Zwickau – Falkenstein railway line

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Zwickau (Sachs) Hbf – Falkenstein (Vogtl)
Section of the route map of Saxony from 1902
Route number :	6650; sä. ZF
Course book section (DB) :	539
Route length:	35.331 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	CM4
Maximum slope :	17  ‰
Minimum radius :	270 m
Top speed:	80 km / h
Legend from Dresden Hbf from Schwarzenberg (Erzgeb) -2.11 Zwickau (Sachs) Hbf (Keilbahnhof) 297 m 0.52 RAW "7. October" 1.20 after Abzw Werdau arc triangle 2.07 Zwickau (Sachs) Reichenbacher Strasse 326 m 2.70 old route until 1936 3.60 Zwickau-Planitz junction 339 m to Planitz 5.78 Stenn 382 m 9.26 Ebersbrunn 430 m (Vertex) 458 m 11.80 Voigtsgrün 453 m Federal motorway 72 14.99 Irfersgrün 442 m 18.31 First object 31 Bundesstrasse 94 from Göltzschtalbrücke 20.21 Lengenfeld Bridge ( Göltzsch ; 74 m) 20.54 Lengenfeld (Vogtl) 386 m Federal highway 169n 26.23 Rodewisch 472 m 28.33 Auerbach (Vogtl) and Bf 31.08 Ellefeld 544 m by Herlasgrün 33.22 Falkenstein (Vogtl) 551 m to Oelsnitz (Vogtl) to Muldenberg

The Zwickau – Falkenstein railway is a branch line in Saxony that was originally built and operated by the Zwickau-Lengenfeld-Falkensteiner Railway Company . It begins in Zwickau and leads via Lengenfeld and Auerbach / Vogtl. to Falkenstein / Vogtl.

history

Falkenstein owned a station on the Vogtland State Railway ( Herlasgrün – Oelsnitz ) since 1865 . A new, more direct connection should now primarily serve the cheaper transport of the Zwickau coal.

On April 11, 1872, the Zwickau-Lengenfeld-Falkensteiner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (ZLF) was founded, which on July 8, 1872 received the concession to build and operate a railway from Zwickau to Falkenstein. The ZLF wanted to differentiate itself from the state railways and therefore planned its own station, the Lengenfeld station .

In the spring of 1873 the construction of the line began, the construction was taken over by the company Pleßner & Co. in Berlin. Apart from a large bridge over the Göltzsch near Lengenfeld and a few deep cuts, no major engineering structures were necessary. The only delays were the dispute over the location of individual stations and the bankruptcy of the construction company. The Lengenfeld train station was built about one kilometer south of the Zwickau main train station, between the tracks of the Zwickau – Schwarzenberg railway line and the area of Bürgererschacht 2 . So you had immediate access to the coal mined here . The route ran from the station in a curve to the west-southwest and then followed the Galgengrundbach to about just before today's BÜ Kohlenstraße. The originally planned route through Planitz was not implemented due to the negative attitude of the Planitz landowners. The technical acceptance of the line took place on November 6, 1875, and no defects were found. Scheduled traffic commenced on November 29, 1875; the actual opening ceremony had already taken place a few days earlier - on November 18, 1875.

However, the revenues remained well below the forecast revenues. On July 15, 1876, the Zwickau-Lengenfeld-Falkensteiner Railway Company was sold to the Saxon state and the line was henceforth part of the network of the Kgl. Saxon State Railways . The state railways considered the separate line routing through the Galgengrund and the remote location of the Lengenfeld train station as unfavorable and immediately after acquiring the line re-planned the line routing, as an interim solution the Zwickau – Falkenstein line was connected with the Schwarzenberg line so that the trains on their tracks could drive to the main train station. The new route was implemented by mid-1877. This lengthened the railway line by around 2 km. The Lengenfeld station was now used and designated as a workshop station. He retained this function until the new RAW Zwickau was built. The old track through the Galgengrund was dismantled between Stenn in the southwest and the Planitz-Zwickau corridor border. About 1.4 km in total, of which 800 m to the west of Bürgererschachtstrasse were preserved and were used by the von Arnimschen coal railway from 1884 . The coal railway branched off to the south at about 1.9 km of the interim route, 465 m of the old line in Galgengrund was expanded as a three-track collecting track and from the v. Arnimschen coal railway and its affiliates used. In the course of the redesign of the Zwickau main station, the line was moved from the - now old - workshop station to the track of the Bürgerschachtbahn. Around 1925, after the cessation of hard coal mining in the von Arnimschen hard coal works and the Zwickauer Steinkohlenbauverein, the transport volume on this railway fell sharply and the v. Arnimsche Kohlenbahn was organizationally subordinate to the Bürgererschachtkohlenbahn. Around this time, the collecting track was dismantled, removing the last remnant of the old route.

The line survived the Second World War undamaged, only in the Zwickau main train station was there numerous damage caused by air raids in April 1945. Train traffic came to a standstill, and passenger traffic resumed on May 24, 1945.

On May 22, 1966, the previous main line was downgraded to a branch line .

In the 1980s, the superstructure was renewed, after which the permissible axle load on the line could be increased to 21 t. From then on, the large Soviet diesel locomotives could also run to Falkenstein.

In the mid-1990s, the line as a section of the Zwickau – Klingenthal connection was selected by the Free State of Saxony as a pilot project for the revitalization of a branch line at risk of being closed. After extensive track renewal in 1996/97, the line speed could be increased to 80 km / h. Since 1997 the line has been operated by the private Vogtland Railway in passenger traffic.

Route description

course

Railway line at Irfersgrün

The line initially follows the electrified main line to Werdau on its north side and crosses it at the end of the marshalling yard, where it turns south. After crossing under the federal highway 173 , it leads along the Neuplanitz prefabricated building area and slowly enters the wooded and hilly Vogtland . It follows the state road 293, which has been developed as a motorway feeder, which it crosses several times and approaches the federal motorway 72 . After crossing under the same in the following forest area, the route initially takes a downward gradient until it crosses the federal highway 94 and the Göltzsch before Lengenfeld . On the section to Rodewisch, the route now follows the main road and the river on its western valley slope. From Rodewisch the settlement density of the Göltzschtal increases significantly and from the west the route from Herlasgrün begins to approach, which joins after about seven kilometers parallel at the end point Falkenstein.

Operating points

Zwickau (Sachs) central station ⊙

The Zwickau Hbf station building opened in 1936.

The first Zwickau train station was opened in 1845 when the short branch line from the Werdau triangle was opened. In the 1860s the station became an important railway junction when the Chemnitz and Schwarzenberg stations were opened to traffic.

The train station built by ZLF was about 800 m southeast of today's main train station. The ZLF had a reception building, a boiler house and a goods shed built on high-rise buildings. At the same time, the station was the seat of the railway administration. After the nationalization, the state railway first built a connecting track to the state railway station, on which all trains were connected to the state railway station, the private railway station from then on only served as a stop.

In the summer of 1877 a new line was completed, from then on the railway line flowed out in a western direction from the Zwickau train station, only later did the old private railway line meet again. The approximately 3 km long old route that led through the Galgengrund was dismantled, and the private station continued to be used as a workshop station. The exit from the Dresden – Werdau railway line was changed again in 1936 in connection with the reconstruction of the main station, when a new line was built from km 0.00 to km 2.70. As early as the 1910s, the workshop was relocated north of the main station after subsidence caused by the Zwickau coal mining industry , and the former private station was then completely abandoned.

Raw "7. October “ ⊙

The stop was only used by railway workers and was not included in the timetable. After no more trains had stopped at the stop since 1997/98, the facilities were dismantled in 2006.

Zwickau Reichenbacher Strasse ⊙

With the start of passenger traffic on the Zwickau – Planitz railway line , the Zwickau Reichenbacher Strasse stop was established in 1949 . The stop only consisted of a platform; there were no other systems. In the end, only a few trains stopped and, due to a lack of demand, the stop was completely closed in 1985.

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  Former Zwickau-Reichenbacher Strasse stop (2016)

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  Railway line in front of the Zwickau-Reichenbacher Strasse stop (2016)

Zwickau-Planitz junction ⊙

The Zwickau – Planitz railway line, which was initially only opened for freight traffic in 1907, had its starting point at the Zwickau-Planitz junction . The only building at the junction was a simple two-story signal box made of red bricks. In addition to the junction, it also secured a nearby gated level crossing over the street “Zur Kohlenstraße”. After the short branch line to Planitz was closed in 1969, the branch was also closed.

Stenn ⊙

Stenn stop (2016)

The Stenn station was initially equipped with three tracks. After the nationalization, the station was expanded in the 1870s. By the turn of the century, the initially one-story station building was enlarged.

In the 1970s, the tracks were reduced to the continuous main track and the station was degraded to a stop.

Ebersbrunn ⊙

The Ebersbrunn stop was opened in 1893, next to the platform the wooden waiting hall and a toilet were built. In the 1990s the waiting hall was demolished and a simple glass waiting room shelter was erected instead.

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  Ebersbrunn stop (2016)

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  Ebersbrunn stop with Vogtlandbahn (2016)

Voigtsgrün ⊙

Originally the Voigtsgrün station was equipped in a similar way to the Stenn station. Here, too, the station building was enlarged around 1900, and the track systems were also expanded.

In the 1910s, a siding was built for a fuel dealer. In the 1960s this was handed over to the local BHG . This had its connection moved to the other side of the route in the 1970s.

Until the 1990s, the station was used as a loading point for a nearby NVA location, and Voigtsgrün still serves as a crossing station today.

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  Reception building of Voigtsgrün station (2016)

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  Railway line in Voigtsgrün station (2016)

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  Voigtsgrün station (2016)

Irfersgrün ⊙

Irfersgrün stop (2016)

The Irfersgrün stop was established in 1888. Today there is also a glass waiting bunny here, but the wooden waiting hall was not demolished.

Connection object 31 ⊙

In 1947, SAG Wismut took over the processing plant from the Pechtelsgrün wolframite mine and used it as " Factory 75 ". Construction of the junction began in April 1949 and was put into operation in June 1950. Initially, the connecting line branched off the line at km 18.48, after an enlargement the branch was relocated to km 18.31. The processing plant was shut down as early as 1960, but the connecting railway was used until the 1990s.

Lengenfeld (Vogtl) ⊙

→ Main article : Lengenfeld train station (Vogtl)

The train station in Lengenfeld

The Lengenfeld (Vogtl) Station was after the operation opening next Auerbach the biggest stop of the railway line. In addition to the reception building (a type building), the goods shed and a farm building, a water station was also built.

From 1904 the station was completely rebuilt in connection with the construction of the Lengenfeld – Göltzschtalbrücke railway line , which opened in 1905 . A completely new reception building was also built. Over the years, a number of connecting railways were added, and Lengenfeld received its own Kö in the 1930s .

Only after the remaining line to Wolfspfütz was closed at the beginning of the 1970s did the importance of the station decline again. Today there are only three tracks left in the station, all others were dismantled during the route renovation at the end of the 1990s.

Rodewisch ⊙

Initially only a freight station, Rodewisch was elevated to a stop in 1881 and a train station in 1898. This also involved a multiple expansion of the systems, which were initially kept simple.

The station has been a stop again since 1968, before freight traffic had been relocated to the Auerbach wagon load hub.

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  Rodewisch station, reception building (2016)

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  Rodewisch station, platform (2016)

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  Rodewisch station

Auerbach (Vogtl) and Bf ⊙

Auerbach owned a train station on the Herlasgrün – Oelsnitz railway line since 1865 . The new station Auerbach (Vogtl) und Bf was much closer to the place and thus attracted a large part of the traffic. Therefore, the station had to be expanded several times at the end of the 19th century.

Some tracks were removed after the Second World War, but the major dismantling did not take place until the 1990s. Except for the continuous main track, all tracks were dismantled, and in 1999 the reception building of the current stop was demolished. A bus station was built in its place.

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  Auerbach (Vogtl) and Bf (2016)

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  Auerbach (Vogtl) unt Bf, railway maintenance office (2016)

Ellefeld ⊙

Ellefeld stop (2016)

The Ellefeld Station was opened in 1893, after the installation of charging tracks the station in 1912 was elevated to the station. The initially existing wooden waiting hall was replaced by a reception building.

Since the 1980s, Ellefeld has been a stopping point again.

Falkenstein (Vogtl) ⊙

Falkenstein (Vogtl) station, reception building (2016)

→ Main article : Falkenstein (Vogtl) station

The Falkenstein (Vogtl) station was only built as a simple crossing and water station when the Herlasgrün – Oelsnitz line was opened by the Voigtland State Railway in 1865. With the opening of the private railway, Falkenstein became an island station in 1875 , as the ZLF built its station facilities south (and thus on the other side) of the existing station.

In 1892 the Falkenstein – Muldenberg railway line was opened from Falkenstein . Although it had been expanded several times before, the station was completely rebuilt from 1908 onwards. This is where today's reception building was built.

A boiler house and locomotive treatment systems were also built here when the private railway was being built. These systems were the starting point for the Falkenstein depot , which later became independent for around 20 years .

At the end of the 1990s, the track systems were significantly reduced. Today there are only two continuous tracks left in the station, all the remaining tracks end bluntly.

Use of locomotives

RegioSprinter of the Vogtlandbahn near Irfersgrün

The five machines procured by the ZLF belonged to classes VII and IIIb . After the nationalization, the genus V T was added. Since the end of the 19th century, pure freight trains have been drawn with the classes V (class 53.82) and V V (class 53.6–7). Around 1900, in addition to the class IIIb, the class VIII V ₂ was used before passenger trains , the class VII had meanwhile been almost completely withdrawn from train service. From the 1910s to the late 1960s, almost all passenger trains were hauled with the class XIV HT (class 75.5), and individual services were also taken over by the class 38.2–3 during this period . The types V and V V were gradually supplemented by the types XI V , XI HV and XIII H (series 58) after the turn of the century . There was also the class XI HT (class 94.19-21), with which numerous freight trains were hauled by the end of the 1960s. In the 1920s, the 53.82 series disappeared from the line, and the 53.6–7 series in the early 1930s.

Even after World War II, the locomotive stock of the state railway series 75.5 and 94.19-21 was coined, supplemented by standard locomotives of the class 86 . With the 64 and 84 series , however, it was only used individually. The different variants of the 58 series were also used especially for the bismuth traffic.

The change in traction began in the 1960s with the class VT 2.09 railcars , which did not prove themselves on the steep routes and were only used until the mid-1970s. Also at the end of the 1960s, steam locomotives were gradually replaced by the V 100 series (110 series). From then on, the shunting service was taken over by the V 60 series (106 series), while the Kös was replaced by the V 15 (101 series) and V 23 (102 series).

As early as the early 1970s, the 110 series took over most of the traffic. Occasionally the series 180 and 132 were used exclusively in front of freight trains. In the 1980s, the 110 series was replaced by the more powerful 112 series ; until the early 1980s, freight trains were still hauled by steam locomotives (mostly with the 50 series). Even in the 1990s, only locomotive-hauled trains ran on the route. Since taking over passenger transport in 1997, Vogtlandbahn has been using multiple units again ( RegioSprinter and, from 2012, Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS 1 ).

literature

• Norbert Peschke : The Zwickau hard coal mining and its coal railways . Zschiesche GmbH, Wilkau-Haßlau 2007, ISBN 978-3-9808512-9-9 , p. 71-102 .
• Norbert Peschke: Railway stations in and around Zwickau . In: Zwickau transport hub . Part 1. Jacobi, Fraureuth 2010, ISBN 978-3-937228-40-2 .
• Erich Preuß , Reiner Preuß : Saxon State Railways . transpress, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-344-70700-0 .
• Wilfried Rettig : Development, main lines, vehicles, depot and high-rise buildings (=  The railways in Vogtland . Volume 1 ). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-88255-686-2 .
• Wilfried Rettig: Zwickau (Sachs) –Falkenstein (Vogtl) - yesterday and today the route ZF . Jacobi, Fraureuth 2007, ISBN 978-3-937228-12-9 .

Web links

Commons : Zwickau – Falkenstein railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Measurement table section Zwickau. 1879, Retrieved January 7, 2017 . 
• Measurement table section Ebersbrunn. 1879, Retrieved January 7, 2017 . 
• Measurement table section Ebersbrunn. Retrieved January 7, 2017 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Norbert Peschke: Planitz . Experienced history (=  the series of archive images ). Sutton, 1999, ISBN 978-3-89702-148-8 , pp. 16 ( online [accessed July 13, 2016]).
2. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 1: Development, main lines, vehicles, depot and buildings. P. 102.
3. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: The railways in Vogtland - Volume 1: Development, main lines, vehicles, depot and buildings. P. 103.
4. ↑ Wilfried Rettig: From Herlasgrün to Klingenthal, across the Saxon Vogtland. P. 127.
5. ↑ Auerbach (Vogtl) and Bf on www.sachsenschiene.net
6. ↑ Tracks in service facilities (as of April 1, 2012) (PDF; 175 kB)