Olbernhau-Grünthal – Deutschneudorf railway line
| Junction Neuschönberg – Deutschneudorf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number : | 6670; sä. KD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course book range : | 169b (1966) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 8.196 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 25 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 180 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Olbernhau-Grünthal-Deutschneudorf railway , also known as the Schweinitztalbahn , was a branch line in Saxony . It ran in the Schweinitztal from Olbernhau to Deutschneudorf in the Ore Mountains . The line, which opened in 1927, was closed in 1969.
history
Prehistory and projects
After the completion of the Pockau-Lengefeld-Olbernhau railway in 1875, the communities in Schweinitztal had already requested the construction of a narrow-gauge branch line from Olbernhau in 1887. However, this plan was rejected for reasons of profitability. In 1908 the project was discussed again. In the course of the discussion, the Austrian side came up with the idea of building the railway with normal gauge and extending it beyond Deutschneudorf to the Bohemian lignite district around Oberleutensdorf . The 32.3 km long route was to be built within two years at a cost of 5.78 million marks. The plan was rejected by the Saxon side, however, because the planned train stations were too far from the settlements in Schweinitztal and the construction costs were also estimated to be too high.
However, on August 13, 1913, the Royal Saxon State Railways granted the concession to build a standard-gauge line between Olbernhau and Deutschneudorf. Because of the later planned through traffic to Bohemia, the line was laid out as a secondary line with the parameters of a main line . On January 13, 1916, the Kingdom of Saxony concluded a state treaty with Austria, which contractually regulated the section-wise crossing of Austrian territory. In particular, the contract provided for the construction of a Brandau traffic station on Austrian territory, which was only to serve passenger traffic. In addition, agreements were made to set up a joint border station near Gebirgsneudorf , if the Austrian continuation line to Wiesa-Oberleutensdorf, which had already been planned, would be implemented.
Construction and opening
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Construction began on June 23, 1914 and was originally scheduled to be completed by May 1, 1915. However, the outbreak of the First World War delayed construction work. In the autumn of the same year, the construction work was stopped due to the war and the laid construction track dismantled. At this point in time, some of the engineering structures and the civil servants' houses in Niederlochmühle and Deutschkatharinenberg had already been completed.
After the end of the First World War, the construction of the line continued, but this was repeatedly delayed. In 1924, the Schweinitztalbahn, which was just under 10 km long, was completed after 10 years of construction. The commissioning, planned for October 24, 1924, was delayed because Czechoslovakia , which was established in 1918, did not accept the state treaty concluded in 1916 and refused to allow passage. A new contract could not be signed until March 25, 1927. The route was officially opened on May 2, 1927. The inauguration was boycotted by the Brandau community representatives because the Brandau community had a train station, but the trains did not stop until further notice. The reason for this was that there was no apartment for a border officer to be found in Brandau, and the community showed no interest in getting an officer of Czech nationality into the village. In the Saxon route designation scheme, the route was given the abbreviation "KD" (Kupferhammer Grünthal – Deutschneudorf).
The project to continue the route via Katharinaberg (Hora Svaté Kateřiny) to Wiesa-Oberleutensdorf (today: Louka u Litvínova station ) was temporarily postponed in 1931 and later not taken up again due to a lack of demand.
business
Initially, two pairs of trains running daily indicate a low volume of traffic. Mainly goods were carried, so that most trains ran as mixed trains . The connecting station was always Olbernhau. Shunting trips of the mixed trains in Olbernhau-Grünthal and Niederlochmühle resulted in sometimes very long journey times.
After the Second World War, due to the changed political conditions, all trains now ran without stopping across Czechoslovak territory. The Brandau stop was no longer served and all buildings were demolished until 1970. For a few years, the trains had to pass two guarded track gates at the beginning and end of the Czechoslovak section of the line, which were located on the respective border bridges.
Decommissioning and dismantling
After only 39 years of operation, regular passenger traffic was discontinued on May 21, 1966, freight traffic followed on September 26, 1969. A decree of June 12, 1970 ordered the dismantling of the line, and in the following year all track systems and the steel bridge superstructures were dismantled.
Route description
course
The line had its starting point at the Neuschönberg junction, which was on the open stretch between Olbernhau-Grünthal and Neuschönberg on the Pockau-Lengefeld-Neuhausen railway line . Shortly after the junction, the route briefly crossed Czechoslovak territory, then it led orographically to the right uphill on German territory in the Schweinitztal. The end of the line at Deutschneudorf station was again on Czechoslovak territory.
Operating points
Junction Neuschönberg ⊙
At the Neuschönberg junction, the Schweinitztalbahn branched off from the Pockau-Lengefeld-Neuhausen line. The striking, massive signal box building was only occupied when train journeys to and from Deutschneudorf required it. For the rest of the time, the operating point on the Olbernhau – Neuhausen route was switched through, which means that the main signals on this route always showed "Clear the way." The high-rise buildings of the operating site are still there today and are reused by a local allotment gardener association.
Neuschönberg junction, front of the Oberneuschönberg signal box (2017)
Abzw Neuschönberg, view towards the junction of the Schweinitztalbahn (2017)
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Brandov / Brandau ⊙
The Brandau stop was on Czechoslovakian territory and only went into operation one year after the line opened on June 15, 1928. The small, one-story reception building in half-timbered construction contained waiting and service rooms as well as rooms for the Czechoslovak border and customs officers. After 1945 the stop was no longer served due to the changed political situation. The high-rise buildings were demolished around 1970. In the First Czechoslovak Republic , and again after the Second World War, the site was signposted in two languages.
Niederlochmühle ⊙
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The Niederlochmühle stop was at the confluence of the Seiffener Bach in the Schweinitz and was particularly important for the shipping of the products of the Seiffen toy industry. In addition to the continuous main track, the operating point had a loading track that was integrated into the main track on both sides. A small, wooden reception building and a free lavatory existed on high-rise buildings. An old car body was used by the railway maintenance department as a storage room.
Oberlochmühle ⊙
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The Oberlochmühle stop only consisted of the main track with the platform and the mandatory high-rise buildings, which included the waiting hall, free access and an old car body as a warehouse. Until 1947 the stop was operated as an agency with limited freight and express freight traffic, after which it was unoccupied. The wooden waiting hall resembled the one in Niederlochmühle and was still there in 1997. After the demolition of all the high-rise buildings, the station just before the Oberlochmühle viaduct is difficult to recognize as such.
Deutschkatharinenberg ⊙
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The Deutschkatharinenberg stop (until 1933: train station) was the largest stop on the route. The operations center comprised four tracks with eight points. The high-rise buildings consisted of a waiting hall with a service room, a free toilet and a goods shed on the loading tracks. The operating site also includes a railway house that was located across the valley road on the Schweinitz.
Connection to Zimmermann & Co. ⊙
The lamp factory Zimmermann & Co. owned the only siding on the open line that consisted only of a loading track with a safety switch. It was served with deliveries until the cessation of freight traffic on September 26, 1969. In particular, consignments containing coal were received and the company's products were sent.
Deutschneudorf ⊙
The Deutschneudorf station was the end of the line and extended to the territory of what is now the Czech Republic. The pull-out track on the other side of the border was in particular a preliminary construction work for the continuation of the line to Wiesa-Oberleutensdorf, which has been discussed again and again. The station complex consisted of four continuous tracks with a total of ten switches. The high-rise buildings were limited to the massive reception building with attached goods shed and a separate boiler house. From 1938 to 1945, the loading point of the JA Wagner wood goods factory was on the pull-out track across the state border.
Deutschneudorf station (2016)
Deutschneudorf station, reception building (2016)
Deutschneudorf station, engine shed (2016)
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literature
- Günter Baldauf: The Schweinitztalbahn was opened 80 years ago. In: Erzgebirgische Heimatblätter . Issue 3, 2007, ISSN 0232-6078 , pp. 13-15.
- Stephan Häupel: The railway in the Flöhatal and its regular- gauge branch lines . 1st edition. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-937496-08-5 .
- Thomas Böttger: From the history of the Schweinitztalbahn. In: Erzgebirgsverein e. V. (Ed.): Yearbook for the Ore Mountains 2009. Schneeberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-931770-77-8 , pp. 23-25
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ State treaty between the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the Kingdom of Saxony, concerning the construction of a railway line through the Schweinitztal from January 13, 1916
- ↑ a b c route Abzw Neuschönberg - Deutschneudorf on www.sachsenschiene.de , accessed on June 1, 2015
- ↑ The Oberlochmühle stop at www.sachsenschiene.net
- ↑ Route inspection with pictures on a private website ( memento of the original from November 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
