Rakonitz – Protivín Railway
The Rakonitz – Protivín Railway , also the Rakonitz – Protivín State Railway, was a railway in today's Czech Republic that was built by the Austrian state at the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . Originally it was supposed to form part of the Bohemian Southwest Railway from Liebenau to Kuschwarda .
The Rakonitz-Protivín Railway consists of two sections: the southern section from Zdic to Protivín was opened on December 20, 1875, the northern section from Rakonitz to Beraun on April 30, 1876.
history
The Rakonitz – Protivín Railway is part of the originally planned route from Liebenau to Kuschwarda. This railway project emerged from several smaller projects in Bohemia . The first project in this regard was the Böhmisch-Leipa - Liebenau line , for which permission was granted on April 10, 1865 to carry out preliminary technical work. Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg applied for the second project from the Bavarian border near Kuschwarda to Strakonic . The corresponding pre-license was granted on February 25, 1868. On February 25, 1869, Ernst Mayer , Mayor of Prachatic , also received the pre-license for a railway from the Bavarian border via Wallern , Písek and Příbram to the Bohemian Western Railway near Zdic or Hořovic and on to the Buschtěhrad Railway (BEB). These larger projects were followed by smaller ones, for example for a line from Lobositz to Liebenau, for Lobositz – Rakonitz and for other lines in southwestern Bohemia.
In 1872 the most important lines for the Liebenau-Kuschwarda project were combined with branches. With a concession document of October 8, 1872, for a locomotive railway from Liebenau to Kuschwarda and wing railways, Prince Joseph Adolph and Hereditary Prince zu Schwarzenberg and three other personalities were granted the right to build and operate a railway from Liebenau via Böhmisch-Leipa, Leitmeritz , Postelberg , Rakonitz, Beraun, Przibram , Brzesnitz and to Pisek to connect to the Kaiser Franz Josephsbahn in Račic or Protivin together with wing railways from Postelberg to Komotau , from Reichstadt or Böhmisch-Leipa in the direction via Zwickau and Gabel towards Zittau and from Brzesnitz via Strakonitz, Wollin and Winterberg up to the Bohemian-Bavarian border near Kuschwarda with the direction towards Passau. The total length was approx. 516 km.
The concessionaires initially had only one detailed Rakonitz-Protivín project worked out. However, due to the founders' crash in 1873 and the resulting financial crisis, the funds necessary for the construction could not be raised. On May 16, 1874, the kk government was finally authorized by law to build the section Rakonitz – Příbram – Protivín at state expense.
The building contract was awarded for an amount of 11,373,000 florins to the building company Carl Freiherr von Schwarz , who carried out the construction work for the building company J. Muzika & Comp. left. Construction began on June 15, 1874. The highest number of workers employed in the construction was 12,004; in addition, up to 835 draft animals were in use.
The stations and railway facilities at the end of the two sections were expanded or rebuilt in the course of the construction of the Rakonitz – Protivín Railway.
The company was operated from the day it opened until December 31, 1876 by the Dux-Bodenbacher Eisenbahn , from January 1, 1877 to February 28, 1877 by the Aussig-Teplitzer Eisenbahn , from March 1, 1877 to December 31, 1883 by the Run by the Bohemian Western Railway . With the establishment of the kk Staatsbahnen (kkStB) on January 1, 1884, they ran the business themselves.
When Czechoslovakia was founded in October 1919, the Rakonitz-Protivín Railway became part of the newly founded Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD). Today the routes are part of the network of the Czech state infrastructure operator Správa železniční dopravní cesty (SŽDC).
The routes
Rakonitz – Beraun
The railway, which opened on April 30, 1876, opened up the coal deposits of the Rakonitz Basin and the Fürstenberg and Lobkowitz forests, it facilitated the transport of goods to and from the ironworks in old and new works and for the Fürstenberg ironworks in Roztoky u Křivoklátu (formerly Roztok ). The Pürglitz Castle (Křivoklát) stimulated passenger traffic as a popular excursion destination for Prague residents.
The line branches off south of the Buschtěhrad Railway near Rakonitz and initially follows the slope of the Rakonitzbach. As far as Městečko (formerly Stadtl), the railway crosses the Rakonitzbach four times, each on 40 m long iron bridges. The numerous serpentines of the stream also cause the railway line to be winding, although the stream was regulated several times during the construction of the railway in order to enable a simpler route. In addition, a tunnel had to be built at Chlum u Rakovníka .
From Městečko on, the valley is narrow and winding, so that tunnels, dams, road and stream regulations alternate on the railway line. The railway reaches a height of 13 m above the valley floor and bridges the Beraun river at the confluence of the Rakonitzbach with a four-span 190 m long iron bridge, which lies in an arc with a radius of 275 m.
From the Roztoky u Křivoklátu station (formerly Pürglitz station) to Beraun, the railway follows the valley of the Beraun river, which it translates twice: once at Žloukovice and again shortly before Beraun. Although the gradient of the Beraun valley is less steep than that of the Rakonitzbach, numerous river regulations and bank protection structures had to be built. The bridge at Žloukovice is 186 m long, the one at Beraun 230 m.
The northern section of the railway ends in Beraun.
The connection to the southern part is made by the Prague-Pilsen Czech Western Railway .
Zdic – Protivín
The most important freight customer on the southern route was the Imperial and Royal Montanwerk in Příbram, which was supplied with coal, coke, wood and other raw materials. As a place of pilgrimage, Příbram was also important for passenger traffic on the Rakonitz-Protivin Railway.
From the joint station with the Bohemian Western Railway in Zdic, the railway follows the left bank of the Litavka , which it bridges after the Lochovice station . The railway follows the bends in the river, cutting through protrusions several times, avoiding rockfalls and displacing the river. Before Jince , the litava is translated again.
As far as Příbram , the railway now has the character of a hill country railway, so that cuts and dams follow one another quickly. After Příbram the railway line rises with a maximum of 12.5 ‰ and crosses the watershed between Litava and Vlčava in a 7 m deep saddle at an altitude of 557.91 m above sea level. A. The route now falls relatively quickly and again at 12.5 ‰ via Milín to Tochovice , climbs a small ridge and reaches Březnice following the eastern bank of the Vlčava . The railway bridges the Vlčava, now has the character of a valley again and comes to Mirovice . Up to Čimelice no significant engineering structures were necessary.
Now the route leaves the Vlčava valley, translates the Lomnice and reaches Vráž u Pisku . Approx. 2 km later the watershed between Lomnic and Votava is crossed. The Votava itself is bridged in front of the Písek train station .
The route now reaches the Blanice valley , which it crosses over 30 and 20 m long bridges, and reaches its terminus in Protivín, which connects to the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway .
Locomotives
The Rakonitz-Protivíner Railroad purchased 1875 / 76 twelve separate Tender - locomotives , which in the 1884 designation system kkStB were taken. The machines had the track numbers 201–212 and the names BERAUN , BŘEZNIC , MILIN , MIROVIC , PISEK , PŘIBRAM , PROTIWIN , PÜRGLITZ , RAKONITZ , ZDIC , ALTHÜTTEN and STADTL . After the First World War , the former locomotives of the Rakonitz – Protivín Railway that still existed were transferred to the Polish State Railway (PKP), which they eliminated without assigning them their own serial number.
| Locomotives of the Rakonitz – Protivín Railway | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track no. | number | Manufacturer | Construction year | design type | kkStB no. | PKP | |
| 201-212 | 12 | StEG (3), Floridsdorf (2), Wr. New Town (7) | 1875 | C n2 | BP I 201–212 (from 1884) 37.01–12 (from 1885) 32.13–24 (from 1892) |
32ö | |
On June 30, 1914, locomotives of the following kkStB series were stationed in the Rakonitz boiler house : 4 (9), 24 (1), 229 (11), 35 (2), 50 (5), 56 (12 ) ), 59 (20 pieces), 73 (11 pieces) and 97 (2 pieces). Except for those of the 229 series, these were all locomotives that had their origin (first year of construction) 25 to 50 years earlier, from which one can conclude that the Rakonitz – Protivín Railway was rather unimportant local railway existence at that time.
literature
- Locomotive types of the kk landesbef. Machine factory in Vienna of the priv. Austro-Hungarian State Railway Company. M. Engel & Sohn, kk Hof-Buchdruckerei und Hof-Lithographie, Vienna, 1888.
- Directory of the locomotives, tenders, water cars and railcars of the kk Austrian State Railways and the state-operated private railways as of June 30, 1917. 14th edition, Verlag der kk Österreichische Staatsbahnen, Vienna, 1918.
- Karl Gölsdorf: Locomotive construction in old Austria 1837–1918. Slezak Verlag, 1978. ISBN 3-900134-40-5 .
- (Julius Lott): Statistical report on the construction of the Rakonitz – Protivín State Railway. kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna, 1879.
- Bernhard Neuner: Bibliography of Austrian railway literature from the beginnings to 1918. 3 volumes, Walter Drews Verlag, Vienna, 2002, ISBN 3-901949-00-3 .
- Johann Stocklausner: Steam company in old Austria. Slezak Verlag, Vienna, 1979, ISBN 3-900134-41-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reichsgesetzblatt No. 167/1872
- ↑ Trade, Industry, Transport and Agriculture. […] Railway buildings in 1876. In: Wiener Zeitung , October 5, 1877, p. 7, top left. (Online at ANNO ).