Blankenburg – Quedlinburg railway line

Blankenburg – Quedlinburg
Former platform 1 West in Quedlinburg
Route number (DB) :	6863
Course book range :	ex 719 (1968)
Route length:	19.8 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend 0.0 Blankenburg (Harz) terminus Rübelandbahn from Tanne to Halberstadt 4.6 Helsungen 7.2 Timmenrode 191 m Connection to the Thale heating plant 8.8 Thale North 10.6 Thale Roßtrappe Bode EHW Thale siding 11.4 Thale Bodetal 10.2 Warnstedt 11.4 Siding sand pit Neitzel 12.5 Siding company Ebert 12.5 Weddersleben Connection between Keferstein and Weddersleben paper mill 14.32 Maaßmühle Maaßmühle siding Brickyard siding Bode 15.6 Dippenword from Thale Hbf Siding wagon factory from Gernrode (today Selketalbahn) 16.7 Quedlinburg West 17.6 Siding Seeds Mette Connection between the state railway and Quäke 17.7 Sidings at Holzhandlung Keune 17.9 Quedlinburg 122 m to Halberstadt

The Blankenburg (-Thale) –Quedlinburg railway line (also known as Quäke , from Quäke for the "squeaking" acoustic warning signal of the trains) is a former branch line on the edge of the northern Harz , which connected the cities of Quedlinburg , Thale and Blankenburg (Harz) . The route length was 24 kilometers.

history

Bodethal train station around 1910

The line was built by the Halberstadt-Blankenburg Railway . After the first plans were available in 1901, there were building permits in 1905. On June 30, 1907, the Blankenburg – Thale section was opened, and the line to Quedlinburg was closed the following year. The opening took place on April 5, 1908.

In 1929 there were six passenger trains in each direction between Blankenburg and Thale, from Thale to Quedlinburg there were four pairs of passenger trains. Some of the trains traveled the entire route and therefore had to change direction in Thale Bodetal . In the last years of operation of the line, the offer was similar, in 1968 six pairs of trains ran daily on both parts of the line, three of them non-stop.

Due to the excessive use of the track bed by freight trains in the years 1963-1965 (the Quäke route was a diversion line for the closed Halberstadt – Blankenburg line ) and the lack of maintenance, freight traffic between Thale Nord and Weddersleben was stopped on May 26, 1968. Passenger traffic on the Thale – Quedlinburg section was discontinued on June 1, 1969 and the section was closed. Freight traffic between Weddersleben and Quedlinburg was carried out until December 31, 1973, after which a siding to a brick factory near Quedlinburg was served.

On March 20, 1973, the passenger traffic on the second part of the route Blankenburg – Thale was stopped, the freight traffic continued to be important. When a lignite power station was built in Thale in the 1980s, it even increased. The final shutdown took place on January 29, 1999. On April 10, 1994, before the shutdown, some special trips from Blankenburg to Thale were operated in shuttle operation with the Prussian train in order to maintain the route as a tourist attraction. However, these attempts could not be carried out. The section of the route in Quedlinburg was used by industry until 1993.

The track system was also torn down in stages. While the Thale – Weddersleben section, closed in 1969, was demolished in 1975, the remaining Timmenrode – Thale section was demolished in 1994 shortly after its closure. A direct feeder for car traffic to the Bodetal was to be implemented on the old railway embankment . However, this failed due to the financing. In the years 2003–2005, the last remains of the track in the Quedlinburg area disappeared. From 2016, holiday homes were built on the site of the Thale Bodetal train station . The former reception building was integrated as a reception and shop.

Route

The Quäke had to other railway lines only two connections: one in front of the train station Quedlinburg to the state railway and once in the head station Blankenburg to other stretches of Halberstadt-Blankenburg Railway. So travelers had the choice between the route Blankenburg – Timmenrode– (Thale–) Weddersleben – Quedlinburg (Quäke) and Blankenburg– Halberstadt –Quedlinburg (–Thale) (HBE and Staatsbahn). Coming from Blankenburg, there was initially a common route with the Halberstädter route, before the route branched off in a right curve on the northern outskirts (where the Alte Halberstädter Strasse now crosses with the B 6n ). To the east of Timmenrode there was the corresponding stopping point, which was also the highest point in the route at 191 meters above sea level.

In the area of ​​today's industrial area Thale Nord, the route branched off in the direction of Thale Bodetal. But there was also a direct possibility of driving towards Quedlinburg. South of Warnstedt - the former station building and the street Am Bahnhof still bear witness to this today - we continued towards Weddersleben. On the northern outskirts there is also a Bahnhofstrasse and the restored reception building. After the route runs along the Bode, it changes sides of the river shortly before the Dippenword stop. A short time later, the tracks of the state railway run next to that of the Quäke. The Quäke line ended at platform 1 West in Quedlinburg.

The section from Timmenrode to Thale Bodetal went west of Thale past the cemetery, crossed the Roßtrappenstrasse and the Bode. Thale Roßtrappe was the largest freight yard on the route. Thale Bodetal was a terminus. It still exists today and is owned by a local company. The old, dilapidated bridge is still there today.

literature

• Josef Högemann: Eisenbahnchronik Harz - The history of the railways in the Harz , EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2007, ISBN 3-88255-722-2

Web links

• Photo series special trip Blankenburg – Thale / Bodetal 1994
• [1]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Josef Högemann: Harz Railway Chronicle - The History of the Railways in the Harz , p. 102
2. ↑ Josef Högemann: Harz Railway Chronicle - The History of the Railways in the Harz , p. 108
3. ↑ ^{a b} Josef Högemann: Eisenbahnchronik Harz - The history of the railways in the Harz , p. 299
4. ^ Josef Högemann: Eisenbahnchronik Harz - The history of the railways in the Harz , p. 109
5. ↑ http://www.voll-dampf.de/thale-bodetal.htm
6. ↑ Detlef Horenburg: New holiday village in Thale: Lighthouse in the Bodetal . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . ( mz-web.de [accessed on July 20, 2017]).
7. ↑ Tourism: New holiday village for Thale. (No longer available online.) In: mdr.de. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017 ; Retrieved July 20, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.