Merseburg overland railways

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The Merseburger Überlandbahnen-AG (MÜBAG) was a builder and operator of regional trams in the Merseburg / Halle (Saale) area .

history

On October 5, 1899, the Halle - Merseburg (EStrHM) electric tram , founded by the AEG , received approval to build and operate a meter-gauge interurban tram between the two cities mentioned. At that time the construction was initiated in particular by the municipality of Ammendorf and the district of Merseburg . Construction work began the following year. Between Riebeckplatz and the artillery barracks, the tracks of the AEG-operated urban railway were allowed to be used. After delivery of the first twelve multiple units and six sidecars , the test drives began on March 7, 1902. After the successful approval by the state police, the railway began operating according to the schedule between Halle and Ammendorf on March 15, 1902. From April 14, 1902, the train traveled to Schkopau , and finally to Merseburg from May 2, 1902. The trains ran every 15 minutes and took 45 minutes for a journey. The line was laid out on a single track with several switches , the track ran in the road surface or on a special track body to the side of the carriageway. In addition to the tram, the company and subsequently MÜBAG were commissioned to supply Ammendorf and the surrounding communities with electricity until 1948.

Merseburger Überlandbahnen AG share of more than 1,000 marks from June 1919

The MÜBAG company was founded on April 11, 1913 by AEG and Disconto-Gesellschaft Berlin. Originally, the AEG intended to expand the EStrHM concession, which did not succeed in view of the different interests of the district and the individual municipalities. In 1910, the AEG obtained planning permission to begin surveying work. MÜBAG was granted the concession to build a line from Merseburg to Müchi along with a branch to Kleinkayna and the open- cast lignite mines in the Geiseltal. The concession also contained the requirement to build further routes according to the requirements of the region's economic development. MÜBAG and EStrHM were only formally and legally separated from each other, the joint administration of both railways was located in Ammendorf, the director of EStrHM was also chairman of the MÜBAG supervisory board. Nevertheless, a track connection between the two railways was initially prohibited. Construction began in June 1913. By the outbreak of the First World War , the bridges and tracks were largely completed. By the end of 1914, the depot in Frankleben and a converter plant could still be built before the work had to be interrupted due to the mobilization of a large part of the workers. In 1916, work could initially be resumed hesitantly, including the arrival of the first vehicles from the Wismar wagon factory . The completion of the contact line systems had to wait until the end of 1917. From January 2, 1918, the staff was trained by employees of EStrHM.

Car hall of the former Ammendorf depot, where MÜBAG's head office was also located, 2016

On February 5, 1918, the Merseburg - Müchi line was opened to public transport. However, the railway never reached the actual town center of Müächen, only the area incorporated by the municipality after 1918. In 1918, EStrHM temporarily took over operational management and also carried out maintenance work on the vehicles in the Ammendorf depot, for which a provisional track connection had to be established in Merseburg by the end of 1918.

The construction of the branch line to Kleinkayna was postponed several times after the end of the war and finally abandoned entirely. In addition, around 1919 there were plans for a further expansion of the network. They provided for a network of electric overland railways in the central German lignite area. However, the planned routes fell completely victim to the economic crises of the 1920s. A map showing the route network as of October 1, 1919 shows the following routes with their status quo or their planning stage:

The line to Dürrenberg mentioned in operation was opened on February 23, 1919 between Merseburg and Rössen . The construction of the was preceded ammonia plant Merseburg of BASF . BASF also raised the capital required for the expansion, making the company the third MÜBAG shareholder. In 1920 the route via Spergau to Fahernorf was extended to enlarge the catchment area for the workforce.

The political changes as a result of the November Revolution made it possible for MÜBAG to soon merge with EStrHM. For this purpose, on April 30, 1919, the Province of Saxony took over the shares in Disconto-Gesellschaft, while MÜBAG also leased EStrHM. The continued existence of the existing concessions initially prevented a direct takeover; this was contractually foreseen after 14 years at the earliest. The lease had a duration of 25 years. On October 4, 1920, the contract was signed, which provided for the complete takeover on July 1, 1932. With the extension of the tram to Rössen, MÜBAG introduced line markings on its connections:

  • Q: Merseburg - Frankleben
  • M: Merseburg - Frankleben - Müelte
  • R: Merseburg - Rössen

These have now been extended to the lines of EStrHM, which also resulted in double bookings. Merseburg also the line shortcuts - so the line hall wearing M . Since the marking did not result in any particular use, the names were soon abandoned and the vehicles were only equipped with the destination signs. From October 1921 there was again a provisional track connection between the two route networks in Merseburg, which was replaced by a permanent connection at the end of 1924. For this purpose, some houses had to be demolished in advance. At the common terminus at “Hell”, however, a change had to be made for the next few years. On October 24, 1926, after the construction of a new bridge over the Saale, the extension to Dürrenberg went into operation. The end point was at Dürrenberg train station . At the same time, the construction of a depot in Merseburg, which began in 1919, was completed. Wagon and track material had already been ordered for the route to Schkeuditz, and construction began in 1927. When the execution was not carried out, the track material was used for the double-track expansion of the existing lines, at the same time tracks were laid on special railway bodies next to the roads. On March 27, 1929, after the restrictions specified in the concessions were canceled by the provincial government, continuous traffic in Merseburg could be started. From that day on, every second train went from Halle to Rössen.

The advancing lignite mining in the Central German mining district has led to the relocation of routes since the 1920s. From 1936 the Buna works were set up in Schkopau . Since the project was subject to a level of confidentiality, MÜBAG was not informed of the project and had to be exposed to an increase in traffic of 3,000 to 3,600 employees in one hour after commissioning. Those responsible initially wanted to avoid this by setting up a Schkopau train station , which, given its location, was not used sufficiently. In November 1937, the Buna-Werke therefore contacted MÜBAG, as a result of which material for 350 tons of rails and eight railcars were ordered. The rail contingent expired when the Second World War broke out , and the railcars were not delivered until 1940. Eight matching sidecars were delivered by 1942 after material rationing. In order to maintain rush hour traffic, MÜBAG had to rent vehicles from the Halle tram. From 1942, the Halle tram had to keep the fleet free for traffic to the Buna works by extending lines 1 and 4 to Ammendorf during the MÜBAG rush hour. From 1944 onwards, the destruction caused by Anglo-American bombing attacks increased steadily; the Merseburg depot was destroyed on December 6, 1944 after a total of five attacks from July 1944 onwards. The tram traffic was completely stopped with the advance of the front on April 10, 1945. Work on resumption began on April 22nd and on May 8th 1945 the first trains ran between Halle-Rosengarten and Ammendorf. Since the bridges over the Saale and Weisse Elster were blown up beforehand, large parts of the network were only accessible from November 18, 1945. The section between Fahrenorf and Bad Dürrenberg went back into operation in November 1950.

In November 1946, the shares in AEG were expropriated, MÜBAG was converted into a state-owned company (VEB) in 1948 and incorporated into VVB des Verkehrswessens Sachsen-Anhalt. On July 1st, MÜBAG and the urban tram in Halle were merged into one company, which from 1952 had the name VEB (K) Tramway and Overland Railway Halle , from 1957 the name VE Verkehrsbetriebe Halle . Today the routes that still exist are operated by Halleschen Verkehrs-AG .

More than two thirds of the route network still exists today. These are the Halle-Ammendorf – Bad Dürrenberg tram route and a small section of the Merseburg – Müchi tram route .

vehicles

Railcar (Tw) 78 (built in 1912, ex EStrHM Tw 33) in the Halle Tram Museum , 2010
Sidecar (Bw) 193 (left, built in 1941) in the Halle Tram Museum, 2016

When the electric tram Halle - Merseburg started operating, twelve four-axle multiple units with maximum bogies (Tw 1–12) and six two-axle sidecars (Bw 13-18) were available. The mechanical part came from Gottfried Lindner AG in Ammendorf, the electrical equipment for these and all subsequent vehicles was taken over by AEG . In 1903 the fleet was expanded to include four four-axle Herbrand sidecars owned by the Gesellschaft für Straßenbahnen im Saartal (Bw 19-22), which became dispensable after the AEG electrified the steam trams there . In 1906 four more four-axle railcars (Tw 22-25) were added. The four-axle railcars manufactured by the American JG Brill Company for the overland railway Braunschweig - Wolfenbüttel attracted attention with their curved side walls, which protruded from the Braunschweig clearance profile and therefore had to be sold. In 1912 EStrHM had the vehicles converted into sidecars, and in 1918 they received new car bodies from Lindner . In 1912 three two-axle railcars from Lindner (Tw 31-33) were added.

When operations began, MÜBAG received eight two-axle railcars and six two-axle trailer cars from the Wismar wagon factory . When EStrHM started leasing, the vehicles of both companies were sorted into a common numbering scheme. This provided for the following breakdown:

  • 001– 050: MÜBAG railcars
  • 051–100: EStrHM railcar
  • 101–125: MÜBAG two-axle sidecar
  • 126–150: MÜBAG bogie trailer
  • 151–175: two-axle sidecar EStrHM
  • 176–200: Bogie trailer EStrHM

The EStrHM railcars were first renumbered according to the scheme. Since the later takeover of EStrHM by MÜBAG was already established in 1920, there were further renumbering from the mid-1920s. The railcars 76–78 (ex EStrHM 31–33) were assigned free numbers 16–18 in 1928. The older EStrHM sidecars were retired by 1929. Some of the maximum railcars were converted into sidecars, with the maximum bogies remaining. At the same time, the vehicle fleet was expanded to include additional new vehicles. For the Buna traffic, MÜBAG ordered eight railcars in 1938, which could not be delivered until 1940. At the same time, MÜBAG received two used sidecars with single-axle bogies from the Upper Rhine Railway Company , which had previously been used on the Schwetzingen - Ketsch tram . Of eight sidecars that went with the railcars, only four were delivered. The vehicles known as Lindner four-axle vehicles were designed according to the principles of the standard tram car currently in planning . War-related restrictions and the operation as an interurban tram led to changes in the implementation. In 1941, MÜBAG ordered another ten railcars and twelve trailer cars of the type. In 1944, the order was changed so that two-axle war tram cars were to be delivered, the order was never carried out. Two railcars and three sidecars were so badly damaged during the Second World War that MÜBAG had to retire them. The remaining vehicles were included in the VEB (K) Tramway and Overland Railway Halle from 1951 and were included in the numbering scheme of the Halle Tramway .

A railcar (Tw 78) and a trailer (Bw 193) were abolished by Arbeitsgemeinschaft 6/38 of the German Model Railway Association of the GDR and were reconditioned as historical vehicles in 1982 and 1988 respectively.

Vehicle overview
number Construction year Manufacturer Seating Standing room Length
(in mm) 		Axis
distance
(in mm)
Pivot distance
(in mm) 		Hour
power
(in kW) 		Whereabouts
EStrHM MÜBAG Hall
Railcar
- 1-8 621-628 1915 Wismar 24 24 10,900 4500 - 2 × 39
- 9-10 9 1918 Lindner 24 20th 10,900 4500 - 2 × 39 1945 Tw 10 retired
- 11-15 631-632,
641,
648-649 		1919/21 Lindner 24 20th 10,900 3800 - 2 x 38.5
- 16-18 611-613 1912 Lindner 24 18th 10,600 3000 - 2 × 39 1928/30 ex Tw 76-78
- 19-21 633-635 1920 Lindner 24 20th 10,650 3800 - 2 x 38.5 1931/32 ex Tw 79-81
- 22-25 642-645 1927 Lindner 26th 20th 10,650 3800 - 2 × 35 1938 Tw 22 with 2 × 61 kW
- 26-27 646-647 1928 Lindner 26th 20th 11,000 3800 - 2 × 35
- 28-35 651-658 1940 Lindner 32 38 12,000 1700 4900 4 × 40
1-12 51-62 601-605 1902 Lindner 30th 10 10,800 1220 4700 2 x 38.5 1927 Tw 52 in Bw 175; 1928 Tw 53, 56, 58 in Bw 172-174;
1929 Tw 55 in Bw 171; 1933 Tw 54 in ATw IX;
1945 Tw 57 retired
31-33 76-78 - 1912 Lindner 24 18th 10,600 3000 - 2 × 39 1928/30 in Tw 16-18
- 79-81 - 1920 Lindner 24 20th 10,650 3800 - 2 x 38.5 1931/32 in Tw 19-21
23-25 - - 1902 Brill 28 25th 11,900 1250 5200 1906 ex Braunschweig ; 1912 in Bw
sidecar
17-18 (17-18) - 1902 Lindner 20th 16 7550 2500 - - Retired in 1925/28
- 101-106 721-726 1914 Wismar 24 24 10,900 4500 - - In 1918 planned as Bw 20-25 before it was commissioned
- 107-109 727-729 1920 Lindner 24 24 10,900 4500 - -
- 126-127 734 1921 Lindner 28 26th 12,300 1250 5150 - 1944 Bw 127 retired
- 128-131 741-744 1927 Lindner 28 25th 11,900 1500 4900 -
13-16 151-154 - 1902 Lindner 20th 16 7550 2500 - - 1925 Bw 151 (ex EStrHM Bw 13) retired;
1928 Bw 152, 154 (ex EStrHM Bw 15, 14) retired,
Bw 153 (ex EStrHM Bw 16) in equipment car VI
- 171-175 701-703 1902 Lindner 30th 16 10,800 1220 4700 - 1927 Bw 175 ex Tw 52; 1928 Bw 172-174 ex Tw 53, 56, 58;
1929 Bw 171 ex Tw 55; 1945 Bw 172, 174 retired
19-22 176-179 - 1890/93 Herbrand 36 20th 11,000 1000 5700 - 1903 ex Saarbrücken ; Retired in 1929
23-25 180-182 731-732,
739 		1902 Brill 28 25th 11,900 1250 5200 - 1912 ex Tw, 1918 new car body
- 183-188 733,
735-738 		1926 Lindner 28 25th 11,900 1500 4900 - 1951 Bw 184 retired
- 189-190 711-712 1910 Lindner 20th 20th 9000 2800 2800 - MAN single-axle bogies; 1940 ex Schwetzingen Bw 4–5
- 191-198 751-758 1941 Lindner 32 42 11,500 1600 5000 -

literature

  • Hallesche Verkehrs-AG (Ed.): Overland railway lifeline. 100 years of trams in the Halle-Merseburg area . Self-published by Engelsdorfer Verlag, 2004.
  • Dieter Moritz: The overland railways in the Merseburg area . Ed .: Hallesche Straßenbahnfreunde. Self-published, Halle (Saale) - (no year, probably 1991).
  • Bodo-Lutz Schmidt: The Merseburg overland railway . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Issue 2, 1982.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bodo-Lutz Schmidt: The Merseburg overland railway . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 2, 1982, pp. 33-39 .
  2. ^ MÜBAG (Ed.): 25 years of the Halle - Merseburg electric tram . Festschrift. Ammendorf 1927.
  3. ↑ a b Hallesche Verkehrs-AG (ed.): Overland railway lifeline. 100 years of trams in the Halle – Merseburg area . Self-published by Engelsdorfer Verlag , 2004, p. 10-15 .
  4. ↑ Dieter Moritz: The overland railways in the Merseburg area . Ed .: Hallesche Straßenbahnfreunde. Self-published, Halle (Saale), p. 13 .
  5. ↑ railcars 78. In: hsf-ev.de. Hallesche Straßenbahnfreunde, accessed on June 4, 2017 .
  6. ↑ sidecar 193. In: hsf-ev.de. Hallesche Straßenbahnfreunde, accessed on June 4, 2017 .