Kleinbahn Königshof – Beraun – Koněprus

Králův Dvůr – Beroun – Koněprusy
Route length:	10.534 km
Gauge :	760 mm ( Bosnian gauge )
Maximum slope :	30  ‰
Minimum radius :	60 m
Top speed:	25 km / h
Legend 0.000 0.113 Králův Dvůr cementárna royal court cement factory 244 m KDC závod (1906–1962) 0.947 Beroun překladiště transfer point to the state railway 226 m 1.371 Beroun malodraha Beraun Localbahn 232 m 3,678 Tetín Tetín stop 288 m 4,414 Modrý lom (1942–1962) 4.800 Hergetův lom (1909–195.) 4.822 Damil loading point Damil 318 m 6.100 Bílý lom (1899–1936) 340 m 8,711 Kobyla (1898-1936) 8.765 Koněprusy Station Koněprus 404 m 9.200 Císařský lom (1904–1928) 404 m 9.200 Císařský lom (1927–1962) 404 m 9.400 Tunnel (246 m) 9.200 Císařský lom (1943–1962) 10.0 Zlatý kůň 10,516 Žabka loading ramp at the end of the main line 407 m 10,534

The Kleinbahn Königshof – Beraun – Koněprus ( Drobná dráha Králův Dvůr – Beroun – Koněprusy , KBK for short) was a narrow-gauge industrial railway in today's Czech Republic . It began in Králův Dvůr ( royal court ) and led in the Bohemian Karst via Beroun ( Beroun ) to the limestone quarries near Tetín and Koněprusy .

history

The concession for a “ narrow-gauge small train with steam operation from Beraun to Koněprus and from Beraun to Königshof with branches ” was awarded to the company Franz und Schöne in Prague on February 21, 1897. The concessionaire was obliged to start building the lines immediately and to finish them within a year. The duration of the concession was set at 60 years.

On March 30, 1911, the previous stock corporation was converted into a limited liability company. The company was now Kleinbahn Königshof – Beraun – Koněprus, limited liability company in Prague (Czech: Malodráha Králův Dvůr – Beroun – Koněprusy, společnost z ručením obmezeným se sídlem v Praze ).

After the Second World War, the Königshofer Zementfabrik AG was nationalized due to the presidential decree of October 24, 1945 . From then on it traded as České cementárny a vápenice np

Route description

course

KBK began on the premises of the cement factory in Králův Dvůr. From there, the track initially ran parallel to the state railway to Beroun, where the center of operations with the locomotive shed was located. From the train station there, the route then led in a steady incline, initially south-east to Tetín, and then swiveled to the south-west after bypassing the Damil hill . Continuing up the mountain flanks, the route finally reached the Koněprusy station located above the eponymous town. After the train station, the route continued to the quarries on the southern flank of the Zlatý kůň , which was crossed under in a 250-meter-long tunnel. The nominal end point was the loading point of the Žabka quarry, not far from the entrance to the Koněpruské jeskyně karst cave discovered in 1950 .

Operating points

Králův Dvůr cementárna

The Králův Dvůr cementárna station was located directly on the site of the cement factory. At the beginning there was only one transfer track and the wagons were unloaded at the end of the line. Later, with the expansion of the cement factory, additional tracks were built.

Beroun překladiště

Beroun překladiště was the reloading station for the state railway. It was located directly at the marshalling yard in Beroun (today: Beroun seřaďovací nádrazi).

Beroun malodraha

The "Localbahnhof" in Beroun was to the west of the state train station. Originally it had three tracks, which were later expanded to four. The high-rise buildings of the station consisted of an "administration building", the locomotive shed, the water station and the wagon workshop. In an air raid on the standard-gauge marshalling yard on April 17, 1944, the station building, the water station, the workshops and part of the track system were destroyed. Instead of the station building, two more tracks were built later. The locomotive shed with the wagon workshop was rebuilt in a modified form.

Tetín

The Tetín stop had a public loading platform integrated on both sides with a 30 meter long ramp. The loading track was abandoned on December 12, 1936 and dismantled a little later. Apart from a toilet, there were no other buildings in Tetín.

Damil

The Damil loading point was above Tetín on the flank of Damil Mountain. It was the most important of the stations on the way. At first, the facilities were similar to those in Tetín, until a second loading track with a ramp was built in 1907. The branch tracks to the Hergetův lom and Modrý lom quarries began at the Damil loading point.

Koněprusy

The former Koněprusy station, on the right the guard house (2012)

The Koněprusy station was located above the eponymous village on the flank of the Zlatý kůň. In addition to the main track, it also had a siding with a loading ramp, on which there was also an investigation pit and a water crane. The high-rise buildings consisted of a guard's house with a coal shed and a water tower. The branch line to the Kobyla quarry began right at the entrance to the station until 1936. A section of the branch track was used for the temporary storage of empty wagons until operations were closed.

Zlatý kůň

The Zlatý kůň loading station was just before the end of the route. It consisted of a loading track integrated on both sides with a 30 meter long ramp. Apart from a toilet, there were no other buildings.

Modrý lom tunnel (2013)

Vehicle use

Locomotives

In 1897 KBK acquired two tank locomotives from Krauss in Linz as initial equipment, as they were also procured by the kk state railways as the U series . In 1908 a third was added. They were named TETÍN , KONĚPRUSY and DAMIL .

During the Second World War, three locomotives came to KBK, which were only intended for shunting in the quarries. In 1942, Budich AG in Breslau delivered a brand new double-coupled tank locomotive to KBK. A year later, a used, double-coupled tank locomotive was purchased from the Horní Srní cement factory , which had been built by Krauss in Munich in 1873 . Larger was a quadruple coupled locomotive, originally from the k.uk. Heeresbahn came from. The locomotive, built in 1909 at the StEG locomotive factory in Wiener Neustadt as type FB, came to KBK in 1944.

In 1946 the current owner, České cementárny a vápenice, ordered two new, triple-coupled tank locomotives of the type 122-760CN / 245 from ČKD in Prague, which were delivered in 1949. They were given the names ZLATÝ KŮŇ and DVOULETKA . Identical locomotives were also built for the Banovići coal railway in Yugoslavia, where they are still in use today.

On December 31, 1951, a four-axle bogie locomotive of the former Saxon type IV K was acquired from the ČSD . The locomotive came from the Taubenheim – Dürrhennersdorf narrow-gauge railway and remained in Czechoslovakia in 1945. She was used on the KBK with her DR number as U 99.554. Their use ended in 1956 due to their worn steam boiler, which was no longer worth repairing or replacing.

dare

Ringhoffer in Smichow delivered the first 30 freight cars for limestone transport in 1897. These were open two-axle freight wagons with low side walls and a load capacity of 10.5 tons. 15 of them were equipped with a handbrake. By 1939, Ringhoffer built more cars, so that by 1930 the inventory amounted to 102 pieces, 51 of which were equipped with brakes. This number remained constant until after the Second World War. The mechanical engineering company Buzuluk in Komárov delivered new cars in the early 1950s . At that time the maximum number of 250 freight wagons was reached.

literature

• Michal Martinek, Bohuslav Zeman, Radim Šnábl, Vlastimil Novotný: KBK Malodráha Králův Dvůr - Beroun - Koněprusy 1897 - 1962 ; Stopou dějin našich traťi - 2; KHKD Nymburk, 1987

Web links

Commons : Malodráha Králův Dvůr – Beroun – Koněprusy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Homepage of the club pro obnovu malodráhy KBK
• Description of the route on www.hornictvi.info (Czech)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Imperial Law for the Kingdoms and Countries represented in the Imperial Council No. 69/97 - Issued on March 20, 1897
2. ↑ Overview of the existing steam locomotives in Bosnia and Herzegovina on www.pospichal.net
3. ^ Jindřich Bek, Zdeněk Bek: Encyklopedie železnice - Parní Lokomotivy ČSD [3]. Nakladatelství corona, Praha, 2000 ISBN 80-86116-20-4 ; P. 206f