Railway line Süßen – Weißenstein

Süßen-Weißenstein (Württ)

Route number (DB) :

4731

Course book section (DB) :

903, 320p (until 1970)

Route length:

10.41 km

Gauge :

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Maximum slope :

33 ‰

Minimum radius :

200 m

Legend

		Filstalbahn from Stuttgart
	0.00	Cuties
		Filstalbahn to Ulm
	0.60	Branch industrial connection
	0.97	Junction substation
	1.16	volume up
	3.42	Donzdorf
	3.95	Simonsbach
	4.10	Seitzenbachstrasse
	5.69	Winzingen
	6.96	Grünbach
	7.14	Brook bridge near Grünbach
	8.71	Nenningen
	9.30	Hillside bridge at Nenningen
	10.41	Weißenstein (Württ)

Nenningen station building, a type IIa standard station

The Lautertalbahn was a 10.41 kilometer long, standard-gauge branch line that connected the two villages of Süßen and Weißenstein with each other between 1901 and 1981 . The section to Donzdorf was also in operation until 1995. The track chain as a branch line from the Fils Valley Railway and led along the eponymous river Lauter . In the course book it was last number 903, in previous years it was called 320p or 315g.

History of origin

On December 7, 1901, the line was opened by the Royal Württemberg State Railways . Donzdorf was the most important stop on the way. In addition to transporting goods, the railway was primarily used as a commuter connection to the heavily industrialized Filstal , but also to the Neckar valley and the greater Stuttgart area .

Decline

First, on June 1, 1969 with the beginning of the summer timetable in the Donzdorf – Weißenstein section, passenger traffic was discontinued. On September 26, 1981, the Grünbach – Weißenstein freight traffic was discontinued, and Donzdorf – Grünbach on December 22, 1989. In the Süßen – Donzdorf section of the route - also at the beginning of the summer timetable - passenger traffic was discontinued on May 30, 1980, and freight traffic was discontinued on July 1, 1995. In September 1995 this section was also formally closed , that is, de- dedicated . The route has not been passable since 2002. At that time the track was interrupted between Süßen and Donzdorf in the area of a level crossing .

Current condition of the route

The route is still completely preserved, only the Weißenstein station area was built over with an industrial area. The tracks themselves have now been almost completely dismantled. As the last dismantling measure, the last remaining track remains in the urban area of Süßen were removed in March 2007. Only in the area of a field lane crossing between Süßen and Donzdorf and on the Donzdorf station grounds have two short track sections been preserved. The latter has the character of a monument on which there is an old construction train wagon that was created from a three-axle conversion wagon . Two of the previously three station buildings have also been preserved, these being Donzdorf and Nenningen. The Weißenstein station building, however, was demolished at the end of the 1990s. Furthermore, all bridge structures still exist. With the exception of the still existing bridge over the Lauter at kilometer 1.16, they are part of the two sections used as a cycle path.

Bike path

Two sections of the former railway line are used today as an asphalt railway cycle path and a footpath. On the one hand, a 1.74-kilometer section in the Donzdorf urban area (between the former level crossing at Wagnerstrasse a little south of the train station and the northern edge of the development at Hafnerstrasse), and on the other hand, a 3.26-kilometer section between the former Grünbach stop and the entrance to the former terminus at Weißenstein.

literature

Peter-Michael Mihailescu, Matthias Michalke: Forgotten railways in Baden-Württemberg . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-8062-0413-6 , p. 219-222 .