Bergisches Tram Museum

Bergische Museumsbahnen e. V. (BMB)
The car hall at the final stop "Kohlfurter Brücke (depot)" (2005)
Route length:	2.84 km of regular service + 0.36 km of operating distance km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	650 V  =
Legend former route from Solingen Solingen-Kohlfurth Kohlfurther bridge ( Wupperfeld ) today's end of the route Kohlfurther Bridge (depot) Schulkohlfurt Petrik hammer (Manuelskotten) Friedrichshammer Kaltenbach Greuel (Naturfreundehaus) current final stop Möschenborn reactivation in preparation former route from Wuppertal

The Bergisches Straßenbahnmuseum (BSM) is a museum in Wuppertal - Kohlfurth , which aims to remember the numerous tram companies in the Bergisches Land . The operator is the voluntary association Bergische Museumsbahnen e. V. (BMB) . The museum maintains the smallest tram operator in Germany with a BOStrab license .

history

Grinding locomotive 610, built in 1950, formerly Bogestra -Bahn, at the Bergisches Straßenbahnmuseum in Wuppertal in front of the Kohlfurther bridge, which was not yet renovated at the time

Vehicles in the Kohlfurth, in the back right the car hall

The reason for the establishment of the tram museum was the continuing shutdown of tram operations in the Bergisches Land. The trams in and around Wuppertal once formed the fourth longest tram network in Germany with a total length of over 300 km .

The lines were gradually converted to operation with buses . First, the extensive overland routes were dismantled, and finally the cities of Solingen , Remscheid and Wuppertal also became tram-free. The last tram ran in Wuppertal in 1987. Therefore, the desire arose to remember the time of the tram in Bergisch. The association “Bergische Museumsbahnen e. V. ”, which in 1973 acquired a 3.2 km long meter-gauge stretch between Wuppertal-Kohlfurth and Wuppertal-Cronenberg , which until 1969 had been part of the overland line 5 ( Wuppertal – Solingen ).

In the following years the line was rehabilitated. In addition to several hundred meters of new rails and a few kilometers of new copper contact wire, a separate power supply was also set up. The rectifier station "Am Schütt" was put into operation in 1989, so that electrical operation on the line was possible again.

The depot area was built in Kohlfurth, on a site near the former bus stop and in close proximity to the Wupperbrücke, built in 1893. Initially, a few siding were built, and in the 1970s, work began on building a workshop, storage and exhibition hall, the shell of which was completed in 1989. This made it possible for the first time to store the majority of the vehicle collection sheltered from the weather.

After the concession for a tram operation on the renovated stretch to the Friedrichshammer stop was granted in 1991, the museum was opened in 1992 by the then North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Johannes Rau . Initially, two railcars were available for operation. In the following year, the association was able to open another section of the route to the Kaltenbach stop, and since 1997 the trams have been running to the current final stop at Greuel (Naturfreundehaus). In addition, another railcar could be put back into operation, which was followed in 1999 by two more operational railcars.

The vehicle hall was completed in 2006, and a workshop extension followed in 2008. In 2005 and 2008, several vehicles were used for various occasions outside the Kohlfurth. For the 40th anniversary of the association in 2009, the refurbishment of a sixth railcar was completed, which is now also used on driving days.

In January 2008, another vehicle was transferred from the former tram depot in the Cronenberg -Unterkirchen district to Kohlfurth. The association used the former depot as a storage facility for five railcars in need of restoration and a sidecar. When the depot was demolished in December 2008 for the construction of two supermarkets , the other four railcars were also brought to Kohlfurth, the sidecar returned to its original city of Reutlingen .

In April 2013, six non-operational railcars and sidecars were relocated due to lack of space.

In March 2014, a motor car and a sidecar were taken over from the private collection of the deceased honorary chairman. The railcar originally comes from the Remscheid tram, the sidecar from the Bergische Kleinbahnen. Both are not operational and should be worked on.

Two serious line thefts occurred in November and December 2015 : Almost the entire overhead line was removed between the Friedrichshammer and Kaltenbach stops in November . In December, the overhead line between Friedrichshammer and Petrickshammer was torn down. Since the thieves were heard by a witness this time, they had to leave the overhead line behind. Electricity pylons and other technical devices were destroyed on both occasions, as a result of which a car was damaged in the first theft. The total damage amounted to over € 100,000. Since the BMB could not bear the damage alone, an appeal for donations was started. In February 2016, overhead lines (damage: € 6,000) were stolen again. The overhead line was repaired by the end of April 2016 and has since been fully accessible again.

Due to a transformer damage to the rectifier station that supplies the line with traction current, the start of the 2017 season had to be postponed to May.

For the 50th anniversary of the association in 2019, some special events will take place: With the support of the Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW), five themed lectures on public transport in Wuppertal and the surrounding area were held. Commissioning of the Hagen sidecar 131 is planned for September 2019.

route

"Der Bochumer" articulated railcar 275 at the Petrikshammer stop (Manuelskotten)

"Der Bochumer" Tw 275 at the final stop Greuel (Naturfreundehaus)

The route begins about 50 m east of the Kohlfurther bridge . There is the depot with the exhibition vehicles and a bookshop that is housed in a tram . A pull-out track lies as far as the Kohlfurther bridge, where the line ends today. To the east of the depot, the route winds south and then follows the Kaltenbachtal to the north after a 180-degree bend. Six stops are currently served, the final stop is Abomination. A restart of the next section to Möschenborn is planned and has yet to be approved. In Möschenborn there is a double-track terminus at the end of the line .

The route overcomes an altitude difference of approx. 150 meters, which means that an average gradient of 5% has to be mastered. Most of the route runs through a forest area and is therefore typical of the former overland tram network. However, there are no purely urban routes; The track sections laid in the subgrade only exist on the section in front of the Kohlfurth Bridge.

vehicles

“Der Hagener” railcar 337 in front of the car hall in the Kohlfurth

"The Elberfelder" railcar 105 is a "real" Wuppertal

The former Freiburg railcar 406 is used for all work

In total, the association owns 29 tram (Tw) and trailer (Bw) and some goods (Gw) and work trucks. Five of these vehicles are currently (as of 2017) in ongoing passenger service on the route, three multiple units and one sidecar are being refurbished and are expected to return to passenger service in the next few years. For maintenance work on the route, three working vehicles (ATw) and three lorries are available, the remaining vehicles are partly ready to drive, but without registration and parked in an unrestored condition.

Wagon no.	Manufacturer mechanical / electrical	Construction year	Original company	last owner	at BMB since	Status
Tw 23	Uerdingen / AEG	1912	Urban trams Hamborn	DVG	2006	not operationally parked, currently outsourced
ATw 41 ( grinding trolley )	Schörling / SSW	1952	City trams Solingen	Mülheimer VerkehrsGesellschaft	2009	in action
Tw 49	Weyer / AEG	1921	Stadtwerke Remscheid	Stadtwerke Remscheid	1969	parked inoperable
ATw 93	MAN / SSW	1920	Bergische Kleinbahnen	WSW	1970	parked inoperable
Tw 94	Gebr. Schöndorff / SSW	1928	Barmer mountain railway	private, Hückeswagen	1996	in action
Tw 105	Talbot	1927	Bergische Kleinbahnen	WSW	1970	in action
Tw 106	Westwaggon / Siemens	1960	Stadtwerke Remscheid	HEAG	1992	operational, not in passenger use
Tw 107	DÜWAG	1936	Rheinbahn	ASEAG	1976	in action
Tw 113	Talbot / SSW	1927	Bergische Kleinbahnen	WSW	1970	not operationally parked, currently outsourced
Tw 115	Uerdingen / SSW	1931	Bergische Kleinbahnen	WSW	1970	not operationally parked, currently outsourced
Tw 120	West wagon / Kiepe	1949	Stadtwerke Remscheid	private, Hückeswagen	2014	parked inoperable
Tw 128	MAN / SSW	1919	Bergische Kleinbahnen	WSW	1970	not operational, in optical refurbishment
Tw 141	Uerdingen / SSW	1928	Ennepe tram	WSW	1970	parked inoperable
Tw 159	MAN	1925	Bergische Kleinbahnen	WSW	1970	in work-up
Tw 239	Van der Zypen & Charlier / SSW	1925	Barmer tram	WSW	1987	operational, cannot be used due to the gauge
Tw 275	DÜWAG	1957	BOGESTRA	BOGESTRA	1995	in action
Tw 323	DÜWAG	1956	Hagen tram	Hagen tram	1975	Processing stopped; currently outsourced
Tw 337	DÜWAG	1957	Hagen tram	Hagen tram	1976	in action
Tw 342	DÜWAG	1952	Vestic trams	Vestic trams	1979	in work-up
Tw 510	Uerdingen	1948	Augsburg transport company	Augsburg tram	1989	only chassis and car body, currently outsourced
ATw 406	Rastatt / SSW	1953	Freiburger Verkehrs AG	Freiburger Verkehrs AG	2003	in action
ATW 610 (grinding carriage)	Seidlitz & Kuschmierz / Kiepe	1900/1950	BOGESTRA	BOGESTRA	1990	operational; currently turned off
ATw 628 ( tower car )	WSW workshop / SSW	1912/1950	WSW	WSW	1970	in action
Bw 131	DÜWAG	1956	Hagen tram	Hagen tram	1976	in work-up
Bw 195	DÜWAG	1955	Vestic trams	Vestic trams	1979	not operationally parked, currently outsourced
Bw 266	MAN	1925	Bergische Kleinbahnen	private, Hückeswagen	2014	parked inoperable
Lore 560	Rastatt	1944	Vestic trams	Vestic trams	1991	in action
Lore 729	Van der Zypen & Charlier	1894	Ronsdorf-Müngstener Railway	WSW	1970	in action
Bw 911	Uerdingen	1949	WSW	WSW	1970	not operationally parked, currently outsourced
Locomotive 601	WSW workshop / Siemens	1927/1932	Barmer mountain railway	Rheinbahn	1999	monument
GW 685	Bothmann	1928	Thuringian Forest Railway	Thuringian Forest Railway	1999	monument
Bw 1656	Düwag	1960	Rheinbahn	Rheinbahn	2006	Book tram salesroom

Former vehicles

Wagon no.	Manufacturer mechanical / electrical	Construction year	Original company	at BMB since	Whereabouts	comment
ATw 683	Credé / AEG	1951	BOGESTRA	1988	2017 sold to private
Tw 53	Esslingen / AEG	1928	Reutlingen tram	1974	2006 sold to Reutlingen
Bw 20	Esslingen	1939	Reutlingen tram	1974	2008 sold to Reutlingen
Tw 226	DÜWAG	1957	Stadtwerke Frankfurt am Main	1996	Scrapped in 2005	Book tram , replaced by Bw 1656
Tw 244	Gebr. Schöndorff	1928	Rheinbahn	2000	Released in 2009	Originally intended to be converted into a sidecar
Tw 96	Fox wagon factory	1948	BOGESTRA	1976	Since 2019 owned by VhAG BOGESTRA

business

On the currently passable section of the route between Kohlfurth and Greuel, there are regular tram rides from April to October on every second and fourth Sunday of the month as well as on Whit Sunday and Monday. Santa Claus rides are also offered for children. The Tram Museum itself can also be visited outside of the travel days on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Every year around 30,000 visitors take advantage of this offer, making the Bergisches Tram Museum the second most visited museum in Wuppertal.

The driving operations are carried out by voluntary members of the association. They are trained for the driving service on the individual vehicles and receive additional training every year.

In order to maintain regular operations, maintenance work is carried out all year round on the yard and on the route. The approximately 20 active members of the association cover the fields of activity from track construction and vegetation maintenance to overhead line construction. In addition to these activities, other projects are also implemented and vehicles are refurbished.

• Picture gallery
• 

  Locomotive 601 is exhibited as a memorial.

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  ATw 628 is operational, it is used, among other things, when working on the overhead line.

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  ATw 683 was mainly used for track construction work and has since been sold.

• 

  ATw 406 (left) with ATw 683.

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  Tw 105 is used on most days of sailing.

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  Tw 275 is mainly used when there is a strong rush of passengers, as well as for St. Nicholas trips.

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  The route leads almost exclusively through wooded terrain (Tw 275).

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  Friedrichshammer stop. Named after a former blacksmith's hammer.

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  The main entrance to the site. On the right you can see the sales room for souvenirs, models and books, the “book tram”.

• 

  Track apron

Web links

Commons : Bergisches Straßenbahnmuseum  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Bergische Museumsbahnen eV
• Official Facebook page of the museum
• https://www.instagram.com/museumsbahn/

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About the BMB. In: BMB. Retrieved June 26, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Kohlfurth: Metal thieves beat again. Rheinische Post, accessed on December 22, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Thieves steal 450 meters of the catenary. Museum railway: damage of more than 50,000 euros. In: wuppertaler-rundschau.de. Retrieved November 9, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Alexander Riedel: Days of travel of the museum railway endangered . RP Digital GmbH. April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
5. ↑ Home. Retrieved April 19, 2019 . 

Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 29 ″  N , 7 ° 6 ′ 44 ″  E