Feldbahn Brotterode – Wernshausen
| Brotterode – Wernshausen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 11.47 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 600 mm ( narrow gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 80 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 30 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 12 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Brotterode – Wernshausen light railway was a 600 mm Heeresfeldbahn that was operated between summer 1896 and spring 1897 to support the reconstruction of Brotterode, which burned down in July 1895 . With a maximum incline of 80 ‰, the railway was the steepest adhesion railway ever operated in public transport in Germany.
history
At the beginning of the 1890s, the Trusetal wanted a rail connection to improve traffic conditions, as despite the high population density and numerous raw material deposits, there was no economic upturn. A narrow-gauge railway was preferred because a standard- gauge railway did not seem feasible due to the terrain. In 1893 the Lenz & Co. company developed a project for a meter-gauge railway , starting from Wernshausen or Niederschmalkalden via Fambach , Trusen and Auwallenburg to Brotterode. The project failed, however, because the sum of 1.1 million marks required for the construction of the railway could not be found.
When Brotterode burned down almost completely on July 10, 1895, a new railway connection was required for the reconstruction of the place, as the surrounding streets were soon completely unusable due to the heavy traffic and the wet autumn weather. Initially, an extension of the Schmalkalden – Kleinschmalkalden railway line to Brotterode was considered, but it was not implemented until 1898. Initially, a field railroad that could be built quickly by the Prussian Railway Brigade was favored .
On December 4, 1895, the approval for this project came, because the war ministry in Berlin promised a great benefit from the construction of the light rail with regard to the practical experience of the railway pioneers. First investigations showed four possible variants, which should lead either from Breitungen , Kleinschmalkalden , Liebenstein or Wernshausen to Brotterode. Wernshausen was the furthest away, but this variant offered the best topographical prerequisites for a rapid railway construction, so that the Wernshausen – Brotterode variant was approved.
Construction and opening
As early as January 1896, the first soldiers of the Schöneberg Railway Regiment arrived for preparatory work. After a total of around 380 more men arrived from Berlin in March, construction of the railway began. It could be finished very quickly, so that the route and the buildings were completed in early May. On May 9, 1896, the official opening of the railway line, which was built in just two months, took place, but initially there was no passenger traffic.
business
In the first few weeks of operation, the railway was very busy. Due to the high volume of traffic, even more cars had to be requested from Berlin, but by June 1896 the number of journeys dropped. After Whitsun 1896 passenger traffic had already been carried out, regular passenger traffic was opened on the field railway on June 15, 1896.
It was originally planned to cease operations on September 30, 1896. Since a large part of the military was released to the reserve on September 23, freight traffic was stopped on September 22, as they did not want to allow extra military to come from Berlin for just one week of operation. A few remaining military personnel carried out passenger traffic until September 30, 1896. Initially, it was intended to dismantle the field railway before the winter of 1896/1897. Since around 100 buildings and the church were to be rebuilt in Brotterode, the Brotteroder successfully asked the army field railway line about a renewed start of operations in the summer of 1897.
On April 5, 1897, operations were resumed. Since the transport revenues were not even enough to cover the ongoing operating costs, the Army Field Railway Endeavored to shut down the railway as soon as possible. It was originally planned to cease operations on May 31. However, the community of Brotterode was able to persuade the Heeresfeldbahnleitung to keep operations up to June 15, 1897.
Another story
The Schmalkalden district wanted to buy the light railroad as early as August 1896 , but the price of the railroad at around 217,000 marks for the superstructure including bridges and other operating resources seemed too high, so that the project failed.
A large part of the route from Herges-Vogtei to Wernshausen later used the Trusebahn, which was operated from 1899 to 1968. In contrast to the field railway, however, it was built with a 750 mm gauge.
Locomotive use
Heeresfeldbahn locomotives of the type "twin" were used . If only one of the two mutually coupled double locomotives was used, which rarely happened, it was called an "Illing". After the deployment, all of the material was returned to the army field railway depot and then partially used again in German South West Africa , today's Namibia.
literature
- Steffen Dietsch: The Trusebahn - From the field train to the narrow-gauge small train in EK series Regional traffic history: Volume 10 , EK-Verlag Freiburg 1996, ISBN 3-88255-421-5
Web links
- The field railway Wernshausen - Brotterode in the great fire of Brotterode 1895