Bełżec – Trawniki light railway
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.png) New light railway from Bełżec to Zamość
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| Route length: | 118.5 km km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 600 mm ( narrow gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Bełżec – Trawniki light railway (in Polish: Linia kolejowa Bełżec Wąskotorowy - Trawniki Wąskotorowe ) was a 118.5 km long military light railway with a 600 mm gauge from Bełżec to Trawniki in the , laid and operated by the German and Austro-Hungarian land forces during the First World War Polish Lublin Voivodeship .
construction
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Construction began on June 28, 1915 with the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Bug Army to better supply the army. It was moved by 7 EBK (railway company) together with 13 other organizations (approx. 1560 people) and several thousand Russian prisoners in a hurry without a gravel track bed . On the Zamość – Krasnystaw section, an existing embankment was built along the existing narrow-gauge line Biłgoraj - Tereszpol - Zwierzyniec - Obrocz - Płoskie - Sitaniec - Krasnystaw - Siennica Nadolna - Horodysko - Sielec - Chełm , and its tracks were re-used by the Russians in the summer of 1914 July 1915 before the invasion of German and Austrian troops were dismantled. On August 1, 1915, the line to Zamosc and on August 25, 1915 to Trawniki was completed.
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One of the most elaborate structures on this light railroad was the 150 m long and 14 m high wooden viaduct over the gorge near Ruszów (km 43), which was demolished after the line was closed.
The field railway served military purposes. It transported equipment, ammunition and supplies to the battlefields (about 1000 tons of cargo per day) and transported wounded soldiers on the way back (up to 800 per day). The operation was carried out by the 101st, 102nd and 104th light rail operating companies. The line was single-track with the exception of the double-track Bełżec – Tomaszów section. A telephone line was laid along the tracks. The journey on the 118.5 km long route from Bełżec to Trawniki took 16 hours 48 minutes. The speed was 7 km / h there and 8 km / h back, with a 2½ hour break halfway in Zamość.
On November 20, 1915, the line was made available to civilian passenger traffic due to the shift of the front line by several dozen kilometers to the east.
Due to the poor technical condition of the light railway, which was caused by the construction work that was carried out too quickly and a wave of heavy rains after August 20, 1915, it was decided in September 1915 to build the Rejowiec - Zawada - Bełżec standard-gauge road and demolish the narrow-gauge line. At the end of the year, the construction of the standard gauge line was transferred to the Austrian army. It was put into operation in January 1916 on the Bełżec – Zamość line and in February 1916 on the Zawada – Rejowiec line. Between December 11, 1915 and January 22, 1916, the Tomaszów Lubelski - Wólka Orłowska section was demolished, and the Wólka Orłowska - Trawniki section between March 12 and April 10, 1916 .
On January 16, 1916, the Bełżec – Tomaszów section was sold to the Lviv State Railway Administration , which began on January 25, 1916 with the construction of the Tomaszów section to the sawmill in Tarnawatka and the brick factory in Budy Dzierążyńskie . Traffic on this route ceased on January 1, 1923, and the route was opened for demolition in 1924.
Web links
- Feldbahn Belzec – Trawniki (German, with many photos)
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 22 ′ 58.1 ″ N , 23 ° 26 ′ 39.1 ″ E