Cottbus-Schwielochsee Railway
The Cottbus - Schwielochsee - Eisenbahn (CSE) was a standard gauge horse - drawn railway in the Lausitz.
In preparation for the CSE in 1843, master builder Carl-Friedrich Zimpel created a preliminary draft for the route and the implementation of the technical systems. In 1844 a preparatory committee met to found a stock corporation, which was confirmed in 1845 with 273,000 thalers . The railway was realized by the royal building inspector Fritsch. As early as November 4, 1844, the first earthworks began at the most difficult point on the route near the village of Byhlen, and on June 24, 1846, the first truck was able to drive the route continuously. Plots with a total area of 194 acres and 64 square rods were purchased for the construction of the route . The total costs for the construction of the railway were given as 272,588 thalers and 20 silver groschen .
The CSE established the connection between the developing textile city of Cottbus and the waterways of the Spree on the Schwielochsee . The train stations were in Cottbus and Goyatz , a stop with changing horses in Fehrow .
The route was 31 km (8303 rods ) long, the steepest gradient was 1: 150. The iron flat rails were attached to wooden cross and lengthways sleepers. The railway was used almost exclusively for freight traffic . The journey from Cottbus to Goyatz took 15 hours. Because the distance was quicker to cover on foot than by train, passenger traffic played no role. As for the retrofitting of already outdated at the time of its construction technique of horse-drawn railway on steam operation lacked the resources and the new railways chose other routes, traffic in 1879 has been set.
In Cottbus and Goyatz, the old station buildings can still be seen and sections of the route can be seen in the forest between Fehrow and Byhlen and between Butzen and Goyatz.
With the understanding of the time it was the first railway in Lusatia .
The former warehouse in Goyatz is now a restaurant . Inside there is a permanent exhibition on the history of the Cottbus-Schwielochsee Railway.
References and literature
- Erich Preuß: The Spreewald Railway. 2nd edition, Transpress, Berlin 1981, p. 13
- Description of the Cottbus-Schwielochsee railway in: Julius Michaelis: Germany's railways. 2nd edition, Leipzig 1859. pp. 111-114. Digitized
- Route of the former horse-drawn tram west of Mochow in measuring table sheet 4051, Lieberose, 1903 digitized
Web links
- Information on the horse-drawn tram ( Memento from December 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive )