Ilmenau – Großbreitenbach railway line
| Ilmenau-Großbreitenbach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number (DB) : | 6695 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 20.6 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 33 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 200 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Ilmenau – Großbreitenbach line was a single-track, non-electrified branch line in the Ilm district in Thuringia . The almost 21 km long route was opened in two sections, the first section opened to traffic in 1881 led from Ilmenau via Langewiesen to Gehren , where the extension to Großbreitenbach, opened in 1883, followed.
Built as the state railway of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, the line was soon sold to Herrmann Bachstein , the management of the private railway was initially taken over by the central administration for Secundairbahnen Herrmann Bachstein , and from 1921 by the Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft . After the Second World War, the line was nationalized, from then on the Deutsche Reichsbahn was responsible for running the route. In the freight traffic, wood processing companies were among the largest customers in addition to several glassworks, the passenger traffic mainly consisted of rush hour traffic towards Ilmenau as well as vacationers in the Thuringian Forest .
The line began to decline at the turn of 1989/90, and traffic almost completely collapsed. In 1997 the traffic was stopped, in 1998 it was closed. Today a bike path runs along the route .
history
Prehistory and construction to Gehren
The first efforts for a railway connection in the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen were made in the 1860s, when a committee was formed in Arnstadt to which further foundations in other cities - u. a. in Gehren, Ilmenau and Langewiesen - followed. Soon one was occupied with measurements for the routes Dietendorf – Arnstadt – Ilmenau – Saalfeld and Ilmenau – Suhl – Grimmenthal. The Nordhausen-Erfurt-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (ThEG) wanted to build a line based on these results . As with later projects, the plan failed. However, the Thuringian Railway Company opened the Dietendorf – Arnstadt branch line in 1867 , after which Arnstadt became the starting point for all further projects. All projects were aimed either at connecting Saalfeld or in the direction of Meiningen / Schweinfurt via Ilmenau and Suhl .
At first it was not possible to agree on the route for the national route. As a result, numerous places received a rail connection elsewhere. So in 1871 Saalfeld got a railway connection through the Gera – Eichicht railway line. Another part of the planned connection across the Thuringian Forest to Schweinfurt was opened in 1874 with the Schweinfurt – Meiningen railway line. After all, in 1879 ThEG opened the Arnstadt – Ilmenau extension of its Neudietendorf – Arnstadt line. The administrative district of Gehren of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen still remained without a rail connection, and the traffic conditions hardly improved, as all goods still had to be laboriously transported over the road by cart. Although the line to Ilmenau was designed from the outset for a double-track expansion and an extension to Saalfeld, the ThEG declined to continue building it, as it did not expect the project to be of any use. In the meantime, the Plaue – Ritschenhausen (–Meiningen) railway crossing the Thuringian Forest had already been tackled by the Prussian State Railways . The Gehren administrative district threatened to fall behind in terms of traffic technology. Therefore, the government in Sondershausen wanted to build a railway at its own expense, even though it had previously wanted to grant maximum subsidies under high conditions for other railway projects.
Initially, only the preparatory work for the route from Ilmenau to Gehren, where a narrow-gauge railway was to connect via Großbreitenbach to Schwarzmühle, was tendered in September 1880. Here sat Herrmann brook stone against several competitors, including Ferdinand Plessner through. The planned standard-gauge local railway to Gehren would cost 450,000 marks. Since the first two kilometers were in the state territory of the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , a corresponding state treaty had to be concluded between Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach for the construction of the railway. Since the state treaty concluded in 1876 for the Arnstadt – Ilmenau line also contained a ten-year clause on building grants for a possible extension towards the Schwarza Valley, the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha also became a contractual partner, although the new line did not touch the Duchy area. At the end of April 1881, the State Treaty was finally signed by all participating countries. In May of the same year, the construction and operating contract between Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Bachstein was concluded. Since the extension was not built until 1886, the clause lapsed, according to which the builder should not only receive grants, but also the Ilmenau – Gehren route excluding the rolling stock.
Extension to Großbreitenbach
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen now wanted a connection to Großbreitenbach in order to promote the development of this region. Bachmann took over construction and operation again. Although the construction was only approved in the summer of 1883, the 10.77 km long Gehren – Großbreitenbach section was opened on December 2, 1883. On June 1, 1884, Bachstein bought the entire route because it did not bring the desired income. After the purchase by Bachmann, the operating result turned positive and after just a few years the route was one of the most profitable in Bachmann's. However, due to the simple construction, improvements were made several times, and the facilities were adapted and expanded to cope with the increased volume of traffic. In 1895 it was incorporated into the Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (SEG) and operated as a private railway. The management continued to take over the central administration for Secundairbahnen Herrmann Bachstein, the agreement, which initially only ran until 1913, was later extended to 1921. Before the First World War, Prussia was interested in nationalizing the lucrative private railroad, but because of the overpriced price, this project was abandoned.
In the course of the planning of the railway line between Eisfeld and Schönbrunn (narrow gauge), a standard gauge expansion was initially planned. On the basis of this determination, on May 28, 1887, plans were made for the construction of the railway from Unterneubrunn (later Schönbrunn) to Gillersdorf for connection to the Großbreitenbach-Gehrener railway. The construction was not realized.
Between the two world wars
Even during the First World War, the operating conditions continued to deteriorate. After the end of the war, the private railway suffered mainly from a lack of fuel, as coal prices continued to rise. As a result, the timetable was thinned out, sometimes only one train per day in each direction. In addition to the lack of spare parts, the water supply for the steam locomotives and the sharp rise in wage and material costs also caused considerable problems. The management was taken over by the SEG itself in 1921, but could not change the poor conditions. After all, a modernization of the operating facilities began, which took several years.
During the global economic crisis , traffic also fell, but the Ilmenau – Großbreitenbach line was the line with the highest operating income, while other SEG lines sometimes suffered considerable financial deficits. In addition, from the 1930s onwards, tourism developed from which the railway, with its location in the Thuringian Forest, also benefited.
After the Second World War
The line survived the Second World War largely undamaged, with the exception of minor damage. Traffic ceased at the beginning of April 1945 at the latest, but resumed in the summer of 1945. However, as after the end of the First World War, there were problems with the coal supply and the supply of spare parts. The line was nationalized without compensation in the spring of 1948, initially the Thuringian State Railways took over the operation before the Deutsche Reichsbahn took over the line on April 1, 1949 . There she had the course book number 623; the journey time was at least 40 minutes.
Now the railway experienced its heyday. In addition to the services in freight transport, tourism was also noteworthy, in some cases holidaymakers even had to be transported in baggage cars or in open freight cars. Although there were first investigations into a change of mode of transport on the Gehren – Großbreitenbach section in the 1960s , the closure planned for 1971 could not be implemented.
Decline and shutdown
With the economic changes caused by the fall of 1989/90, traffic collapsed almost completely, especially in freight traffic. In addition, the poor condition of the superstructure meant that the journey time in passenger traffic was increasing. The transport services have therefore been thinned out more and more. Freight traffic ceased on December 31, 1994, but resumed on July 26, 1996. The last major goods customer was the Wiegand-Glas company , which had taken over the glassworks in Großbreitenbach. Although Wiegand-Glas and other companies were interested in a railway connection, there were no investments in the route renovation.
Passenger traffic ended on May 26, 1997, freight traffic on December 31, 1997. From January 1, 1998, the line was closed due to damage to the superstructure. The line was officially closed on September 30, 1998. When it was closed, it had route number 6695.
The reason for the closure was the lack of profitability and the insufficiently stable bridge over the B 88 in Gehren, the new construction of which would have been too expensive. An almost completely new building was planned in the 1980s, but this was not implemented. After all, the new superstructures were temporarily stored in the Neustadt-Gillersdorf train station in 1988, as there was a lack of storage capacity directly at the bridge. The ready-to-install superstructures were scrapped together with the tracks in Neustadt-Gillersdorf in 1999. In September 2006 the line between Langewiesen and Gehren began to be dismantled. In mid-2007 the tracks between Ilmenau and Langewiesen were also dismantled. The end of the route was finally sealed by the demolition of the viaduct in Gehren in April 2009 after the route was redesigned in 2008.
In 2011 the construction of the Ilm-Rennsteig-Radweg began between Ilmenau and Großbreitenbach, which was mainly laid out on the previous railway line. After its completion, the cycle path was opened to the public on October 25, 2013.
Route description
course
The line began at Ilmenau station at an altitude of 478 meters. It initially followed the Ilm valley on a slight slope . The next stop was at Grenzhammer , about 2 km east of the train station. Here the railway line left the Ilmenau urban area. The next place on the route was the town of Langewiesen .
The two reception buildings are striking here. In the direction of the kilometer, the newer building (built in 1912/13) is first to the right of the railway. The old station building follows on the left 150 m. This had to be closed in 1912/1913 due to its proximity to today's Bahnhofsstraße, as the trains became longer as a result of increased traction and thus regularly blocked the level crossing. The line left the Ilm valley behind the Langewiesen train station and led, now rising slightly, across open fields to Gehren .
The city had two train stops: the Gehren (Thür) Stadt stop in the west and the Gehren (Thür) train station in the east. The station was located to the east a little outside the city center in order to give the existing sawmill a direct rail connection. Until 1927, the facility in Gehren was a terminus in which every train had to "turn around". When the line was being built, consideration was given to continuing towards Königsee , but this was never realized. A new section of the route was built, on which the train left the station in the same direction of travel, then drew a wide arch east of Gehren and finally came back to the old route south of the city.
From Gehren the route - now extended by 1.45 km - ran southwards on a slope above the Wohlrose valley . The next place on the railway line was Möhrenbach . At the Neustadt - Gillersdorf an der Hohen Tanne train station , the line reached its apex at a height of 695 meters; the mean gradient from Gehren to this point was 33 ‰ . Then the route led downhill again to the end point Großbreitenbach. This station was 663 meters above sea level. A planned connection with the Schwarzatalbahn via Oelze to Katzhütte was no longer realized due to the difficult topographical conditions.
Train stations
Grenzhammer
Langewiesen
Miter city
Miter
Möhrenbach
Neustadt-Gillersdorf
Großbreitenbach
Vehicle use
During the private railway time
Bachstein procured two C-couplers from Henschel for the Ilmenau – Gehren route , which were named CARL GÜNTHER (named after the prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen of the same name ) and GEHREN . When the extension opened, a third identical machine, the BREITENBACH, was purchased. Two machines were required for operations, the third served as a reserve for the Arnstadt – Ichtershausen , Hohenebra – Ebeleben , Ilmenau – Großbreitenbach and Wutha – Ruhla lines .
As the train loads increased more and more, the C-couplers were soon overwhelmed, so a four-axle mallet locomotive was bought from Grafenstaden in 1900 , a used Mallet was added in 1905 and another new one from Jung in 1907 , in return the C-couplers were sold to others Railway lines released.
In the 1920s there were further changes under the direction of the SEG, so in 1922 two used T 7s of the Prussian State Railways were put into operation. These vehicles, which were only used temporarily, were parked again in 1926 after three additional mallets were added. In 1924 two used mallets were acquired by the Halle-Hettstedter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , the third followed in 1926 by the Halle-Hettstedter Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. Hanomag also supplied a D coupler in 1924. In the 1930s, another three new steam locomotives, this time from Henschel, came onto the line. The oldest mallets were then either gradually given to other SEG railways or scrapped. The last new acquisition was No. 400 , which was specially designed for the SEG.
After nationalization
After the Second World War, there were still four steam locomotives available, as there was a lack of operational vehicles, there were massive relocations, depending on where the shortage of locomotives was greatest. Numerous locomotives from other former small and private railways were used on the Ilmenau – Großbreitenbach line. The constant change of locomotives was only ended with the arrival of the 94.5–17 series in the early 1950s. However, these locomotives were unsuitable for the superstructure and caused numerous damage, so they were soon replaced by the more suitable class 93.5-12 .
The further increase in transport performance also overwhelmed the 93.5–12 series, after interim trials with the 50 series, an ideal machine was found in the 65.10 series in 1956 . However, the 93.5–12 series was still in use on the line until the 1960s.
The traction change took place in the mid-1970s , when all steam locomotives were replaced by class 118 diesel locomotives . In 1995 this series was replaced by series 202 and 204 locomotives, which took over train service until the shutdown.
literature
- Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway - The History of a "South German" Private Railway in Thuringia , EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2005, ISBN 3-88255-587-4
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 6
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 7
- ↑ a b Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 8
- ^ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 8 f.
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 12 ff.
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 17 ff.
- ^ Löhner H .: Das Gründerla from Eisfeld to Schönbrunn (history of a narrow-gauge railway in the Thuringian Forest), Steinachtalbahn-Staffelsteiner Eisenbahnfreunde e. V., Coburg, 1992, pp. 9-10
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 20 ff.
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 27 ff.
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 29
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 31
- ↑ a b Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 44 ff.
- ^ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 84
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 85
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 86
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 92 f.
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 93 ff.
- ↑ Michael Kurth: The Ilmenau-Großbreitenbacher Railway , p. 95 ff.