Pfahljoch route

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pfahljoch route of the Inselbahn from Juist , around 1900
Island railway from Spiekeroog , around 1930, with jetty

An earlier type of railway line or small railway line is known as the Pfahljoch route , in which the railway tracks run on a pile yoke through unpaved or unstable ground.

A Pfahljoch route connected a pier for ferry ships built off an island in the Wadden Sea with this island. Because of their draft, ferry ships require a certain minimum water depth, which is usually not given directly on islands.

History of origin

The Pfahljoch sections in the Wadden Sea were created during the imperial era in the wake of the tourist bathing business in order to be able to transport both the increased number of visitors to the island and the seasonal increase in demand for goods to the islands.

Construction

A Pfahljoch route was a specially designed solution that made it possible to fix the tracks on the soft mudflat that was flooded during the high tide . For this purpose, sturdy wooden piles were driven deep into the ground along a planned route. These were mostly made of oak and were treated with tar . The Jochpfähle were sharpened at the lower ends with pole shoes made of iron is provided to be well rammed to. At the sides, they were mostly supported with wooden piles driven diagonally into the tidal flats. Wooden beams, the so-called yoke timbers, were attached to the upper ends of the yoke piles across the route. The yoke piles rammed into the tidal flats were stabilized from above in this way. The steel railroad tracks were attached to the yoke timbers. which in turn stabilized the overall structure.

At high tide or high water, the tracks were only just above the water surface. There were essentially two reasons for this: the stability and durability of the overall structure was greatest when the piles only protruded relatively little from the tidal flats. In addition, the first trains were pulled by horses that had to run across the mudflat next to the Pfahljoch route ( Juist , Spiekeroog , but not Wangerooge ).

A trip at high tide was quite adventurous for the passengers, as they could almost only see the sea from their seats next to the train. As a result, they had the scary-looking impression of driving straight through the sea water. Storm surges or ice drifts could seriously damage a pile section and required extensive repairs with a lengthy shutdown of the single-lane section.

Known Pfahljoch routes (out of service)

Well-known Pfahljoch route (in operation)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Photo of a Pfahljoch route during operation (1964) , from: inselbahn.de, accessed on March 31, 2016
  2. ↑ yoke. In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon. Leipzig 1907, p. 259.
  3. ↑ Ludwig Julius Friedrich Höpfner: German Encyclopedia or General Real Dictionary of all arts and sciences: Jo - Kal: Jochbrücke. Varrentrapp and Wenner, 1794, p. 7 (text passage: ... be placed at an angle ... and resist the power of the current all the more steadfastly)
  4. ^ Johann Georg Krünitz: Economic Encyclopedia. P. 27
  5. ↑ Photo of a Pfahljoch route with train (approx. 1936) , from: inselbahn.de, accessed on March 31, 2016
  6. ↑ Photo of a Pfahljoch route with train (1960) , on: inselbahn.de, accessed on March 31, 2016
  7. ↑ Photo of the former Pfahljoch route at low tide , on: inselrundgang.de, accessed on March 31, 2016