Kaufbeuren – Schongau railway line

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Kaufbeuren – Schongau
Route number : 5443
Course book section (DB) : last 966, 404d (until 1970)
Route length: 31.1 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Top speed: 50 km / h
Legend
Route - straight ahead
 from Lindau
Station, station
 0.0 Kaufbeuren 681  m above sea level NN
   
 0.5 Wertach
   
 to Buchloe
   
 4.0 Mauerstetten
   
 7.2 After that
   
 7.4 Linden (Schwab)
   
 10.9 Aufkirch (Schwab)
   
 13.4 Osterzeller Viaduct
   
 13.9 Osterzell
   
 17.0 Sachsenrieder Forest (until 1965) 818  m above sea level NN
   
 20.9 Sachsenried
   
 24.3 Schwabbruck
   
 27.7 Altenstadt (Oberbay)
   
 from Landsberg am Lech
Station, station
 31.1 Schongau 681  m above sea level NN
Route - straight ahead
 to Peißenberg

The Kaufbeuren – Schongau railway was a single-track, non-electrified branch line in the Bavarian administrative districts of Swabia and Upper Bavaria . It was 31.1 kilometers long and connected the cities of Kaufbeuren and Schongau . It was also called Schongauer Bähnle or Sachsenrieder Bähnle because it crossed the Sachsenrieder forest , which is popular with tourists .

The line was opened from 1922 to 1923 as a local line by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and was used primarily for freight traffic. In 1972 the Deutsche Bundesbahn stopped passenger traffic on the entire route and freight traffic between Linden and Altenstadt due to the decline in traffic . The section from Linden to Kaufbeuren was operated in freight traffic until 1977 and the line from Schongau to Altenstadt until 1992.

history

planning

In 1861 the railway committees from Schongau, Kaufbeuren, Weilheim in Upper Bavaria and Bad Tölz in Schongau came together to start planning a railway connection from Kaufbeuren via Schongau and Penzberg to Bad Tölz. Various variants of a railway line south of Munich were examined. from Munich to Starnberg and from Munich via Holzkirchen to Rosenheim . A variant was a so-called mountain belt railway from Rosenheim via the Bavarian Maximiliansbahn, which had been in existence since 1857, to Holzkirchen and then via Bad Tölz, Penzberg, Weilheim, Peißenberg and Schongau to Kaufbeuren. The second variant was a connection from Starnberg , where there was to be a connection to the line from Munich opened in 1854 , via Tutzing , Weilheim, Peißenberg and Schongau to Kaufbeuren. In November 1862, the railway construction section of the Royal Bavarian Transport Authority presented the plans for the routes from Starnberg via Tutzing to Penzberg and from Tutzing via Weilheim to Peißenberg . Since the two lines were supposed to end in Penzberg and Peißenberg, this endangered the planning of the continuous rail connection from Kaufbeuren to Bad Tölz. The railway committees concerned therefore decided to commission their own planning for the mountain belt railway. With the start of construction of the lines from Starnberg via Tutzing to Penzberg and Peißenberg, however , the realization of the mountain belt railway was postponed.

From 1899 there were renewed efforts to connect a local line to Schongau on the Weilheim – Peißenberg railway line , which was opened in 1866 . In 1905 the planning of this route began. Thereupon in 1905 the city of Kaufbeuren and some communities east of Kaufbeuren again expressed the wish for a connection from Kaufbeuren to Schongau. In November 1906 the General Directorate of the Royal Bavarian Transport Authority was commissioned to draw up a planning draft. On June 1, 1908, the Bavarian State Parliament approved this draft. Since the route from Kaufbeuren to Schongau was implemented as a local railway , the communities had to pay for the majority of the land. Land negotiations began on January 23, 1909. On September 2, 1912, parliament passed the law on the construction of the local railway. However, there were disputes between the cities of Kaufbeuren and Schongau over the distribution of costs, so that in the end the city of Kaufbeuren had to assume a large part of the costs for the acquisition of land on the route. After the conclusion of these negotiations, the start of construction was planned for August 1914, but was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War .

Track construction and commissioning

The paved bike path on the embankment between Kaufbeuren and Aufkirch

The construction of the line could only begin after the end of the First World War in 1919 under the direction of the new railway construction inspection in Kaufbeuren . The construction work was carried out by the construction companies Friedrich Zink from Munich and Hans Heitzer from Donauwörth , among others , and some local craft businesses were also involved. Because of the great height differences between the Wertach valley and the Sachsenrieder forest, the terrain was very unfavorable. Therefore, some complex bridge structures, deep cuts in the terrain and up to 18 meters high railway embankments had to be built. Because of the hard Nagelfluh rock, the construction companies had to carry out larger blasts at Stocken in order to cut the terrain there. This significantly extended the construction time.

The Deutsche Reichsbahn built the station buildings along the route according to a uniform construction plan. All stations, with the exception of the Osterzell and Sachsenrieder Forst stops , received single-storey buildings in the local railway style with a gable roof , which consisted of a brick part with service and waiting room and a wooden goods hall with a covered loading ramp. In addition, uniform residential buildings for railway employees were built in Schwabbruck, Sachsenried, Linden and Mauerstetten, which were designed as two-story brick buildings with a crooked hipped roof .

On April 1, 1922, the Deutsche Reichsbahn opened the section from Kaufbeuren to Aufkirch . After four years of construction, the section from Aufkirch to Schongau was officially opened on February 17, 1923. Schoolchildren and representatives of the communities along the route were given a free ride on the day of the opening.

Operation and shutdown

On February 18, 1923, the Deutsche Reichsbahn commenced regular operations between Kaufbeuren and Schongau. The importance of the local railway lay mainly in freight traffic. Among other things, pitch coal was transported from the Peiting mine via Schongau and Kaufbeuren to the Allgäu and Swabia . In addition, the Deutsche Reichsbahn also loaded round wood from the Sachsenrieder forest and the Denklingen Rotwald, among other things as pit wood for the Peiting mine . A separate Sachsenrieder Forst stop has been set up for loading wood . In addition, agricultural products and cattle were loaded into local freight traffic.

Passenger traffic on the route was of rather minor importance. For decades the Sachsenrieder Bähnle drove many Sunday excursionists from Kaufbeuren to the Sachsenrieder Forst stop , from where hiking trails led to the Waldhaus excursion restaurant . There the railway line reached its peak at 818 meters.

During the Second World War , there was a sharp increase in freight traffic due to the construction of military installations in the Altenstadt area . Therefore there were plans to set up a separate siding to the Schongau Air Base, which opened in 1939 . This should branch off from the route at Altenstadt station coming from Schongau and lead about 500 meters to the southwest. The construction of a loading ramp at the end of the planned connection has already begun, but the construction of the siding is no longer realized.

In 1959, twenty passenger trains and four freight trains were still running on the route every day. In the period that followed, the volume of goods fell significantly due to the increasing shift to the road. In 1968 the Peiting mine was closed and the coal trains on the line were completely stopped. Also the passenger traffic, which had always been of minor importance, decreased due to the increasing individual traffic and the introduction of parallel bus routes. In the 1971 summer timetable, there were only five pairs of passenger trains between Schongau and Kaufbeuren, while eight buses ran simultaneously on the same route. On October 1, 1972, the German Federal Railroad stopped passenger traffic on the entire route. On December 31, 1972, it also ended freight traffic between Linden and Altenstadt and closed this section of the route. In September 1973, the signals and the technical systems of the level crossings were dismantled on the disused section and the tracks were dismantled by the end of 1973.

Road bridge at the Schongau hospital. To the left of the track of the Fuchstalbahn, the route of the track of the Sachsenrieder Bähnle, which was abandoned in 1983, can be seen.

A freight train ran between Kaufbeuren and Linden over the next few years. In 1977, a bridge over the railway line was needed when the new federal highway 12 east of Kaufbeuren was built. Since the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the Federal Ministry of Transport did not want to bear the costs of the bridge, the DB stopped the last freight train on September 1, 1977 and put the route down. The tracks were dismantled that same month. The section between Schongau and Altenstadt was still used as a rail connection for freight traffic.

In 1983, to the east of the Schongau hospital, a bridge was rebuilt on the road coming from Hohenfurch (at the time part of federal highway 17 ) over the line to Altenstadt, which was shared with the Landsberg – Schongau railway line . The Deutsche Bundesbahn dismantled the track of the Sachsenrieder Bähnles running parallel to the Fuchstalbahn for a length of 1.5 kilometers and inserted the track at the junction of the two lines with a new switch directly into the Fuchstalbahn. This enabled the costs for the new bridge to be reduced, as only one track had to be crossed. In 1992, when the Schongau bypass road was built (as part of today's federal highway 17), a bridge over the remaining stretch from Schongau to Altenstadt would have been necessary. Since again neither the DB nor the Ministry of Transport wanted to pay for the new bridge, the DB decided to close the section of the route. On September 27, 1992, the remaining freight traffic between Schongau and Altenstadt was discontinued and the route was closed. By 2000 the track systems were almost completely dismantled.

Route description

course

Branch from the Fuchstalbahn, north of Schongau, April 2013
Osterzeller Viaduct 2014

The Kaufbeuren – Schongau railway line began at Kaufbeuren station . From there it ran together with the Bavarian Allgäu Railway to the northeast and crossed the Wertach . At km 0.6 it branched off from the main line and continued to the northeast, while the Allgäu Railway turns north. 300 meters further on, the local railway also swung north and crossed the state road from Kaufbeuren to Schongau in 2014 . At 1.3 km, a rail connection to a gravel works was available until 1966, the track of which led down into the gravel pit with a gradient of 30 ‰. Behind the gravel works, the route turned in an 80-degree curve to the east and left the Wertach valley and the Kaufbeuren urban area with a steep incline. It ran largely in a straight line over two kilometers to the train station of Mauerstetten , where it swings slightly to the northeast and crosses the place in the north. Behind Mauerstetten, the local railway continued in a winding course in a north-easterly direction and crossed the Gennach north of Linden . From Linden it ran in a straight line almost directly to the east, only to turn south in a tight curve at km 9.0. After another bend to the west, the route crossed the Hühnerbach and reached the village of Aufkirch . With many bends it followed the Hühnerbach towards the south via Frankenhofen, which has no station on the route, to Osterzell . At kilometer 13.4, she crossed a street on the Galgenberg with the three-arched Osterzeller viaduct . At the village of Stocken, the line reached the Osterzell stop and in 2014 crossed the state road through an underpass . Running south in many curves, the route left the Hühnerbachtal and climbed steadily into the Sachsenried forest . After two further level crossings over the state road in 2014, the Sachsenrieder Bähnle reached the Sachsenrieder Forst stop , which, at 818.5 meters above sea ​​level, represented the apex of the route.

Behind the timber loading station, the line continued sloping down towards the south. After about 1.5 kilometers, it turned east and left the Sachsenrieder forest. After another detour to the southeast, it crossed Sachsenried station . Leading in slight curves to the east, it crossed the Kaltenbach and then led largely in a straight line to the community of Schwabbruck on the Schönach . Behind the Schwabbruck railway station on the southern edge of the municipality , it continued in a straight line to Altenstadt and, after a curve to the northeast, reached the municipality's railway station . Continuing downhill, the line ran north-east towards the Landsberg – Schongau railway line and turned south in a tight bend. Until 1983, the Sachsenrieder Bähnle ran parallel to the railway line from Landsberg with a gradient of over 20 ‰ in slight curves to the south and reached the Schongau terminus after 1.5 kilometers . After the dismantling of the line between the branch and the Schongau station , the line in front of the bridge of the former federal road 17 was introduced with a new switch directly into the Landsberg – Schongau line.

Operating points

Kaufbeuren

Reception building at Kaufbeuren station since 1979

At the Kaufbeuren station, the Sachsenrieder Bähnle branches off from the Bavarian Allgäu Railway . The station was put into operation in 1847 as the provisional terminus of the Ludwigs-Süd-Nord-Bahn coming from Augsburg . After the extension to Lindau , the Royal Bavarian State Railways moved the station closer to the city ​​center of Kaufbeuren by 1854 . With the opening of the line from Kaufbeuren to Schongau in 1922 it became a separation station , and since its closure in 1977 it has been a through station again . The original station building from 1854 was a three- story brick building with a gable roof and was demolished in 1978. As a replacement, a single-storey hexagonal clinker brick building with a flat roof was built until 1979 , which still serves as a reception building today. Four of the original five platform tracks still exist. Before the Schongau line was closed, there were four main tracks without a platform as well as additional loading and siding tracks, which were gradually dismantled from 1972 to 1994.

Mauerstetten

Former railway house in Mauerstetten

The Mauerstetten station, opened in 1922, was located in the north of the municipality of Mauerstetten . It was equipped with an operations building in the local railway style according to the standard construction plan of the line, which was located south of the track. To the north of the line there was a residential building for railway employees, also built according to the standard building plan, with a half-hip roof. The track system consisted of a continuous main track with a bulk platform and a loading track connected on both sides to the northeast of the reception building. The loading siding was connected to butt tracks on both sides , of which the northern one was about 100 meters long and led to an adjacent timber storage area. To the west of the station was a level crossing on the connecting road to the Steinholz district of Mauerstetten, which was served from the station. In the 1950s, the Deutsche Bundesbahn dismantled three of the four points on the loading track, so that it was only connected on one side towards Linden. After the line was closed in 1977, the track systems of the station were dismantled and the operating building demolished. The railway house with a crooked roof has been preserved to this day.

Linden (Schwab)

Former Linden warehouse

The Linden (Schwab) station, east of the Gennach and north of the Stöttwang district of Linden, was put into operation in 1922. To the north of the track, the station was given a single-storey unit building in the local railway style and a bulk platform on the continuous main track. To the east of the building there was a loading track connected to the main track on both sides with two butt tracks, of which the western one connected the warehouse next to the company building. In addition, there was also a uniform railway residence with a crooked hip roof in Linden. To the west of the station was a barrier-free level crossing that was served from the station. From the 1950s onwards, three of the four switches were dismantled and only one side could be used on the loading track from the direction of Aufkirch. In the last few years, only regular freight traffic to the warehouse was important in Linden. In 1969 the DB downgraded the station to an unoccupied stop. On October 1, 1972, all passenger traffic and on December 31, 1972, freight traffic between Linden and Altenstadt was suspended, making Linden the end point of the route coming from Kaufbeuren. In 1973 the company building and the toilet facilities were demolished. Until 1977 a freight train ran from Kaufbeuren to the Linden warehouse. After it was discontinued in 1977, the tracks were completely dismantled. The warehouse was converted into an office building and is still there today.

Aufkirch (Schwab)

The Aufkirch (Schwab) train crossing station was the operational center of the route. It was located about 1.5 kilometers south of the Kaltental district of Aufkirch in the village of Helmishofen. From 1922 until the line was rebuilt in 1923, it was the provisional end point of the line coming from Kaufbeuren. The operations building, built according to the standard plan, was located southwest of the tracks. There were also two residential buildings for railway employees that were not built according to the standard construction plan. The track system of the station consisted of the continuous main track, a 330 meter long siding , as well as a loading track connected on both sides with two adjoining butt tracks. The southern of the two butt tracks was about 200 meters long and led to a wood storage area where wood from the Sachsenrieder forest was transferred from road vehicles to railroad cars. Dirt platforms were available on the main track and on the siding. In addition to train crossings, passenger trains coming from Kaufbeuren also ended at Aufkirch station. The level crossing to the north of the station was served from the station. In 1958, the Deutsche Bundesbahn installed new lever mechanisms on the switches on the siding so that the switches could be set directly from the operations building. In 1967 the loading track was shortened to 120 meters and two points were dismantled so that it could only be used on one side from the direction of Linden. In May 1968 the DB withdrew the staff from the station and stopped the local freight traffic in Aufkirch. After the line was closed in 1972, the tracks were dismantled and the buildings demolished. Today there are no more relics of the station.

Osterzell

The Osterzell stop was in the Hühnerbachtal east of the Osterzell district of Stocken. Because of its location, it was often referred to as Halting Halt . The stop, which was only used for passenger traffic, was equipped with a bulk platform on the main track. A one-story brick building with a gable roof and wood-clad gable to the west of the track served as a bus shelter. After the cessation of passenger traffic in 1972, the bus shelter was demolished a little later. Today there are no more relics of the breakpoint.

Sachsenried Forest

The in the center of the axes Rieder forestry preferred stop axes Rieder timber was of a height of 818.5 meters at the apex of the track. The station was located directly on the 2014 state road and was used to load wood and to stop the minor traffic of forest workers and hikers. Due to its minor importance, there was no station building. West of the main track there was a 150 meter long loading track connected on both sides. In the north and south, the loading track was connected to a stump track, of which the longer northern one was used to park freight wagons. A corrugated iron hut was located between the main track and the loading track , which contained a telephone set and was used for the scales on the loading track . To the west of the loading track was the timber loading area one meter above the tracks. In 1962, the Deutsche Bundesbahn stopped passenger traffic at the stop due to the low number of passengers. In 1965, the timber loading was also stopped and the loading track dismantled. Today there are no more relics of the breakpoint.

Sachsenried

Wall painting at the former Sachsenried train station

The station Sachsenried was about 1.5 kilometers southwest of the community Schwabsoien belonging resort Sachsenried . As a train crossing station, it was equipped with a siding south of the continuous main track. The main and siding track each had a bulk platform. Furthermore, north of the main track there was a loading track with two butt tracks connected on both sides. The uniform operating building in the local railway style, north of the platforms, was east of the loading track. To the north of the operations building there was a residential building for the railway staff built according to the standard construction plan, and there was another smaller railway dwelling to the north of the loading platform. The station had a locomotive water station on the main track, which among other things served the locomotives of the individual passenger trains ending in Sachsenried. Furthermore, the water supplies of the coal trains were replenished in Sachsenried before they drove over the steep incline to the Sachsenried forest. In the 1950s, the Deutsche Bundesbahn dismantled three of the four points on the loading track so that it was only passable on one side from the direction of Sachsenried Forest. In 1958 she equipped the three remaining points with levers so that they could be set directly from the company building. In 1965 the local freight traffic was given up and in 1968 the station was downgraded to an unoccupied stop by the withdrawal of service personnel. After the line was closed in 1972, the tracks were dismantled at the end of 1973 and the buildings were demolished a little later. Today there are no more relics of the station.

Schwabbruck

The southern edge of Schwabbruck train station Schwabbruck was located east of the train station operated level crossing the road to Hutten Ried . The operations building and the residential building for railway employees were built according to the standard construction plans and were located north of the line. In addition to the continuous main track with a bulk platform, the station had a loading track connected on both sides with two adjacent butt tracks east of the company building. From the 1950s onwards, when three of the four points were dismantled, the loading track was only connected to one side in the direction of Sachsenried. In 1967 the Deutsche Bundesbahn withdrew the service personnel, downgraded the station to an unoccupied stop and stopped local freight traffic. After the line was closed, all tracks were dismantled at the end of 1973 and the company building was later demolished. The railway house with a half-hip roof is still there today.

Altenstadt (Oberbay)

The Altenstadt (Oberbay) station , which went into operation in 1923, was located in the middle between two barrier-free level crossings that were served from the station. The station building in the local railway style, built according to the standard construction plans, was located north of the main line. In addition to the continuous main track with Schüttbahnsteig, there was a loading track connected on both sides, which was the only one on the route that did not have connecting butt tracks. From 1937 onwards, two major military installations were built in the Altenstadt area, the Schongau Air Base, completed in 1939, and the Flaartillery School IV, completed in 1941 . As a result, the importance of Altenstadt station in passenger and freight traffic increased significantly. In 1938 the station was given a siding south of the main track with a second bulk platform, which also served as an additional loading track. Two butt tracks were connected to the previous loading track by installing a crossover switch at the eastern end. The longer butt track, running parallel to the loading track in the direction of the goods shed, was used to load tank cars onto Culemeyer road scooters to the Schongau air base. After the end of the Second World War, the station continued to be important due to the freight traffic to the barracks. At the beginning of the 1950s, the Deutsche Bundesbahn therefore converted the operations building. The wooden cladding was removed from the station building and a signal box extension was built on the track side. The wooden goods shed annex on the east side was replaced by a brick goods hall that was two thirds longer. The loading ramp was extended accordingly and was accessible via three gates on the track side of the goods shed. With the cessation of passenger traffic, the DB withdrew the service personnel on October 1, 1972. When the line was closed between Altenstadt and Linden at the end of 1972, the station became the end point of the line coming from Schongau. The siding was shortened in 1973 in the west and provided with a buffer stop. The main track in the direction of Kaufbeuren was also closed with a buffer stop in front of the level crossing. In September 1992, the DB completely stopped freight traffic and dismantled track systems and operating buildings. For a long time, track remains were left on the station grounds. Today the station area is completely used with new residential and commercial buildings and a supermarket parking lot; Remnants of the station buildings or tracks can no longer be seen.

Schongau

Entrance building of the Schongau train station since 1959

The Landsberg am Lech – Schongau line , the Peißenberg – Schongau line and the line from Kaufbeuren all met at Schongau station . The station was put into operation in 1886 by the Royal Bavarian State Railways as the terminus of the line from Landsberg . He received a three-storey station building completed in 1889 with a gable roof, mid-sized buildings and a semicircular staircase extension. With the commissioning of the line to Peißenberg in 1917, the station became a through station , and after the completion of the line to Kaufbeuren in 1923, it became a separation station . In 1959, the Deutsche Bundesbahn rebuilt the old station building and removed the mid-buildings and staircase annex, the single-storey annex from the 1930s remained unchanged. In 1992, with the closure of the line to Altenstadt, the station became a through station again. From 1921 to 1984 there was a depot in Schongau with a twelve-hour roundhouse . Today only the line to Peißenberg is operated by passenger traffic.

Railway embankment north of Schongau, with kilometer stone 29.2, March 2014
Arch bridge in the Sachsenrieder forest

Today's state of the route

The former railway line of the Sachsenrieder Bähnle has been largely preserved to this day. Only in the local areas of Mauerstetten, Aufkirch and Altenstadt and in a larger section near Schwabbruck has it been built over or has disappeared due to land consolidation. Both in Kaufbeuren and in Schongau, the track beds are still visible at the junction of the Allgäu Railway and the Fuchstal Railway. In Kaufbeuren the cut of the route is not built over until the beginning of the cycle path. North of Schongau, shortly before it joins the Fuchstalbahn, the embankment has been completely preserved over a length of around 500 meters and leads through farmland without being used as a path. In addition, there are remains of the switch to the Fuchstalbahn that was built in 1983 near Schongau.

In the Sachsenrieder forest there are still remains of track and individual kilometer stones have been preserved. Six former railway bridges on the route are still preserved, including the large Osterzeller Viaduct, three smaller arch bridges near Frankenhofen, Stocken and in the Sachsenrieder forest, as well as two river bridges over the Kaltenbach and the Reigerbach. All station buildings along the route were demolished, but two former railway houses in Mauerstetten and Schwabbruck and the warehouse in Linden have been preserved.

Bike trails on and along the route

After the closure, most of the tracks were dismantled. The Ostallgäu district and the city of Kaufbeuren bought the route from the Kaufbeuren city limits to the Sachsenrieder Forst stop in 1989 and laid a regional cycle path on the remaining gravel bed , which has been part of the steam locomotive circuit since 1992 . Instead of the broken railway bridges over the Gennach and the Hühnerbach, new wooden bridges were built. The Weilheim-Schongau district established another Sachsenrieder Bähnle cycle path in the west of the district , which runs from Schongau close to the old railway line and was inaugurated on September 29, 2013.

traffic

Freight transport

From the beginning, the local railway was used especially for freight traffic. Of particular importance were the coal trains that transported the pitch coal extracted from the Peiting mine over the Schongau – Peißenberg railway to Schongau and from there via the Sachsenrieder Bähnle into the Allgäu and Swabia. Because of the steep incline, heavy coal trains were given an additional push locomotive between the Sachsenried train station and the Sachsenrieder Forst stop. In addition, logs from the Sachsenrieder forest and the Denklingen Rotwald were also loaded, which was transported to the Peiting mine as pit timber, among other things. In addition to the wood loading point in Sachsenrieder Forst, the stations in Aufkirch and Mauerstetten were also used for wood loading, for which there were separate wood storage areas. Agricultural products and live cattle were loaded in local freight traffic. Until the 1960s, a cattle transport train drove to the slaughterhouse in Munich once a week, which served all stations along the route.

With the air base opened in 1939 and the flak cartillery school completed in 1941 in the Altenstadt area, freight traffic between Schongau and Altenstadt increased significantly. Among other things, tank car trains with aviation fuel ran to Altenstadt train station in the Second World War to be loaded onto the street. From mid-1944, flat cars with anti-aircraft guns were stationed in Altenstadt to defend the air base and the anti-aircraft gun school. After the end of World War II, freight traffic to the barracks continued to be important.

In 1959, four freight trains were still running on the route every day. In the 1960s, the importance of freight transport decreased due to the shift to the road. In 1965, the timber loading in the Sachsenrieder forest was ended. Until September 25, 1966, a siding branching off the railway line in the Kaufbeuren urban area was still being served to a gravel works. In 1968, the Deutsche Bundesbahn stopped the coal trains with the closure of the Peiting mine. After the cessation of freight traffic between Altenstadt and Linden on December 31, 1972, there was still a freight train between Kaufbeuren and Linden to serve the warehouse there until 1977.

Due to the importance of freight traffic to the air base, which is now used as an air landing and air transport school, the section between Schongau and Altenstadt remained in operation as a siding even after the rest of the line was closed. Until 1986, the Deutsche Bundesbahn supplied 1,500 tons of coal a year for the barracks' heating system. In 1992 freight traffic was completely stopped.

passenger traffic

Passenger traffic between Kaufbeuren and Schongau was always of minor importance. In addition to local regional traffic, the route was also used for excursions to the Sachsenrieder forest. Only passenger trains ran , some of which were tied from Schongau on the Schongau – Peißenberg railway to Weilheim . Individual trains only used parts of the route and ended in Aufkirch or Sachsenried. In 1930 six trains ran on the route between Kaufbeuren and Schongau and two more between Schongau and Sachsenried on weekdays. In 1939 there were a total of six pairs of trains, five of which traveled the entire route and one the section from Kaufbeuren to Aufkirch.

Due to the airport in Altenstadt, the volume of passenger traffic between Schongau and Altenstadt increased significantly during World War II. The Deutsche Reichsbahn introduced its own trains to Altenstadt, while reducing the number of trains on the rest of the route. In 1944 there were still three trains running from Kaufbeuren to Schongau and one from Kaufbeuren to Aufkirch. There were three pairs of trains between Altenstadt and Schongau, one of which went via Schongau to Weilheim and one to Peiting Ost .

In the 1950s there was an increase in passenger traffic, which peaked in 1959 with 20 passenger trains. After that, passenger traffic continued to decline due to individual traffic and parallel bus routes. In the 1971 summer timetable, there were still five pairs of trains running between Kaufbeuren and Schongau, one pair of trains being tied through to Weilheim and a single train already starting in Hohenpeißenberg . On October 1, 1972, the Deutsche Bundesbahn stopped all passenger traffic.

On September 25, 1992, shortly before the Schongau – Altenstadt section was closed, another special train to Altenstadt station, consisting of a class 628.0 multiple unit , ran again.

vehicles

In the Reichsbahn time came on the track especially wet steam - tank locomotives of the series 98.4-5 (Bavarian D XI) are used. The locomotives were located in the Schongau depot, which was newly built in 1921 . The Deutsche Reichsbahn used two-axle platform wagons as rolling stock in the passenger trains.

From around 1955, the Deutsche Bundesbahn replaced the steam locomotives in passenger transport with Uerdinger rail buses of the VT 95 series , which were also based in Schongau. From the 1960s, rail buses of the VT 98 series were also used. In addition, diesel locomotives of the V 100 series with three-axle conversion wagons ran on the Sachsenrieder Bähnle . In addition to the V 100, the DB also used shunting locomotives of the V 60 series and small locomotives of the types Köf II and Köf III in local freight traffic and for transfer trips .

literature

  • Peter Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . EOS Verlag, St. Ottilien 2011, ISBN 978-3-8306-7455-9 .

Web links

Commons : Kaufbeuren – Schongau railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 297-298 .
  2. ^ Hans-Dietrich Koch: Allgäu Railway. private website, archived from the original on May 7, 2008 ; Retrieved October 14, 2013 .
  3. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 298-300 .
  4. ^ Manfred Hofer: The railway in Schongau. Published by: Stadt Schongau, Schongau 1986, p. 38
  5. ^ One hundred years of the Peißenberg coal mine 1837 to 1937 , publisher: Bayerische Berg-, Hütten- und Salzwerke AG, Peißenberg 1937, p. 59
  6. ^ Auerbergland: Waldhaus in the Sachsenrieder forest. Schwabsoien community, accessed on October 14, 2013 .
  7. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 311 .
  8. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 210 .
  9. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 301-304 .
  10. ↑ a b Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 304-305 .
  11. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 322-327 .
  12. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 320-321 .
  13. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 319-320 .
  14. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 317-319 .
  15. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 316-317 .
  16. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 315-316 .
  17. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 313-315 .
  18. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 312-313 .
  19. ↑ a b c Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 310-312 .
  20. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 205-211 .
  21. ↑ BY 5.03 Steam locomotive circuit on achim-bartoschek.de
  22. ↑ Adventure bike route Sachsenrieder Bähnle: The path builds bridges. Münchner Merkur online, September 29, 2013, accessed on October 14, 2013 .
  23. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 301 .
  24. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 315 .
  25. ↑ Kursbuch table 404d in the timetable from 1939 to deutsches-kursbuch.de, accessed on 22 March 2014
  26. ↑ Kursbuchtabelle 404d in Kursbuch from 1944 on pkjs.de, accessed on March 22, 2014
  27. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 364 .
  28. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 305 .
  29. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 301-302 .
  30. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 307-308 .
  31. ^ Rasch: The branch lines between Ammersee, Lech and Wertach. With the Ammerseebahn, Pfaffenwinkelbahn & Co around the Bavarian Rigi . 2011, p. 214 .