Chemin de Fer Touristique du Rhin
The Chemin de Fer Touristique du Rhin (German: Tourist Rheineisenbahn ) is a non-profit association that was founded in 1982 under Alsatian law and operates the museum railway line "Ried-Express". The association has its headquarters in the Volgelsheim train station .
Route
From Volgelsheim , the "Ried-Express" first travels eastwards towards the Upper Rhine and then turns, following the course of the Rhine, towards north-northeast. The train crosses the Alsatian Ried landscape , which gives it its name, west of the river. After 13 kilometers the museum railway reaches Marckolsheim .
Maintenance and history
About 30 members are registered, of which about ten are active. During the whole year they maintain the locomotives and wagons of the association on weekends . Then in summer they operate the trains. The aim of the association is to maintain locomotives and wagons. Remarkable steam engines are the two last Alsatian / Prussian steam locomotives that belonged to the Reichseisenbahnen in Alsace-Lorraine . These are of the Alsace-Lorraine T 3 type (French designation 030TB). Another tourist train in Luxembourg has a similar vehicle. It is about the association "Train1900", which can be found in Fond-de-Gras . Only these three locomotives from the realm of Alsace-Lorraine were saved from being scrapped. The Alsace-Lorraine railway company was remarkably developed by Otto von Bismarck between 1871 and 1918 when Alsace was part of the German Empire .
The stock of locomotives is different: there are a total of six steam locomotives (from the manufacturers Henschel, Decauville, Fives-Lille and Cockerill), several smaller diesel shunting locomotives (including from Decauville, Deutz, the United Rail Vehicle Construction GDR etc.) and diesel-electric American ones Locomotives such as the Baldwin A1A-A1A 62029, which is one of a series of 100 locomotives built in the United States under the Marshall Plan after World War II . The locomotive has been available to the association since 1983. In 2014 a second locomotive of American descent was rescued, it is the GE4036 from General Electric (built in 1944), which was built for the USA-Transportation Corp. was built.
Operating days
Operating days are from the beginning of May to the end of September, and from May to July on Sundays and public holidays. In August and September there is also driving on Saturdays. It is possible to combine the train journey with a boat trip on the Rhine . This is offered by a German company, the BFS, which is based in Breisach am Rhein .
See also
Web links
- Official website of the association, in German and French
- Information about the "Ried-Express" in French