Railway line Heidenau – Kurort Altenberg

Heidenau health resort Altenberg (Erzgeb)
Route number :	6605; sä. HA
Course book section (DB) :	246, 246.1
Route length:	38.004 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Route class :	Heidenau – Köttewitz: D4 Köttewitz – Kurort Altenberg: B2
Maximum slope :	36  ‰
Minimum radius :	139 m
Top speed:	70 km / h
Legend from Dresden-Neustadt 0.000 Heidenau 120 m to Děčín hl.n. 0.086 EÜ Güterbahnhofstrasse (13 m) 0.665 EÜ State Road 172 (23 m) Federal motorway 17 2,580 Dohna (Sachs) 134 m 2.841 EÜ Gamiger Strasse (10 m) 3.561 EÜ Sürßener Weg (35 m) 4.360 Awanst Dohna Fluorchemie 4,710 Köttewitz 165 m 5.233 Viaduct Köttewitz (92 m) 5.420 Köttewitz tunnel (198 m) 5.820 Weesenstein 171 m 5,922 Müglitztal Bridge (52 m) 6,095 Weesenstein tunnel (240 m) 6.229 Müglitz Bridge (16 m) 6.332 Müglitz Bridge (13 m) 7.176 Bridge Müglitztal (45 m) 7.617 Müglitztal Bridge (68 m) 7,990 Burkhardswalde - Maxen (formerly Bf.) 188 m 8,572 Müglitz Bridge (30 m) 8,797 Müglitz Bridge (22 m) 9,062 Müglitz Bridge (14 m) 9.420 Anst United Pulp Mills Pirna - Peschelmühle 10,080 Mühlbach (b Pirna) 205 m 10.301 Müglitz Bridge (11 m) 10.386 Mühlgraben Bridge (11 m) 11.219 Müglitz Bridge (32 m) 12.674 Müglitz Bridge (72 m) 13,340 Niederschlottwitz (formerly Bf) 238 m 13.610 At the agrochemical center 13.667 At first foundry and mechanical engineering Schlottwitz 13,880 Müglitz Bridge (13 m) 14.747 Müglitz Bridge (14 m) 15,540 Oberschlottwitz 269 ​​m 15.651 Müglitztal Bridge (66 m) 17.066 Müglitz Bridge (40 m) 17,533 Müglitz Bridge (13 m) 17.658 Müglitz Bridge (17 m) 18.178 Bridge mill tunnel (mushroom tunnel; 292 m) 18,373 Müglitztal Bridge (m) 18.809 EÜ (11 m) 18,921 Müglitzbrücke (m) 18.745 EÜ Am Kohlsteig (15 m) 19.006 Glassworks (Sachs) 320 m At first PAKA glassworks 19.508 Müglitz Bridge (10 m) 20.815 Gleisberg tunnel (539 m) 21.113 Müglitztal Bridge (69 m) 21.275 Müglitztal Bridge (64 m) 21,483 Müglitztal Bridge (76 m) 22.014 Müglitztal Bridge (67 m) 22,280 Bear hedge - Johnsbach 388 m 22.680 Anst BHG Mühle and Bärenhecke bread factory 23.848 Müglitz Bridge (14 m) 24,940 Bärenstein (b Glashütte / Sachs) 418 m 25,842 Müglitz Bridge (15 m) 26,343 Müglitz Bridge (17 m) 26.55 At the Bärenstein sawmill 27.644 Müglitz Bridge (21 m) 27.803 EÜ (14 m) 28.226 Müglitz Bridge (14 m) 28,480 Lauenstein (Sachs) (formerly Bf) 471 m 29,440 Red Water Bridge (17 m) 30,320 Hartmannmühle 522 m 30.870 Anst East German Hartsteinwerke 32.278 Geising tunnel (235 m) 32,530 Geising Bridge (76 m) 32.680 Geising (formerly Bf) 590 m 36.130 Geisingberg ski jump 699 m 38.004 Altenberg health resort (Erzgeb) 757 m

The Heidenau – Kurort Altenberg (also: Müglitztalbahn ) railway is a branch line in Saxony . It branches off the main line Dresden – Děčín in Heidenau and leads through the Müglitz valley to Altenberg .

history

Prehistory and construction

In the middle of the 19th century, an industrial boom in the Müglitztal began, supported by small and medium-sized enterprises, the beginning of which marked the beginning of watch production in Glashütte (1845). In addition, after the invention of a paper manufacturing process by Friedrich Gottlob Keller (1843), numerous smaller production facilities for the wood and paper industry emerged along the Müglitz, from which larger paper mills such as the Peschelmühle near Burkhardswalde (1875) and the Glashütte cardboard factory (1886) emerged. Metal processing companies such as the machine factory and iron foundry Schlottwitz (1874) also became increasingly established. The upswing in the commercial economy is closely related to the growing industries in the Dresden Elbe Valley , which covered their needs with supplies from the surrounding area. The transport system was not able to cope with the increased demands (arrival of raw materials, removal of finished products) , so that between 1846 and 1864 the Müglitztalstraße was expanded and rebuilt.

In the medium term, however, the Talstrasse was hardly able to cope with the steadily growing quantities of goods, especially since the need for cheap lignite to operate the steam boiler systems increased. Since horse-drawn carts were inferior to the railroad in terms of capacity, speed and costs , manufacturers, merchants, trade associations and representatives of the towns demanded the construction of a railway line from 1865 onwards. It was supposed to connect the communities in the Müglitztal on the one hand to the main route Dresden – Bodenbach and on the other hand to the North Bohemian lignite deposits over the Ore Mountains . After the competitiveness of the companies in the valley declined noticeably in the 1880s due to poor accessibility, the Saxon state parliament approved the construction of the railway in December 1887. Plans that included routes via Lockwitz - Kreischa - Schlottwitz or Pirna - Zehista - Liebstadt - Schlottwitz into the Müglitztal were not feasible because of the steep gradients to be overcome and would not have connected the factories in the lower Müglitztal. The approval therefore related to the construction of a complete valley railway from Mügeln near Pirna (now part of Heidenau) to Geising . It was designed as a narrow-gauge railway (750 mm) in order to follow the curve of the valley and to serve the numerous connections. A continuation to Bohemia did not come about because the through traffic was considered insufficient and the financing of the technically complex route in Bohemia was not secured due to the necessary overcoming of the steep slope of the Erzgebirge.

The narrow-gauge railway from 1890 to 1939

Water house in Bärenstein from 1890

After two years of construction, which employed up to 1,100 workers per month, the line was put into operation on November 17, 1890. It was 36.1 km long and overcame an altitude difference of 470 m. The narrow and winding valley made considerable demands on the route. Of the total length, 86% were on an incline (31 km) and 40% in curves (14.5 km). The Geising Viaduct was 65 m long and was the longest of the 57 bridges built. For the time being, Altenberg was not connected to the railway, as neither financial resources nor suitable locomotives were available for the Geising - Altenberg steep section. The “trick” of the state railway to officially give the Geising station the double name “Geising-Altenberg” did little to help the mountain town, as it was about 3 km and 160 meters in altitude between Geising. Despite this small “flaw”, the people in the valley welcomed the start of the lift with parties, fireworks and gunfire. The first timetable provided for four daily train pairs, the journey time for the entire route was around 150 minutes, a single journey in 2nd class cost 2.30 marks.

Dohna: station with narrow-gauge railway train in May 1912

The railway, which cost a total of 3.6 million marks, contributed significantly to the economic upturn in the neighboring communities. As early as 1895, 14 industrial plants were connected by branch tracks. In addition to finished products, mainly lignite , wood pulp, straw and raw material, paper , wood and bricks were transported; since the 1920s, blocks of ice from the Altenberg gallows ponds for the Dresden cold stores have also been transported in winter . Passenger traffic was also significant. Numerous day trippers used the train to get from Dresden and the Elbe valley to the quietly situated Erzgebirge resorts, which developed into summer retreats. The guaranteed snow in the upper layers has also brought heavy winter sports traffic to the railway since the turn of the century . As a result, it developed into one of the most economical routes in the Saxon narrow-gauge railway network. Due to the heavy freight traffic, plans for the operational separation of freight and passenger traffic through the construction of a second track were even discussed around 1914 for the Mügeln - Weesenstein section . However, due to the post-war economic crisis, these plans were not implemented. Instead, the extension to Altenberg became the focus of interest. The mining town repeatedly suggested that the railway should be expanded. Various plans envisaged a continuation from Geising via Altenberg to Moldau or Hermsdorf ( Nossen – Moldau or Prague – Brüx – Moldau ), Kipsdorf ( Weißeritztalbahn ) or Frauenstein ( Klingenberg-Colmnitz – Frauenstein narrow-gauge railway ).

Heidenau-Altenberg ( narrow-gauge railway )
Route number :	Saxon HA (from June 12, 1920) Saxon MG (until June 11, 1920)
Route length:	41.54 km
Gauge :	750 mm ( narrow gauge )
Maximum slope :	30  ‰
Minimum radius :	30 m
Legend 0.000 Mügeln bP (from 1920 Heidenau ) (transition to the Dresden – Děčín line ) 120 m 2,366 Dohna (Sachs) 134 m 4.640 Köttewitz 151 m 6.340 Weesenstein 166 m 8.840 Burkhardswalde-Maxen 188 m 11.010 Häselich 206 m 14.210 Niederschlottwitz 237 m 16.430 Oberschlottwitz 260 m 19.510 Dittersdorf 304 m 20.690 Glashütte (Saxony) 319 m 23.440 Schullermühle 354 m 25.700 Bärenhecke-Johnsbach 384 m 28.320 Bärenstein b. Glashütte (Sa.) 418 m 31.890 Lauenstein 471 m 33.850 Hartmannmühle 522 m 36.009 Geising (until 1923 Geising-Altenberg) 590 m 39.600 Geisingberg ski jump (1933–1941) 700 m 41.540 Altenberg / Erzgeb. (from 1923) 754 m

Glashütte: Devastation after the floods in 1927

The government did not support the projects because of the high construction costs and the expected low income. The extension to Altenberg, decided in 1914, initially failed at the beginning of the First World War , but was then started in 1919 as emergency work. The 5.5 km long bypass of the Geisingberg was completed within four years and the mountain town received its rail connection on November 10, 1923. On July 8, 1927, large parts of the railway line were destroyed in a devastating flood .

New construction as a standard gauge railway

Because of the steadily increasing demand for transport after the global economic crisis , the Deutsche Reichsbahn decided in 1934 to convert the line to standard gauge. This project was implemented between 1935 and December 1938. The Heidenau – Lauenstein section has been completely re-routed, with only the curve radius enlarged for the most part on the remaining section to Altenberg. As a result of the re-routing, the standard gauge was about 3 km shorter.

North portal of the Weesenstein tunnel

preserved passenger car from 1938

With the commissioning of the standard gauge in 1938, the number of road and path crossings and thus the risk of accidents with increasing road traffic was significantly reduced, but due to a rock fall, the section Niederschlottwitz – Glashütte was not passable until April 1939. The risk of flooding also decreased due to the elevation of the route, although not in all sections of the route. More important, however, was the creation of profitable foundations for freight transport and improvements in passenger transport. For the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the railway represented the “new gateway to the Eastern Ore Mountains”, which made the Altenberg winter sports region “a sports field at the gates of the Reich capital”. The travel times in passenger traffic were shortened considerably, Altenberg could be reached from Dresden in about 70 minutes, from Leipzig in about 160 minutes and from Berlin in about 180 minutes. The standard trains for the opening of the regular-gauge Müglitztalbahn were the class 84 locomotives and so-called Altenberger express train cars . A class 84 locomotive has not been preserved, an Altenberg car is in Dresden. Another Altenberger car was even converted into a diesel multiple unit and existed until 1980 at the Mindener Kreisbahnen and the museum railway VSM ( Netherlands ).

In World War II

The outbreak of the Second World War severely restricted tourism. Due to the lack of hard coal, only three to five pairs of passenger trains ran daily, but more and more railcars from regions at risk of air warfare were parked on the low-traffic route away from the front. At the end of the Second World War, there was fighting between Soviet and German troops in the Müglitztal. In April 1945, the railway systems in Glashütte, Bärenhecke-Johnsbach and Altenberg were damaged in low-flying attacks. In the last days of the war in May 1945, further damage occurred during air raids on Altenberg and Glashütte. Parts of the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" used the Müglitztal as a retreat in the direction of northern Bohemia and planned to blow up the Weesenstein tunnel. The derailment of a military train at Bärenstein on May 7th and the rapid Soviet advance prevented the planned destruction of the railway, which was considered to be operationally important.

After the Second World War

Exit Kurort Altenberg station

Although the Müglitztalbahn survived the Second World War, with the exception of punctual damage in individual stations, structurally largely intact, operation was difficult in the first post-war years . On the one hand, as on all other routes, there was an acute shortage of vehicles. The locomotives of the series 84 were before uranium ore shipments in Westerzgebirge used, the passenger car type "Altenberg" the express train service. On the other hand, the line was built from old superstructure material from 1935–1938 due to the scarcity of raw materials and the lack of material in the first post-war years made the urgently needed renovation difficult. From 1949/50 it was possible to speak of an incipient normalization of traffic, which was expressed, among other things, in the reinstatement of the first special winter sports trains. The uranium ore mining near Bärenhecke, operated by SDAG Wismut between 1948 and 1954, played an essential role in passenger and freight traffic in the early 1950s . Overall, the train traffic again took on considerable proportions. In the mid-1960s, at least 14 companies were connected to goods traffic via nine connection routes, including metal, chemical and paper processing companies in Dohna ( VEB Druckguss Heidenau, VEB Chemiewerke Dohna), Schlottwitz (VEB foundry and mechanical engineering) and glassworks (VEB Paka) . In passenger was also both of excursionists as increasingly work commuters used the Dresden Elbe Valley.

Passenger train in Altenberg station (1992)

Since the early 1960s, the Deutsche Reichsbahn made attempts to increase the transport performance and profitability of the railway by using multiple units, double-deck cars and diesel locomotives . While the former only worked to a limited extent, the diesel traction increasingly took over transport services from the mid-1960s with the 110 series . This type of locomotive developed from 1967 onwards to become the new regular locomotive of the Müglitztalbahn. At the same time, considerations were voiced to suspend traffic, especially freight, partially or even on the whole route. The reason was the flooding of the Geising train station with a wave of mud and rubble in October 1966, which had leaked out due to damage to the sewer system of the VEB Zinnerz Altenberg. In addition, the railways faced increasing competition from motorized individual transport . However, it was precisely this that prevented the shifting of transport services to the Dresden - Altenberg and Heidenau - Altenberg roads, which were already heavily frequented, especially in the winter months . Nevertheless, freight traffic decreased in the following decades and concentrated on the section between Heidenau and Köttewitz . The route retained its importance as a tourist train. In the winter months, numerous special trains were still used, connecting Altenberg directly with Dresden , Cottbus , Halle (Saale) , Leipzig , Riesa and Hoyerswerda, among others .

In the mid-1970s there were serious plans to electrify the line. The work was to be carried out by the electrification company of the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) after the work on the Elbe Valley Railway Dresden – Schöna was completed in May 1976. From a technical point of view, it would have been easy to implement, since all tunnels have the clearance profile necessary for the installation of the contact line. The project was not implemented for unknown reasons.

Decline and renovation after 1990

Train traveling downhill in the cut near Geising (2008)

In July 1990 the Müglitztalbahn celebrated its 100th anniversary of the line opening. The economic turnaround that began as a result of German reunification put the continued existence of the route into question again. At the beginning of the 1990s, numerous industrial companies between Heidenau and Altenberg were closed. a. In 1991 the Altenberg tin ore mining stopped. Other companies were only able to continue their production to a much lesser extent. As a result, within a few years, the railway lost a large part of its freight volume, on the one hand, but also a considerable proportion of commuters, on the other. The decline in the volume of traffic was exacerbated by the surge in competition from road traffic in both freight and passenger transport. This negative development led to the cessation of freight traffic south of Köttewitz (connection fluorochemicals) in 1995. Due to the uncertain future of the line, Deutsche Bahn decided not to make the necessary investments and operated a wear mode. Because of this and the further decline in passenger numbers, in 1997 even closing the entire route for safety reasons was up for debate. The regular schedule , which was only introduced in that year, remained unsteady due to the rush hour and, with a basic cycle of two hours, was unattractive.

It was not until the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe, the responsible public transport authority, took over the ordering of train services on the route and signed a transport contract with DB Regio for a period of 15 years that DB Netz undertook a general renovation in 1998/99 . The financial volume of 15 to 20 million  euros made possible a thorough renovation of the railway systems and thus the elimination of numerous slow speed areas . The railway also used modern Siemens Desiro railcars . Driving times were reduced to 60 minutes, cycle times increased to 60 or 90 minutes and the use of new technology led to a considerable increase in the number of passengers. The renovated railway achieved transport numbers of approx. 1200 to 2000 passengers a day and thus proved its profitability. It became important again not only for day trippers, but also for school and commuter traffic.

The destroyed railway line in Schlottwitz (2002)

As early as 1897, during the floods in the Eastern Ore Mountains in 1927, as well as in 1954, 1957, 1958 and 1966, some serious flood damage occurred on the route, but it was nowhere near as large as the flood of the century in 2002. Between August 12 and 14, 2002, enormous masses of water discharged over the ridge of the Eastern Ore Mountains. In Zinnwald-Georgenfeld , almost half of the other annual precipitation fell at 406 mm during this period . The torrential rain turned the Müglitz into a raging stream, which devastated almost the entire valley. The situation was exacerbated by the rupture of the only retention basin in the Brießnitz valley above Glashütte . For the third time after 1897 and 1927, the line was largely destroyed. Dams and bridges were washed away and broken away, buildings badly devastated. The total damage incurred amounted to around 50 million euros.

Winter sports train in Kurort Altenberg station (2008)

On December 11, 2002, after the construction in 1888/90, the flood in 1927, the gauge changeover in 1934/39 and the renovation in 1998/99, the fifth construction of the railway began, which was completed by December 20, 2003. The resumption of operations was celebrated with public festivals, and around 2000 people welcomed the first train in Altenberg alone. His journey was preceded by the construction of 2 bridges and the repair of a further 13 bridges and 5 train stations. Within a very short time, the railway, with passenger numbers of approx. 1000 passengers / day, regained values ​​as before the flood, thus proving its importance as a traffic route in the Eastern Ore Mountains.

Regional train in Oberschlottwitz

Until December 2010, the trains of the regional train line RB72 (Heidenau – Kurort Altenberg) ran on the route, the frequency of which was supplemented on the weekends of the winter half-year by additional trains of the line RE19 (Dresden Hbf – Kurort Altenberg). A special feature of the route is that these additional trains are only used in appropriate winter sports conditions. Whether they operate is traditionally announced in the regional media on Thursdays. The 2008 timetable provided for a total of 14 pairs of regional trains between Heidenau and Altenberg on weekdays. Apart from a few gaps in the mornings, an hourly service was offered on weekdays . A train ran every two hours on the weekends.

Current operation

The authority responsible for ordering regional transport services is the Upper Elbe Transport Association . Since December 12, 2010, the city ​​railway of Saxony has provided all transport services after a new tender, the lines have since been designated as SB72 and SE19. On September 16, 2019, the association assembly of the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe decided that Transdev Regio Ost GmbH had been awarded the contract for the VVO diesel network as part of an emergency award until the end of 2021, after the Sachsen urban railway had to cease operations due to insolvency. On weekdays, the passenger trains run every hour with an intersection in Glashütte. On the weekends, the timetable remained unchanged with a two-hour cycle. Due to the connection to the S-Bahn in Heidenau, the timetable has a significantly different symmetry time , which is around 14 minutes. The stations Köttewitz, Weesenstein, Burkhardswalde-Maxen, Mühlbach (near Pirna), Oberschlottwitz, Bärenhecke-Johnsbach, Bärenstein (near Glashütte / Sachs) and Hartmannmühle are demand stops . Trains only stop there on request. As before, additional direct trains are used between Dresden Hbf and Kurort Altenberg, which only stop at selected stations, if the winter sports conditions are appropriate.

From December 10, 2011 to December 14, 2014, the little-used demand stops Köttewitz and Burkhardswalde-Maxen were not served. The reason was the construction work on the S-Bahn tracks between Dresden-Neustadt and Coswig , which led to changes in the timetable. In order to speed up the trains and thus ensure connections in Heidenau, the VVO decided to temporarily abandon the demand stops.

On June 2, 2013, train operations had to be stopped again due to a flood event. In contrast to the floods in 2002, however, there was only minor damage and the trains were able to run again as planned from June 4th at noon.

Since the timetable change in December 2016, the lines have been referred to as RB72 and RE19 again.

Due to the high demand for commuter traffic, the VVO set up a parallel express bus line on weekdays from June 11, 2017, which, together with the trains, is to create a half-hourly public transport service between Heidenau and Glashütte. Due to the lack of crossing possibilities in this section, according to VVO “it was not possible to compress the timetable by rail ”. Since December 10, 2017, two pairs of trains have been tied through during rush hour traffic to and from Königsbrück. As of December 9, 2018, the previous seasonal winter sports trains will operate year-round as Ski- and WanderExpress .

Buildings

Sgraffito at Bärenstein station

When the line was rebuilt in the 1930s, great importance was attached to a landscape-related construction of the station buildings. The aim was to create a smooth transition between the rural structures of the Elbe Valley and those of the Eastern Ore Mountains. Even smaller stops were given individually designed wooden service buildings.

Common to all the station buildings that were newly built at the time was the slate-covered pitched roof and the use of wood as a building material for all extensions such as goods sheds and waiting rooms. The window frames, which are always painted red, are also typical of the landscape. Some of the buildings - as in Burkhardswalde-Maxen and Lauenstein - are decorated with sgraffito elements on the facades.

During the flood in August 2002 , the station buildings along the line were badly damaged in some cases.

Route description

course

simplified elevation profile of the route

The line turns south from the Heidenau train station into the Müglitztal and crosses the four-lane state road 172 . Shortly before Dohna, it crosses federal motorway 17 and before the Köttewitz stop, it negotiates a first major climb. After the halt, the Müglitz is crossed for the first time, followed immediately by the first and, at 198 meters, the shortest of a total of four spur tunnels . After the Weesenstein stop, the valley is shortened again in a second, 240 meter long tunnel. Behind Burkhardswalde-Maxen, the valley narrows for a short time and at 15.0 kilometers between Nieder- and Oberschlottwitz the route passes close to the rock of the Schlottwitz agate dike . Before Glashütte, the valley is again shortened with the 292-meter-long Brückenmühle tunnel. Behind the train station follows the longest tunnel on the line with a length of 539 meters and at the Bärenhecke-Johnsbach stop a double-arched concrete bridge, which is atypical for the Müglitztalbahn, is crossed. From Lauenstein the route leaves the Müglitztal and follows the valley of the red water to Geising in a south-westerly direction. The place itself is affected to the north, with the route completely changing direction from south to north with a 235 meter long reversing tunnel and a 76 meter long bridge. On the last section, the valley is left on the western slope and the Geisingberg is circled, the steepest section of the route with a gradient of 1: 37.6 begins from kilometer 36.6.

Operating points

Heidenau ⊙

→ Main article : Heidenau train station

The Müglitz Valley Railway begins at Heidenau station on the Dresden – Děčín line . Here there is a connection to the Dresden S-Bahn lines S1 ( Meißen - Triebischtal -  Schöna ) and S2 ( Dresden Airport -  Pirna ).

Dohna (Sachs) ⊙

Dohna (Sachs) railway station

The Dohna (Sachs) train station still has the station building from the narrow-gauge era. Because of its great importance for tourist traffic, Dohna was integrated into the Dresden S-Bahn tariff area during the GDR era . At times, the station in the lower town of Dohna was also intended as the end point of an S-Bahn line, but this was not implemented.

Awanst Dohna Fluorchemie ⊙

The alternative connection point Dohna Fluorchemie is located in the Dohna train station shortly before the Köttewitz stop and is therefore no longer an “Awanst”, but currently has the status of a siding connected to a main track. The siding to a chemical plant in Dohna that branches off there is the only one on the entire route that is still served by freight traffic.

Köttewitz ⊙

The Köttewitz stop is far outside the eponymous town . Because of the extremely low number of travelers, Köttewitz is only a stop on demand. From December 10, 2011 to December 14, 2013 Köttewitz was not served in order to enable the connection to the trains of the S1 line in Heidenau due to the possible reduction in travel time. Instead, a replacement bus from Heidenau or Mühlbach served this stop. In terms of location, the stop is behind the Dohna entry signal and is therefore part of Dohna train station.

Weesenstein ⊙

Weesenstein stop (2008)

The Weesenstein stop is only a demand stop today. The small office building is owned by Deutsche Bahn AG. The reception building dates from 1938.

Burkhardswalde-Maxen ⊙

Burkhardswalde-Maxen stop (2008)

The Burkhardswalde-Maxen stop is located far outside the eponymous towns of Burkhardswalde and Maxen . Today it has only a minor traffic significance. The formerly well-known Margon mineral springs with the "Gesundbrunnen Castle" are located directly on the slope above the train station . When the route was renovated in 1998/99, the former train station was dismantled to become a stop.

The station building, which is a listed building, is best known for its sgraffito decoration on the gable end. These have their background in events of the Seven Years' War that took place nearby. After the battle of Maxen on November 20, 1759, the Prussian General von Finck surrendered and was captured by the Austrians who were in alliance with Saxony, including 14,000 men (so-called Finckenfang). Pictured are a Saxon grenadier and a Prussian free corps knight , above the inscription "Anno 1759". In 2002 the water masses of the Müglitz destroyed the rear wooden goods floor extension of the station building. The annex was then torn down and not rebuilt.

The German railway has the station building for several years for sale to, so far without success. The building is empty and left to decay.

Mühlbach (b Pirna) ⊙

Today's Mühlbach (b Pirna) stop already existed on the narrow-gauge railway in an almost unchanged location. It initially took the name Häselich after the neighboring small town, and later Häselich-Mühlbach . It has had its current name since May 15, 1938.

The systems originally consisted of a continuous track with a platform and a loading track connected on both sides, which was omitted during the conversion to standard gauge. The originally wooden waiting hall was replaced in 1938 by a representative, significantly enlarged building in the Heimat style, which is now used for residential purposes. The tourist facilities were moved a few meters in the direction of Heidenau when the route was renovated in 1998/99 and are no longer in the curved track.

Niederschlottwitz ⊙

Stop at Niederschlottwitz (2015)

The former station and today's stop at Niederschlottwitz was built in 1938 on the area of ​​the narrow-gauge station. The station building largely resembles those in Burkhardswalde and Bärenstein. The gable graffito depicts a couple of farmers, as was typical for the area. The high signal box is a contemporary type building.

In 1999, after the expansion of the second station track, Niederschlottwitz was downgraded to a stop with a block. Until the flood in 2002, the high signal box was used to secure the block and the neighboring crossing. The block location was not set up again after the flood, today an automatic system is used to secure the crossing.

Oberschlottwitz ⊙

Oberschlottwitz stop

The Oberschlottwitz stop was set up in 1938 on the slope in front of the Müglitz viaduct there and roughly corresponded to the location of the former narrow-gauge station. The small, massive reception building in the Heimat style is unused today.

Glashütte (Sachs) ⊙

Glashütte (Sachs) station

The Glashütte (Sachs) station is today the only station on the line where there is a siding and train crossings can take place. When the new line was built in 1938, the entire station area was raised to be flood-proof. A new reception building was also built, which today serves as the headquarters and production site for the watch manufacturer Nomos Glashütte .

Bärenhecke-Johnsbach ⊙

Bärenhecke-Johnsbach stop

The Bärenhecke - Johnsbach stop is located near the village of Bärenhecke on the other side of the Müglitz, but because of the great distance to the much larger eponymous village of Johnsbach, it is of very little importance in tourist traffic. The siding of the mill and bakery Bärenhecke was located directly at the stop until it was closed in the early 1990s .

Bärenstein (b Glashütte / Sachs) ⊙

Bärenstein station (2008)

At the Bärenstein station , the support association for the Müglitztalbahn e. V. its club headquarters, which had expanded the station area into a museum ensemble. After the insolvency of the association, the reception building is now privately owned. Officially, the station is a connecting railway , so that regular traffic crossings with museum trains are possible. Noteworthy is the oldest water house in Saxony from the narrow-gauge era, which is still used to replenish the company's supplies on steam locomotive trips. A structurally identical building only exists in the whole of Saxony at today's Burkhardswalde-Maxen stop and at the Preßnitztalbahn in Steinbach.

Lauenstein (Sachs) ⊙

Today's Lauenstein (Sachs) stop was only abandoned as a train station in 1998/99, before that it was an important intersection in the upper section of the route.

Hartmannmühle ⊙

Hartmannmühle stop (2008)

The wooden waiting hall from the narrow-gauge era is still located at the Hartmannmühle stop . Opposite the breakpoint, the Osterzgebirge wildlife park is now a tourist attraction . Because of the low traffic importance, Hartmannmühle is only a necessity stop.

Geising ⊙

Geising stop

Today's Geising stop was the end of the old narrow-gauge railway as the Geising-Altenberg station until 1923. In October 1966, the Geising station was flooded with a wave of mud and rubble that had leaked due to damage to the sewer system of the VEB Zinnerz Altenberg. As a result, the station was dismantled and the signal box was abandoned. The station building dates back to the narrow-gauge era; in 1938 only a spacious waiting room was added. Today it is used for commercial purposes.

Geisingberg ski jump

The Geisingberg ski jump stop only existed between 1933 and 1941. It was only used at sporting events on the Geisingberg ski jump .

Kurort Altenberg (Erzgeb) ⊙

Kurort Altenberg station (2009)

The Müglitztalbahn ends in the Kurort Altenberg train station . It was built in 1938 in the same place as the old narrow-gauge station, but with a changed track axis. Originally there were four platform tracks for winter sports traffic, which were reduced to three following the renovation of the line in 1999. Immediately at the train station there is a covered public transport interface to the intercity bus service, which can also serve as a multifunctional event hall. The station building, which was destroyed in 1945 and later rebuilt, now belongs to the city of Altenberg, which operates a tourist information office and a cross-country ski run house there.

Platform 1 was made barrier-free in 2013 with federal funds from the Federal Railways Expansion Act. It was given a platform height of 55 centimeters above the top of the rails and a guidance system for the blind. The costs for this amounted to over 240,000 euros.

Vehicle use

• Class 84 : The class 84 locomotives were developed and built between 1935 and 1937 specifically for the Müglitztalbahn. Like no other series of tank locomotives in Germany, these powerful locomotives were able to navigate the tight 140-meter radii of the Müglitztalbahn without any problems. Until after the Second World War, these locomotives handled all train traffic on the Müglitztalbahn. From 1949 onwards, all locomotives came to the Western Ore Mountains and were used there in front of SDAG Wismut uranium trains.

The 86 270 in the Dresden-Friedrichstadt depot (1952)

• Series 86 : The locomotives of the series 86 came to replace the series 84 on the Müglitztalbahn around 1950. By 1960, the 86s handled all train traffic on the Müglitztalbahn.
• Class 50 : The class 86 proved to be unsuitable for transporting heavy trains. From around 1960, the long winter sports trains - which now often consisted of two four-part double-decker DBv units - were hauled by the class 50 locomotive with a tender. It also proved to be operationally advantageous that in Altenberg, unlike the tank locomotives used up to now, it did not have to take up any new supplies. It was not until 1976 that the 50 series was replaced by diesel locomotives before winter sports trains.
• Series 110, 112 and 114 : The transition from steam to diesel traction on the Müglitztalbahn began early on. From 1967 the V 100 series (from 1970: 110) was used in front of all regular trains. Between about 1970 and 2002 this series was the regular locomotive on the Müglitztalbahn.
• Class 118 : The six-axle locomotives of the class 118 (ex V 180) replaced the steam locomotives before the winter sports trains from the 1972/73 winter schedule. Initially only the Leipzig trains ran with the diesel locomotives, from 1976 they also carried the winter sports trains from Dresden.
• Class 642 : Since 2002, all passenger train traffic has been handled with the powerful regional multiple units of the DB class 642 (Siemens Desiro).

See also

• Saxon narrow-gauge railways

Movie

• SWR: Railway Romanticism - The return of the Müglitztalbahn (episode 508); Treasure chest Müglitztalbahn (episode 387)

literature

• Report of the independent commission of the Saxon state government on the flood catastrophe 2002 (Kirchbach report), without further information
• Wolfgang Dörschel / Volkmar Köckeritz: Flood hazard and flood protection of the railways in the eastern Ore Mountains. in: transpress VEB publishing house for transport (ed.): Eisenbahn Jahrbuch 1980. Berlin 1979. S. 123-132.
• Rainer Fischer: Secondary railways from Pirna to Großcotta and Gottleuba. Kenning Verlag, Nordhorn 1998, ISBN 3-927587-38-9
• Wolfgang Fleischer: The end of the war in Saxony 1945. Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 2004, ISBN 3-7909-0798-7
• Herbert Koitzsch, et al .: The Müglitztalbahn. Heidenau 1983
• Bernd Kuhlmann: The standard gauge Müglitztalbahn Heidenau - Altenberg. Kenning Verlag, Nordhorn 2000, ISBN 3-933613-08-6
• Gerhardt Müller: Between Müglitz and Weisseritz. Results of the local history inventory in the area of ​​Dippoldiswalde / Glashuette. Values ​​of the German homeland, vol. 8. Berlin 1964
• Pirnaer Anzeiger: The flood disaster in the Gottleuba and Müglitz valleys on the night of 8/9 July 1927. Pirna 1927
• Reiner Preuß : The Müglitztalbahn. transpress VEB publishing house for transport, Berlin 1985
• Sächsische Zeitung, regional edition Pirna: 13./14. September 1997, 25./26. April 1998, December 12, 2002, June 30, 2003, December 23, 2004
• Saxon State Office for Environment and Geology (Ed.): Event analysis. Flood in August 2002 in the rivers of the Eastern Ore Mountains. Dresden 2004 ( Download pdf 4.1 MB )
• Bernd Kuhlmann: The Müglitztalbahn Heidenau - Altenberg. The time of the narrow-gauge and standard-gauge Bildverlag Böttger GbR, Witzschdorf 2012, ISBN 978-3-937496-47-4
• Stefan Müller: Anecdotes and stories about the Müglitztalbahn, Bildverlag Böttger GbR, Witzschdorf 2017, ISBN 978-3-937496-78-8

Web links

Commons : Müglitztalbahn  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Route, operating points and some permitted speeds on the OpenRailwayMap
• The Müglitztalbahn
• Heidenau - Kurort Altenberg (Erzgeb) on sachsenschiene.de
• Panoramic image of the 1927 flood disaster in Glashütte station

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Route data on www.sachsenschiene.de
2. ↑ Bernd Kuhlmann: The Müglitztalbahn Heidenau - Altenberg .; P. 188
3. ↑ 2011 annual timetable for route book route 246 - valid from December 12, 2010
4. ↑ 2012 annual timetable for route 246 - valid from December 11, 2011
5. ↑ Heike Sabel: No stop in Köttewitz and Burkhardswalde. Sächsische Zeitung [online], July 22, 2011, accessed on February 19, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Current information at www.vvo-online.de (accessed on June 4, 2013)
7. ↑ VVO press release of May 10, 2017
8. ↑ VVO press release of December 6, 2017
9. ↑ VVO press release of August 2, 2013 ( Memento of the original of December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.