Corkscrew route

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Corkscrew route in Solingen forest

The corkscrew route , also known as the corkscrew railway , is a former railway line in the mountainous city ​​of Solingen that has been converted into a cycle path . It follows the course of the Solingen – Wuppertal-Vohwinkel railway . With a total of 42 access points, it connects the southern part of Solingen with the Gräfrath district and the neighboring towns of Haan and Wuppertal over a distance of around 15 kilometers . For example, there has been a connection to the north railway line running through Wuppertal since 2014 .

The corkscrew route was implemented as part of the Regionale 2006 . It takes its name from its S-shaped course through the city, which resembles the thread of a corkscrew .

history

Previously used as a railway line

The route of the corkscrew railway

The industrial revolution also took hold in large parts of the Bergisches Land from the second half of the 19th century . Large factories emerged that required a faster and more practicable supply and removal of raw materials and goods than by handcart or carriage , which had been sufficient for centuries. The railway quickly established itself as the preferred mode of transport .

The first train station in the area of ​​today's city of Solingen opened in Ohligs in 1867 . In the following decades the connection to the former main train station , which at that time was called Südbahnhof , took place in the center of Solingen. The connection between Vohwinkel (now part of Wuppertal) and Wald (now part of Solingen) as the first section of the Solingen – Wuppertal-Vohwinkel railway opened on November 15, 1887. Less than three years later, on February 12, 1890, a section between Wald and the former Solingen main station, the last gap in Solingen's railway network. The route of the corkscrew railway was thus completed.

Passenger train traffic was officially discontinued as early as the Second World War . Due to a decline in customers in freight transport in the post-war period, the line on the section between Wald and Gräfrath was finally closed in 1958, which interrupted the line. Freight traffic between Gräfrath and Vohwinkel, however, continued until 1989, when it was shut down on May 31 of that year. The last section of the corkscrew railway, the connection between Solingen-Mitte and Wald, was finally shut down in 1995.

Remodeling work

Sinti and Roma memorial

Parts of the railway line were converted into footpaths even before the large-scale renovation, such as the section between Unterflachsberg and the Fuhr , which was made of gravel in 1994 .

With the Regionale 2006 , the regional structural support program for the three cities of Wuppertal, Remscheid and Solingen, ideas came up in the new millennium to convert the entire route into a cycle path. In 2002 the city of Solingen acquired the route. The construction work began in the summer of 2003 and was essentially carried out in four construction phases:

  • 1st construction phase: The route between the main train station, which was still in operation at the time, and the Kasinostraße bridge was completed by June 2004 .
  • 2nd construction phase: In the summer of 2005, the next section was inaugurated. It is the distance from the bridge Kasinostraße to the as yet non-existent bridge over Carl-Russ-Straße . In this context, the Schlagbaum tunnel was also expanded as the longest tunnel on the route.
  • 3rd construction phase: In the third construction phase, the line from Carl-Ruß-Straße to the now closed Graefrath train station was expanded. The section was completed in September 2006. The two light metal bridges over the Wuppertaler and Carl-Ruß-Straße were only inaugurated in August 2007.
  • 4th construction phase: Finally, the small section between the Graefrath train station and the city limits of Wuppertal and Haan followed. It was also inaugurated in August 2007.

Further building history

As part of the Miss Zöpfchen runs , other parts of the route were illuminated with lanterns from year to year . Some of these lanterns along the route were donated by major donors whose name is engraved on metal plates. The two light metal bridges were also financed with donations .

Due to the extensive use of the route, the Terraway pavement used as the subsurface cracked and the edges breaking away after just a few years. In the planning we went from a 83 1 / 3  percent lower usage. Since 2010, the city has been tearing down parts of the route and replacing it with asphalt . In the meantime, large parts of the surface have been replaced.

On September 27, 2012, the so-called path of human rights was inaugurated on the section of the route between the botanical garden and the Bernd Kurzrock sports facility. Since then, the section has been lined with 13 panels that represent the 30 articles of the UN Human Rights Charter in words and pictures. The project was initiated by Amnesty International 's local association in Solingen and implemented in cooperation with the youth welfare workshop, Neue Arbeit Ittertal non-profit GmbH, the technical companies, the city as well as some companies and many private donors.

Since the summer of 2014, the corkscrew route has also been connected to the northern railway line that runs through Wuppertal.

In spring 2017, the route was again largely closed, in some remaining sections the Terraway pavement was replaced with asphalt and new lanterns were erected between the apple tree and the art museum. The total of 32 lanterns on this section were sponsored by private donors.

Route description

Stele of the corkscrew route at the apple tree entrance

The route begins in the Südpark in the southern inner city of Solingen. The area around the disused, old main station with the goods halls and the product design forum experienced a massive structural and cultural upgrade in the course of the renovation work at the Regionale in 2006 . The starting point of the route is the open space in front of the artist studios in the goods halls. Past the newly built skate ramp and the artificial turf pitch, the route leads along the rails of the railway connection between Solingen- Ohligs and Wuppertal at the level of the Solingen Mitte train station .

From the area of ​​the Gleisdreieck the corkscrew route continues in a northerly direction. Behind the small industrial area at Gleisdreieck, Dorper Straße is crossed on a steel bridge from the construction time of the railway line. At the edge there is a small playground with a skate ramp. Shortly before the Wupperstrasse tunnel there are individual systems from the railway era, including an old buffer stop . First the old bridge over Kasinostraße follows and then the one over Klauberger Straße. After a left turn and crossing the Cronenberger Straße, the route leads along the former Solingen North Station , where there is a large playground with a football field and a snack bar.

Shortly afterwards the Schlagbaum tunnel follows , which crosses under the busy traffic junction of the same name and forms the longest tunnel on the corkscrew route with a total length of 109 meters. After the tunnel exit, the route leads between two dams, lower than the surrounding area, further north. After crossing under Scheidter Straße, the route runs on a dam above Frankfurter Damm and thus also passes the end of Viehbachtalstraße . The Botanical Garden follows on the right, to which two access points also lead. The spur road to the Vogelsang school center is also crossed on a historic railway bridge. What follows is the so-called path of human rights. On the short section of the route, 13 boards are set up, which show the total of 30 articles of the UN Human Rights Charter in words and pictures.

Then the newly built Bernd-Kurzrock-Sportanlage follows on the right-hand side , before the Carl-Ruß-Straße is crossed on a light metal bridge that was inaugurated in 2007 and is named August-Preuße-Brücke after the Solingen painter of the same name . After a short stretch through an industrial area, you cross Focher Strasse on an old railway bridge, before the buildings of the old Walder train station are on the left .

Rabbasol tunnel

The 35-meter-long, so-called Rabbasol tunnel, crosses under the company premises of the Solingen-based cleaning agent manufacturer of the same name , which also bore the construction costs of the tunnel. The tunnel made it possible to realize the corkscrew route as a contiguous path, since the Rabbasol company premises separated two sections from each other.

Behind the tunnel it goes steeply uphill, the following Deller Straße is crossed on an old railway bridge. Past businesses and behind the intersection with Fuhrstraße, past the community center, the route becomes increasingly rural. On the left of the route are forests, arable land and fields. At the Fuhr there is a playground with a football field on the right of the route. The route then lines a dog meadow on the right, then allotments and forest areas. Past the courts of Nümmen , Focher Dahl , Unten- and Obenflachsberg , another historic railway bridge follows, which leads over Gartenstraße. A little later, a second light metal bridge, built in 2007, crosses Wuppertaler Strasse. The following section runs along the forest and industrial area.

At the Kunstmuseum Solingen , in the building of the old Gräfrath town hall , the corkscrew route leads across the museum car park and only continues on its own route after crossing Wuppertaler Straße. Past a wasteland, where the Graefrath train station was to be found until 2011 , the corkscrew route leads on a wooded section around the historic town center of Graefrath . The confluence of Oberhaaner Strasse and Roggenkamp is passed on a massive embankment. After a left bend, there is a newly built tunnel and then the Fürkeltrath estate . The last two hundred meters go straight ahead until the route ends symbolically in front of a buffer stop. At this point there is a connection to the state road 357, which runs slightly above, and after crossing the federal motorway 46, continue in the direction of the northern railway line.

The entire route has hardly any inclines or slopes worth mentioning. In addition, it is almost completely surrounded by a small green belt , which consists of trees and bushes and spatially separates the route from its, in part, closely built-up surroundings. Along the access routes to the route there are information boards that provide information about the history of the section or its surroundings.

Actions and miscellaneous

Trassencafé

Miss pigtail run

The route initially had no lighting, which only made it attractive for use in bright light. Since 2006, every year in September there have been several sponsor runs of various lengths on the route to collect donations for their lighting. The organizer and initiator is Kim Armbruster, who was named Miss Zöpfchen by the Solinger Tageblatt in 2006, and her parents. Thanks to the commitment of the runners who take part every year, it was possible to equip the 6,500-meter-long section from the Südpark to the transport of the 10,290-meter-long route with lanterns by 2016 . At the beginning of 2016, the Rabbasol tunnel was also equipped with a colorful LED light installation.

Trassencafé

The so-called Trassencafé in a converted railway carriage with direct access to the route opened in 2011. It is located on the Fuhr near the playground. Due to insufficient sales, the café has only opened on Sundays since autumn 2014.

Web links

Commons : Corkscrew Trail  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Data and facts about the route , including a comprehensive press review , on bahntrassenradeln.de , accessed on February 19, 2015
  2. ↑ Building bridges. Solinger Morgenpost, April 20, 2007, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  3. ↑ road surface. Solinger Tageblatt, December 16, 2010, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Reconstruction of the corkscrew route. Solinger Tageblatt, October 20, 2011, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b Human rights in passing. Solinger Morgenpost, September 28, 2012, accessed on June 6, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Wuppertal closes the gap in the route. Solinger Tageblatt, March 25, 2014, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Sponsor pays 32 new lights for the route. Solinger Tageblatt, December 13, 2016, accessed on April 28, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Information and pictures about the tunnels on route 2734 at eisenbahn-tunnelportale.de by Lothar Brill, Tunnel Schlagbaum, accessed on March 14, 2015
  9. ↑ Route lighting. Solinger Tageblatts, March 26, 2014, accessed on February 21, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Solinger Tageblatt: Rabbasol tunnel is an optical gem , November 25, 2016
  11. ↑ Few guests in the Trassencafé. Solinger Tageblatt, October 16, 2014, accessed on February 21, 2015 .