorf and Plaue , there are also four additional regional express train pairs (STx 45) and on weekends some trains run up to extended to Rennsteig train station . The trains run between Neudietendorf and Arnstadt Hbf together with trains of the Erfurt Railway from Erfurt to Saalfeld (EB 23). Ritschenhausen is served by the Lower Franconia Shuttle (EB 40) of the Erfurt Railway from Meiningen to Schweinfurt.

Freight transport

After the line was completed in 1884, there was intensive freight traffic, consisting of both through traffic and local freight traffic for the businesses along the line. In addition to numerous local trains, there were, for example, 12 through freight trains per day in each direction in 1939 as well as four demand trains with train loads of up to 1200 tons. As a rule, these were pulled over the ramp sections by the 95 series and had to be pushed in addition from a load of 1000 tons.

Even after the Second World War, there was still a high volume of traffic on the line in Thuringia due to the industry that had to be served with eight freight trains from Arnstadt to Grimmenthal and up to five block trains per day. A typical locomotive was the series 44 with coal dust firing, as this could be parked when driving through the fire control tunnel and the smoke could be avoided.

From 1980 the trains with up to 80 axles were mostly carried by the 131 series and often had to be pushed from Gräfenroda or Suhl to the fire control tunnel.

After the gap was closed, the relationship experienced its last high point in freight traffic between 1991 and 1994 due to widely diverted traffic. Up to eight heavy freight trains also drove on this north-south connection every day.

Since then, there have been freight trains between Erfurt and Grimmenthal, for example to transport wood.

Route description

Operating points

Since many trains were pushed earlier from Graefenroda station, there was a locomotive station for the Arnstadt BW with a turntable and the necessary treatment systems.

Picture gallery

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  Arnstadt Hbf

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  Water tower in Arnstadt Hbf

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  Plaue train station

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  Water tower in Plaue

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  Graefenroda station

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  Fire control tunnel, Oberhofer side

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  Oberhof station

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  Grimmenthal station, Go signal box

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  Ritschenhausen station

literature

• Detlef Hommel: 100 years of the Neudietendorf - Ritschenhausen line , in: Modelleisenbahner Heft 9/1984, pp. 12-14.
• Georg Thielmann, Markus Schmidt: From Erfurt to Schweinfurt . EK-Verlag Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-88255-441-X .

Web links

Commons : Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen on klauserbeck.de
• KBS 570 timetable
• Course book 1944 (1) (2) (3)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany 2007/2008 . 6th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89494-136-9 .
2. ↑ Building description , in the Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung , No. 31, August 2, 1884, pp. 318 and 319., accessed on December 30, 2012
3. ^ Georg Thielmann, Markus Schmidt: From Erfurt to Schweinfurt . EK-Verlag Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-88255-441-X , p. 166