Local railway Willendorf – Neunkirchen

Willendorf – Neunkirchen
Route length:	11.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Schneebergbahn from Puchberg 0.0 Willendorf Schneebergbahn to Wiener Neustadt ~ 1.5 Gerasdorf ~ 3.5 St. Egyden stop B26 Vienna high spring water pipe Street of leaves ~ 6.5 Mollram Southern runway from Vienna Connection to the state train station Neunkirchen Lower Austria (state train station) Southern Railway to Graz B17 Schwarza (impassable) Towing tracks (removed) ~ 11.3 Neunkirchen LBf (impassable) AB Brevillier & Urban (removed)

Route not far from Willendorf station ( ) (Photo: January 2007).

Embankment of the local railway at the crossing of the southern railway

Local train station in Neunkirchen

Special card Wiener Neustadt from August 18, 1915

The local railway Willendorf – Neunkirchen - actually Landesbahn Willendorf – Neunkirchen - was a standard gauge branch line from Willendorf on the Schneeberg Railway to Neunkirchen , Lower Austria , which opened in June 1909 and was mainly used to transport coal to Neunkirchen. After the cessation of passenger traffic in 1933 and all traffic in 1942, large parts of the route were immediately removed.

history

Prehistory and construction

The numerous industrial companies in Neunkirchen covered their hard coal needs from the mine in Grünbach, just 15 km away . Before the local railway was built, rail transport was only possible via Wiener Neustadt, which extended the transport route to over 40 km. For the companies located on the southern bank of the Schwarza, the location of the Neunkirchen state train station at a distance of 1–1.5 km on the northern outskirts was a further obstacle.

The Lower Austrian Landtag laid the financial basis for this railway in 1896 and 1898 through its resolutions of January 14, 1896 and February 28, 1898, in which it agreed to a guarantee for 780,000 kroner priority capital. But the negotiations about the route, sidings and tariffs dragged on for several years.

On June 26, 1907, a license was granted to build and operate the local railway Willendorf – Neunkirchen. The Lower Austrian Provincial Committee (for the Lower Austrian State Railways ) was the concessionaire . The route was officially opened on June 19, 1909, and scheduled traffic began two days later .

Route

From the starting point in Willendorf, the route branched off in a right-hand bend in a south-easterly direction from the Schneebergbahn, led to Gerasdorf and after a tight left bend it reached the town's stop. Initially in a south-easterly direction, the ridge between Gerasdorf and Mollram was bypassed in a wide curve to the right. After the St. Egyden stop, the train headed south between the villages of St. Egyden and Urschendorf past Neusiedl am Steinfelde to Blätterstraße, which was crossed at the same level. The next few kilometers ran parallel to the First Vienna High Spring Water Pipeline and Blätterstraße (today L 137), where the Mollram stop was also located. Shortly before Neunkirchen the route swung away from the Blätterstraße along the edge of the forest and crossed the southern runway. The railway was not introduced into the state train station, but built via Lerchenfeld and Wienerstraße to Schwarza. After crossing the river and making a 90 ° right-hand bend, the local train station ( ) was reached, the tracks of which extended to near the Iron Bridge.

The route through the stone field was unproblematic - in addition to a few smaller dams and culverts, only a few engineering structures were required for the construction of the railway. Worth mentioning are the bridge over the high spring water pipeline near the Blätterstrasse, the overpass structure over the southern runway with access ramps and the lattice bridge over the Schwarza in Neunkirchen. The local train station became the center of a network of towing and connecting tracks to the surrounding industrial companies. There was (and in 2011) a connecting track for freight traffic to the state train station on the Südbahn, which branches off from the local railway on Wienerstraße (e).

Decline

In the first year of operation, the net disposal was 5,000 crowns. In addition, there was still operating interest to be covered, so that over 37,000 kroner in state funds had to be used. The financial statements of the following years looked similar. After the First World War , the industry in the Neunkirchen basin was economically poor. The modest traffic was oriented towards Wiener Neustadt, and the railway was becoming less and less important. As a result of the agreements concluded between the State of Austria and the States of Vienna and Lower Austria on July 5, 1922, the line was taken over by the state on July 15, 1922 (effective January 1, 1921).

Although there was a 1.151 km connecting track to the southern line in Neunkirchen (which was only used for freight traffic) and the local train station was also closer to the center of Neunkirchen, the lack of a direct connection for travelers coming from outside was the main disadvantage of this route and ultimately the main reason for the Suspension of passenger traffic. The later bus line started in the center of Neunkirchen and also drove to the Südbahnhof.

From May 1, 1933, passenger, baggage and express goods traffic was discontinued. The nationalization, combined with the expiry of the license on December 31, 1934, took place with the announcement of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Transport on November 22, 1934, effective on January 1, 1935. On July 15, 1942, the line was shut down and during the same period Most of the year worn off. What was left (until the 1970s) was a 700 m long track section near Willendorf (up to the former 0.851 km), which was used to store empty wagons for the Grünbach mine. In Neunkirchen there is still the local train station in Neunkirchen with the connecting track to the state train station. However, the tracks, like the bridge over the Schwarza, are now impassable.

In the course of the electrification of the Südbahn in 1956, the overpass structure was dismantled. On July 14, 1965, federal law decided to sell several properties around Neunkirchen belonging to the railway line.

Relics

The route is still easy to understand in the area, between Willendorf and the southern runway there are still dams, culverts and hectometer stones , from the overpass over the southern runway there is only the northern access ramp; the two abutments of the former bridge have been removed (see photo from 2014). The connecting track to the Schwarzabrücke and the Neunkirchen local train station still exists, but is no longer passable. The connecting line of the Neunkirchner screw works Brevillier & Urban has been demolished as well as the tracks of the siding.

literature

• Hellmuth Fröhlich: 8. Willendorf-Neunkirchen L. B. In: Hellmuth Fröhlich: Forgotten rails . In: Railway. Technical supplement "Die Modelleisenbahn" . Volume 21.1968, issue 5. Minirex, Lucerne 1968, ISSN  0013-2756 , p. 71 f., OBV .
• Wolfdieter Hufnagl: The Lower Austrian State Railways . 1st edition. transpress, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-613-71214-8 , pp. 216-221.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hufnagl: Die Niederösterreichische Landesbahnen , p. 216.
2. ↑ RGBl. 1907/158. In:  Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrathe , year 1907, pp. 683–688. (Online at ANNO ). .
3. ↑ Little Chronicle. June 19, 1909. (…) Local Railway Willendorf – Neunkirchen. In:  Wiener Zeitung , No. 139/1909, June 20, 1909, p. 5, center right. (Online at ANNO ).
4. ↑ ^{a b} Hufnagl: Die Niederösterreichische Landesbahnen , p. 217.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Fröhlich: 8. Willendorf-Neunkirchen L. B. , p. 71.
6. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 1924/371. In:  Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria , year 1924, p. 1286 f. (Online at ANNO ). .
7. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 1934/398. In:  Federal Law Gazette for the Federal State of Austria , year 1934, p. 915. (Online at ANNO ). .
8. ↑ Fröhlich: 8. Willendorf-Neunkirchen L. B. , p. 72.
9. ↑ Federal Law Gazette No. 209/1965 .

Remarks

1. ↑ 12.195 km overall length . - Fröhlich: 8. Willendorf-Neunkirchen L. B. , p. 71.
2. ↑ Cessation orders: Decree of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Transport of April 4, 1933, Zl. 35658/17, regarding the cessation of passenger, luggage and express goods traffic. Order 505, published in the official gazette of RBD Vienna , No. 35 of July 11, 1942, concerning the suspension of all traffic. - Fröhlich: 8. Willendorf-Neunkirchen L. B. , p. 71.

Web links

Commons : Lokalbahn Willendorf – Neunkirchen Lbf  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Local railway Willendorf - Neunkirchen . (Company shares and bonds). In: geerkens.at , accessed on May 4, 2011.
• NÖLB 104 . (Steam locomotive in processing). In: eisenbahnmuseum-heizhaus.com , accessed on May 4, 2011.
• Chimneys in the industrial district (N.Ö.) (…) AT | NK | Siding 1909–1955 . In: schlot.wordpress.com , March 5, 2010, accessed May 4, 2011.
• Special trip to Steinfeld - April 26, 2008 . (Pictures of driving on the branch line Neunkirchen-Südbahnhof – Neunkirchen-Lokalbahnhof). In: fladner.chello.at , accessed on May 5, 2011.