Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn
| Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Course book section (DB) : | last 214h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 600 volts = | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Map with all coordinates: The Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn GmbH (BEK) operated an electric standard-gauge small train ( see also: Overland tram ), which ran on the northern slope of the Harrl from Bückeburg to Bad Eilsen . The shares of the GmbH were among the Princely House of Schaumburg-Lippe and the total mining authority Oberkirchen. The nickname Eilser Minchen is derived from the wife of the then Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.
history
The Bückeburg Association for Trade and Industry began planning a railway connection between Bückeburg and the hinterland in 1912. The proposals were submitted to the Princely Court Chamber. After Prince Adolf decided in 1916 to build a railway between Bückeburg and Bad Eilsen, this line was inaugurated on May 15, 1918. It was believed that the princely Bad Eilsen needed a connection to the national railway network so that the up-and-coming bath could better participate in the range of German spas. On July 29, 1919 an extension was built in the west to Westphalia via Meißen to Minden with a connection to the Mindener Kreisbahnen ( narrow-gauge railway ). The six-kilometer stretch from Bückeburg to Minden Stadt was opened on July 29, 1919 and closed and dismantled in 1922 for reasons of profitability. Also in 1919, on October 1st, the connection to the Rinteln – Stadthagen railway from Bad Eilsen Kurhaus was opened.
Since there were problems with the steam locomotives , some of which were bought second-hand, the Prussian State Railroad bought two battery-powered railcars that took over the traffic. In 1925 the Bückeburg - Bad Eilsen line was electrified with 600 V direct current , and electrical operations began in 1926. In addition, the railcars were given lyre brackets .
During the Second World War , the railway handled the factory traffic for the Bad Eilsen-based development and construction departments of the aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf . The Kleinbahn survived the war without damage or loss. After the end of the war, Bad Eilsen belonged to the British zone of occupation and until 1954 was the headquarters of the British Air Force Royal Air Force (RAF) in Germany. For this purpose an airfield was built in Achum near Bückeburg, the material transport of which was taken over by the Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn. Until the relocation of the RAF headquarters, the company benefited greatly from the income generated by the occupation forces, which the BEK would not have after their departure. By the British military, the tracks of the BEK were also often of the "Flying Cologne" as known speed rail cars drive on SVT 137 that were rented in the postwar period to the Allies.
In 1950, the Lower Saxony wagon factory Joseph Graaff in Elze delivered a new railcar to replace the two outdated predecessors. The 18½ meter long railcar, known as the ET 204, was a little sensation, as it was "the first railcar built in a wagon factory for a non-federal railway after World War II."
In the following years, due to the increasing motorization of the population, the utilization of the small railways fell. The ET 204 also remained as the only traction vehicle that had to provide both passenger and freight traffic; all others were retired due to their old age. Though the purchase of another railcar was considered, the financial situation no longer made such an investment possible. For several years, the Kleinbahn drove losses in the lower six-digit range. In 1960, 422,000 people and 10,000 tons of goods were transported. From 1961, the management took over the German Railway Company (DEG), the local operations manager was the Rinteln-Stadthagener Railway , which belongs to the DEG .
On June 30, 1966, rail traffic on the Bückeburg - Bad Eilsen line was terminated relatively surprisingly. Before that, extensive rationalization and cost-saving measures had already taken place since the 1950s. The fact that a new reception building for the Bad Eilsen Kurhaus stop was inaugurated four months before the rail traffic was closed and the closure plans for the line were only announced at the opening address made headlines across Germany . The Bückeburg - Bückeburg Ost section was also used as a siding for some industrial companies after the closure . This section was only closed and dismantled ten years later.
course
The route Bückeburg - Bad Eilsen (6.0 km) began on the station forecourt in Bückeburg , then ran through the Jetenburg district (this place was incorporated into the city of Bückeburg) to the Bückeburg Ostbahnhof, in whose building the restaurant "Minchen" is now located . After another stop in Ahnsen , the railway crossed a 120 meter long tunnel (north portal filled in since the 1970s) under Ahnser Strasse and the now demolished Gasthaus Wilhelmshöhe, where there was also a stop. The last but one station before Bad Eilsen was the Bad Eilsen Kurhaus station mentioned above.
The continuation from Bückeburg to Minden (6.0 km) ended at Notthorn in the narrow-gauge line of the Mindener Kreisbahnen. The Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn laid a third rail there to the Minden Stadt station . Originally a route via Grille to the Minden State Railway Station was planned, but the city of Minden did not issue a permit for this because of its own tram plans .
The whereabouts of the ET 204
After the cessation of traffic on the Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn, the ET 204 was sold in 1967 for 12,000 DM to Austria to the Montafonerbahn , where it ran under the name ET 10.101. When it was adapted for its new location, it received, among other things, a single-arm pantograph and an auxiliary unit for driving independent of contact wires at Bludenz station. In addition, the gear ratio was changed. After this upgrade, the maximum permissible speed was increased from 40 km / h to 75 km / h.
The ET 204 had been owned by Stern & Hafferl Verkehrsgesellschaft since 1991 and served as the ET 24.104 on the Haager Lies (local railway Lambach - Haag am Hausruck ). Because the train protection device was no longer up-to-date, he was only allowed to drive on the Westbahn under certain conditions and therefore mostly only commuted between Haag am Hausruck and Gaspoltshofen . After the local line was shut down, the railcar was scrapped in February 2012.
Today's traffic
Today the royal court chamber operates the bus line Bad Eilsen - Bückeburg and an inner-city line in Bückeburg under the name of BEK (Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn). The line is operated by the bus transport company Rottmann & Spannuth Omnibusverkehre GmbH .
literature
- Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways. Part 2 Lower Saxony . Zeunert, Gifhorn 1973, ISBN 3-921237-17-3
- Ingrid and Werner Schütte: The Eilser Minchen - The history of the Bad Eilsener Kleinbahn , Uhle and Kleimann publishing house, Lübbecke 1981, 2nd edition 2001, ISBN 3-928959-33-6
- Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways. Volume 11: Lower Saxony 3 - South of the Mittelland Canal . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-88255-670-4 , pp. 40-59.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ingrid and Werner Schütte: Das Eilser Minchen , Verlag Uhle & Kleimann, Lübbecke 1981, p. 86 ff.