Pomeranian State Railways

The Pomeranian State Railways , based in Stettin , were founded as a public corporation with effect from January 1, 1940 by a Reich law of June 10, 1940 .

The starting point was the fact that the railway network in the former Prussian province of Pomerania next to the routes of the Deutsche Reichsbahn an exceptionally high level of not rich own side and sidings included. This province was a typical example of the development of the "flat land" by small railways and the participation of the districts in their financing.

The importance of the small railways in the province of Pomerania

In 1914, Pomerania consisted of the three administrative districts Köslin, Stettin and Stralsund, which were divided into 28 rural districts and five urban districts. Of these 28 rural districts, only 5 remained without access to small railways. The remaining 23 - almost 83 percent - had participated in one or even several railway companies or financially supported their construction and operation. In some of these districts, the small railway networks reached a length of more than 100 km, such as Demmin 130 km, Greifenberg 114 km, Saatzig 105 km and Stolp 119 km routes.

In total, there were two private branch lines in Pomerania at that time in addition to the Prussian State Railways with a length of 85 km, 24 small railway companies with around 1550 km and a share in the Mecklenburg-Pomerania Schmalspurbahn AG of around 140 km. The rest of 60 km was in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . That was around 1765 km of railways and thus more than 40 percent of all rail routes in the province. The scope of these railways corresponded roughly to the network of the Baden State Railways at that time .

The fact that more than two-thirds of the small-scale lines were built in narrow gauge , more than half of them in a gauge of less than one meter, speaks in favor of the efforts to use the money for the construction and operation of the railways as economically as possible . In 1940, of 1590 km of small railroad lines in Pomerania, 490 km were standard gauge, 529 km were meter gauge, 545 km were 750 mm gauge and 26 km were 600 mm gauge. In addition there were about 140 km of the Mecklenburg-Pomerania Narrow Gauge Railway AG in 600 mm gauge.

If one looks at the composition of the capital of the small railroad companies in 1914, it emerges that both the state of Prussia and the province of Pomerania each raised around a quarter of the funds for the construction and operation of the small railways, while the districts for "their railway" each had taken over between 25 and 50 percent of the shares.

The management of the small railways

In the period after the Prussian Small Railroad Act of July 28, 1892, the small railways in the province of Pomerania were built almost exclusively by the railway construction company Lenz & Co. GmbH, which was based in Stettin until 1899 and which had also taken over a share of the company's capital. The construction company then took over the management of the small railways for the first few years of operation, which they brought together in the "Pomeranian Operations Directorate of Lenz & Co GmbH" in Stettin. There were 18 small railways, of which only one - namely the Casekow – Penkun – Oder small railway - was not built by Lenz & Co.

As in other Prussian provinces, the public administration in Pomerania also endeavored to run the small railways in an economically successful manner. Therefore, the Pomeranian Provincial Association in Stettin founded a small railroad department on April 1, 1910; it became a new contract partner for almost all small railways instead of Lenz & Co when the contracts with them expired.

But even this construction only served its purpose for ten years. When one company ended its contractual relationship with the small railroad department at the end of the First World War, all the others followed suit. From September 22, 1919, three regional associations of small railways in the province of Pomerania took the place of the small railway department of the Provincial Association.

This was about

the association of Vorpommerscher Kleinbahnen GmbH in Stralsund with eight railways:

the association of the Central Pomeranian Kleinbahnen GmbH in Stettin with six railways:

the association Hinterpommerscher Kleinbahnen GmbH in Stettin with three railways:

In addition, on July 1, 1932, the Chottschow – Garzigar small railway was added with part of the Neustadt – Prüssau small railway , which was later referred to as the Lauenburger Bahnen .

As a result of the formation of the three new associations, the small railway department of the provincial association was dissolved on March 31, 1920. However, the Nazi government that had ruled since 1933 sought to centralize the small railways again. Therefore, from July 24, 1933, the Western Pomerania and Central Pomerania Small Railroad Association were subordinated to a single managing director in personal union. Two years later only one person was responsible for all three associations, so that their formal merger was obvious.

The Pomeranian State Railway Directorate

Accordingly, the three associations were dissolved on April 1, 1937, and the Pomeranian State Railway Directorate in Stettin was used in their place as the joint administration of all member railways. The railways that had not belonged to the previous associations were now also connected to it. According to the status of 1939/40, the following enterprises were:

The reorganization, however, was again only a temporary solution, because the railway companies remained formally independent. The administrative expenses for the more than 20 railway companies were mostly in no reasonable relation to their small size and their modest financial volume. Therefore, the President of the Province of Pomerania pushed for a closer union, which also made a profit and loss compensation possible between the railways.

It should not matter whether the new railway company was founded in the legal form of a special purpose association - as the Reich Ministry of the Interior wanted - or a corporation under public law - as the Reich Ministry of Transport suggested.

The foundation of the Pomeranian State Railways

With effect from January 1, 1940, the small railway operations in Pomerania were combined in a public corporation called the "Pommersche Landesbahnen". The management of the Pomeranian State Railways was still in the hands of the Pomeranian State Railroad Directorate, which now had a greater influence on the individual operations.

However, the state authorities emphasized that the railways would not have lost their legal status as small railways through the merger to form a large company. B. continue to be no through traffic on their routes.

This then largest small railroad company in the German Reich comprised the following railways with a total length of 1644 km until 1945:

Local railroad	Gauge mm	Length km	Landesbahnamt local administration
Anklamer Bahn	600	19.9	LBA Anklam
Casekow – Penkun Railway	750	42.2	AFLO Casekow
Demminer Bahnen	750	159.5	LBA Demmin
German Krone-Virchower Bahn	1435	97.5	LBA German crown
Franzburger Bahnen (north)	1000	66.0	LBA Barth
Franzburger Bahnen (south)	1435	39.5	AFLO Tribsees
Greifenberger Bahnen	1000	184.3	LBA Greifenberg
Greifenhagener Bahnen	1435	74.5	LBA Greifenhagen
Greifswald Railways	750	107.2	LBA Greifswald
Köslin – Belgarder Bahnen	750	124.3	LBA Köslin
Kolberger Bahnen	1000	106.8	LBA Kolberg
Lauenburg railways	1435	50.6	LBA Gotendorf
Naugarder Bahnen	1435	38.1	AFLO Naugard
Pyritzer Bahnen	1435	41.5	LBA Pyritz
Randower Bahn	1435	48.6	LBA Stöven
Rain forest railways	1000	52.7	LBA Labes
Rügen Railways	750	96.6	LBA Putbus
Saatziger tracks	1435 + 1000	120.3	AFLO Stargard
Smart lanes	1435 + 1000	54.9	LBA Schlawe
Tripping paths	1435	119.1	LBA stumble

By order of the Reich Minister of Transport on March 29, 1944, the Kreuz-Schloppe-Deutsch Krone Kleinbahn was transferred to the Pomeranian State Railways with effect from January 1, 1942. Until then, it belonged to the Deutsch Krone district and was operated by the AG für Energiewirtschaft . The single-track, standard-gauge line was 60.2 km long and was administered by the Deutsch Krone regional railway authority.

The capital of the state railways

The capital of 20 million Reichsmarks was divided between the German Reich with 2.8 percent, the state of Prussia with 22.9 percent, the state of Mecklenburg with 0.3 percent and the province of Pomerania with 29.1 percent. The 21 rural districts and 5 urban districts held a total of almost 45 percent in the state railway. There were no longer any private co-owners.

Percentage participation in capital (as of 1940):

German Empire	2,774
Country of Prussia	22.915
State of Mecklenburg	0.321
Pomeranian Province	29.12
Belgard County	0.4405
Cammin County	0.2135
District Demmin	4.2925
Deutsch-Krone district	1.353
Dramburg district	0.3185
Franzburg-Barth district	2.62
Greifenberg district	1,899
Greifenhagen district	3.1315
Greifswald district	1.11
Grimmen district	0.0215
District of Köslin	0.609

Kolberg-Körlin district	3.5355
District of Lauenburg i. Pom.	0.669
Naugard district	1.6535
Pyritz district	1.347
Regenwald district	1.1575
Rügen district	1.8265
Saatzig circle	1.255
Schlawe district	3.886
Stolp district	9.6605
Ueckermünde district	0.2525
City of Greifswald	0.657
City of Kolberg	0.0665
City of Stargard	1.1925
City of Szczecin	1.6935
City of Stralsund	0.0075

Outside of the state railroad administration, the following railways that were not owned by the Reich had always remained:

the routes of the Mecklenburg-Pomerania narrow-gauge railways
the Stralsund-Tribsees railway company
the Greifswald-Grimmen railway company
the Kleinbahn Toitz – Rustow - Loitz (operated by Deutsche Reichsbahn)
the small railway company Güdenhagen – Groß Möllen (closed in 1913)
the Kleinbahn AG Freest – Bergensin (closed in 1926).

The Pomeranian State Railways after 1945

The areas east of the Oder and the area around the port city of Stettin were taken over by Polish administration in the summer of 1945. Thus, under the administration of the state railways, only routes in Western Pomerania remained: the Demminer Bahnen, the Franzburger Bahnen North and South, the Rügen Railway and the Greifswalder Bahnen including the Anklamer Bahn. The seat of administration was now Demmin.

In the summer of 1945, the rail network of the Western Pomerania small and branch lines was destroyed. 435.28 km of narrow-gauge lines and 120 km of standard-gauge sections were dismantled by the Soviet Union as reparations by September 1945. About 40 km could be rebuilt or reopened by the end of the 1940s.

At the Greifswalder and Anklamer Bahnen there was only omnibus traffic. The Randower Bahn and the Casekow – Penkuner Bahn were cut up by the new border and did not resume operations in the area that had remained German.

In 1947, the state government formed the Demmin department of the newly established main administration of the railways of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from the Pomeranian state railways. Together with the Friedland directorate, these were finally subordinated to the Deutsche Reichsbahn from April 1, 1949 .

vehicles

After the establishment of the state railways, the vehicles that were taken over received new operating numbers. In addition to a consecutive number, the company number also included information on technical features (superheated or wet steam, wheel alignment, wheel set mass).

A locomotive of the Lenz type M, for example, had the designation: "257 H 4406". 257 stands for the serial number, H for superheated steam, 44 for four out of four axles being driven and 06 for 6 tons of axle load.

Standard gauge
Type / series original designation	Company number	design type	Construction year	comment
Lenz type d	01-04	B n2t	1894, 1898
Lenz type c (1887)	05-09	B n2t	1898-1903
Prussian T 4.1	11-13	1B n2t	1893, 1894
Prussian T 3 , Lenz type b	16-33	C n2t	1892-1922	including loners of type C n2t
ELNA 5	36-41	1'C h2t	1930, 1943
Prussian T 9.2	51 + 52	1'C h2t	1898, 1900
Stolpetalbahn No. 1 and 2	56	C n2t	1913
Prussian T 26 (97 027)	57	C1 'n2 (4) t	1921
Prussian T 9.1	58	1'C n2t	1901
Prussian T 9	59	C1 'n2t	1895
Schlawer lanes No. 1 and 2	61-62	1'C 1 'h2t	1934
Kleinbahn Kreuz – Schloppe – Deutsch Krone No. 4	71	D n2t	1927
ELNA 6	72-74	D h2t	1930

1000 mm
Type / series original designation	Company number	design type	Construction year
Lenz type i	101-124	B n2t	1893-1901
Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld No. 23	126	C n2t	1902
Eckernförde-Kappelner Narrow Gauge Railway 4 (2nd occupation)	127	C n2t	1900
Ronsdorf-Müngstener Eisenbahn Ronsdorf and Remscheid	128	C n2t	1890
Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld No. 21	129	C n2t	1902
Salzwedeler Kleinbahn No. 5	130	C n2t	1903
Kehdinger Kreisbahn 1 and 3 (3rd occupation)	136 + 137	1'C n2t	1926, 1928
State Forest Railway Ruhpolding – Reit im Winkl No. I and II	141	C n2t	1922
Saatziger Kleinbahn No. 54	142
Lenz type C	146-152	1'C 1 'n2t
Lenz type ii	161-166	B'B n4vt
Lenz type J	171-174	D n2t
Lenz type century	175	D h2t
Alsener Kleinbahn No. 40 to 42	181 + 182	1'D 1 'h2t	1925
Lenz type J (wheel order E)	191-192	E n2t	1912

750 mm
Type / series original designation	Company number	design type	Construction year	comment
Lenz type n	201-202	B n2t	1895
Lenz type m	203-217	B n2t	1896-1912
Lenz type or similar	221-227	C n2t	1898-1910
Köslin-Belgarder Bahnen No. 1 to 8	231-235	C1 'n2t	1898-1909	No. 1 to 4: 1912-15 conversion from C n2t to C1'n2t
Lenz type nn	241-250	B'B n4vt	1902-1912
Lenz type M	251-258	D n2t	1913/1914
Lenz type Mh	259 + 260	D h2t	1923, 1925
East German small train No. 52	261	D h2t	1912
Prussian T 36	265	CB 'n2t	1901
Köslin-Belgarder Bahnen No. 9	266	D1 'n2t	1920
Köslin-Belgarder Bahnen No. 10	267	D1 'n2t	1925
Casekow-Penkun-Oder Railway No. 21	271	1'D 1 'h2t	1930

600 mm
Type / series original designation	Company number	design type	Construction year	comment
Lenz type q	301-302	C n2t	1895

Railcar
Type / series original designation	Company number	design type	Construction year	comment
Schlawer circular orbits T 1 and T 2	1031-1032	1A dm	1934	Standard gauge
GJK T 1 , RüKB T 1 , CPO T 1	1081-1083	(1A) (A1)	1934	750 mm gauge
FKB T 1 and T 2, SKB T 1 and T 2	1121-1124	(1A) (A1)	1935-1939	1000 mm gauge
	1125-1127	Bo'2 '	1939	1000 mm gauge, manufacturer Brissonneau & Lotz
Regenwalder Kleinbahn T 1	(1128)	(1A) '(A1)	1939	1000 mm gauge

literature

Erich Preuß: Archives of German small and private railways: Brandenburg / Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . Transpress, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-344-70906-2 .
Wolfram Bäumer, Siegfried Bufe (Ed.): Railways in Pomerania . Bufe-Fachbuch-Verlag, Egglham 1988, ISBN 3-922138-34-9 .