Railway line Wiesloch – Meckesheim / Waldangelloch

map

Wiesloch – Meckesheim / Waldangelloch
Course book section (DB) :	until 1970: 301a Wiesloch – Schatthausen 301b Wiesloch – Waldangelloch 301c Wiesl.-Walldorf – Wiesl. city
Route length:	18.8 km and 13.1 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	28  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Legend Baden-Kurpfalz-Bahn from Heidelberg 0.0 Wiesloch-Walldorf (formerly: Wiesloch Staatsbf.) Baden-Kurpfalz-Bahn to Karlsruhe 1.1 Wiesloch- Frauenweiler (from 1950) Waldangelbach 3.1 0.0 Wiesloch city 3.8 Wiesloch Oberstadt ( sanatorium , until 1957) 4.0 Wiesl. East (State Hospital) (from 1957) Leimbach 4.7 Altwiesloch 6.8 Dielheim 9.1 Horrenberg 10.8 Baiertal Gauangelbach 11.8 Baiertal Oberdorf 13.6 Shadows from Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld 18.8 Meckesheim to Heidelberg 2.7 Rauenberg North since 1956 3.4 Rauenberg 4.3 Rotenberg 5.6 Mühlhausen near Wiesloch Unterdorf 6.2 Mühlhausen near Wiesloch 6.8 Tairnbach 9.9 Eichtersheim initially: Eichtersheim-Michelfeld 11.0 Michelfeld (Baden) 13.1 Forest fishing hole

The Wiesloch – Meckesheim / Waldangelloch branch line was a privately operated railway line in the Rhein-Neckar district , Baden-Württemberg , whose passenger service was discontinued in 1980; the freight was followed ten years later. It led with two branches from Wiesloch to Meckesheim and Waldangelloch . It was regionally called the Angelbachtalbahn in the section between Rauenberg and Waldangelloch .

General

The Wiesloch – Meckesheim / Waldangelloch branch line was a standard-gauge railway line (1435 mm) that branched off from the Baden Main Railway or Baden-Kurpfalz Railway at the Wiesloch-Walldorf State Railway Station and ran to Meckesheim in the Elsenz Valley and Waldangelloch. The two lines shared a common route up to Wiesloch city station, after which it forked into the two branches. The total length of the entire branch line was 32.29 km, the Wiesloch Stadt – Meckesheim branch 15.7 km and the branch through the Angelbachtal Wiesloch – Waldangelloch 13.1 km long. The Wiesloch Staatsbahnhof – Wiesloch Stadt section was 3.1 km in length. From Wiesloch Staatsbahnhof to Wiesloch Oberstadt, the railway line was electrified from the beginning until October 17, 1955 .

The operators and owners of the branch line were all private railway companies: from the opening until December 31, 1931, the Badische Lokal-Eisenbahnen AG (hereinafter referred to as BLEAG) operated the line, followed by the one from January 1, 1932 to April 30, 1963 Deutsche Eisenbahn-Betriebsgesellschaft (hereinafter referred to as DEBG) and from May 1, 1963 until it was closed, the branch line was operated by the Südwestdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (SWEG).

Planning and predecessors

On April 15, 1843, the Heidelberg – Karlsruhe state railway was opened, which was part of the Baden main line from Mannheim to Basel , which passed Wiesloch. However, the train station was around 3 km from the city, so the city only had limited use of the train.

The Kingdom of Württemberg wanted to connect its routes with those of Baden via Sinsheim to Wiesloch. Baden refused this, which is why an agreement was reached instead on the construction of the Württemberg Western Railway .

In 1869 a route from Wiesloch to Meckesheim was planned, but instead of via Baiertal and Schatthausen via Unterhof and Oberhof and it should have been introduced north to the Meckesheim train station. This would have required an approximately 480 to 660 m long and an approximately 216 m long tunnel.

On September 1, 1886, the narrow-gauge Wiesloch horse-drawn railway was opened, which was intended to connect Wiesloch to the railway network. She drove from the post office in the city center to the train station. It was discontinued on July 4, 1901.

In 1896 there were considerations for a narrow-gauge railway from Eberbach via Meckesheim to Wiesloch.

construction

When the two railway projects were unanimously accepted in the second chamber of Baden, construction work on the railway lines began in 1898. 320 workers were involved in the construction of the Wiesloch – Meckesheim route, including many migrant workers. BLEAG, which emerged from a merger of two Berlin banks, the West German Railway Company (WEG) in Cologne and the Berlin trading company and the Secret Commerce Councilor Lenz , was commissioned to build and operate the two lines. In 1900 expropriation proceedings took place for the land that was on the route and whose owners did not want to sell the land voluntarily.

BLEAG era (1901-1931)

On May 14, 1901, the 19 km long line from Wiesloch-Walldorf via Wiesloch Stadt to Meckesheim an der Elsenz was opened, creating a cross connection to the Odenwaldbahn and the Meckesheim – Bad Friedrichshall line. For the numerous journeys between the state train station and the city, the section up to the Oberstadt stop (later: Heilanstalt) - a total of 3.8 km - was electrified with direct current from July 8, 1901 and traveled with two-axle railcars. In the Wiesloch city train station, the center of operation of the network, a further 13 km long line branched off to the south through the Angelbachtal to the end point Waldangelloch in northern Kraichgau from October 16, 1901 .

First timetable

The first timetable, which was published by BLEAG and which was valid from the opening of operations on October 1, 1901, recorded four journeys from the state train station to Meckesheim and back and four journeys from the state train station to Waldangelloch. The trains usually had connections in Wiesloch and Meckesheim from and to Heidelberg and Karlsruhe or from and to Heidelberg, Neckarelz and Jagstfeld . The journey from Wiesloch to Meckesheim took an average of 55 minutes and back 63 minutes. The journey into the Angelbachtal to Waldangelloch took an average of 51 minutes there and back from Wiesloch. In the first timetable, consideration was given to schoolchildren, market people and officials. The first train from Waldangelloch and Meckesheim arrived at 8 a.m.

When it opened, the number of vehicles consisted of four locomotives , two motor cars , eleven passenger , mail and baggage cars and 40 freight cars .

Operation until the First World War

The years up to the First World War were economically good years for the branch line. The income of the branch lines outweighed the expenses until 1914. The reasons for this were that the number of passengers developed well, as the railway was not yet in competition with other modes of transport. With the outbreak of the First World War, the branch line was used to transport troops. In the course of the war there was the first drop in passenger numbers, from which the branch line was able to recover at the end of the war.

Crisis and closure of the Schatthausen – Meckesheim section

But the economic crisis in the 1920s of the Weimar Republic caused considerable economic problems for the branch line. The consequences were seen in the halving of the number of people carried and in the impending closure of the branch line from Wiesloch to Meckesheim. BLEAG had such plans as early as 1920; some of them were implemented in 1922.

On December 15, 1921, the BLEAG issued a status report on the profitability of the railway: There it was reported that the Staatsbahnhof – Wiesloch Stadt line had heavy traffic and was partially overloaded. The route to Waldangelloch benefits from the dense settlement, the affluent agriculture and the many small industries of the Angelbach valley, which is why it is always profitable. In contrast, the Wiesloch – Meckesheim line is the ruin for the entire branch line, as low income is generated and high expenses are made, the line has unfavorable inclines and curves and passenger traffic is very weak. The disadvantages of this route would be compounded by the unfavorable timetable, since the route connects to the state railway at both ends. Because Wiesloch Staatsbahnhof should be preferred, there would be poor connections in Meckesheim. The economic situation could be improved by discontinuing further trains, but the implementation was out of the question, since more dense traffic would not be worthwhile in less populated areas.

BLEAG intended to shut down the entire Wiesloch – Meckesheim line in order to reduce expenditure. When BLEAG plans to begin dismantling the track between Dielheim and Meckesheim were published in 1922, the population resisted, largely supported by the Wieslocher Zeitung. It has been argued that great sacrifices had been made for railway construction. In addition, the municipalities have not yet paid their railway construction debts. The communities did not want to accept the behavior of BLEAG.

On July 15, 1922, a meeting between government representatives, the district, the municipalities, the BLEAG and the General Railway Directorate took place, which ended with the result that a compromise proposal was negotiated. This provided for the branch line to be temporarily closed only between Schatthausen and Meckesheim. On October 1, 1922, operations on this section ceased. After that, however, a special train brought bricks and bricks made in Wiesloch to the construction of a house in Meckesheim. Since the approval was delayed, the tracks were only dismantled after 1928 in order to use them when the Ettlingen – Busenbach railway line was reactivated .

The end of the BLEAG

Thus, there was no longer any connection between the Baden main line and the Odenwald line or the Meckesheim – Bad Friedrichshall line via Wiesloch. Over the next few years there were repeated attempts by the local council and district council to reopen the closed section. They saw the greatest opportunity in the threatened occupation of Heidelberg by the French in 1923 because of the reparations issues from the Versailles Treaty , as there was hope that rail traffic could be rerouted via Wiesloch if the line ran back to Meckesheim. However, since the occupation did not happen, the plan was abandoned. Another hope was that the Reichsbahn could take over the route.

DEBG era (1932–1963)

A slow upturn was only noticeable again when the railway was transferred from BLEAG to Deutsche Eisenbahn-Betriebsgesellschaft AG (DEBG) on January 1, 1932 . The route survived the war years largely unscathed. From 1949 to 1960, DEBG used continuous railcars several times a day, which ran on the federal railway line from Wiesloch-Walldorf to Heidelberg Central Station. At that time there was also a line operated by the Heidelberg tram company from the city of Wiesloch to Heidelberg.

In 1950 the first bus routes (Wiesloch – Schatthausen, Wiesloch – Horrenberg) were set up, which over the next few years increasingly competed with the branch line. From 1953, a bus line from Schatthausen to Mauer was also set up to replace the railway line that was discontinued in 1922. But the branch line also lost its importance due to the steadily growing car and truck traffic.

The electrical operation was given up on October 17, 1955. In 1957 the Wiesloch-Heilanstalt stop at the southern entrance was closed and a new Wiesloch-Ost stop was built at the former Jewish cemetery on today's Merianstraße. DEBG wanted to shorten the walking distance for the many travelers who wanted to take the tram to Heidelberg or came off the train.

SWEG era (1963–1990)

The DEBG transferred the "Wiesloch-Schatthausen-Waldangelloch branch line" to the Südwestdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (SWEG) on May 1, 1963 .

Passenger traffic in the Leimbachtal to Schatthausen continued. In 1961, however, the SWEG submitted an application to cease passenger traffic on the route from Dielheim to Schatthausen, and in 1963 it was approved by the regional council. On June 1, 1964, when the six pairs of trains still running daily were replaced by buses on SWEG line 2, whose course is similar to today's line 707, rail passenger traffic ceased.

In 1966 the application for the closure of goods traffic followed. In its justification, the SWEG stated that the tracks had meanwhile become so damaged that the maximum speed of the trains was only 20 km / h. In 1968 the state government decided to shut down freight traffic, which took place on November 16, 1968.

In the next few years, the number of passengers on the remaining Wiesloch – Dielheim section continued to decline, so that in 1973 the SWEG also submitted an application for the closure of passenger and freight traffic. The last train on this section ran on January 31, 1975. As on the other sections of the route, passenger traffic was increasingly being switched to rail-owned buses. Passenger and freight traffic in Angelbachtal as far as Waldangelloch existed until May 31, 1980. At this point in time, rail passenger transport ceased completely and was replaced by SWEG bus line 3, which now continues as line 703.

Between Wiesloch-Walldorf and Altwiesloch (until 1986) and Wiesloch city train station, there was still freight traffic, which the Deutsche Bundesbahn had been using with its own locomotive since 1985. Until 1987, general cargo traffic was also handled by rail. In March 1990 a train derailed, whereupon the line was closed and not reopened, and freight traffic was stopped with effect from March 31. The official shutdown took place on October 1, 1993.

In 2002, the bus line from Schatthausen was extended on an experimental basis via Mauer to Meckesheim, but this was canceled the following year, as this connection is not worthwhile, despite the fact that it had around fifty passengers a day in the first few months, even with a further reduction in travel time. On March 1, 2013, it was reintroduced to Mauer as line 794, for which the city of Wiesloch pays around 20,000 euros.

Current condition

Today (2016) the route has been dismantled, but can still be traced in many places - often as a cycle path . Some relics, such as bridges and remains of track, still exist. The section between Wiesloch-Walldorf and Dielheim was made a list of a total of 41 railway lines by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport in May 2019, which should be checked for reactivation.

Wiesloch-Walldorf - Wiesloch city

First there are the ramps and the embankment to or between the bridges over the B3 and B39 , as well as the bridges themselves. However, there is no path laid out here, there is free gravel, which is slowly overgrown by plants. Further to the Wiesloch city station, the old route can only be seen as an overgrown dam, which is partially interrupted in favor of road crossings. The bridge over the Waldangelbach is still there .

The station building of the Wiesloch city station still exists, which today houses a jazz club and a puppet theater. In front of that there is still a piece of track. The grain handling hall also still exists and is now integrated into a trading market.

Wiesloch - Meckesheim

The section towards Meckesheim is passable as a cycle path from the Palatin . At Altwiesloch the bridge over the Leimbach still exists today . In Dielheim station, the former track bed can be seen as a park. In addition, the station building has been preserved and is used as a theater. After a short break, the cycle path leads back on the old route to the vicinity of the crossroads to Horrenberg and Baiertal.

In Baiertal, the route can again be used as a cycle path - this time through to Schatthausen. In Schatthausen you can still see a building with a ramp, the former Raiffeisen warehouse next to the station building. In addition, the three-arched striking viaduct over the eastern part of the village has been preserved. Then the path continues along the old route to the edge of the forest. To the east of this forest, the old route is still partially recognizable by the vegetation of the embankment; there is an underpass here. The entrance to the Meckesheim train station is also partially recognizable as a side street.

Wiesloch - Waldangelloch

Bridge at Eichtersheim

Waldangelloch station building in June 2016

This section is also easy to understand. South of the L594, the cycle path runs parallel to the old route - there is also a monument at a crossroads - until shortly before Rauenberg. In the northern part of Rauenberg, the old route can be seen as a green strip, while further south it runs again as a cycle path between the houses. There is another memorial north of the Rauenberg train station. The train station itself no longer exists, but the former facility can be seen as a generous space in front of a winery. The cycle path continues on the route to the entrance to Rotenberg.

In Mühlhausen, the route can also be experienced again by bike, whereby the former train station can also be seen as an open space. To the east of the rain retention basin, the cycle path continues on the old route until shortly before the entrance to Eichtersheim. Shortly before entering Eichtersheim, there is still a bridge over a stream. The Eichtersheim station building is a residential building. Until recently, track remnants could still be seen in the former freight facility, but these have now been removed as part of a redesign of the area.

The next recognizable sections extend from the castle park - for example at the fairground - to a new building area in Michelfeld and roughly in the middle between Michelfeld and Waldangelloch to the former Waldangelloch train station. Here, too, the station building and the goods hall are still there.

Track replica in the model

The Association of Model Railway Friends Kurpfalz has recreated the railway systems and the track layout of the Wiesloch city station as well as the route to behind Rauenberg with a certain degree of accuracy.

literature

• Hans-Wolfgang Scharf: The railway in Kraichgau. Railway history between the Rhine and Neckar . EK-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2006, ISBN 3-88255-769-9 .
• Gerd Wolff, Hans-Dieter Menges: German small and private railways. Volume 2: Bathing . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1992, ISBN 3-88255-653-6 , p. 400-414 .
• Peter-Michael Mihailescu, Matthias Michalke: Forgotten railways in Baden-Württemberg . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-8062-0413-6 , p. 44-49 .

Web links

• Modellisenbahnfreunde Kurpfalz 1997 e. V. Rauenberg with description of the route as a model
• Railway line Wiesloch – Meckesheim / Waldangelloch at verkehrsrelektiven.de
• Excerpt from the course book from 1944

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Jürgen Heß, Herbert Hoffmann, Siegbert Luksch: No. 5: Looking back at 150 years of the Meckesheim railway location: 11: Chronology. (PDF; 568 KiB) November 29, 2013, accessed January 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Heß: Looking back at 150 years of the Meckesheim railway location (=  series of publications on the local history of Meckesheim . No. 5 ). November 29, 2013, 9 timetables .
3. ↑ New bus route 794 connects Schatthausen and Mauer. EKXAKT Media UG, February 21, 2013, accessed on February 2, 2018 . 
4. ↑ The bus commutes again. Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung GmbH, March 4, 2016, accessed on February 2, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Land probably wants to reactivate the railway line from Wiesloch to Dielheim. RNZ, May 17, 2019, accessed on the same day.