Ostertalbahn

Ottweiler black earths
Route number :	3204
Course book section (DB) :	271e (1957–1972) 644 (1972–1980) 12683 (since 2001)
Route length:	21 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	26  ‰
Minimum radius :	300 m
Top speed:	50 km / h
Legend Nahe Valley Railway from Saarbrücken Hbf 0.0 Ottweiler (Saar) 281 m above sea level NN 0.2 Nahetalbahn to Bingen (Rhein) main station 0.9 At Wingertsbach 1.6 Ottweiler-Wingertsweiher (Hp since April 2001) 2.4 Steinbach (Hp closed May 31, 1960) 4.0 Lenzenthaler Hof incision 5.7 Fürth (Ostertal) previously Bhf 6.7 Dörrenbach (Ostertal) 6.8 Rund-Biech-Strasse 7.5 Brückwiesstrasse 7.6 Easter (40 m) 8.0 L 131 to St. Wendel 8.3 Werschweiler previously Bhf 10.5 Niederkirchen previously Bhf 10.8 L 307 to St. Wendel 10.9 Easter 11.3 Niederkircher Strasse 11.7 Marth (Hp since April 2001) 11.9 Kehrberg cut (50 m) 12.9 L 312 13.2 Hoof (here the first groundbreaking of the route) 14.8 Easter bridges 16.1 Main hamlet 16.2 Hauptersweiler Viaduct (83 m) 18.3 Oberkirchen Süd before Bhf 18.4 Museumstrasse 18.9 L 309 St. Wendel – Schwarzerden 20.1 Westrichbahn from Türkismühle 20.4 L 309 St. Wendeler Strasse 21.0 Black earths 390 m above sea level NN 21.1 Anst Fa. Industriewerke Saar (until May 2018) 22.2 Saarland-Rhineland-Palatinate Westrichbahn to Kusel

The Ostertalbahn is a branch line that runs in the northeast of the Saarland from Ottweiler to Schwarzerden, mainly along the Oster which gives it its name . Although the first initiatives aimed at building the line go back to the second half of the 19th century, the line was not opened to its full length until 1938 - and therefore very late in comparison to many other rail lines - after operations began the Ottweiler – Niederkirchen section had already been included a year earlier. The railway line was used for passenger traffic until 1980. After Deutsche Bahn had plans to shut down the line in the 1990s, the St. Wendel district managed to take over the line in early 2000. In 2001 regular freight traffic ended. Since then, it has mainly been used by museum trains.

history

First initiatives (1856-1900)

The first efforts aimed at connecting the communities in the Ostertal by rail go back to 1856. In the course of the construction of the Rhein-Nahe-Bahn , an initiative aimed to set up a route via Kusel to St. Wendel or along the Oster to Neunkirchen. The efforts were unsuccessful, however, since Prussia wanted such a railway line primarily within its own territory, while some local communities as well as Kusel and parts of the middle and lower Glantal between Altenglan and Staudernheim belonged to Bavaria .

It was not until 1873 that a new attempt was made for a railway line in the region, when a corresponding committee was formed in Ottweiler. On January 13, this applied to the St. Johann / Saarbrücken Railway Directorate to build the planned Fischbachtalbahn via Ottweiler and from there along the Oster to Kusel. This also failed because the line was connected to the latter, not least because of the great influence of the industrial location Neunkirchen .

In 1894 Wiebelskirchen , Hangard and Münchwies had plans to build a narrow-gauge railway from Wiebelskirchen to Fürth in the Ostertal . At the same time, Ottweiler planned again a railway line to Kusel. To the north of Fürth, the border between Prussia and Bavaria was to be crossed in order to then reach Kusel via Breitenbach . The district master builder from Kusel was open-minded about this, but pleaded for the route to run to Schwarzerden along the Oster, in order to then be led further east in the direction of Kusel. After the company Lenz & Co. from Stettin had already been commissioned with the planning, the Prussian government brought the project to failure because, for strategic reasons , they wanted to see the line run in standard gauge; for financial reasons, however, this was not possible.

Further efforts up to the start of construction (1900–1934)

Around 1900 there were plans to build a small railway that would branch off the Rhein-Nahe railway in Wiebelskirchen and run to Werschweiler. Later a continuation to Oberkirchen was envisaged, where it should flow into a planned route from Türkismühle to Kusel. In 1905, however, it was planned to build an Ostertalsperre, which would have required a modified route and increased the cost factor again. In the period that followed, fear increased in the structurally weak region that it would be even more economically sidelined. In 1912, the management in Saarbrücken carried out preparatory work for a Neunkirchen – Wiebelskirchen – Hangard – Fürth – Dörrenbach – Werschweiler route. Since the First World War broke out two years later , these were finally also discontinued. Since the Saar area , through which a section through the Ostertal would have run, was separated from the German Reich as a result of the lost war , the realization of such a thing was initially a long way off.

In the mid-1920s, many rail projects appeared in the Ostertal catchment area. In addition to a route along the river, there were plans for a railway line St. Wendel – Niederkirchen – Oberkirchen and one from Neunkirchen via Breitenbach and Herschweiler to Kusel. A quick realization of these plans was prevented by the fact that, in addition to Bavarian and Prussian territory, the Saarland, which was added to the French customs area, should have been touched.

In 1928, Heinrich Lenhard GmbH from Saarbrücken received a corresponding building permit without any significant progress being made. That is why the so-called Ostertalbahn GmbH was founded on June 30, 1931 , the main shareholders of which were the Lenhard company, Neunkircher Eisenwerk AG and Saar Handelsbank AG . But it was not until 1933 that Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP came to power in the German Reich that the realization of the railway line was within reach. Its construction was intended, among other things, to provide work and in this way act as bait to influence the upcoming vote in the Saar area on its return to the Reich in the interests of the National Socialists. For this reason, the Gauleiter Josef Bürckel campaigned for the Reichsbahn to take up the plans. On October 28, 1934, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Ostertalbahn at the location of what will later be the Hoof station took place.

Development up to the Second World War (1934–1945)

Schwarzerden station, the end of the line and connected to the railway network from Türkismühle since 1936

On September 26, 1937, the Ottweiler - Niederkirchen section of the "full-track Ostertalkleinbahn" with the stations Fürth (Ostertal), Werschweiler and Niederkirchen (Ostertal) for passenger, luggage, express goods, goods, corpses and animal traffic was put into operation unoccupied stops Steinbach (Ostertal) and Dörrenbach for passenger traffic ”. The section was operated as a small railway of the Deutsche Reichsbahn by the Reichsbahndirektion Saarbrücken. With the opening of the Niederkirchen - Schwarzerden section on May 15, 1938, the railway line through the Ostertal with a total length of 21 km was completed. At its end, the line met the Türkismühle – Kusel railway, which has been continuously passable since 1936 .

The high axle load of 22.5 t (instead of the axle load usually common on German branch lines 16.0 t), as well as the routing with only two level crossings, but 32 artificial structures in the form of bridges and water passages, low gradients and several long curves, but also the former connection to the Glantalbahn, via Schwarzerden - Pfeffelbach - Kusel - Altenglan , prove that the Ostertalbahn, which was finally completed in 1938, was intended as a diversion route for military transports in the event of a possible failure of main lines or junctions due to air raids, for example.

On May 5, 1941, a directory entitled "Vital Trains" was published. Its purpose was that due to the war it was to be expected that the timetable could not be adhered to. For this reason, it included a minimum number of trains that had to be complied with. Accordingly, at least three trains had to run between Kusel and Ottweiler.

Post-war period and cessation of passenger traffic (1946–1995)

In the course of the renewed separation of the Saarland, customs controls initially took place in Werschweiler in 1947. After Bubach, Hoof, Niederkirchen and Osterbrücken had been added to the Saar area on June 24th of that year, the controls took place in black earth from then on. The Kusel – Neunkirchen miners' trains running along the route were closed to civil traffic. Initially, the railway line was owned by the Saarland Railways (SEB) from April of that year , which from 1950 operated as the Saarland Railways (EdS) . After the Saarland was returned to Germany on January 1, 1957, it became the property of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) . Due to lack of profitability, the Steinbach stop was given up in 1960. On May 31, 1980, passenger traffic was stopped on the entire route and the station buildings were sold.

On May 23 and 24, 1987, a special company train, starting in Schönenberg-Kübelberg on the Glantalbahn, which had already been discontinued in passenger traffic, reached the Ostertalbahn as far as Schwarzerden.

In the course of the railway reform, the railway line became the property of Deutsche Bahn (DB) . In the meantime, only freight trains operated on the Ostertalbahn that supplied the Saar industrial works (IWS) in Freisen , which had a siding at the end of the line in Schwarzerden. Over the years, this was the longest route to a private transfer point operated by the railway. At this point there was not a single switch on the way - apart from the two starting and ending points Ottweiler and Schwarzerden.

Conversion into a museum railway (since 1995)

The OstertalBahn museum train on the viaduct near Haupersweiler

As early as 1998, the DB had plans to shut down the line. Since this would have resulted in a dismantling of the tracks, resistance arose on site, especially since it was feared that the IWS, as the last freight customer, would otherwise be endangered. In addition, there were efforts to convert the Ostertalbahn into a museum route . At first it was possible to persuade DB to postpone the planned shutdown.

In the period that followed, the St. Wendel district, together with railway friends, succeeded in taking over the route after lengthy and difficult negotiations. For this purpose, a cooperation agreement was concluded between the city of St. Wendel , the municipality of Freisen and the IWS. As a result, the St. Wendel roundabout and infrastructure company took over the maintenance and management of the Ostertal route as a railway infrastructure company on January 1, 2000 for a period of 25 years and has continued to operate it as a public transport route since then without interruption. The regular service trips by DB Cargo until then were discontinued with the lifting of the tariff point for black earths on December 31, 2001 as part of the implementation of MORA C.

In addition to sporadic freight trains, a museum train now runs on the route, and on special occasions it is also hauled by steam locomotives. On August 25 and 26, 2012, the 75th anniversary of the route took place. In May 2018, the works siding was closed.

business

passenger traffic

From the beginning, most of the trains ran via Schwarzerden on the route from Türkismühle to Kusel. In a southerly direction they were tied through the Nahe Valley Railway to Neunkirchen. Ten pairs of trains ran between Ottweiler and Schwarzerden, and there were densities between Ottweiler and Niederkirchen. The through trains Kusel – Neunkirchen were primarily used by miners employed in the Saar area. Between Kusel and Schwarzerden, however, passenger traffic was idle from 1951 to 1958 before it was completely stopped in 1964.

In contrast to many other railway lines, on which the timetable had been continuously thinned out shortly before the suspension, a total of ten train pairs recently ran between Ottweiler and Schwarzerden from Monday to Friday.

In 1944 the route was recorded together with the section Schwarzerden – Kusel of the route coming from Türkismühle under the course book number 271f ; This included the Neunkirchen – Ottweiler section of the Nahe Valley Railway. In 1960 the Ostertalbahn and its extension to Kusel formed the course book route 271e . At the time of decommissioning, it was numbered 644.

Freight transport

After all traffic between Freisen and Grügelborn had been discontinued on the neighboring railway line Türkismühle – Kusel in 1955 and the Freisen – Schwarzerden section was officially closed two years later, the service from Grügelborn was carried out by the Ostertalbahn before the remaining goods traffic was discontinued in 1969 . In the 1980s, transfer freight trains drove to Schwarzerden, which initially also served Niederkirchen. The last goods customers were the Saar industrial plants .

vehicles

The vehicles on the Ostertalbahn came primarily from the St. Wendel depot. Class 64 steam locomotives were initially used. After the Second World War, the 86 series operated for a time . Passenger traffic was last handled by Uerdinger rail buses . The 795 138 railbus, the second oldest of its kind , ran on the Ostertalbahn until the end of the 1970s . Class 212 and 294 diesel locomotives were used in freight traffic until the end of 2001.

Vehicle fleet of the museum company

Diesel locomotives

number	model series	Manufacturer	Construction year	Vehicle registration no.	Access
V 60 413	V 60 (DB)	MaK 600 171	1958	98 80 3360 413-9 D-AKO	since September 2012 on the Ostertalbahn, previously stationed in Kornwestheim
Köf 11 098	Köf III	O&K 26336	1963	98 80 3332 098-3 D-AKO	previously stationed at the Saarbrücken depot
V 60 15 613	V 60 (DR)	LEW Hennigsdorf	1977	98 80 3346 613-3 D-AKO	previously a factory locomotive
Kef 6696	Köf II	A. Jung, Lokfabrik, Jungenthal	1959
332 032	Köf III	Young 13574	1963	98 80 3332 032-2 D-AKO
332 312	Köf III	O&K 26427	1966	98 80 3332 312-8 D-AKO	previously stationed at ESG in Bietigheim

Wagons

The wagons are all conversion wagons of the Deutsche Bundesbahn.

number	genus	Manufacturer	Construction year	Vehicle registration no.	Access
201	BD3yg	AW Neuaubing	1955	75 80 9329 030-5 D-AKO	formerly a passenger car, later a mobile home workshop car
202	B3yg	AW Karlsruhe	1958	75 80 2329 109-2 D-AKO	before stay car
203	Sleeper caravan	German Federal Railroad
204	WG3yg	Leinhausen	1957	75 80 2329 110-0 D-AKO	earlier stay car, is preferably used as a party car
205	Construction team driver car	German Federal Railroad
206	Sleeper caravan	Track construction yard Homburg (Saar)
207	Sleeper caravan	Track construction yard Homburg (Saar)
208	C3yg	unknown	1954	75 80 2329 111-8 D-AKO	Before that, stay wagons and before that, construction wagons
209	Residential workshop trolley	AW Limburg	1958		Bw Saarbrücken
210	Residential workshop trolley				Bw Saarbrücken
217	WG3yg	AW Limburg	1957		formerly stay car, is currently being converted to a social car
221	WG3ygk				Formerly a sleeping caravan, is currently being converted into a social car
222	Kitchen sidecar				German Federal Railroad

Freight wagons

number	genus	Manufacturer	Construction year	Access
309	Gls 205	unknown	from 1955	previously equipment car and company car

Steam locomotives

number	model series	Manufacturer	Construction year	Access
52 8147	52.80	Henschel 27826	1944	previously a monument locomotive in front of the Hotel Quedlinburger Hof ; Private property

Railway service vehicles

number	model series	Manufacturer	Construction year	Access
701 116	701	Uerdingen wagon factory	1967	German Federal Railroad
Fz 503	Type 007	Krupp-Ardelt	1978	German Federal Railroad
Fz 504	Type 107	Kirov Leipzig	1990	Machine pool, Karlsruhe branch office
Klv 53-1	Klv 53	Robel track construction machines	1977	Bw St. Wendel
Klv 53-2	Klv 53	Waggon Union	1981	Bw Saarbrücken
Class 03-1	Cl. 03	Waggon Union	1971	Bw St. Wendel
Cl. 03-2	Cl. 03	Schöma	1973	Bw St. Wendel
305	Workshop trolley 613			Hanau Nord train station
306	Workshop trolley 613	Waggonfabrik Gebr. Lüttgens	1955	originally Gms 55 of the EdS, later owned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn and from the mid-1960s on the Gs 206, converted into a workshop trolley in the 1980s
307	Equipment trolley 631
308	Equipment trolley 633			originally owned by BD Saarbrücken , most recently located in the Homburg (Saar) track construction yard
310	Kbs 442 low side car		from 1958
319	Service wagon DgW 232		1975
320	Workshop trolley 611
327	Ballast wagon Fcs		1968

Route data

• Bridges: 32
  • largest bridge: viaduct at Hauptersweiler (85 m long, 20 m high). This valley bridge and two other bridges in the course of the Ostertal route are registered as railway bridges still in operation as architectural monuments in the Saarland monuments list.
• Support structures: 4
• Passages: 34
• Level crossings: 3
• Braking distance: 400 m

course

The Ostertalbahn begins at Ottweiler station, which it leaves in a northeast direction. After about six kilometers, she meets the eponymous Oster , whom she follows to Oberkirchen, before ending after an almost semicircular curve on the northeastern outskirts of Schwarzerden. The city of Ottweiler is crossed to Fürth, then the train runs to Osterbrücken in the St. Wendel area . From Hauptersweiler to Schwarzerden it crosses the area of ​​the municipality of Freisen . It is located within Ottweiler in the Neunkirchen district . The rest of the route is part of the St. Wendel district .

Operating points

Ottweiler

→ Main article : Ottweiler (Saar) train station

The station was put into operation as early as 1860 with the opening of the Rhein-Nahe-Bahn between Oberstein and Neunkirchen . It was only 77 years later when the section to Niederkirchen opened it became a hub station. For this purpose, the reception building was converted and an island platform was built for the branch line. In this context, he was also given an underpass for pedestrians.

Ottweiler-Wingertsweiher

The stop was opened in April 2001 with the start of museum railway operations. It was built for tourist reasons; the name-giving Wingertsweiher, which is a local recreation area, is located in the immediate vicinity of the stop.

Steinbach

This train station was two kilometers away from the settlement area of ​​Steinbach, which is why it was always of little importance. The platform was only provisionally laid out and the station building corresponded to a log cabin . Due to a lack of profitability, the breakpoint was closed on May 31, 1960.

Fürth (Ostertal)

The breakpoint is located on the north-western outskirts of Fürth. Originally, the operating site was a train station, which had an alternate and a loading track. A ramp followed the latter. The former station building has now become privately owned.

Dörrenbach (Ostertal)

The breakpoint is on the western outskirts of Dörrenbach. The former station building is now part of a facility that is primarily used for leisure. The latter was initiated by the Dörrenbacher Heimatbund . The station building has a painting on its gable showing a steam locomotive.

Werschweiler

The breakpoint is located on the south-eastern outskirts of Werschweiler. In 1947, customs controls took place on the train for a few months before the Ostertal was completely added to the Saarland. The settlement area is separated from the train station by the Oster. The former station building now serves as a residential building.

Niederkirchen

The breakpoint is in the center of Niederkirchen on the suburb of Saal . Although the latter was an independent municipality at the time of the opening of the route, the branch was named Niederkirchen as the largest town within its catchment area. From 1937 until the Ostertalbahn was connected to Schwarzerden a year later, the station was the end of the line. The reception building was typical of the architecture of the 1930s. In addition to the starting and starting points, Niederkirchen was also the only stop along the route that had the status of a train station beyond 1960. After regular passenger traffic was discontinued in 1980, the former station was still used for several years in freight traffic. After the end of passenger transport, the station building was initially used by a company from the electrical industry and then as a restaurant. It was demolished in 1992. In its place there is now a grocery store.

Marth

The breakpoint is on the western outskirts of Marth on a slope. It was only opened in April 2001 in the course of the museum's operation, although a stopping point for the village had already been requested at the time of regular passenger traffic.

Hoof

The breakpoint is located on the south-eastern outskirts of Hoof. In its place, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ostertalbahn was carried out in 1934. A reactivation for museum traffic has so far not taken place due to disputes regarding the construction of a platform. The former station building now serves as a residential building.

Easter bridges.

The breakpoint is located on the north-western outskirts of Osterbrücken. Initially, Osterbrücken was a block post, from 1960 it was only a stop. The former station building now serves as a holiday home. For a while before, it served as a company's warehouse and was in a shabby state during that time.

Main hamlet

The stop is located on the southern outskirts of Haupersweiler (Seitzweiler), just 100 meters from the Haupersweiler viaduct. The former station building is now privately owned and serves as a residential building.

Oberkirchen South

The former train station is located on the south-eastern outskirts of Oberkirchen. Its name comes from the fact that Oberkirchen had another breakpoint along the Türkismühle – Kusel railway with Oberkirchen Nord . Around 1940 it housed a railway maintenance office, which - apart from the first 700 meters - was responsible for the entire Ostertalbahn as well as for the Freisen – Kusel section of the line coming from Türkismühle. Just a decade later, it no longer existed. After the cessation of passenger traffic, its station building stood empty for a few years before it was renovated. A carpenter's workshop is now located there.

Black earths

→ Main article : Schwarzerden train station

The station was opened in 1936 as part of the route from Türkismühle to Kusel. Two years later, with the completion of the Ostertalbahn, it became a railway junction. With the closure of the former, it has been the terminus ever since. It has a main track and seven side tracks, eight switches and a private IWS siding with three tracks.

literature

• Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways on Glan and Lauter . Self-published, Waldmohr 1996, ISBN 3-9804919-0-0 .
• Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee: Farewell to the rails. Disused railway lines from 1980-1990 . Transpress Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-71073-0 , p. 153 and 202-203 .
• Kirsch, Hans (arrangement): The Ostertalbahn in the mirror of the press . Ed .: Heimat- und Kulturverein Ostertal eV 2007.
• Dörrenbacher Heimatbund eV (Hrsg.): Chronicle of the Ostertalbahn, vol. 1 . Self-published, 1987.
• Dörrenbacher Heimatbund eV (Hrsg.): Chronicle of the Ostertalbahn, Vol. 2 - Our Ostertal: A region in transition . Self-published, 1997.
• Jörg and Rainer Schedler: Difficult birth. The Ostertalbahn Ottweiler - Schwarzerden . In: LOK MAGAZINE . No. 261 / Volume 42/2003. GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag GmbH Munich, ISSN  0458-1822 , pp. 82–87.

Web links

• Website of the working group Ostertalbahn (AkO) eV
• Literature about the Ostertalbahn in the Saarland bibliography
• Memotransfront of Saarbrücken University with further background information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} nahbahn.de: Welcome to our website of the Rhein-Nahe-Bahn Bingerbrück - / Gau-Algesheim - Bad Kreuznach - Kirn - Idar-Oberstein - Türkismühle - Neunkirchen . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 18, 2013 ; Retrieved April 28, 2013 . 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.  
2. ^ ^{A b c} Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee: Farewell to the rail. Disused railway lines from 1980–1990 . 1997, p. 202 .
3. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 7th ff .
4. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 31 .
5. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 31 f .
6. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 32 f .
7. ^ ^{A b} Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 33 .
8. ↑ Announcement of the Saarbrücken Railway Directorate on September 15, 1937 about the commissioning of the Ottweiler - Niederkirchen section
9. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 50 .
10. ^ ^{A b} Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 52 .
11. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 64 ff .
12. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 65 .
13. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 67 .
14. ↑ ^{a b c} ostertalbahn.homepage.t-online.de: The Ostertalbahn - then and now - A chronology of the rail route through the Ostertal and the efforts to preserve and continue to use it for the benefit of the Ostertal region. Retrieved February 4, 2013 . 
15. ↑ eisenbahn-foto-rdl.jimdo.com: 75 years of the Ostertalbahn . (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 4, 2013 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
16. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 32 .
17. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 53 ff .
18. ↑ Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee: Farewell to the rail. Disused railway lines from 1980–1990 . 1997, p. 153 .
19. ↑ pkjs.de: 271f Neunkirchen (Saar) - Ottweiler (Saar) - Schwarzerden - Kusel . Retrieved February 4, 2013 . 
20. ^ ^{A b} Wolfgang Fiegenbaum, Wolfgang Klee: Farewell to the rail. Disused railway lines from 1980-1990 . 1997, p. 203 .
21. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 132 .
22. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 137 f .
23. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} ostertalbahn.homepage.t-online.de: The Ostertalbahn and the Ostertal - rail travel and hiking . Retrieved May 1, 2013 . 
24. ↑ ^{a b c d} osternaha.de: Railway stations . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 18, 2016 ; Retrieved May 1, 2013 . 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.  
25. ↑ Hans-Joachim Emich, Rolf Becker: The railways to Glan and Lauter . 1996, p. 54 .