Nordstrandbahn

The north station of Borkum used to be on the square in front of the " Hohenzollern " hotel

Nordstrandbahn
Route length:	approx. 3.5 km
Gauge :	900 mm ( narrow gauge )
Legend Ostlandbahn to BW Barbaraweg until 1958 0.00 Borkum to the roadstead Post line end 1969–1975 from the roadstead Construction site south beach wall promenade Siding of the Waterways and Shipping Authority North Station Military connection (headlight track) Nordbad Military connection

End of the former route of the Nordstrandbahn, now a promenade

The Nordstrandbahn was a narrow-gauge railway line with a gauge of 900 mm of the Borkumer Kleinbahn (BKB) on the East Frisian North Sea island of Borkum .

Immediately after the Borkum train station, it joined the main line of the BKB with a triangular track. This allowed trains coming from the roadstead as well as those from Borkum station to enter the route without changing direction . It was initially used by the Waterways and Shipping Office to transport material for the expansion and maintenance of the western protective structures against storm surges to its construction sites.

The route was also operated by passenger traffic from 1929 after the sandy beach in front of the promenade moved further and further north from the 1920s and bathing activities also shifted to the north beach. The route was therefore called the Nordstrandbahn . The trains only run during the bathing season, as shuttle trips between the Nordbahnhof at the eastern end of the promenade and the Nordstrandbad, every 20 minutes. Usually it was a steam locomotive with two passenger coaches . The connection was very popular and 19,000 passengers already used it in the first year of operation . The service was offered until the outbreak of the Second World War - with the exception of the summer of 1937, when the beach wall on which the railway embankment ran was badly damaged by a storm surge the previous winter . Because of the great demand, in 1937 the BKB ordered a railcar from the Wismar wagon factory , the T 1 , for this service , but it was not delivered until 1940, when the swimming pool was closed due to the Second World War. The vehicle has been preserved and is still used regularly as a museum vehicle at the BKB.

Railcar T1, which was used in the last passenger service on the Nordstrandbahn

In 1949, passenger traffic on the Nordstrandbahn was resumed - now with the two available Wismar rail buses - but abandoned again in 1953 because the beach had migrated back and the bathing business was relocated to the promenade again. In 1968, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the BKB, the line was used for the last time with a special train and was broken off in 1969.

The last remainder of the route was the “Postgleis”, the exit curve of the Nordstrandbahn from Borkum station. For a long time it served as a loading platform for the post office located there , via which their traffic to and from the ships to the mainland took place. This last remnant of the Nordstrandbahn was dismantled in 1975.

literature

• Jörg Reith: The Borkumer Inselbahn . In: The museum railway 2/1975. Reprint as a special print for the commissioning of the steam locomotive BORKUM. Borkum 1997.
• Hans Schweers: The Borkumer Kleinbahn and the ships of the AG "Ems" . Schweers + Wall, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-89494-132-1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reith, p. 3; Schweers, p. 114.
2. ↑ Schweers, p. 48.
3. ↑ Schweers, p. 57
4. ↑ Schweers, p. 61.
5. ↑ Reith, p. 8; Schweers, p. 76 (with photo).
6. ↑ Schweers, p. 124.
7. ↑ Schweers, p. 124.