Waldheim – Rochlitz railway line

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Waldheim – Rochlitz (Sachs)
Section of the route map of Saxony from 1902
Route number :	6631; sä. WR
Course book section (DB) :	528 (1997)
Route length:	20.690 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	17.2  ‰
Minimum radius :	210 m
Legend from Chemnitz Hbf from Kriebethal 0.00 Waldheim 236 m to Riesa 0.50 EÜ (15 m) 1.28 EÜ farm road (12 m) 3.75 Hartha (Kr Döbeln) 283 m Zschopau / Zwickauer Mulde watershed 296 m 8.80 Geringswalde Bridge (48 m) 9.41 Geringswalde 255 m 11.63 Arras 260 m 12.92 EÜ main street (14 m) 14.45 Aubach Bridge (16 m) 14.71 Aubach Bridge (18 m) 14.88 Fruit mill (formerly Bf) 202 m 17.31 Aubach Bridge (19 m) 17.51 Aubach Bridge (18 m) 18.11 Aubach Bridge (20 m) 18.39 Aubach Bridge (20 m) 18.73 Döhlen (b Rochlitz / Sachs) 160 m 20.15 Zwickauer Mulde Bridge (114 m) from (Wurzen–) Großbothen 20.69 Rochlitz (Sachs) 162 m to Glauchau to Penig

The Waldheim – Rochlitz railway line was an approximately 21 km long single-track branch line in Saxony . It ran from Waldheim via Hartha and Geringswalde to Rochlitz . The line, opened in 1893, was closed in 1998. During its operating time, it mainly served to supply regional industrial and commercial enterprises as well as local passenger transport.

history

prehistory

Already in the 1870s there were efforts to build a railway between Waldheim and Rochlitz. In 1871 the first petition was sent to the Saxon state parliament . However, the project was rejected by the First Chamber. The cities of Geringswalde and Hartha, in particular, were very interested in a rail link and believed that it would benefit their economic development. However, the petition submitted in 1872, which was supported by Geringswalde, Hartha, Rochlitz and Waldheim, was rejected. In the period that followed, no progress could be made in the efforts.

After all, in 1882 the first preliminary investigations into the profitability of the route were approved. On April 16, 1883, the building project was rejected again. With the submission of November 12, 1883, the neighboring towns were ready to buy up the land required for the construction of the railway at their own expense. In December 1883, the Geringswald mayor himself presented to ministries and railway deputations in Dresden. On November 7, 1887, the towns of Geringswalde, Hartha, Rochlitz and Waldheim then turned to the Second Chamber with a petition complaining about the slow development.

Finally, in 1888/89, the first preparatory work for a secondary railway was approved, which began in 1889. The actual construction of the railway was permitted by the Second Chamber of the Saxon State Parliament on March 13, 1890, and the First Chamber gave its approval shortly afterwards. The exact route was not yet determined, especially the location of the Hartha train station was a matter of dispute. A train station close to the city would have lengthened the route by around one kilometer and required two more bridges, while a more southerly route would have meant a greater distance to the center. Despite the express wish of Hartha's neighboring communities to run the route north of the city, the supporters of the southern variant prevailed. The Geringswald train station was thus also laid south of the city. For the further course of the route to Rochlitz there were options through the Auenbachtal or the Aubachtal, the larger number of communities to be connected and the expected inclination were the decisive factors in favor of the latter.

Construction and opening of the route

Construction work began on April 1, 1891. Both in Waldheim and in Rochlitz, construction offices were set up that were responsible for the construction of the railway. For the time being, their activities were limited to surveying, buying property, providing materials and recruiting workers. On October 27, 1891, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on the bridge over the Zwickauer Mulde, the largest engineering structure on the route. More extensive work did not take place until June 1892. In Döhlen , part of the local mountain had to be removed to make room for the train and road. The area at the bus stop was filled with the removed rock. In August 1892, work began in Hartha and Geringswalde, where 96,000 m ^{3 of} earth had to be moved to level the station area. In November 1892, work began in Waldheim. There were favorable conditions for construction there after the station was expanded and the slope on its northwest side was removed in 1888.

Initially, the plan was to complete the line within a year, as only two larger engineering structures were required. However, the completion date planned for July 1, 1893 could not be kept, so tracks were not laid until August 1893. A timetable was published shortly afterwards for September 1893, but the route was not finished until November. The first locomotive arrived in Hartha on October 6, 1893. After two postponements, the line was officially opened with a six-month delay on December 6, 1893 with a special train, with great sympathy from the population. Before that, the stagecoach connection between Geringswalde and Rochlitz was discontinued. When it was opened, the line was given a common abbreviation for a railway line in Saxony , and WR for the W aldheim – R ochlitz line .

business

Course book range	Period
459	1914
145n	1939
170f	1941, 1941/42
170b	1944
433	1977, 1981/82
528	1997

Freight train with Saxon VV on the Klosterbach Bridge

The railway line mainly served local needs. The first timetable provided for four pairs of trains a day. In 1914, eight trains in the direction of Waldheim and six in the direction of Rochlitz ran on the course book route 459 on weekdays, which took around 60 to 70 minutes for the 21 km long route. There was also another train from Waldheim to Geringswalde. For a short time, continuous “ theater trains ” ran to and from Döbeln on individual weekdays . A photograph proves the use of the Saxon V V series . After the First World War , transport services fell, and at times there was even no passenger train service on Sundays. There were further traffic disruptions during the railroad strike in February 1922. Only at the end of the 1920s did traffic levels stabilize again. At that time, the general timetable was felt to be inadequate. They wanted continuous trains from Waldheim to Narsdorf and better connections, and the rolling stock used was also seen as no longer up to date. The average travel time of 60 to 70 minutes for pure passenger trains had not changed at that time, nor did the number of trains (8 trains on weekdays in both directions, plus another only from Waldheim to Geringswalde).

On September 26, 1940, the bridge over the road from Arras to Milkau was replaced with the help of a railway crane. The line survived the Second World War undamaged, and bridges - as often happened on other lines in the area - were not carried out.

Around 1980, three locomotive-hauled train pairs operated Monday to Friday between Waldheim and Rochlitz with a journey time of around 40 minutes, on weekends two locomotive-hauled train pairs and two train pairs tied to and from Altenburg as railcars. The morning passenger train from Waldheim to Rochlitz continued on weekdays to Narsdorf . In addition, there was a pair of GmP trains between Geringswalde and Rochlitz from Mondays to Saturdays , whose timetable on Sundays only ran freight trains. Typical locomotives at that time were the series 110 , 106 and 171/172 of the DR, occasionally the series 118 (six-axle) was also used.

The line was expanded from 1987 on the Waldheim – Döhlen section for an axle load of 21 tons, which in particular required the replacement of almost all bridges on this section. The bridge over the Klosterbach in Geringswalde was only replaced by a fully load-bearing temporary bridge, the installation of a permanent structure was omitted. The bridge over the Zwickauer Mulde between Döhlen and Rochlitz was also not renewed. The background to the expansion measures was the construction of a central heating power plant for the city of Rochlitz in Döhlen, which was to be supplied with lignite from the Lusatian lignite district . In the summer of 1988, the route was closed for several months due to construction work. This also were railway pioneers and construction soldiers of the National People's Army involved. However, the thermal power station was not completed due to the fall of 1989/90.

After the reunification in eastern Germany in 1989, the line quickly lost its importance in passenger and freight traffic. Due to the increasing wear and tear of the track system, the travel time for the entire route increased to around an hour. On the Day of the Saxons in 1995 in the Rochlitz region, special trains were still running, some of which were tied through Waldheim to Riesa . For a time, local trains from Chemnitz via Waldheim, Rochlitz and Narsdorf back to Chemnitz (or vice versa) were set up. However, due to the sharp decline in use, travel was discontinued on June 1, 1997, and freight traffic on January 1, 1996.

On June 2, 1998, the closure was approved by the Federal Railway Authority. It was legally enforced on August 15, 1998.

At the end of 2011, Deutsche Bahn agreed to sell the railway line in order to make a railway cycle path possible. The neighboring municipalities bought the corresponding sections of the route that lie in their area. In spring 2012, the dismantling of the track and signal systems began.

Route description

course

Arras, railway bridge over the Aubach (2016)

Railway bridge in Döhlen (2016)

The line began at Waldheim station , and the Waldheim – Kriebethal railway line , which is now also closed, branched off to the south , while the Riesa – Chemnitz line is still in operation. The line to Rochlitz leads out in the northern head of the station and leaves the main line in a long curve in a north-westerly direction. After crossing under the Waldheim bypass (Waldstrasse), the train leads past Richzenhain , before crossing the railroad crossing between Waldheim and Hartha, which was last secured by half barriers. About 50 m from the road, the route continues to Hartha, at the entrance to the station, another level crossing secured with barriers was crossed.

From the train station on the southern outskirts of the city, the route runs after a long left curve in a south-westerly direction through the Fröhne forest . In the Fröhne, the route that climbs up from Waldheim crosses the watershed between Zschopau and Zwickauer Mulde , from now on the route to Rochlitz falls steadily. Directly past the Fröhnteich pond, you will reach Geringswalde train station, which is also on the southern outskirts, shortly before you pass the Geringswalde bridge. As far as Arras the route now runs directly south, after Arras it swings again to the south-west. As far as Dohlen, the railway line now runs in the Aubach valley . After Arras, you cross another piece of forest before continuing from the fruit mill in a westerly direction to Rochlitz. First, Döhlen is passed through, the station of the same name was in the west of the village. The level crossing of today's federal highway 175 ( ⊙ ), which was secured by half barriers, was located directly at the entrance, where serious accidents still regularly occurred. The Rochlitz (Sachs) train station was reached via the bridge over the Zwickauer Mulde in a left curve .

Operating points

Waldheim ⊙

Waldheim station, reception building

→ Main article : Waldheim train station

Waldheim station was opened in 1852 with the Limmritz – Chemnitz section, the last section of the Riesa – Chemnitz line . Although two branch lines began here with the Waldheim-Rochlitz and Waldheim-Kriebethal lines (opened in 1896) , the track systems of the separation station for these branching lines were quite simple. For the trains to Rochlitz there was only one track that could be moved. This was on the island platform, which is now the only platform ever (a second platform without a roof existed until the second track of the main line was rebuilt and electrified), opposite is the platform track of the Riesa – Chemnitz main line. In the meantime, the Rochlitz side of the island platform has also been integrated into the main line, and the track has now been abandoned. The reception building is empty and is increasingly falling into disrepair, and the long goods shed is no longer in use, as is the boiler house , connected via a turntable , in which locomotives for the shunting service and handovers to the paper mills in the Zschopautal were previously stationed. Only several loading lines remained in operation for a few years. In the meantime (2016), apart from the main tracks and the track connections between them, only one passing track is still in use.

Hartha (Kr Döbeln) ⊙

Hartha station (Kr Döbeln), track side (2016)

After Geringswalde, Hartha was the second most important intermediate station on the line. Two platforms were available for passenger traffic, as there were occasional train crossings here. But Hartha was much more important in freight transport. The station had four connections, three of which were served until shortly before operations ceased. In addition to a connection to the BHG , the textile industry was one of the most important goods customers. A reception building (a Saxon, two-and-a-half-story brick-built type building), a goods shed, a farm building, a loading ramp and a residential building were present in the high-rise buildings. In 1936 a brand-new Kö I (company number 0236, built by Windhoff ) of the Riesa depot in Hartha was stationed for the extensive shunting tasks . A small locomotive was stationed here at least until 1945.

The station had four different names during its operating time, in detail these were:

• until September 30, 1904: Hartha train station near Waldheim
• until June 30, 1911: Hartha station (city)
• until October 3, 1953: Hartha Stadt station
• since October 4, 1953: Hartha station (Kr Döbeln)

Geringswalde ⊙

Geringswalde station, track side (2016)

The station had an island platform where train crossings could take place and which was accessible from the station building through a tunnel (at the entrance of which there was a platform barrier that had not been used since the 1970s ). The latter was of the same type as the one in Hartha (Kr Döbeln), but was extended by a spacious waiting hall, the eastern inner wall of which was decorated with a mural with railway motifs.

After the first goods shed on the south side of the station proved too small, a second, larger one was built on the north side. In the 1930s a small locomotive was stationed here for shunting purposes . After the Second World War, two tracks were dismantled for reparation purposes.

Freight traffic served local industry and land trade. There was a separate siding for this, as well as for a branch of the Vereinigte Werkzeugfabriken, which also connected the concentrate mixer to the railway network via a segment turntable. There was a level crossing at both ends of the station. However, the eastern one has been kept closed to road vehicles since the mid-1970s and could only be used by pedestrians. A construction train was stationed in Geringswalde when the line was upgraded for higher axle loads in the 1980s.

Arras ⊙

Former Arras stop (2016)

At the breakpoint Arras there was a private by the end of World War II siding . The waiting hall had a wooden pavement . It is no longer there. The location of the station is overgrown with bushes, and there is some demolition material from buildings on the area.

Fruit mill ⊙

Obstmühle stop (2016)

The former stop became a stop after the loading track was dismantled. Next to the waiting hall was the car body of a covered freight car of the type (class district) Stettin, which was used as a storage room. The building with the station sign is still there.

Döhlen (b Rochlitz / Sachs) ⊙

The Döhlen stop to the west of the town of the same name lasted as such until it ceased operations. It was used for freight transport to the nearby VEB Orsta-Hydraulik Rochlitz plant and for the loading of agricultural goods. The waiting building from GDR times on the edge of the area has survived to the present.

The station already had three different names during its operation, in detail these were:

• to June 30, 1911: Döhlen near Rochlitz
• until December 21, 1933: Döhlen b Rochlitz (Sa)
• since December 22, 1933: Döhlen (b Rochlitz / Sachs)

• 

  Döhlen stop (2016)

• 

  Döhlen stop after dismantling the tracks (2016)

Rochlitz (Sachs) ⊙

Rochlitz railway station (2007)

→ Main article : Rochlitz (Sachs) train station

The station was opened on April 8, 1872 together with the Rochlitz – Narsdorf – Penig line . In 1875 the Rochlitz – Großbothen section of the Glauchau – Wurzen (“Muldentalbahn”) railway was opened, and in 1876 it was extended to Penig; in 1877 the entire route to Glauchau was open. With the opening of the Muldentalbahn, Rochlitz became a railway junction, and locomotive treatment systems were built here, from which the Rochlitz depot later developed. In addition to the trains from Waldheim, trains on the Wechselburg – Küchwald line (“Chemnitztalbahn”) opened in 1902 also ended in Rochlitz.

In the decades that followed, all railway lines were used briskly. In addition to sand mining in the Mulde Valley, the paper and textile industry also played a major role in freight traffic, and commuter traffic was of particular importance in passenger traffic. The station was expanded several times up to around 1900, after which it remained essentially unchanged until 1990. Only with the economic effects of the fall of 1989/90 did the transport volume collapse, until 2001 all rail transport connections around Rochlitz were suspended.

Engineering structures

The parts for the original bridges on the Waldheim – Rochlitz railway line were supplied by the Lauchhammerwerk .

Klosterbach Bridge ⊙

The truss bridge between Geringswalde and Klostergeringswalde was 96 m long and 9 m high, making it the second largest engineering structure on the route. It was replaced by a makeshift bridge when the line was renovated in 1988. The replacement of the abutments and the construction of a new support structure were planned between 1991 and 1995, but this did not happen.

Muldenbrücke ⊙

The construction of the bridge over the Zwickauer Mulde began on October 27, 1891 and ended in March 1893. It lies in a curve, is 111 m long, 11 m high, weighed 5000 quintals (250 t) and consists of lattice girders. It is supported by two brick pillars between the abutments. It was supposed to be renewed between 1991 and 1995, but this did not happen after German reunification, although its condition required restrictions on the axle load to 16 t and the maximum speed to 10 km / h.

See also

• List of disused railway lines in Saxony

literature

• Erich Preuß , Reiner Preuß : Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen , transpress publishing company, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70700-0 .
• Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , Bildverlag Thomas Böttger, Witzschdorf 2003, ISBN 3-9808250-4-3 .
• Matthias Heimann: 100th anniversary of the Waldheim - Rochlitz (Sachs) line , Reichsbahndirektion Dresden, public relations and press, undated

Web links

Commons : Waldheim – Rochlitz railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Rochlitz - Waldheim . February 4, 2004. Archived from the original on January 12, 1013.
• Route description and comparison of operating time / today at www.eisenbahnrelektiven.de
• Railroad cycling

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Data on www.sachsenschiene.de
2. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 25 f.
3. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 26 f.
4. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 27 ff.
5. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 11
6. ↑ Hendschels Telegraph - May 1914 at www.deutsches-kursbuch.de (accessed on April 8, 2013)
7. ↑ Erich Preuß, Reiner Preuß: Saxon State Railways. Transpress 1991
8. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - The Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 38 ff.
9. ^ Course book of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, winter timetable 1977/78 and winter timetable 1981/82
10. ^ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 70
11. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 80 ff.
12. ↑ List of federally-owned lines in the state of Saxony that have been closed since 1994 ( memento of the original from July 18, 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.  
13. ↑ Freie Presse - Waldheim: City participates in cycle path to Rochlitz
14. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 106 ff.
15. ↑ Data on Waldheim train station at www.sachsenschiene.de (accessed on June 1, 2015)
16. ↑ Waldheim on www.eisenbahnrelikte.de (accessed on 10 April 2013)
17. ↑ DB Netze: Operating Offices. Waldheim ( German ) Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. 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. Retrieved March 23, 2016. 
18. ↑ Steffen Kluttig: Railway history in the Muldenland - the Rochlitz railway junction and its sand railways , p. 72
19. ↑ Type constructions of the reception building at www.sachsenschiene.de (accessed on June 1, 2015)
20. ↑ Data on Hartha train station (Kr Döbeln) on www.sachsenschiene.de
21. ↑ Hartha on www.eisenbahnrelktionen.de (accessed on April 10, 2013)
22. ^ Rainer Heinrich: Kleinlokomotiven in der Rbd Dresden - Use and home from 1930 to 1995 , EK-Verlag, Freiburg, ISBN 3-88255-437-1 , p. 115 ff.