Siebenbrunn – Erlbach railway line

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Siebenbrunn – Erlbach (Vogtl)
Section of the Siebenbrunn – Erlbach railway line
Extract from the route map of Saxony 1911
Route number : sä. SE (until 1935: ME)
Course book range : 171 k (1944)
446 (since 1968)
Route length: 4.682 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope : 25  ‰
Minimum radius : 200 m
Top speed: 40 km / h
Legend
Route - straight ahead
 from Adorf (Vogtl)
Stop, stop
 0.000 Siebenbrunn 470 m
   
 to Chemnitz Hbf
   
 1.676 Markneukirchen Hp 485 m
   
 2.168 Flood bridge (20 m)
   
 2.490 Markneukirchen 493 m
   
 4,682 Erlbach (Vogtl) 495 m

The Siebenbrunn – Erlbach line (also known as the Schwarzbachdampfer ) was a branch line in the Vogtland in Saxony . The 4.7 km long route led from on the Chemnitz-Aue-Adorf railway located station Siebenbrunn through the Schwarzbachtal about Markneukirchen to Erlbach . The Siebenbrunn – Markneukirchen section was opened in 1909, and the Markneukirchen – Erlbach extension was opened to traffic in 1911. The originally planned extension to Bohemia to the Tirschnitz – Wildstein – Schönbach local railway was no longer implemented.

During its entire operating time, the route only served local traffic in the so-called Musikwinkel . In 1975 the traffic was stopped and the route was then dismantled.

history

Prehistory and railway construction

Already in the 1850s, when planning the Voigtland State Railroad, route proposals were made that were also intended to open up the area around Markneukirchen. The Voigtland State Railway, opened in 1865, Herlasgrün – Falkenstein – Oelsnitz – Eger, however, ultimately led far past Markneukirchen. Even when the Chemnitz – Adorf railway line was built by the Chemnitz-Aue-Adorfer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , Markneukirchen did not have a station in the city. Since Markneukirchen participated in the Chemnitz-Aue-Adorfer Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft with 150,000 marks, the shorter route through the Eisenbachtal was not chosen for the railway line from Chemnitz via Aue to Adorf , but the longer one through the Ebersbachtal. The latter variant led much closer to Markneukirchen and the city received a train station about 3 km away from the city center.

In order to avoid the cumbersome transport of all goods to the Siebenbrunn station, three kilometers away , a new railway committee was founded in 1885, which campaigned for a railway line via Markneukirchen to the Bohemian Schönbach to the Tirschnitz – Schönbach railway line . There were various designs, some of them with a border tunnel up to 1500 m long. Depending on the design, the villages of Dürrengrün , Eubabrunn , Gopplasgrün , Kegel and, as a border station, Wernitzgrün could have had a rail connection. However, due to the high costs for a border station or a tunnel , a cross-border route was rejected by the Saxon finance minister. A branch line to Erlbach, however, was advocated by the Saxon government. In April 1890, the first chamber of the Saxon state parliament dealt with a railway from Markneukirchen to Erlbach. In the following years, however, other rail projects - which seemed more important - were implemented. It was not until May 10, 1904 that the decision was made to build a regular-gauge secondary railway to Erlbach.

Disputes about the required building land - the landowners complained because their proceeds seemed too low - delayed the construction of the railway. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 30, 1906, but at that time the property issue was still unresolved. The dispute was only settled after the city of Markneukirchen paid the owner 30,000 marks from its own resources. Construction continued in the autumn of 1907. The first tracks were laid from spring 1908, and the Siebenbrunn – Adorf section of the Chemnitz – Adorf railway line was expanded to two tracks, as the trains to and from Markneukirchen were supposed to end and begin there. Originally, the line was supposed to open on July 1, 1909 - the first day of the summer timetable - due to delay in construction, the line could not be completed until autumn 1909. The police inspection took place on September 13, 1909, and the ceremonial opening took place on September 18. Scheduled traffic was carried out from September 20, 1909. The construction costs for the line were around 650,000 marks, plus around 530,000 marks that were used for operating resources, the double-track expansion of the Siebenbrunn – Adorf section and the renovation of the Siebenbrunn train station.

Erlbach wanted the branch line to be extended even before the opening. The government had preparatory work carried out in 1908/09, and the final decision was taken on December 7, 1910. Construction work began in March 1910 and was completed after only six months of construction. The rapid progress was favored by the purchase of building land operated by the Erlbach community since 1907. The section was opened on September 30, 1911, the scheduled train service began a day later. With the opening, the entire line now has a new abbreviation for a railway line, which is common in Saxony. For the M arkneukirchen-Siebenbrunn– E rlbach railway line it was ME .

business

Markneukirchen station (town) and Café Bismarck (left) around 1910

During the operation of the line, an extension of the line from Erlbach via Eubabrunn into the neighboring Bohemian Schönbach was considered. However, this extension of the route never got beyond the first planning phase.

The operating result exceeded the assumptions by far; in addition to rush hour traffic, the largest income came from shipping wood and agricultural products as well as fuel transport. The passenger trains began and ended mostly in the Adorf (Vogtl) station , where they connected to the trains of the main line Plauen (Vogtl) above Bf – Bad Brambach – Eger . Initially 10 pairs of trains ran, after the extension to Erlbach another was inserted. At the beginning of the First World War , 15 pairs of trains were still running every day, the number fell sharply in the course of the war, so that in 1919 only 4 pairs of trains ran the entire route.

In the 1930s, 11 pairs of trains ran again per day. Since the Markneukirchen-Siebenbrunn station was renamed in 1935, the S iebenbrunn– E rlbach line was now given the abbreviation SE . During the Second World War , 9 pairs of trains drove, and there was no significant reduction in the number of trains available on other routes. In contrast to many other railway lines in Vogtland, the Siebenbrunn – Erlbach railway line was, due to its purely local character, neither the target of Allied bombing, nor was it destroyed by the Wehrmacht at the end of the war. In mid-April 1945, the train traffic came to a complete standstill with the invasion of the Americans.

The first freight trains were still running in June 1945 during the American occupation, but regular traffic only came about during the Soviet occupation. These three pairs of trains ran in 1947/48 due to a lack of coal only when required. In 1955 there were 9 pairs of trains again.

Decommissioning and dismantling of the route

In the 1970s, the condition of the track deteriorated more and more, so that the maximum speed was limited to 20 km / h. In addition, there were several speed limits between Adorf and Siebenbrunn. Due to the falling number of passengers, a thorough renovation of the route was not worthwhile. Freight traffic to Erlbach ended in 1970, the rest of the route in 1972. The change of mode of transport in passenger traffic took place on May 31, 1975. The dismantling of the line began on June 21, 1975, and within a few days all the station tracks in Erlbach and Markneukirchen were dismantled by hand. With the help of a Platow crane , the track was dismantled at the end of September 1975 to the Markneukirchen stop. The remaining stretch was used to park damaged vehicles until the spring of 1980 ; the dismantling of the remaining stretch was completed on July 25, 1980. Ticket issuance in Markneukirchen station was operated by the DR until September 30, 1993.

Route description

course

The 4.682 km long route was completely in the Schwarzbachtal . She left Siebenbrunn station in an easterly direction south of the Schwarzbach. After the Markneukirchen stop, the Schwarzbach was crossed, where a siding to the municipal gas and electricity works branched off at km 1.79. The route continued along Adorfer Strasse and Breite Strasse on its own subgrade with numerous unsecured level crossings directly through Markneukirchen. Shortly before the Markneukirchen train station, the Schwarzbach was bridged again; the road crossing at the entrance to the Markneukirchen train station was secured by a barrier system from November 1958 - the only one on the whole route next to the level crossing at Siebenbrunn train station. Behind Markneukirchen, agricultural areas dominated the route, here the route slowly rose out of the Schwarzbachtal, as the Elster Mountains had to be crossed for the planned continuation to Schönbach .

Since the route rose almost continuously, it was only about 500 m horizontally. The greatest gradient was 1:40 on over 1.25 km in front of Erlbach. All in all, curves accounted for around 40%, the smallest radius between Siebenbrunn and Markneukirchen was 300 m, between Markneukirchen and Erlbach the smallest radius was 200 m. The maximum speed was limited to 40 km / h, the maximum axle load was 18 t.

Operating points

Siebenbrunn ⊙

Siebenbrunn station (2012)

The station was opened as Markneukirchen station in 1875 together with the railway line.

In 1976 the station was converted into a stopping point with a junction, and since the late 1990s only the main track has remained. Passenger traffic ended here in December 2012 as the Vogtland Railway closed the Zwotental – Adorf route.

Markneukirchen Hp ⊙

The Markneukirchen stop at kilometer 1.676 consisted of a wooden waiting hall, a 110 m long platform made of slag, a car body as a shed replacement and a free pass.

Markneukirchen ⊙

Markneukirchen stop (2019)

The Markneukirchen station (until April 30, 1910 Markneukirchen (city) station ) was the second largest station on the line, Siebenbrunn was slightly larger. However, the station was significantly more important in terms of traffic, for example one and a half times more people were handled here in 1913 and two and a half times as much goods were handled here as in Siebenbrunn. In addition to the three-story station building with a half-hipped roof, there was an outbuilding, a free access and a goods shed on high-rise buildings. Freight traffic was also served by a 120 m long loading lane and a head and side ramp. The 90 m long platform was partially covered.

  • Markneukirchen station (around 1910)

  • Markneukirchen station, reception building (2019)

  • Markneukirchen station, goods shed (2019)

From the 1960s the station, which at the time of its greatest expansion consisted of eight tracks with 22 points, was gradually dismantled.

Erlbach station (2019)

Erlbach (Vogtl) ⊙

The Erlbach (Vogtl) station (until October 1, 1927 only Erlbach station ) was prepared from the beginning for further construction to Schönbach. A wooden reception building with a service room was built to handle passenger traffic, while a goods shed, a loading street and a wooden loading ramp were available for goods traffic. There was also a water station building.

Vehicle use

Initially, the trains were hauled by locomotives of type IV T (later class 71.3). During the entire operating time locomotives of the classes XIV HT and XI HT (later classes 75.5 and 94.19-21) were used. After a few class 86 locomotives were stationed in the Adorf depot in the 1930s, these were also put on the line. In the harsh winter of 1962/63, individual trains were also hauled by the 50 series. The traction change began at the end of the 1960s with the class VT 2.09 railcars , and the V 100 and V 180.2-4 classes were also used in the 1970s . The 102.1 and 106 series also came onto the track as a temporary measure .

literature

Web links

Commons : Siebenbrunn – Erlbach railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 1: Development, main lines, vehicles, railway depots and buildings , EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-686-2 , p. 85
  2. ^ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 1: Development, main lines, vehicles, railway depots and buildings , EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-686-2 , p. 97
  3. ↑ a b c Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 68
  4. ↑ Helmuth Eßbach: The Railway Line Siebenbrunn – Erlbach - A chronological overview in words and pictures 1909–1975 , p. 139 ff.
  5. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 68 f.
  6. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 69 f.
  7. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 72 f.
  8. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 73
  9. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 73 ff.
  10. ↑ a b Wilfried Rettig: The Railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: Secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 75
  11. ^ Helmuth Eßbach: The Railway Line Siebenbrunn – Erlbach - A chronological overview in words and pictures 1909-1975 , p. 38
  12. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 1: Development, main lines, vehicles, railway depots and buildings , EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-686-2 , p. 96
  13. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 68 ff.
  14. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 69 ff.
  15. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 71
  16. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 214
  17. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 2: secondary and narrow-gauge lines, railway systems, accidents and anecdotes , p. 72
  18. ^ Helmuth Eßbach: The Railway Line Siebenbrunn – Erlbach - A chronological overview in words and pictures 1909-1975 , p. 98
  19. ↑ Helmuth Eßbach: The Railway Line Siebenbrunn – Erlbach - A chronological overview in words and pictures 1909–1975 , inside cover
  20. ↑ Helmuth Eßbach: The Railway Line Siebenbrunn – Erlbach - A chronological overview in words and pictures 1909–1975 , p. 132