Bayreuth Altstadt – Kulmbach railway line

Bayreuth old town – Kulmbach
Route number :	5003
Course book section (DB) :	last 851, 842
Route length:	36.9 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	C2
Maximum slope :	25.5  ‰
Legend from Abzw Kreuzstein (Bayreuth Hbf - km 0) 5.3 Bayreuth old town to Hollfeld Bundesstrasse 22 Mistelbach 7.1 Herzoghöhe 9.1 Heinersreuth 11.3 Unterwaiz 13.0 Altenplos 14.6 Aichen Rottelb 16.0 Drossenfeld 17.5 Anst Forstgleis (1908–1910) 19.1 Neuenreuth (b Thurnau) Reuthbach 24.5 Limmersdorf 24.5 Instead of woodwork Aubach 26.3 Thurnau Avenue of cherries 30.1 Kasendorf 33.1 Crooked fore 37.0 Katschenreuth 2 flood bridges (Roter Main) Red Main 37.6 At Steinenhausen 38.9 Melkendorf (End of route) 39.3 Anst Bayernwerk (since around 1960) from Bamberg 42.2 Kulmbach 304 m to Hof Hbf

The Bayreuth Altstadt – Kulmbach railway was a branch line in Bavaria . It ran in Upper Franconia from Bayreuth via Thurnau to Kulmbach . The line that was closed today was popularly known as the "Thurnauer Bockela" (in the Kulmbach area) or "Thurnauer Bockala" (in the Bayreuth area).

history

The first attempt 1872–1878

On August 17, 1872, Markt Thurnau applied for the planned Forchheim - Hollfeld - Bayreuth line not to be led to Bayreuth, but via Thurnau to Kulmbach , to extend it via Nordhalben to Eichicht and thus to connect the line to the line to Jena . After the Forchheim – Plankenfels – Bayreuth railway project had entered a concrete planning stage in the summer of 1877, the city of Kulmbach and Markt Thurnau modified the Thurnau ideas of 1872 in a joint proposal on January 18, 1877: Now the railway should move from a location in the In the vicinity of Hollfeld, branch off the Forchheim - Bayreuth railway line and then go via Hollfeld - Thurnau to Kulmbach. The General Directorate of the Royal Bavarian Transport Authority rejected these ideas on May 16, 1878 for operational reasons.

Unsuccessful second attempt in 1880

After the individual application of Markt Thurnau, albeit later allied with the city of Kulmbach, failed, the rural communities of the Royal District Court of Thurnau sent a petition to King Ludwig II of Bavaria on October 13, 1880 with the request to build a railway line from Bayreuth via Thurnau and Weismain to set up. This should be connected to the Munich  - Hof / Saale or Hochstadt - Stockheim - Eichicht railway lines. The aim was to connect Thurnau to the mainline Bohemia  - Thuringia , which should be led from Eger via Kirchenlaibach and Bayreuth. Ludwig II rejected the application because the railway line was not one of the most urgent needs.

Success on the third attempt

About ten years later a Thurnau Local Railway Committee was formed , which requested the State Ministry of the Royal House and Foreign Affairs to build a local railway from Bayreuth to Thurnau on January 14, 1891, and suggested a route via Drossenfeld - Langenstadt - Hutschdorf and Kasendorf . Almost at the same time, a Kulmbach local railway committee applied for the construction of a Kulmbach - Hollfeld local railway on March 8, 1891, which was to be run via Lanzenreuth, Thurnau, Kasendorf and Wonsees , i.e. via Franconian Switzerland . After the Krone was very open to railway projects, it commissioned the General Directorate of the Royal Bavarian Transport Authority to examine both route alternatives for construction costs and profitability. Both routes remained largely in the race. At the suggestion of Wilhelm Meußdoerffer , Member of the State Parliament in Kulmbach , the General Management invited the two local railway committees to a joint meeting in Kasendorf on July 20, 1901. There, the two committees, which spontaneously united, were introduced to include a local railway Bayreuth - Thurnau - Kulmbach in the next local railway law. The Thurnau imperial count Karl Gottfried von Giech took over the honorary chairmanship.

Scuffling around the route

However, some changes have been made to the exact route. At a meeting to which the Royal Bavarian State Railways invited those interested in local railways to Bayreuth on September 2, 1903, the route was finally determined. The two most important changes were:

• The community of Melkendorf achieved that the local railway was run through Melkendorf and not through Burghaig.
• Reichsgraf von Giech set up a breakpoint in Krumme Fohre , with which his sand-lime brick factory was connected to the rail network. For this he donated 43,000 m² of land.

construction

First train to Bayreuth at Thurnau station with class D XI (front) and ML 2/2 locomotives , June 26, 1909

After the Local Railway Act of August 10, 1904 had approved the construction of the line along with 29 other local railways, the first groundbreaking took place on May 1, 1907 on the Thurnau – Kulmbach section and on February 1, 1908 on the Bayreuth – Thurnau section. The communities on the railway had promised to surrender the necessary land from their property free of charge.

The construction work was done by hand, with terrain waves leveled, embankments poured and cuts dug. In addition to horse-drawn vehicles, a narrow-gauge railway ( gauge 750 mm) with a steam locomotive and trolleys was available to transport the earth .

Used, 6 meter long Form I rails have already been laid on wooden sleepers. Sandstone, Jurassic limestone from Plankenfels , Hornblendegneis from Marktschorgast and granite from the Fichtelgebirge were used as track bedding . This superstructure allowed an axle load of 14 tons.

The Thurnau – Kulmbach section was opened on October 11, 1908, the Bayreuth – Thurnau section on June 26, 1909. Public transport began on June 28, 1909.

Route description

course

The line branched off at Bayreuth Altstadt station ( 49 ° 56'7.06 "N 11 ° 33'0.23" E ) from the local railway to Hollfeld in a northerly direction. On the slope of the Red Hill she reached Herzoghöhe, the last stop in the city. Turning now to the northwest, it descended into the valley of the Red Main, the bottom of which it reached behind Aichen. After Neuenreuth am Main the winding ascent through the Limmersdorfer Forst began to the apex shortly before Limmersdorf, from there it led down into the valley to Thurnau , the former center point of the route. The route finally reached Kulmbach via Krumme Fohre , Katschenreuth and Melkendorf . The greatest incline was at Limmersdorf, at over 25.0 ‰.

Between Bayreuth and Thurnau, there were 76 road and path crossings ( crossings ) on the same rails , and a further 39 to Kulmbach. A speed limit had to be stipulated on 34 of them for safety reasons. In Altenplos, five crossings followed one another.

Engineering structures

Bridge over the Mistelbach in Bayreuth

In addition to the 23 bridges, there was a large number of smaller culverts and a road overpass in Thurnau. Four larger engineering structures are worth mentioning:

• The limestone bridge over the Mistelbach in Bayreuth old town, with a clear width of 18 meters.
• The Schorrmühlbrücke over the Aubach near the Schorrmühle in Thurnau, a two-arched concrete bridge that has since been demolished (2004?) (Clear width per opening: 16 meters).
• The bridge over the Red Main near Katschenreuth , a sheet metal beam construction with a clear width of 25 meters. To the west of it existed two smaller flood bridges.
• The only overpass was in Thurnau, where the Kirschenallee crossed the railway on an arched bridge with a clearance of 10.5 meters.

Operating points

Old town station 1987

In addition to the two connection stations Bayreuth Altstadt and Kulmbach, there were the following traffic points:

• Herzoghöhe (stop with loading point)

A not insignificant part of the passenger traffic to and from Thurnau was handled via the Bayreuth train station Herzoghöhe. This saved a time-consuming and costly detour, as the train circled the city in a three-quarter circle to the main station. At times, the loading track was connected to the main track via a second switch so that the train could be bypassed by the locomotive.

• Heinersreuth (stop with loading point)
• Unterwaiz (breakpoint)
• Altenplos (stop with loading point)
• Aichen (breakpoint)
• Drossenfeld (train station)
• Neuenreuth b. Thurnau (stop with charging point and siding)
• Limmersdorf (stop with loading point)
• Thurnau (train station)

The station had two main tracks, one track for the locomotives to travel to and from the machine house, a track connector for the rear of wagons, a switch trapezoid with two loading tracks, a track connector on the higher-lying wood storage area and another for two warehouses. The locomotive shed had two tracks, there were a total of twelve points, including a double crossing point . A barrack-like wooden station building, a freight hall of the same type and a somewhat secluded toilet block existed next to the railway buildings. The engine house with the rooms for overnight railroaders was bricked, the attached two-tier engine shed was built from wood. For the Thurnau railway workers there was a two-story house with a wooden rack. Immediately at the northern end of the station was the level crossing with Bahnhofstrasse.

• Kasendorf (train station)
• Krumme Fohre (stop with loading point)
• Katschenreuth (stop with loading point)
• Melkendorf (stop with loading point)

• 

  There is only one kilometer left from the Neuenreuth stop

• 

  Limmersdorf station building

• 

  Meadow instead of tracks and remaining platform edge in Thurnau (2013)

• 

  Katschenreuth station building

Track connections

Siding	Route kilometers	Remarks
Forest track	17.5	1908-1910; Special track for the removal of timber damaged by the night butterfly nun in the Limmersdorfer forest
Woodwork	24.5	Connection with transfer track, going directly from the Limmersdorf train station
Art mill	37.6	Steinenhausen
Bayernwerk	39.2	Established before 1960

traffic

Kreuzstein junction (left the route to Weiden , in the middle to Schnabelwaid , right to Hollfeld and Thurnau), 1986

Information board about the railway in Altenplos

The route cannot be viewed separately from the Bayreuth – Hollfeld railway line. Except for the period from April 1945 to May 1947, when the Thurnau trains started and ended at Herzoghöhe due to bomb damage, Bayreuth Central Station was the starting and ending point of the trains on the southern section of the route. At the southern end of the main platform they had their own dead-end siding, and south of Tunnelstrasse they had a rear siding. From here to the junction at Kreuzstein (km 1.6) the track of the single-track main line to Schnabelwaid , which went into operation in 1877, was also used, then to Bayreuth Altstadt (km 5.3) that of the branch line opened in 1904 to Hollfeld. The two intermediate stations Kreuzstein and Röhrensee were also served by the Thurnau (or Kulmbach) trains. On the occasion of the opening of the railway to Thurnau, the Altstadt station was rebuilt and received a second main track with a platform edge.

→ Main article: Bayreuth – Hollfeld railway line

The first train ran from Kulmbach to Thurnau as a test drive on October 10, 1908, one day before the official opening. The journey from Thurnau to Kulmbach took 42 minutes, compared to just under two hours by stagecoach . According to the first timetable, three pairs of passenger trains ran daily. The locomotives and the staff stayed in Thurnau, where there was a machine house with a two-tier locomotive shed.

There were also three pairs of trains a day on the Bayreuth route, and the night was spent in Thurnau. Continuous trains from Bayreuth via Thurnau to Kulmbach were not included in the regular timetable, in this route you drove faster via Neuenmarkt. During the First World War , a single locomotive provided reduced service (two pairs of trains per branch) on the entire route.

In freight traffic, starting from Thurnau, one freight train each was driven to Bayreuth and Kulmbach and back. With the outbreak of the First World War, a "clean" separation between passenger and freight traffic was dispensed with, and the freight wagons were provided to passenger trains. It was not until 1937 that a third pair of weekday passenger trains was reintroduced in the Kulmbacher relation.

Due to the destruction of the city of Bayreuth by aerial bombs in April 1945, the Thurnau trains ended up in Herzoghöhe during the last weeks of the war. As the locomotive could no longer bypass the train, it was pushed back to Thurnau. American fighter-bomber attacks on the train on April 9, 11 and 12 at or in Altenplos are known to have resulted in several deaths and serious injuries.

At the beginning of August 1945 the first scheduled train ran again to Bayreuth, this time continuously from Kulmbach and, due to the destruction of the main station, only continued to Herzoghöhe. It was not until May 1947 that the Bayreuth branch returned to the prewar level. The timetable in the direction of Kulmbach was increased in the post-war years and in 1949 it reached six pairs of passenger trains every weekday, and four pairs of trains ran on Sundays.

In May 1953 the timetable was fundamentally redesigned. Rail buses of the VT 95 series now operated in a common circuit for both branches of the route . Between Thurnau and Kulmbach there were 15 trains a day, on the Bayreuth route twelve (six pairs of trains), but among them were still locomotive-hauled wagon trains.

vehicles

Steam-powered motor locomotives of the ML 2/2 series were stationed in Thurnau until the 1920s. The two-axle superheated steam locomotives built by Maffei in Munich from 1906 to 1908 were the most modern for Bavarian local railways when the line was commissioned. They were operated by the engine driver alone; there was no need for a second man, the stoker . However, its performance was low, on the Thurnau route with gradients of up to 1:40 it could pull a maximum of six local railway cars. For loads over 60 tons, sometimes two locomotives were coupled together with the driver's cabs so that the train driver could operate both machines through the open rear doors. The ML 2/2 was prone to failure and often in need of repair, the series was retired in the early 1920s.

The low output of the ML 2/2 was the reason that freight and passenger traffic were separated from the start on the steeply steep route. The freight trains were of Series D XI drawn widespread since 1895 in the Bavarian branch lines, and 1914 procured tank locomotive . With three driven by four axles, the machine, later referred to as the 98.4 or 98.5 series, developed an output of 320 hp.

The successors to the ML 2/2 were the somewhat more powerful three-axle locomotives of the D IX class (later BR 70.71). This type of construction was designed for local traffic on main lines and was also only partially suitable for the Thurnauer Bahn. With its large drive wheels , it reached a top speed of 65 km / h, which it could not drive here (maximum permitted speed 40 km / h), and it was also difficult on the inclines.

The D VIII locomotives were developed for the Bad Reichenhall – Berchtesgaden mountain local railway in 1888 and became superfluous after they were electrified. A total of four machines of this later 98.6 series were based in Thurnau from 1927, the last one was decommissioned in 1932. They were four-axle tank locomotives with three driven axles and a top speed of 45 km / h.

1932 got Locomotive Station Thurnau brand new steam locomotives of the class 98.10. At that time, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft had only procured the so-called standard locomotives for a long time , but made one last exception for Bavaria. The Krauss-Maffei company in Munich delivered 45 five-axis (with four drive axles) copies of the 450 hp machines. After the abolition of the locomotive station Thurnau they were in 1938 Bahnbetriebswerk restationed Bayreuth, but remain until 1948 on the track.

The last type of steam locomotive in the Thurnauer Land was the 98.11 series . These machines were conversions of the Bavarian type GtL 4/4 (series 98.8–9) from 1911, to which a non-driven running axle was added from 1934 to improve the running properties . They operated on the line until the end of steam operation in 1962.

The class 64 and 86 steam locomotives used during the farewell journey had never traveled the route. Before a work train, however, a Bavarian PtL 2/2 ( glass case ) had come onto the route at least once .

From 1953 rail buses of the VT 95 series were used in passenger transport . After the end of steam operation, the remaining wagon trains were carried by V 100 series diesel locomotives .

Shutdown

Bayreuth Altstadt railway station: The track has already been dismantled in the direction of Kulmbach, the route to Hollfeld is still underway (1974)

Bayreuth Altstadt train station from the south (2006) Coordinates: 49 ° 56 ′ 7.1 ″  N , 11 ° 33 ′ 0.2 ″  E

On May 27, 1973, a farewell day was organized for the Bayreuth-Altstadt- Thurnau section , during which a 16-car passenger train commuted six times between Bayreuth Central Station and Thurnau between 9.30 a.m. and 8.45 p.m. It was pulled by two class 64 locomotives that were coupled tender to tender; At the end of the train, a class 86 steam locomotive was running. The train driver and conductor had put on old Bavarian uniforms, and the large audience sometimes appeared in old traditional costumes. The stops were festively decorated, historic fire engines were presented and a band played. Celebrities, radio and the press were on site, in Thurnau the Lord Mayor of Bayreuth Hans Walter Wild gave a farewell speech.

The last regular passenger train between Bayreuth and Thurnau ran on June 2, 1973. Since June 3, 1973, passenger traffic on the Bayreuth – Thurnau section has been discontinued, as has the Bayreuth – Drossenfeld freight service. From December 30, 1982, the Thurnau – Drossenfeld freight service followed. The tracks were completely dismantled by December 7, 1983, u. a. also in the course of the new construction of the B 85 with the Neudrossenfeld bypass. The track systems in Thurnau train station have been significantly reduced. The Thurnau station building and the associated goods hall were demolished in December 1985, the station building in Drossenfeld in 1987.

The two single-arch stone bridges in the Bayreuth urban area (via Bamberger Straße ( 49 ° 56'12.08 "N 11 ° 32'49.65" E ) directly northwest of the Bayreuth-Altstadt train station and via Adlerstraße ( 49 ° 56'20.39 "N 11 ° 32'47.87 "E )) were canceled in the mid-1970s. The embankment was converted into an urban cycle path and is partially used as a route to the houses on Lotzbeckstraße built in the 1980s. In the city map, the former railway line is shown as "Thurnauer Weg".

On September 3, 1993 the passenger traffic in the last section Kulmbach - Thurnau was finally stopped, at the same time the goods traffic Melkendorf - Thurnau. Freight traffic to Melkendorf was still possible until December 31, 1998, since then only the junction has been served. The tracks are now only from Kulmbach train station to the level crossing in Melkendorf (May 2007).

The former railway line was used in the 1970s from Bayreuth-Oberobsang (junction of the B 85 with Himmelkronstraße) to Heinersreuth (end of Bayreuther Straße just before the start of the town) to upgrade the B 85. The Drossenfelder Weg and the Drossenfelder Straße run on the route of the old B 85. The level crossing at today's end of Bayreuther Straße was considered very dangerous because the road rose and the railway line cut at a very acute angle.

Most of the rest of the railway line was converted into the Rotmain cycle path from Bayreuth to Kulmbach.

Others

Drossenfeld station around 1915

Train stations

• A place Drossenfeld did not exist at the time of railway construction. The station was in Altdrossenfeld, not far from the larger town of Neudrossenfeld. The naming had a Solomonic character.
• On April 27, 1908, the municipalities of Proß, Lopp and Peesten asked for a stop to be set up between Krumme Fohre and Katschenreuth. Because of the long incline of 20 ‰ there over a length of almost three kilometers, the application was not granted.
• Karl Heuberger had been a ticket seller in Herzoghöhe since 1929. When "his" station was converted into an unoccupied bus stop on April 1, 1968, he ended his service as the oldest active railway worker in Germany at the age of 83.

Railway construction

• A Munich construction company employed Italian guest workers in the section from Unterobsang to Krumme Fohre. There were several arguments between them and the locals, which is why the Kulmbach Royal District Office forbade the neighboring communities to hold church fairs.
• There were canteens on the construction sites that sold snacks and beer. However, many of the local workers had their relatives bring their food to work. The Italians made spaghetti on the spot.

See also

• List of train stations and stops in Bayreuth

literature

• Robert Zintl: Bayreuth and the railroad . Gondrom, Bindlach 1992, ISBN 3-8112-0780-6 .
• Robert Zintl: The Thurnauer Bockela . Baumann, Kulmbach 1986, ISBN 3-922091-15-6 .
• Kerstin Schäfer: The high-rise buildings of the Upper Franconian branch lines. History, inventory and conversion . Eisenbahn-Fachbuch-Verlag, Coburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-944237-05-3 .

Web links

• Timetable page in the 1944 timetable
• Rotmain cycle path

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Railway Atlas Germany 2007/2008 . 6th edition. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89494-136-9 . , P. 81.
2. ↑ STREDA - DBAG route data, as of 2003
3. ↑ Information board in Altenplos
4. ↑ ^{a b} Robert Zintl: Das Thurnauer Bockela , p. 98 ff.
5. ^ Robert Zintl: Das Thurnauer Bockela , p. 80.
6. ^ Robert Zintl: Das Thurnauer Bockela , p. 30.
7. ^ Robert Zintl: Das Thurnauer Bockela , p. 69
8. ^ Robert Zintl: Das Thurnauer Bockela , p. 21.