Museum train
Museum railways are railways that are operated with historical rail vehicles for the purpose of maintaining historical technology in working order and as a point of attraction for tourism . In contrast to static museum exhibits, the public is given the opportunity to experience traffic-historical objects such as steam locomotives in active use.
definition
The Association of German Museum and Touristic Railways , to which most of the German museum railway associations belong, defines as follows:
"A museum or tourist railway is a railway company according to § 2 (1) AEG , which is operated to maintain, restore or reproduce a railway (infrastructure) as in the past, or to assign historical or special forms of drive technology or rolling stock demonstrate or operate and is used exclusively or predominantly for tourist, leisure or educational purposes. "
Most often, the maintenance and operation of these railways are carried out by association members in their free time on a voluntary basis in railway associations. But there are also museum railways that are run by companies (GmbH, AG) (operating companies) under municipal responsibility or with operational responsibility for railway operations. Operation by private individuals or groups of people (in the sense of a GbR) is rather rare due to the associated liability and responsibility risks. Almost 300 steam locomotives are still in use in Germany alone.
Depending on the vehicles used and the route, a distinction can also be made between museum railways and museum trams ; On the North Sea island of Spiekeroog there is also a museum horse-drawn railway , the Spiekerooger Inselbahn .
history
The narrow-gauge Talyllyn Railway in Wales is the world's first museum railway . After the operation was closed, the line was taken over by a group of railway enthusiasts in 1950 and was the first railway line to be operated by volunteer amateurs instead of professional railroaders.
The first museum railway in Germany was set up in 1966 by the German Railway Association (DEV) on a meter-gauge line in Bruchhausen-Vilsen . In 1971, the German Society for Railway History started a steam train operation on the Jagst Valley Railway between Möckmühl and Dörzbach, which was still in regular service at the time , which also carried the idea of a museum railway to southern Germany. In what was then the German Democratic Republic - GDR - working groups (AGs) emerged under the umbrella of the DMV ( German Model Railway Association of the GDR), which, in cooperation with the Deutsche Reichsbahn, became the nucleus of the traditional railways ( Radebeul , Erfurt West), such as the Museum railways in the GDR were called.
The first museum path of Switzerland is located in the West Switzerland exploiting Dende Blonay-Chamby (BC). It began operating on May 1, 1968 on the Blonay – Chamby railway line, which was closed in 1966 by the Chemins de fer électriques Veveysans (CEV) but was not canceled .
The first museum railway in Austria was founded in 1974 on a 3 km long remnant section of the Gurktalbahn in Carinthia .
In the meantime, associations have been founded in numerous regions of Europe that maintain railway vehicles and routes and thus preserve them for posterity.
Not all clubs and vehicle collections have their own routes, often rail routes on public route networks are used, sometimes without scheduled passenger traffic, or industrial railways are used for special trips. In several tram networks, journeys with historical rolling stock are carried out, partly according to the timetable. Occasional journeys with historical subways are known from Berlin and Hamburg .
business
The first museum railways, especially in the form of a legal entity “association”, were - and still are - the common goal of overcoming numerous bureaucratic and administrative hurdles. It is still necessary to refute the view that amateurs cannot guarantee safe rail operations. The operation of the museum railways is subject to the relevant applicable provisions and ordinances relating to the operational safety of the vehicle fleet and route, training of driving staff and other legal obligations of the railway company to the same extent as for commercial railway companies.
Many museum railways have therefore founded their own railway companies approved by the Federal Railway Authority . They use their vehicles not only on the museum routes, but also in front of special trains in Germany. As railway companies have network access and are authorized at DB Netz train paths to order. Many also offer other services, such as B. Use in front of construction trains. Operating company of the Bavarian Railway Museum is the Bayern Bahn GmbH .
For some museum railways that do not have an independent authorization as an EVU from the Federal Railway Authority, the Deutsche Museum-Eisenbahn (Deutsche Museum-Eisenbahn), which is connected to the Railway Museum in Darmstadt-Kranichstein, took over the train path orders for the purpose of special trips until they were closed .
As Plandampf refers to the replacement of regular trains in the normal timetable use by vapor coating or Region diesels, z. B. a museum railway or its operating company. The normal train tickets are valid for the passengers.
See also
- List of museum railways
- Museum tram
- Tram Museum
- Railway association
- Model Railway Club
- Association of German Museum and Tourist Railways
- Association of Historic Railways Switzerland
- Association of Historic RhB
literature
- Museum railways. 250 historic railway lines in Germany, Austria and Switzerland . Bassermann Verlag , Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-8094-2995-1 , p. 192 .
