Gelstertal Railway

Velmeden – Eichenberg
Last day of operation with passenger traffic on the Gelstertalbahn in Eichenberg (June 2, 1973)
Route number :	3921 (Velmeden – Großalmerode Ost) 3922 (Großalmerode Ost – Eichenberg)
Course book range :	259 (1973) , 201e (until 1970)
Route length:	25.0 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend to the Walburg – Großalmerode West railway line 0.0 Velmeden to the Walburg – Großalmerode West railway line 2.5 Laudenbach (Kr.Witzenh) Albslieder Tunnel (339 m) 6.6 Großalmerode East 8.8 Uengsterode 11.0 Trubenhausen 14.2 Hundelshausen 19.4 Witzenhausen south Werra 20.2 Dissatisfied to the Halle – Hann. Münden Göttingen – Bebra railway line 25.0 Eichenberg to the Göttingen – Bebra and Halle – Hann. Münden

The Gelstertalbahn was a railway line in northern Hesse from Eichenberg via Witzenhausen Süd and the switchback station Großalmerode Ost to Velmeden .

history

Start of the route in Eichenberg. The bottom right track led to the Gelstertalbahn.

The train station in Hundelshausen, 1930s

The branch line was opened on December 15, 1915. In addition to passenger transport, it was also used for goods transport, especially for lignite from the North Hessian mining area . Important railway structures were the Albslieder tunnel under the eastern slope of the Hohekopf , the viaduct over the Gelster and the flood and river bridge over the Werra . Numerous connecting lines led to neighboring industrial plants and pits.

The passenger traffic was stopped on June 2, 1973, at the same time the goods traffic Velmeden – Großalmerode Ost. The rest of the freight traffic also decreased steadily. After a dam slide, traffic between Großalmerode Ost and Trubenhausen ended on June 3, 1981, the section from Trubenhausen to Hundelshausen was closed on October 31, 1984, and from May 28, 1988 the route was only in operation as far as Witzenhausen Süd. On December 31, 2001, the transport of residual goods from Eichenberg to Witzenhausen Süd or to the paper mill was also abandoned.

At the beginning of 2014, DB Netz applied for the exemption from railway operations at Großalmerode Ost station (kilometers 5.736 to 7.562, east of the bridge over the federal highway 451 ).

Sections of the Gelstertalbahn, for example between Trubenhausen and Hundelshausen, have been developed as a cycle path and are part of the Herkules-Wartburg cycle path .

Cycle path between Hundelshausen and Trubenhausen

See also

• Railways in Northern Hesse

literature

• Koch, Wolfgang: The Gelstertalbahn. Vogt publishing house, Hessisch-Lichtenau 1985

Web links

Commons : Gelstertalbahn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Albslieder Tunnel or Albsliede Tunnel (information and photos), on eisenbahntunnel-portal.de
• Forgotten paths
• Pictures from the Gelstertalbahn

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Federal Railway Office - Frankfurt / Saarbrücken branch office -: Public announcement according to § 23 Paragraph 2 of the General Railway Act - Exemption from railway operation purposes regarding part of the routes 3921 Velmeden – Großalmerode Ost and 3922 Großalmerode Ost – Eichenberg - from February 25, 2014 (Az. 55170 - 551pf / 131 - 2013 # 020; BAnz AT 07.03.2014 B8 )