Annaberg-Buchholz – Schwarzenberg railway line

Annaberg-Buchholz Süd – Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb)
Section of the route map of Saxony from 1902
Route number :	6624; sä. BSg
Course book section (DB) :	536 (1997)
Route length:	24.114 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Minimum radius :	190 m
Top speed:	50 km / h
Legend from Annaberg-Buchholz unt Bf 0.000 Annaberg-Buchholz Süd formerly Buchholz (Sachs) 574 m to Vejprty 1.355 EÜ Buchholzer Weg (39 m) Vertex 648 m 5.625 Rosenbach Bridge (39 m) from Crottendorf ob Bf 5,941 Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) 587 m 6.385 Zschopau Bridge (47 m) 6.490 Mühlgraben Bridge (37 m) 7.240 Schlettau (Erzgeb) 584 m 10.645 Scheibenberg (formerly Bf.) 623 m to Zwönitz Markersbach Viaduct (236 m) Viaduct Bundesstrasse 101 16.745 EÜ Bundesstrasse 101 (70 m) 17.061 Viaduct Mittweidatal (86 m) Viaduct Bundesstrasse 101 18,130 Markersbach (Erzgeb) 484 m 18.500 Mühlgraben Bridge (10 m) 18.601 Bridge Große Mittweida (15 m) 19.400 Raschau (b Schwarzenberg / Erzgeb) 462 m 19.884 Raschau Viaduct (112 m) 21.226 Pöhlabrücke (12 m) 21,414 Bridge Pöhlwasser (21 m) Narrow-gauge railway from Oberrittersgrün 21,440 Grünstädtel 441 m 23.211 Bridge Wildenau (64 m) 23.590 EÜ Wildenauer Weg (20 m) 23.743 EÜ Bundesstrasse 101 (21 m) from Johanngeorgenstadt 24.114 Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb) 427 m to Zwickau (Sachs) Hbf

The Annaberg-Buchholz – Schwarzenberg railway is a branch line in Saxony . It runs from Annaberg-Buchholz via Schlettau and Scheibenberg to Schwarzenberg / Erzgeb. The route has belonged to the DB RegioNetz Erzgebirgsbahn since 2001 , but is no longer used as scheduled.

history

Prehistory and construction

The first projects to build the line from Annaberg to Schwarzenberg originated in the 1850s. The Annaberg manufacturers wanted to get a cheap transport route for the Zwickau hard coal via the line, in Schwarzenberg they hoped for better transport connections to Bohemia . However, several years would pass before the project was examined in detail in the Saxon state parliament in 1883/84. Since the line was intended as an important connecting line between two existing standard-gauge lines, a narrow-gauge version - as was common at the time - was ruled out from the start. In 1886 the construction of the line as a standard-gauge secondary line was decided by the Saxon state parliament together with the narrow-gauge railway branching off in Grünstädtel to Rittersgrün . At first there was controversy about the connection point with the Chemnitz – Weipert line . There was a choice of a route directly from Buchholz or a technically simpler one in the Zschopau valley from Schönfeld . Ultimately, the decision was made for the shorter, but more difficult to route variant from Buchholz.

Together with the narrow-gauge railway Grünstädtel – Rittersgrün , construction work began on the new Buchholz – Schwarzenberg secondary railway in April 1888. The work on the difficult route progressed very quickly. In the hallway Mittweida / Erzg. In order to cross a side valley of the Große Mittweida, a scaffold pier viaduct over 200 meters long had to be built, which at the time of its construction caused a sensation throughout Europe for its unique half-timbered construction.

On December 1, 1889, rail traffic on the entire route was opened together with the branching secondary railway from Walthersdorf to Crottendorf with a ceremony. Train traffic between Grünstädtel and Schwarzenberg had already taken place on July 1, 1889.

business

EAB at Markersbach station (2016)

In the years that followed, the line developed into an important connection in freight traffic. In contrast, the route was less important in passenger train traffic, also because some of the stations were quite far away from the associated towns. In the 1960s, however, there was even an express train connection with through coaches from Berlin to Cranzahl over the route. On September 27, 1997, the last insignificant passenger train service was stopped.

Ore Mountains Lookout Railway in Grünstädtel (2010)

Today the route is only used by special trains, for transfers and for freight transport, especially in 2002 when the route from Selva to Annaberg-Buchholz was closed for renovation. Scheduled traffic no longer takes place. Only the Grünstädtel station remained as a wagonload station; it is operated from Schwarzenberg. On the rest of the route, freight traffic was discontinued on December 31, 1994.

Since 2009, the route has been used on individual weekends in the summer half-year as an Ore Mountains observation train for tourist excursions. The responsible railway company is the Verein Sächsischer Eisenbahnfreunde eV

From February 6 to May 6, 2014, DB RegioNetz Infrastruktur GmbH ran a tender for the purpose of taking over and continuing to operate the route by interested railway infrastructure companies, without the route being subsequently handed over to another railway infrastructure company.

Test track

The route is intended to be used in future to test autonomous driving . A concept should be drawn up by autumn 2018.

The route is part of DB Netz's "Living Lab" , a laboratory environment consisting of a test route, test vehicles and special operational processes. New rail technologies are to be researched, tested and developed. In cooperation with universities, a “research campus for innovative rail technologies” is also being set up directly at the Living Lab.

The route itself is sometimes referred to as the “Living Lab”.

The first trip under ETCS Level 3 in the Deutsche Bahn network took place on September 6, 2018 .

On September 17, 2019, a traction vehicle was operated teleo-operated for the first time in the Schlettau train station worldwide. For this purpose, the driver was in a container from which the measuring vehicle 626 420 from Thales was remotely controlled with the help of video transmission. For this purpose and for further research activities, a 35 m high 5G cell phone station (so-called mobile grid tower) was set up in Vodafone's train station.

Route extensions

Together with the Buchholz – Schwarzenberg connection, the branch line to Crottendorf branching off in Walthersdorf was built. Passenger train traffic on the route opened in 1889 was discontinued in 1996 after freight trains had stopped running since the early 1990s.

The branch line Zwönitz – Scheibenberg ended in Scheibenberg since 1900 . The route previously known as the Erzgebirge Panorama Railway was largely dismantled in 1945 as a reparation payment . The remaining stretch from Elterlein to Scheibenberg was closed in 1966.

From 1889 to 1971 the Pöhlatalbahn ran from Grünstädtel to Rittersgrün . Today, the route is best known for the Saxon Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, which was set up in the former Oberrittersgrün terminus .

Route description

Markersbach Viaduct

The route begins at the Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station and leaves the station in a south-facing direction parallel to the Zschopautalbahn track in the direction of Cranzahl - Vejprty . On the slope of the Sehmatal , the track now leads steadily upwards in order to cross the watershed to Zschopau above the locality of Sehma . On the downward slope, the route now leads to Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) , where the short branch line to Crottendorf branched off until 1996 . The track crosses the Zschopau in a long straight and reaches the Schlettau (Erzgeb) train station . From Scheibenberg , the former route to Zwönitz lay on a parallel second track for the trains connected to Schlettau until 1945 . At the junction of this route, the long slope of the route down into the valley of the Große Mittweida begins . In the southeast, grazing the Elterlein district of Schwarzbach , the line leads above the Markersbach location over the imposing Markersbach viaduct , then in a narrow 180 ° right-hand arc to reach the Markersbach (Erzgeb) train station . The railway finally reaches Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb) along the elongated villages of Raschau and Grünstädtel in the Mittweidatal .

• 

  Markersbach, railway viaduct Annaberger Straße (2016)

• 

  Viaduct Raschau (2016)

• 

  Raschau, railway line towards Annaberg-Buchholz (2016)

• 

  Grünstädtel station towards Annaberg-Buchholz and Oberrittersgrün (2016)

• 

  Route to Annaberg-Buchholz shortly after Schwarzenberg train station (2016)

The permissible speed on the route is mostly 40 to 50 km / h. In the area of ​​several technically unsecured level crossings, lower speeds, sometimes 10 km / h, are permitted.

Operating points

Annaberg-Buchholz South ⊙

Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station (2016)

→ Main article : Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station

The station of the then independent town of Buchholz was put into operation on August 3, 1872 with the opening of the Weipert-Annaberg railway in the south of the town. The station had the following names:

• until 1902: Buchholz
• until 1905: Buchholz train station
• until 1911: Buchholz
• until 1933: Buchholz (Sa)
• until 1949: Buchholz (Sachs)
• since 1949: Annaberg-Buchholz Süd (through the merger of Annaberg and Buchholz to Annaberg-Buchholz)

Since 1889 in Buchholz (today Annaberg-Buchholz Süd), the Annaberg-Buchholz-Schwarzenberg railway line, which was built as a secondary line , has been branching off from the Vejprty – Annaberg-Buchholz railway line to the railway station in the direction of Aue (Sachs) - Zwickau . At Annaberg-Buchholz Süd station, Siemens and DB Netz have been testing a new Siemens interlocking architecture for electronic interlockings since 2014 , in which communication between the interlocking computer and signals takes place via an IP network and a standardized "SCI-LS" interface. This allows the use of an inexpensive network infrastructure, and standardized interfaces also enable the integration of LST components from different manufacturers.

Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) ⊙

→ Main article : Walthersdorf train station (Erzgeb)

At Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) station, the standard-gauge secondary line to Crottendorf has branched off since it opened in 1889 . It was shut down in 1999 after passenger traffic ceased in 1996. The reception building of the Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) station houses a small railway museum.

The station had the following names:

• until 1905: Waltersdorf stop
• until 1910: Waltersdorf train station
• until 1911: Walthersdorf i Saxony
• until 1921: Walthersdorf (Sa)
• since 1921: Walthersdorf (Erzgeb)

• 

  Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) station, street view (2016)

• 

  Walthersdorf Museum Station (Erzgeb) (2016)

• 

  Walthersdorf station (Erzgeb), track view (2016)

• 

  Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) station, platform (2016)

Schlettau (Erzgeb) ⊙

Schlettau railway station (Erzgeb) (2010)

The Schlettau stop was opened on December 1, 1889 and dedicated to the station in 1896. In 1911 the name was changed to Schlettau (Erzgeb) . The trains on the standard gauge railway line Walthersdorf (Erzgeb) -Crottendorf ob Bf, also opened in 1889, always ran to Schlettau (Erzgeb).

Scheibenberg ⊙

→ Main article : Scheibenberg train station

The Scheibenberg stop was opened on December 1, 1889 and dedicated to the station in 1905. Since 1900 it was the end point of the Zwönitz – Scheibenberg railway line , which was discontinued in 1966. In 1994, Scheibenberg was upgraded to a halt.

• 

  Scheibenberg station

• 

  Scheibenberg station (2016)

Markersbach (Erzgeb) ⊙

Markersbach station (Erzgeb) (2010)

Coming from Annaberg-Buchholz, the Markersbach (Erzgeb) station is already in the valley of the Große Mittweida , after the train has crossed the Markersbach Viaduct and three other small viaducts in a wide arc. The Mittweida-Markersbach stop was opened on December 1, 1889. The station has been a train station since 1905. After Mittweida was incorporated into Markersbach, the station was renamed Markersbach (Erzgeb) in 1935.

Raschau (b Schwarzenberg / Erzgeb) ⊙

Raschau station (2016)

The Raschau stop was opened on December 1, 1889 and was named a train station in 1905. It had the following names:

• until 1911: Raschau
• until 1935: Raschau (b Schwarzenberg)
• since 1935: Raschau (b Schwarzenberg / Erzgeb)

The scheduled stops in Raschau ended on September 28, 1997. Since 2009, the station has been a stop for the Ore Mountain View Railway. The former reception building is used as a residential building.

Grünstädtel ⊙

Grünstädtel station with reception building (2016)

→ Main article : Grünstädtel train station

The Grünstädtel station was opened as a stop on July 1, 1889 and upgraded to a station in 1905. The standard-gauge systems divided the freight and passenger traffic area of ​​the narrow-gauge Pöhlwassertalbahn, which started at the Grünstädtel station, to Oberrittersgrün . The three level crossings between narrow and standard-gauge railways that existed as a result significantly hampered operations at the station. During the construction of the railway, a goods shed, a loading hall , a loading ramp and a combined locomotive and coal shed were built next to the station building . Due to the curve radius of only 90 m directly on the slope at the Siegelhof stop , trolley traffic could never be carried out on the narrow-gauge route , which means that the goods always had to be reloaded onto narrow-gauge wagons. The separate locomotive shed was only dimensioned for locomotives of the I K series, the machines used later were too long for the building and were partly in the open air. In 1966 the dilapidated shed was demolished. The entry signal for the narrow-gauge railway was the only signal on the whole route. With the closure of the narrow-gauge railway to Oberrittersgrün in 1971, the time as a gauge changing station ended . Until 1997 the station was used as a freight yard. The former reception building is used as a residential building.

Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb) ⊙

→ Main article : Schwarzenberg train station (Erzgeb)

Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb) station was opened in 1854 as the end point of the Upper Erzgebirge Railway from Zwickau . In the course of the construction of the Johanngeorgenstadt – Schwarzenberg (1884) and Buchholz – Schwarzenberg (1889) routes , it was significantly expanded for the first time. It reached its final size in the course of the double-track expansion of the entire connection from Zwickau to Johanngeorgenstadt in the early 1950s. During this time, the small locomotive deployment station was also elevated to a depot .

• 

  Schwarzenberg / Erzgebirge station (2016)

• 

  Schwarzenberg station, reception building (2016)

• 

  Schwarzenberg station, start of the Erzgebirge observation train on platform 4 (2016)

• 

  Schwarzenberg station with EAB (2016)

literature

• Thomas Berger: Between Schwarzenberg and Annaberg-Buchholz . in: Modellisenbahner No. 12/89, transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrwesen Berlin; Pp. 7-9
• Erich Preuß , Reiner Preuß : Saxon State Railways. transpress Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70700-0 .
• Siegfried Bergelt: From Buchholz to Schwarzenberg. By train through valleys and over heights. Bildverlag Böttger GbR, Witzschdorf 2014, ISBN 978-3-937496-65-8 .

Web links

Commons : Railway line 6624 (Germany)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Location, course, signals and permissible speeds of the route on the OpenRailwayMap
• Description of Saxon railway lines
• Erzgebirge observation track at the Erzgebirge tourist office

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ore Mountains Lookout Railway. Association of Saxon Railway Friends V., archived from the original on July 6, 2010 ; Retrieved June 27, 2010 . 
2. ^ DB Netz AG - Transfer of railway infrastructure, route 6624 Annaberg-Buchholz Süd - Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb). (PDF) (No longer available online.) DB Netze , archived from the original on February 23, 2014 ; accessed on January 27, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Rail travel of the future: the research campus is launched. In: welt.de. April 12, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Demonstration of ETCS Level 3 technology in the DB Netz Living Lab. In: youtube.com. Deutsche Bahn, September 6, 2018, accessed on September 30, 2018 . 
5. ^ "Smart Rail Connectivity Campus" in the Ore Mountains. In: youtube.com. Free State of Saxony, April 12, 2018, accessed on August 8, 2018 (time index 1:27). 
6. ↑ World premiere in the Ore Mountains - driverless train drives over 5G. Retrieved June 27, 2020 . 
7. ↑ World premiere Vodafone starts 5G Zug /. Retrieved June 27, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Future tinkering . In: DB World Region Southeast . April 2014, p. 17 .
9. ^ Website of the Walthersdorf Museum Station
10. ↑ Website about the Siegelhof stop