Nerobergbahn
| Nerobergbahn | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Nerobergbahn car near the valley station on the viaduct from 1888
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| Route length: | 0.438 km | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 260 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rack system : |
Riggenbach (used for braking) |
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| Top speed: | 6.78 / 7.3 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Track | |
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| Company opening: | September 25, 1888 |
| Track length: | 438 m |
| Gauge: | 1,000 mm |
| Height difference: | 83 m |
| Max. Pitch: | 26% |
| average gradient: | 19% |
| Pull rope | |
| Material: | Strands, plastic coated |
| Length: | 452 m |
| Diameter: | 28 mm |
| Weight: | 1,600 kg |
| Pulley diameter: | 3.60 m |
| Water tank / pump | |
| Volume mountain container: | 350 m³ |
| Volume valley tank: | 220 m³ |
| Pump output: | 60 m³ / h, 25 bar |
| dare | |
| Weight: | 8,100 kg |
| Max. Water filling amount: | 7,000 l |
| Max. Crew: | 40 people |
| business | |
| Speed: | 7.3 km / h |
The Nerobergbahn is a water load and rack and pinion funicular built in 1888 in the north of Wiesbaden . It leads from the Nero Valley to the Neroberg , overcoming an altitude difference of 83 m over a length of 438 m and an average gradient of 19%. As the last mountain railway of this type in Germany , the Nerobergbahn is now a technical cultural monument according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . The Nerobergbahn is operated and maintained by ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft , it is used by more than 250,000 passengers annually, around 80 percent of whom are tourists .
history
In 1886, the entrepreneur Carl Rudolf from Baden-Baden applied for a license for a cable car operated with water ballast, which was to overcome the route between the Nero Valley and the top of the Neroberg. The construction cost was 222,352 marks . In 1887 the application was approved by the city of Wiesbaden and one year later, on September 25, 1888, the Nerobergbahn was opened.
The railway viaduct spanning the Nero Valley in four brick arches at the lower end of the route , which at the time was perceived as an unsuitable technical interference with nature , received strong criticism . Kaiser Wilhelm II also expressed his displeasure about this in 1902. However, all criticism remained without consequences, the viaduct has been preserved to this day.
In 1895 the railway was transferred to the newly founded Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (SEG), which also operated the Wiesbaden tram . In 1923, operations were temporarily suspended for economic reasons and resumed two years later, after the city of Wiesbaden took over. In 1939, the Esslingen machine factory , which had already built the railway, received the order to build larger cars (for 75 people) and to convert the system to electric drive. The outbreak of the Second World War prevented the renovation. In 1944 the Nerobergbahn had to be shut down due to war damage. After being repaired in 1946, it was initially confiscated by the US occupation forces and was not accessible to the general public again until 1948.
In 1962, the machine works Esslingen refurbished the ballast tanks and at the same time the superstructures from the Auwärter vehicle plant were renewed. In 1972 the tracks were renovated and the two vehicles were painted so that they were reminiscent of their original appearance.
In the early 1990s, the viaduct was completely overhauled, the feed pump replaced and a new haul rope installed. The old fully locked rope was replaced by a stranded rope for optimal safety. In 1997, the Nerobergbahn celebrated its 110th anniversary and had a record number of 276,942 visitors. It was repainted again in the late 1990s. In the mid-2000s, the rails were renewed. The Nerobergbahn has not had a single accident in its history.
On August 25, 2000, a small museum on the railway and its history was set up in the historic former toilet block at the valley station. It is named after its builder, the longtime Wiesbaden city architect Felix Genzmer , Genzmer house called.
Today's operation
The Nerobergbahn is operated and maintained by ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft . It runs every year from Good Friday to the end of October, daily from May to August, in April, September and October only on weekends and on selected weekdays, the operating times also differ in these months. The clock frequency is every quarter of an hour. A trip up and down the mountain costs (as of April 2018) € 5.00 for adults and € 3.00 for children under 14 years of age. Around 250,000 people are transported annually.
At the valley station of the End is haltestelle line number 1. From the top station is reached by a 250-meter walk the Opelbad and the Russian Church .
Characteristic yellow car of the Nerobergbahn
Car while driving
The Nerobergbahn with valley station and viaduct around 1907; The former chimney of the steam engine can be seen on the right.
Nerobergbahn around 1900
Construction and technology
Drive technology
The Nerobergbahn is a funicular, the speed of which is regulated by a handbrake that acts on the rack in the middle of the track via a gear . The rack serves exclusively as an additional brake, because due to the inclination of the track it is not always ensured that a sufficient braking effect - and above all a reliable standstill - can be achieved at all times through wheel friction alone. Here the gear wheel also “blocks” in the rack.
In the case of a rack railway, on the other hand, the gear wheel is part of the drive mechanism - due to insufficient adhesion of the wheels due to the steep incline - during the descent it serves as a safety and parking brake, similar to the Nerobergbahn. In the case of the Nerobergbahn, however, the drive is via the pull rope.
The drive is based on gravity using water ballast. The two cars are connected by a 452 m long steel cable via a pulley ( pulley ) in the mountain station. The car rolling downhill pulls the one going uphill. To do this, however, it must have a greater mass . This is achieved by filling the water tank of the car standing at the mountain station from two reservoirs with a capacity of 370 m³ with a maximum of 7,000 liters.
Filling depends on the number of passengers reported by the valley station . A water level indicator is attached to the side of each car. The scaling takes place in steps of ten and is expressed in "water", where 1 "water" roughly corresponds to the weight of a person. As soon as the brakes are released - again after consultation with the valley station - the car standing at the mountain station strives downhill and, due to its higher weight, pulls the other car uphill on the steel cable. Because the gradient changes along the route and the weight of the rope shifts, several brake adjustments are required during the entire journey so that the maximum permissible speed of 7.3 km / h is not exceeded.
At the end of the journey, the brakes are locked again and the car that has arrived below empties its water ballast into a 210 m³ reservoir. From there the water is pumped back to the mountain station by an electric pump, where there is a 350 m³ underground storage tank. The system is ultimately operated by a pumping station that is located next to the arch of the viaduct on the mountain side. It has been powered electrically since 1916, until then by a steam engine , which required a high chimney due to the valley location. The original plan was to operate the system without a pump. The reservoir on the Neroberg plateau was to be fed with spring water from the higher Habelsquelle ▼ on the Rabengrund .
For many years the railway has only been operated in the summer months, which takes account of the demand situation and economic constraints. It used to be in operation at other times as well; there is no record of an operation shutdown due to excessive frost and the associated icing.
Originally technically very similar to the Nerobergbahn, the Turmbergbahn in Karlsruhe- Durlach opened a few months earlier . Later, however, numerous modifications were made there and the drive switched to electrical power.
Track
The route runs from the bottom of the Nero valley first over a brick viaduct with five arches in a north-easterly direction and then follows the slope of the Neroberg with ever decreasing incline. The track system swings from the viaduct by about 4 degrees to the east.
The tracks consist of three rails, of which the middle one is used by both cars. The two outer ones are only used by one car each. Only in the encounter section in the middle of the route are there two separate tracks for each car over a length of 70 meters (see schematic drawing). This saves the fourth rail for a large part of the railway system and still does not need any high-maintenance switches .
speed
Different figures are given for the maximum speed: On the one hand 6.78 km / h or 7.3 km / h.
Specialty
For several years, it is also possible for several days in the year, on the Nerobergbahn dare to leave. For this purpose, the train is stopped on the route, as the actual travel time for the ceremony would be too short.
Similar tracks
literature
- Klaus Kopp: 125 years of Wiesbaden public transport, 1875–2000. ESWE-Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH, Wiesbaden 2000, DNB 959908153 .
- Karl-Friedrich Walbrach: The Nerobergbahn in Wiesbaden. In: Yearbook for Railway History 2014/2015. DGEG Medien, 2014, ISBN 978-3-937189-81-9 , pp. 5–10.
Web links
- Official website of the Nerobergbahn Wiesbaden
- 360 ° panorama at the mountain station of the Nerobergbahn
- Private website about the Nerobergbahn with photos
- 130 years of the Nerobergbahn: Wiesbaden's weirdest landmark is celebrating its birthday
Individual evidence
- ↑ Annual report of ESWE Verkehr 2010, (PDF file, p. 37; 5.78 MB)
- ↑ Bernd-Michael Neese: The emperor is coming. Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II in Wiesbaden . Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-928085-55-7 , p. 60. Here the emperor is indirectly quoted: “It is a shame that this beautiful valley and the complex, which has developed so magnificently, through the wall so defaced by the viaduct. [...] it would be better to let the cableway begin at the foot of the mountain, then it would have become steeper, but there would be even steeper mountain railways. "
- ^ 2009 timetable of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, partial edition 3a, p. 117.
- ↑ nerobergbahn.de
- ↑ eswe-verkehr.de
Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 41 ″ N , 8 ° 13 ′ 32 ″ E