Heeresfeldbahn Laugszargen – Kielmy

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Heeresfeldbahn Laugszargen – Kielmy
"Illing" HFB 33 B (Krauss 2907/1893) on the field railway bridge over the Jura near Tauroggen [1]
"Illing" HFB 33 B ( Krauss 2907/1893) on the
field railway bridge over the Jura near Tauroggen
Route length: 78 km
Gauge : 600 mm ( narrow gauge )
Legend
Railway station, station - across
 Laugszargen ( Lauksargiai )
   
 0 Laugszargen
   
 5 Jeresina Bridge 100 m long
   
 Tauroggen ( Tauragė )
   
 Jūra Bridge 155 m long, 9 m high
   
 36 Skaudvile ( Skaudvilė ) (en)
   
 78 Kielmy ( Kelmė )

The heeresfeldbahn Laugszargen-Kielmy was during the First World War, a 78 km long military field railway from Laugszargen ( Lauksargiai ) over Tauroggen ( Tauragė ) and Skaudvilė ( Skaudvilė ) to Kielmy ( Kelmė ) in the southwest of present-day Lithuania .

Route

The light railroad was laid with prepared track material on the country road from Laugszargen to Kielmy. It had a track width of 600 mm. It led over 80 bridges, including the 9 meters high and 155 meters long Jūra Bridge.

About 5 km north of Laugszargen, the light railway crossed the Jeresina on a 100 m long pioneer bridge, which was followed by significant embankments on both sides. From here the railway ran along the main road to Tauroggen, led on a wooden trestle bridge over the Jūra and continued on the road to Skaudvile ( Skaudvilė ). It was immediately extended to Kielmy ( Kelmė ).

The transport volume was up to 1500 tons per day. The railway was later used to transport the building materials for the construction of the Laugszargen – Radziwiliszki full line.

history

Krauss locomotive 4559/1901 in the Laugszargen transfer station, 1915

Construction began on May 4, 1915. On June 30, 1915, the first section from Laugszargen ( Lauksargiai ) to the field railway station halfway at Skaudvile ( Skaudvilė ) was put into operation and on July 19 the full length to Kielmy ( Kelmė ).

In order to distract the Russians from the upcoming offensive of the allies at Gorlice, the German army cavalry and some infantry divisions occupied Schaulen ( Šiauliai ) and Libau ( Liepāja ), so that the new front line ran along the rivers Dubissa ( Dubysa ) and Windau ( Venta ).

A raft carried off by the flood damaged the Jūra Bridge in the night of December 8th to 9th, 1915 and washed away the trestles that were placed on the embankments. Since the bridge could not be restored during heavy ice drifts and floods, the route was relocated over the road bridge using a bypass completed on December 14, 1915. On January 7, 1916, another flood caused further damage, particularly at Botoki ( Batakiai ) (en) , where the flood of the Ancza washed away a 3 m high dam over a length of about 120 m.

During the Second World War , the “Venus” light railway ran from February to June 1944 along the destroyed bridges of the single-track standard-gauge line between Tauroggen and Schaulen.

Web links

Commons : Lauksargiai – Kelmė narrow-gauge railway  - collection of images
Commons : Bridges in Tauragė  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jura Bridge near Tauroggen, at www.eisenbahnstiftung.de/bildergalerie
  2. ↑ a b c The Heeresfeldbahn Laugszargen – Kielmy.
  3. ^ Hermann G. Hesselink and Norbert Tempel: Railways in the Baltic States. LOK Report, Münster, 1996. p. 21.
  4. ↑ Mauro Bottegal: Ferrovie portatili della Prima Guerra Mondiale. Lulu.com, 2019. p. 83.
  5. ^ A b Wilhelm Kretzschmann: The restoration of the railways in the eastern theater of war. Verlag Mittler und Sohn, Berlin, 1925. pp. 101-102.
  6. ↑ Photo report of the "Venus" field railway, the destroyed bridges on the single-track Tauroggen – Schaulen line (31 photos).
  7. ^ Alfred Bernd Gottwaldt: Heeresfeldbahnen: Construction and use of the military narrow-gauge railways in two world wars. Motorbuch Verlag, 1986. pp. 368 and 373-374.

Coordinates: 55 ° 15 ′ 1.9 ″  N , 22 ° 16 ′ 49.5 ″  E