Railway friends Wetterau

Railway friends Wetterau e. V. (EFW)
purpose	Maintenance of technical cultural assets in the field of railways
Chair:	Stefan John, Tristan Gurb
Establishment date:	23rd August 1974
Seat :	Bad Nauheim
Website:	www.ef-wetterau.de

Locomotives 1 and 2 with a museum train near Steinfurth

The Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau e. V. (EFW) are a non-profit registered association in Bad Nauheim , which has operated a museum railway in the Wetterau on the Butzbach-Licher Railway (BLE) since 1980 and freight transport since 2004 . The Railway Friends are both a railway infrastructure company and a railway company .

history

The club was founded in 1974 as a model railway club. In the former Rotten accommodation in the freight area to the south-east of the Bad Nauheim train station , rooms could be rented to set up a model railway system. However, this facility was devastated twice in burglaries. In order to finance reconstruction, special trips with the steam locomotive 98 727 (Zucker-Susi) of the Darmstadt-Kranichstein Railway Museum were successfully organized. As a result, some members decided to concentrate on the museum railroad sector, and their own passenger cars were purchased.

In 1980, special trips could be offered for the first time at the Rose Festival in Steinfurth , followed by a special trip with the steam locomotive 24 009 . In 1983 the V 36 of the Friedberg sugar factory was taken over, so that for the first time its own locomotive was available. In 1987, locomotive 1 of the Marburger Kreisbahn , a Henschel type Bismarck , was to be made available on loan to the Wetterau railway friends; However, it did not come to Bad Nauheim until 1990 after a lengthy work-up. At the same time, with financial support from the city of Bad Nauheim, the rotten accommodation was converted into a clubhouse . During the construction of the new B 3 (bypass Bad Nauheim and Ober-Mörlen), the route, which is only operated by museum traffic, was taken into account and a bridge was built over the road. In order to park the steam locomotive in a protected place, a two-tier locomotive hall was built on the BLE premises in Bad Nauheim between 1992 and 1993 (the investigation pit did not follow until 2000 for financial reasons). In 1993 the train of the Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau for the reopening of the modernized Taunusbahn drove away from the museum route for the first time. The steam locomotive later had to be shut down because the deadlines had expired ( general inspection , boiler inspection ) and the future of the line was initially uncertain.

View from the museum train

After the line was advertised for takeover by the Hessische Landesbahn, consideration was also given to decommissioning, which would also have been the end for museum traffic. On January 1, 2004 the Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau took over the Butzbach operating border – Munzenberg and Griedel – Bad Nauheim Nord lines as tenants. For the first time the Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau drove a wooden train. The conversion of the intersection of the B 488 at the southwestern exit of Butzbach, including the level crossing to a roundabout immediately following, in 2005 on the occasion of Hessentag 2007 also took into account the railway line that crosses the roundabout and touches the central island.

In the years from 2007, further locomotives were acquired for the wooden trains, among other things, and extensive maintenance work was carried out on the line due to the increasing aging of the superstructure , which was no longer maintained by the BLE . In addition, after several years of refurbishment, the steam locomotive was able to be put back into operation in 2009, but had to be taken out of service again by 2013 after a few trips due to damage to the cylinder .

route

Track construction vehicles in Bad Nauheim Nord

The railway friends Wetterau are as tenants and operators of public Railroads 9371 (section Butzbach Betriebsgrenze- Münzenberg ) and 9373 ( Griedel - Bad Nauheim north ) a railway infrastructure companies (EIU). Both lines were originally built by the Butzbach- Lich Railway , the Butzbach – Münzenberg section is the remainder of the main line to Lich. The border to the Hessische Landesbahn between Butzbach Ost and Griedel is on the free stretch at the level crossing of the B 488 . In Bad Nauheim Nord, where the depot with siding for the club vehicles and the locomotive hall with workshop and pit are located, there is a connection to the Main-Weser Railway , which was included in the conversion to the EStw Friedberg and has been shared by both since the beginning of 2016 Pages can be used.

The route is operated in simplified train control , the train registration office is Bad Nauheim Nord . All on-the-go stations ( Steinfurth , Oppershofen , Rockenberg , Griedel , Gambach and Oberhörgern - Eberstadt ) are typically small train stations , the reception buildings were mostly still owned by the Hessische Landesbahn and were rented out to private individuals as living space, most of them have since been sold. The platforms , if any, are mostly low and have a water-bound ceiling . Only Bad Nauheim Nord and Steinfurth Rosenbahnsteig have a high platform edge; Steinfurth Bf, Rockenberg and Gambach each have a low platform and Munzenberg has a single-storey platform paved with composite stones.

A total of 20 kilometers of track are maintained by Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau, the track construction is carried out independently with the association's own vehicles. Two longer sections have already been completely renewed and several hundred individual sleepers and a switch were replaced in the 2013/2014 winter season. In the 2014/2015 winter season, the extension of the siding in Griedel was continued.

business

According to the applicable regulations, Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau has been its own public railway company (EVU) since 2006 under the name Eisenbahn der Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau (EbEFW). The reason for the awkward name is that the abbreviation EfW was already taken.

Special trains for the Rose Festival (2012) with the club's own material and GTW 2/6 of the HLB

The original mainstay of the association are the museum trains and special passenger trips. In summer, on two Sundays a month, there are commuter trains on the Bad Nauheim Nord – Griedel route (with a return trip to the train station), plus several special trains on festive days such as Nicholas or New Year. Traditionally there is still special traffic for the biennial Rose Festival in Steinfurth, which was also one of the first club activities in the museum railroad sector. At the Landesgartenschau Bad Nauheim 2010 (LGS), a half-hourly shuttle service to the Rosendorf Steinfurth, which does not belong to the LGS but is well attended, was offered on all weekends .

In addition, the Wetterau Railway Friends offer regular and cabaret performances by various artists in a specially prepared theater car as part of the drafts project . The bird migration offer (based on the natural phenomenon of the same name, bird migration ) is aimed at people interested in nature. The numerous nature reserves along the route are visited on the train under ornithological guidance , which is largely not possible due to nature conservation regulations in other ways.

Freight traffic has been taking place several times a month on the Butzbach – Münzenberg section since 2004. In Munzenberg, logs are loaded onto stake wagons on behalf of the Salzburger Eisenbahn Transportlogistik (SETG) and transported by the Wetterau Railway Friends to Griedel, where they are taken over by the Hessian State Railway and transported to Butzbach. The destination of the freight is mostly Zellstoff Stendal . If required, the trains run on two consecutive working days. In 2016, a wooden train was driven by steam locomotive for the first time.

Another loading point is located in the Gambach quartz sand works . After the Quarzwerke Group planned to supply a newly acquired plant by rail in 2014, Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau signed a lease agreement for the siding in June 2014 in order to bring it back into operation in the medium term.

For track construction work in the Friedberg area, locomotive 2 was loaned out to a construction company twice in 2016, along with club staff, for several weeks at a time in the summer. The task of the locomotive was to bring flat wagons, mainly with drainage gravel, from the loading tracks in Friedberg (Hessen) Gbf to the construction site near the Görbelheim junction and maneuver them there. The locomotive completed the mission without failures.

vehicles

Locomotive 4 with a wooden train near Gambach

Locomotive 2 in construction train service in Friedberg (Hess)

The association maintains several locomotives , passenger cars and railway service vehicles . It cooperates with the German Draisinen Sammlung (DDS), some of which are small vehicles on loan. It should be emphasized here that the collection of museum vehicles is primarily limited to vehicles that were in use on secondary and small railway lines and were never used by the state railways, or only for a short time. The Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau therefore represent with their vehicles a typical small railroad traffic, as it could be seen in the early 1950s on private railways like the BLE.

Locomotives

Locomotive No. 1 is a Henschel type Bismarck , which was built in 1904 for the Marburger Kreisbahn under the works number 6676 . The owner of the basalt works located on the line, Friedrich Karl Nickel, had the locomotive placed on a pedestal as a memorial after the line was closed in order to preserve it. From there, the Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau could get them on permanent loan in 1987, which, however, only succeeded in 1990 after a long processing period. After the deadline had expired, the locomotive was parked a few years later to be refurbished in Krefeld between 2007 and 2009. After three trips, the right cylinder was damaged, which can be attributed to the weather-related rust from the time as a monument. After a renewed refurbishment, it had been in operation again from the end of 2013 until its main inspection in 2020.

Locomotive No. 2 is a WR 360 C 14 , which was built by BMAG in 1942 with the works number 11458 and classified as Wifo 31. It came to the share sugar factory Wetterau via the British Army of the Rhine in 1969 as locomotive 1 and in 1983 as locomotive 2 to the Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau. Because of its first place of use, it has explosion protection and, as it was never assigned to the Deutsche Bundesbahn, it is not a V 36 in terms of construction or designation .

Locomotive No. 4 is a Krauss-Maffei ML 440 C (factory number 18352) and was taken over by K + S from Heringen (Werra) in 2007 .

Locomotive no.7 is a Krauss-Maffei ML 500 C (no.19082) and was taken over in 2017 by K + S from Neuhof (near Fulda) .

Locomotive No. 3 ^II is a locomotive of the DR class V 60 (No. 15613) used in the past only in factory service and was acquired by the Ostertalbahn working group in 2018 .

No.	UIC number	Type	Wheel alignment	Construction year	Manufacturer	Horsepower)	Access	Surname	commitment	Characteristics	image
1	90 80 0089 977-7 D-EBEFW	Bismarck	Cn2t	1904	Henschel & Son	400	1987	Friedrich Karl	Passenger trains, special trips	-
2	98 80 0236 299-0 D-EBEFW	WR 360 C 14	C-ie	1942	BMAG	360	1983	Lotte	Passenger trains, special trips	[1]
3 II	98 80 3346 613-3 D-EBEFW	V 60 D	D-ie	1977	LEW	650	2018		Freight trains	[2]
4th	98 80 3504 121-5 D-EBEFW	ML 440 C	C-ie	1957	Krauss Maffei	440	2007	Bertha	in processing (freight trains)	[3]
7th	?	ML 500 C	C-ie	1964	Krauss Maffei	500	2017	Minna	Freight trains	[4]

Former locomotives

Locomotive no. 3 ^I was a MaK 650 D (serial number 600414), which, however, was not refurbished due to the excessive effort and was sold again in 2015.

Locomotive no. 5 was a MaK 450 C (serial number 400056) and came to Bad Nauheim in 2007 one year after its sister machine (serial number 400055), where it was refurbished to be operational. The following year, she suffered a fracture of during a Holzzugdiensts blind shaft , where an older plan was preceded. During the period of shutdown that followed, the engine block also burst open due to the formation of ice in the cooling water. A reconstruction with components from the sister machine would have been possible, but was no longer pursued. In autumn 2018, both locomotives were initially put out to tender, but then scrapped due to lack of demand.

Passenger cars

Several blunderbusses and frame wagons are available to the EFW for passenger traffic . Some of the cars were internally expanded by the EFW for special purposes.

designation	UIC number	Type	comment	Construction year	Manufacturer	image
Bi 27 342 hall	75 80 2429 063-0 D-EBEFW	Bi 29	expanded as a buffet car	1929	West car
Bi 35 406	75 80 2329 400-5 D-EBEFW	Shaped trolley		1909 (reconstruction 1957)	Reconstruction of ÖBB main workshop St. Pölten (AT)
Pwgs 65 330 ffm	75 80 9229 070-2 D-EBEFW	Pwg 41		1942	West car
BT 7139.29	75 80 2329 403-9 D-EBEFW	Shaped trolley	ex sidecar	?	Reconstruction of ÖBB main workshop St. Pölten (AT)
BT 7139.32	75 80 2329 404-7 D-EBEFW	Shaped trolley	ex sidecar	?	Reconstruction of ÖBB main workshop St. Pölten (AT)
Ciu 83 224 ffm	75 80 2429 146-3 D-EBEFW	Ciu 21	expanded as a counter trolley	1928	Machine factory in Esslingen
Ci 39 085	75 80 2329 401-3 D-EBEFW	Shaped trolley	expanded as a theater car	1905 (conversion 1950s)	Reconstruction of ÖBB main workshop St. Pölten (AT)
BCi 27 291		BCi 29	Private property, seated car, fire damage in Wi-Dotzheim	1929	Left-Hofmann-Busch
Pwi 114 743 Mz		Pwi 30	Private property, former EFW counter trolley	1930	Dessau wagon factory

Freight wagons

The freight wagons are primarily used for route maintenance or as storage space in Bad Nauheim Nord.

designation	UIC number	Type	comment	Construction year	Manufacturer	Access	image
BDW Berlin 700 501	-	G10	remodeled, with bedroom, lounge and dining room (1961)	?	?	1978, after retirement by DB
520 208 P 1854	_	Ghv 93	Private property, formerly car type Zz 1-00208 of the CSD , 1925 to AČR , 1939 to BMB 1942 structurally " Germanized " by DR , 1948 to VoWi , 1954 as a track construction wagon for the DB	1921	Vítkovické železárny	1978, after retirement by DB
X 34 253	-	Om Ludwigshafen (Om 19)	already dismantled by RWE to a trolley, ex RWE 1	1941	Ateliers Métallurgiques de Nivelles (B)	after the closure of the Dettingen power plant
X 34 254	-	Om Ludwigshafen (Om 19)	already dismantled by RWE to a trolley, ex RWE 2	1941	Ateliers Métallurgiques de Nivelles (B)	after the closure of the Dettingen power plant
KWD 102	-	G02	Formerly construction train wagon, with appropriate equipment	from 1895	?	Siegen circular path
-	-	G10	Track construction warehouse	?	?	after decommissioning by DB rail warehouse Karlsruhe
-	00 80 123 8 369-4 RIV-EUROP	Gs 213	Track construction warehouse	?	?	after decommissioning by DB as a station car
DB 194 924	-	Gbs 254	Track construction warehouse	1961	Deutsche Industrie Werke AG Berlin-Spandau	after decommissioning by DB as a station car
DRG 520 088 Augsburg	_	12 m 3 petroleum cart	formerly car 52134 of the K.Bay.Sts.B. "4" MAN plant Augsburg (use as a mobile filling station for engine tests), with EFW use as a mobile water supply for the steam locomotive	1905	MAN	2018 on permanent loan from the Brohltalbahn

Railway service vehicles and draisines

For the extensive track construction work on the club's own museum route, the club has several railway service vehicles and draisines available. These are mainly former vehicles of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) or the Deutsche Reichsbahn .

Two Draisinen of the type Klv 11/12 (Klv 11-4165 and 12-4528) owned by DDS are available for rented special trips as well as on open days. In addition, there are several trailers for small vehicles from stocks of the DR, ÖBB or as a conversion from old Skl, as well as a ballast wagon and a ballast plow . Other small vehicles parked in Bad Nauheim Nord are also owned by DDS or serve as spare parts donors.

Vehicles that have been in active use for a long time are listed below:

designation	Type	Construction year	Manufacturer	Access	image
X626 106	Motorcar, series X626		Works Wörth (AT)	2008 after retirement by ÖBB
X626 117	Motorcar, series X626		Works Wörth (AT)	2007 after retirement by ÖBB
X626 134	Motorcar, series X626		Works Wörth (AT)	2008 after retirement by ÖBB
X626 228	Motorcar, series X626		Works Wörth (AT)	2013 after retirement by ÖBB
X626 160	Motorcar, series X626		Works Wörth (AT)	2007 after retirement by ÖBB
Skl 25.1.4248	DR series SKL 25	1988	DR plant for GB Brandenburg	after decommissioning by DB
Skl 25.0.4320	DR series SKL 25	1991	DR plant for GB Brandenburg	after retirement by DB BM Erfurt in 1998
Skl 25.1.5009	DR series SKL 25	1994	DR plant for GB Brandenburg	after decommissioning by DB
97.20.11.107 20-8	Sleeper changing machine SWM 71 with sleeper changing arm		MTH Vrútky sro (SK)	after decommissioning by DB
	SWM 71 sleeper changing machine with loading device		MTH Vrútky sro (SK)	after retirement by DR
97.43.11.506 20-4	Turnout tamping machine WE 75	1963	Plasser & Theurer (AT)	after retirement by the track construction company Faber & Schnepp in 1993
97.46.04.002 10-1	AL 205 track straightening machine	1967	Plasser & Theurer (AT)	after retirement by Kahlgrund-Verkehrsgesellschaft Schöllkrippen

Trivia

Filming the crime scene

In June 2013, a key scene of the crime scene: Born in pain was filmed in Bad Nauheim Nord train station . In addition to the train, which came from other associations, the platform and station building served as the main backdrop. Other scenes shot on the route were not used for the finished film.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History sub- page on the club's website
2. ↑ Picture gallery for the first wooden train on the club website
3. ↑ ^{a b} Subpage EIU / EVU on the club's homepage
4. ↑ According to entries on the club's website under news
5. ^ Railway friends : backbreaking work on the railway line , report by the Wetterauer Zeitung from November 29, 2013
6. ↑ Vehicle portrait MaK 600414 . loks-aus-kiel.de. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
7. ↑ Vehicle portrait MaK 400056 . loks-aus-kiel.de. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
8. ↑ Vehicle portrait MaK 400055 . loks-aus-kiel.de. Retrieved March 24, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Eisenbahnfreunde Wetterau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Association homepage
• Scenes from the 1976 special trip with the Zucker-Susi in the SWR DIGIT archive

Coordinates: 50 ° 21 '54.1 "  N , 8 ° 45' 2.9"  E