Essen trolleybus
The Essen trolleybus operated from 1949 on the 4.6-kilometer route from Stadtwald to Heisingen . Further routes in the south of Essen and the neighboring communities were planned, but were not implemented. In 1957 the line was converted to bus operation.
history
From 1925 onwards, buses operated on the route between Stadtwald and Heisingen . The general settlement plan for the Essen area presented by Hermann Ehlgoetz in 1927 envisaged a tram route from Stadtwald via Heisingen to Kupferdreh . The Second World War prevented the implementation of the project. Plans for a trolleybus network in Essen emerged as early as 1938; from 1942 the necessary equipment was available. However, by decision of the Reich Minister of Transport, Julius Dorpmüller , this was to be used to set up a trolleybus network in Hildesheim . After the Second World War, the Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (from 1954 to 2017: Essener Verkehrs-AG , since then Ruhrbahn ) as operator of the Essen tram took up the plans again. It obtained the delivery of the electrical equipment ordered during the war and three railcars.
The route began at Stadtwaldplatz in Stadtwald and led south along Heisinger Strasse. Between Stadtwaldplatz and the apex in the Schellenberger Forest , the route rose by about 25 meters, behind the point it fell by 60 meters to the center of Heisingen. The greatest incline was 7.5 percent. In Heisingen the trolleybuses turned by means of a block loop via Bahnhofstraße, Lelei, Zölestinstraße and Hagmanngarten; in Stadtwald they turned directly on Stadtwaldplatz. Since the overhead lines of the trolleybus and tram crossed over a short stretch, the sections concerned were de-energized.
The network was to be gradually expanded from 1950. A route from Stadtwaldplatz to Bredeney was planned as an access to the Bredeney depot and from there a route to Werden . Further plans envisaged a conversion of the Werden– Heidhausen tram route of the former Bergische Kleinbahn to trolleybus operation. The Essen Federal Railway Directorate , however, prohibited the level crossing of the overhead line with the Ruhr Valley Railway , as the German Federal Railway was also pursuing the electrification of this main line .
On November 21, 1955, the then Essener Verkehrs-AG started operating the E40 bus route between Porscheplatz , Stadtwaldplatz and Heisingen. From May 6, 1956, the bus operated as route 40, the trolleybus received the route designation E40 and only drove during rush hour . On November 23, 1957, the then Essener Verkehrs-AG completely stopped the trolleybus.
vehicles
Three two-axle trolleybuses with the road numbers 21-23, later 421-423, were available. The chassis came from Henschel , the superstructures from Kässbohrer and the electrical equipment from BBC . The cars were located at the Bredeney tram depot. Since the supply route to Stadtwaldplatz was not equipped with an overhead contact line and the wagons did not have an auxiliary drive, they had to be towed by buses for departure and arrival. During the winter months it could also happen that the trolleybuses were towed by trams through Frankenstrasse.
After the cessation of operations, the three cars were sold to the Osnabrück trolleybus , where they received new bodies under the road numbers 210–212. Cars 210 and 211 were equipped with a body from the Adolf Emmelmann Karosserie-Fabrik , while car 212 was converted into a one -and-a-half-decker with a Ludewig body .
Individual evidence
- ^ Frank-Rainer Hesselmann: The tram planning of 1927 . In: Essener Verkehrs-AG (Ed.): Hundred years in Essen on wire. The tram . Klartext-Verlag, Essen 1993, ISBN 3-88474-070-9 , p. 127-130 .
- ↑ a b c d Frank-Rainer Hesselmann: The trolleybus to Heisingen is only under tension for a short time . In: Essener Verkehrs-AG (Ed.): Hundred years in Essen on wire. The tram . Klartext-Verlag, Essen 1993, ISBN 3-88474-070-9 , p. 132-135 .
- ^ A b c Dieter Höltge: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 4: Ruhr area . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1994, ISBN 3-88255-334-0 , p. 269 .