AG Ruhr-Lippe-Eisenbahnen

Hamm – Werl – Ostönnen

ex 232 k

Route length:

23.8 km

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

	0.0	Hamm (Westf) city
	0.6	Hamm (Westf) RLE
		for handover
	2.4	Hamm South
		to Lippborg
	4.0	mountains
		Hamm – Warburg railway line
	6.4	Rhynern West
	8.6	Opsen
	10.3	Mate
		Dortmund Süd – Welver railway line
	12.2	Hilbeck
	14.3	Budberg
	16.2	Werl RLE
		for handover
		Dortmund – Soest railway line
	18.0	Werl Steinertor
	21.0	Westönnen
	22.1	Mawicke
		from Soest
	23.8	Ostönnen
		to Neheim-Hüsten

Hamm – Lippborg – Soest

Course book section (DB) :

ex 232 m

Route length:

32.6 km

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

from 1927 to Uentrop:
from 1940 to Lippborg:

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Legend

	0.0	Hamm (Westf) city
	0.6	Hamm (Westf) RLE
		for handover
	2.4	Hamm South
		to Ostönnen
	3.6	Pilsholz
	5.9	mark
	7.9	Maximilian
	8.7	Geithe
	10.4	Hair
	12.4	Uentropic
	14.4	Feasting
	16.1	Vellinghausen
	18.4	Büninghausen
	19.6	Lippborg
	20.9	Hultrop
	22.7	Oesterheide
		from Hovestadt
	25.5	Oestinghausen
	27.2	Ellingsen
	28.4	Lühringsen
	29.4	Red linden
		Hamm – Warburg railway line
	32.6	Soest RLE

Oestinghausen – Hovestadt

Course book section (DB) :

ex 232 g

Route length:

4.1 km

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

Legend

	0.0	Oestinghausen
		to Lippborg
	2.1	Niederbauer
	4.1	Hovestadt

Soest – Neheim-Hüsten – Arnsberg

Course book section (DB) :

ex 232 f (1951)

Route length:

36.6 km

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

Neheim-Hüsten-Arnsberg:
from 1913 also
Niederense-Neheim-Hüsten:

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Legend

		from Lippborg
	0.0	Soest RLE
	1.5	Soest Jakobitor
	5.2	Amps
	7.1	Röllingsen
		from Hamm
	8.7	Ostönnen
	10.5	Sieveringen
	12.5	Volringen
	13.8	Oberense
	15.0	hair
		from Möhnetalsperre (barrier wall)
	17.4	Niederense
		Möhne
	18.4	Stetskopf (since 1952)
	20.2	Aupketal (until 1952)
	21.7	Alder break (from 1952)
	22.7	Möhnestrasse
	23.2	Neheim city
	23.7	Bahnhofstrasse
		Dysentery
	25.4	Neheim-Hüsten RLE
		handing over
		Tube
	26.5	Tube bridge
	27.1	Hüsten East
		Connection to the Müschede quarry
		Dysentery
	29.5	Bruchhausen
	31.2	Low bucket
	32.1	Craft
		Dysentery
		Hagen – Brilon
	33.6	Arnsberg Jägerbrücke
	36.6	Arnsberg south
		Connection to the paper mill

Niederense – Möhne dam

Course book section (DB) :

ex 232 h

Route length:

5.7 km

Gauge :

1000 mm ( meter gauge )

Legend

	0.0	Niederense
		to Soest
	4.5	Günne
	5.7	Möhnetalsperre (barrier wall)

The AG Ruhr-Lippe-Eisenbahnen (RLE) was a transport company that operated an extensive network of small railroad lines and bus routes in the former districts of Arnsberg , Hamm and Soest in Westphalia. On January 24, 1979, the company was incorporated into the newly founded Regionalverkehr Ruhr-Lippe GmbH (RLG).

Kleinbahn of the Soest district

The history of the later Ruhr-Lippe Railways begins with planning in the 1890s. In the part of what was then the Prussian province of Westphalia, which adjoins the low mountain range to the north, the state railway lines ran mainly in an east-west direction. They followed the rivers of Lippe , Möhne and Ruhr . However, there were no connections from north to south, especially across the ridge of the Haarstrang . Because the Prussian State Railroad did not agree to develop the towns and villages away from the main railways anytime soon , the district administrator of the Soest district took the initiative and founded a small railway commission.

On December 12, 1893, the district council of Soest decided to build its own small railroad lines. In addition to the district, the province of Westphalia and the Prussian state each contributed a third to the construction costs. Due to the topographical conditions, it was decided to use the meter gauge .

The circular railway, opened on May 1, 1898, began in Hovestadt an der Lippe and led south via Oestinghausen to the district town of Soest, 13 kilometers away, on the state railway line Paderborn – Soest – Hamm and –Unna . From Soest the route turned in a westerly direction to Ostönnen (9 km), where it turned south and via Niederense (17 km) across the mountains to reach the Ruhr valley at Neheim-Hüsten (25 km). At the same time, an eight kilometer long railway connected Ostönnen with Werl on the Soest – Unna state railway . This 46-kilometer network was used for passenger and freight traffic.

Now the Hamm district also recognized the importance of small railroad construction. He also built a narrow-gauge line from Hamm Stadt via Rhynern to Werl at his own expense , which connected there to the Soester Kreisbahn. It was 16 kilometers long and started operating on February 1, 1901. Another route was laid via Uentrop and Lippborg to Oestinghausen in 1904 (Hovestadt – Soest).

AG Ruhr-Lippe-Kleinbahnen

The two districts of Soest and Hamm founded the Ruhr-Lippe-Kleinbahnen GmbH on January 29, 1903 , in which the Rhynern Office and the City of Hamm also participated. This company was converted into a stock corporation on November 18, 1905, with a capital of 5.47 million marks. The district and city of Arnsberg also took part in it, then the Westphalia Provincial Association and later the cities of Neheim-Hüsten and Soest. In 1930 the district of Unna replaced the district of Hamm.

In view of the growing importance of the company, the name AG Ruhr-Lippe-Kleinbahnen (RLK) was replaced by AG Ruhr-Lippe-Eisenbahnen (RLE) on January 1, 1939 .

The vehicle statistics for 1939 contained 19 steam locomotives , 41 passenger cars, 10 pack wagons and 244 freight cars as well as 6 buses and coaches. In 1961 there were 8 diesel locomotives , 4 diesel multiple units with sidecars, 5 passenger cars, 2 pack wagons, 19 freight cars and 10 trolleys , as well as 34 buses with 6 trailers and some trucks .

In 1976 the following were involved in the share capital:

35.43% Soest district
25.57% Westfälische Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH
17.00% City of Hamm
10.00% Hochsauerlandkreis
7.00% City of Arnsberg
5.00% City of Soest

On October 16, 1978 the company was changed back to a GmbH and on January 24, 1979 it was incorporated into the newly founded Regionalverkehr Ruhr-Lippe GmbH (RLG).

Almost 100 kilometers in two gauges

Since April 1, 1904, there was a 17-kilometer route along the Lippe from Hamm Süd via Uentrop-Lippborg to Oestinghausen, so that Hamm and Soest were connected on two routes. Then on February 1, 1907, the main line was extended by eight kilometers from Neheim-Hüsten in the Ruhr Valley upwards parallel to the state railway to Arnsberg Jägerbrücke. This route was built with three rails because it had meanwhile been recognized that this was more advantageous for operation; the standard-gauge wagons had to be carried on roller blocks on the meter gauge , which was particularly problematic on inclines.

The last line for passenger and goods traffic was put into operation on April 1, 1908 in the Möhnetal from Niederense, which was initially called Niederense-Himmelpforten, to Günne (5 km) and extended by three kilometers to the Möhnetalsperre on October 1, 1910 . In 1913 the third track was added and from 1914 the meter gauge was removed.

In the meantime, in 1910, the track network had grown to its maximum extension of 97 kilometers. Normal and narrow-gauge traffic was possible from Neheim-Hüsten to the Möhnestraße stop and from 1913 to Niederense, in 1913 from Hamm Stadt to Hamm Süd and in 1915 from Werl RLE to Werl Steinertor and from Soest RLE to Soest Jakobitor.

The further conversion to standard gauge was delayed by the economic conditions in the First World War and afterwards. The line in the Lippetal was changed to standard gauge from Hamm Süd in 1927 to Uentrop and in 1940 to Lippborg.

The route network - without a connecting railway - remained around 97 kilometers long until October 3, 1953. Of these, 54 kilometers were meter gauge and 23 kilometers were standard gauge, the remaining 20 kilometers could be used by vehicles of both gauges.

A three-kilometer-long connecting railway was opened on April 1, 1908 from Hüsten Ost in a southerly direction to the Müschede quarry in meter gauge. It received a third rail in 1911 and operated until 1952.

Another - standard-gauge - connecting railway connected the paper mill to the rail network from Arnsberg Jägerbrücke on October 3, 1960, and since March 7, 1962 it has also been used for public goods transport.

Passenger traffic is moving to the streets

During the Second World War , the RLE network suffered severe damage. The destruction of the Möhne dam on May 17, 1943 also had a negative impact on the railway line. Nevertheless, after the end of the fighting, the entire rail network was rebuilt and transport services increased from year to year. But then the negative influences of competition from road traffic made themselves felt here too.

First of all, passenger transport, which had been made more economical with the help of railcars, had to be shifted entirely to bus routes. The restrictions began with the discontinuation of the train service from Soest to Hovestadt and Lippborg from May 18, 1952 on Sundays and from October 3, 1953 on working days.

With the start of the winter timetable on October 5, 1952, all passenger traffic from Soest via Ostönnen to Niederense and Werl and with narrow-gauge vehicles from Neheim-Hüsten to Arnsberg ended. One year later, from October 4, 1953, there was no driving from Niederense to Möhnesee. The Niederense - Neheim-Hüsten - Arnsberg Süd connection was operated with standard gauge vehicles until May 31, 1964.

In the northern part of the network, passenger traffic between Rhynern and Werl was shut down on October 18, 1959. The trains ran from Hamm to Rhynern until March 4, 1962, when narrow-gauge passenger traffic came to an end there too. He stayed on the standard gauge between Hamm Stadt and Lippborg until September 27, 1964.

Bus transport

As early as September 9, 1925, the Ruhr-Lippe-Kleinbahnen opened a bus service that supplemented the rail network. In 1939 it comprised two city bus lines and seven intercity lines four and 66 kilometers in length, respectively. During the Second World War it came to a standstill, but was resumed on July 30, 1946, so that in 1961 sixteen lines with a total length of 237 kilometers were used, including the city lines in Soest and Neheim-Hüsten.

Reduction of freight traffic

Freight traffic ended at the same time as passenger traffic on some sections, while on others it remained in operation for a longer period and is still partly served today.

In 1952, the Hüsten Ost – Müschede Steinbruch connecting line was shut down and, on November 26, the end of the narrow-gauge freight trains to Arnsberg; however, until March 15, 1953, the HIAG Bruchhausen plant was supplied with coal by narrow-gauge trains.

Half a year later, on October 4, 1953, the RLE also ended freight traffic from Soest to Lippborg and Hovestadt and from Soest Jakobitor to Niederense and to Möhnesee, including the Ostönnen - Werl Steiner Tor branch. All narrow-gauge tracks were then dismantled.

After the concession expired on July 31, 1959, the rest of the operation in the Soest urban area ended, and from October 18, 1959, the entire Rhynern – Werl traffic ended. Between Hamm and Rhynern, the transport of goods in addition to passenger traffic continued until March 4, 1962. The date for the cessation of all traffic between Niederense and Erlenbruch was May 31, 1964 and for the subsequent route to Neheim-Hüsten December 31, 1968. The remaining operations in Werl continued until August 1, 1975.

After that, the Neheim-Hüsten-Arnsberg and Hamm-Lippborg routes were retained for freight train traffic. In July 1973, a residual goods traffic previously operated by the Westphalian State Railroad was taken over on a three and a half kilometer section in Soest . From May 1987, however, the delivery of the few wagonloads until the shutdown at the end of 2001 was the responsibility of the Deutsche Bundesbahn.

On December 20, 1977, the RLE had taken over ownership of the Neheim-Hüsten – Sundern railway line from the AG for Transport and has been operating this railway since the beginning of 1978.

History of the Hamm - Lippborg line

The purpose of the route was to transport the agricultural goods from the region touched by the route and to serve industrial companies. Here the administration of the Ruhr-Lippe Kleinbahnen (RLK), as the company was called at the time, had high hopes for coal transports from the Maximilian colliery in Werries, the sinking work of which began in 1903.

Track plan of Lippborg station and Ruhr-Lippe-Eisenbahn (RLE) from 1903 with Lippborg harbor; The reconstruction of the narrow-gauge railway at that time took place in Lippborg in 1940. Today's train station was added to the west of today's main road in the direction of Hamm RLE. The narrow-gauge tracks to Soest RLE were dismantled in 1953.

However, it quickly became apparent that the transport of bulk goods in narrow-gauge operation had significant disadvantages, such as B. reloading at the transfer stations to the state railway. Thus, the plan to convert the line to standard gauge was drawn up at an early stage, after having obtained the relevant expert opinion. In 1927, the conversion of the first section of the line to Uentrop was completed. The new extension of the Datteln-Hamm Canal to Schmehausen made a new bypass route through the Geither Busch necessary at times. In addition, it had meanwhile been considered not to build a canal bridge and only to use Uentrop as a branch line from Schmehausen.

The planned coal transports in the order of magnitude of 200,000-300,000 tons per year from the Maximilian colliery were omitted because the production had to be stopped due to water ingress. Incidentally, the colliery had a standard gauge connection to the Rhynern state train station. The construction of the Datteln-Hamm Canal to Lippstadt was also not carried out . The RLK hoped that this would increase freight traffic between a canal port of Hovestadt and Soest. Even today, the old bridge foundations for the canal construction are clearly visible from Vellinghausen not far from the route. In addition, the cement industry in the Beckum area was to be connected to the RLK rail network from Hovestadt . These plans did not come to fruition either. The construction of the autobahn in the 1930s then increased the volume of traffic, as the small railroad was used to transport materials. As a new siding, the Mark catering depot of the Wehrmacht provided additional freight traffic. In 1940 the gauging of the line to Lippborg-Heintrop was completed, as it still exists today.

In the first post-war years, passenger traffic experienced a brief boom due to hamster trips etc. The increasing competition of the automobile forced the RLE (Ruhr-Lippe Eisenbahnen, as they were now called) to take considerable rationalization measures at the beginning of the 1950s. In any case, operations on the Hamm RLE – Soest route in Lippborg were severely impaired by the lane change and the associated disruptions in passenger and freight traffic. There were no transition options for wagons. In addition, this route had further disadvantages due to the faster and shorter connection of the Hamm – Soest state railway.

In 1951, two pairs of trains ran the Hamm – Lippborg route. From May 1952, railcars were mainly responsible for handling passenger traffic. In October 1953, the narrow gauge Lippborg – Soest was set. Until September 27, 1964, Lippborg could still be reached by rail with scheduled railcars. At this point in time, the rail-bound passenger traffic of the RLE ended.

Two important industrial settlements have given the route considerable importance in freight traffic. At the beginning of the 1960s, the construction of the Westphalia coal-fired power station began in Schmehausen . From April 1964 coal trains began to be supplied to the power station on the RLE. Since a substantial part was supplied by the Westphalia colliery of the Eschweiler Mining Association in Ahlen, a direct connection was created in the same year via a curve in Haaren from the colliery connection railway to RLE. The EBV used its own locomotives for these block trains from Ahlen. Up until the beginning of the 1980s, one of the two steam locomotives that had meanwhile been decommissioned could occasionally be observed in this operating sequence. The transport of the heavy coal trains from Hamm was mainly carried out with a DB diesel locomotive. After the mine was closed in 2002, the branch from Ahlen was dismantled.

On July 27, 1970, the RLE received a new 2.2 kilometer long siding to the Du Pont chemical plant in Uentrop, which branches off just before the canal bridge in Haaren, which is still well used.

While the route to Schmehausen is used several times on working days, there was hardly any traffic on the 5.2 kilometer remaining stretch to Lippborg-Heintrop. The operation of this station with goods for the local farmers' purchasing and sales cooperative was discontinued in 1989. The impending closure, also due to the poor state of the superstructure , was prevented by the acquisition of this section of the line from the Hamm museum railway . By 2007, this track structure, including the switches there, had been completely renovated. The Lippborg-Heintrop terminus received the flair of a branch line from the 1950s through the reconstruction of a platform , appropriate lighting and the renovation of the area around the goods shed .

Due to the heavy use of the Hamm – Schmehausen area, the rail line has been continuously maintained and completely welded. To ensure safe handling of museum railroad traffic, the old platforms have been reactivated or rebuilt at all boarding and disembarking stops.

RLE vehicles (standard gauge)

Diesel locomotive of the RLE, today on the Hamm museum railway

Almost without exception, the locomotives were of the well-known type T 3 - mainly the first versions - which the RLK had acquired from the Prussian State Railroad and later from the Deutsche Reichsbahn . Most of them achieved a considerable seniority of more than 50 years during their service life. The locomotive 16 II, Cn2t Henschel 1882, which was put on the siding in 1954 after 72 years of service, should be emphasized here. With one exception, all standard-gauge steam locomotives quit service with the RLE in 1955. A somewhat modern locomotive (Jung 1924) finally ended the steam traction of the RLE in Hamm in 1960. As a replacement, two-axle diesel locomotives with rod drives were procured from the Deutz company . In order to take into account the higher train loads in freight traffic, a three-axle machine, also with a rod drive, took over the predominant train transport tasks of the RLG ( Regionalverkehr Ruhr Lippe GmbH , as the company was now called). One of the original diesel locomotives remained in Hamm as a reserve locomotive until the early 1980s. In the meantime, completely overhauled and remotorized bogie locomotives from Deutz with an output volume of over 1200 hp have also replaced a four-axle Mak rod locomotive in the 1990s .

The rolling stock of the Kleinbahn consisted predominantly of old platform wagons of Prussian standards from the turn of the century and conversions of narrow-gauge wagons.

To commemorate the RLE train subsidy, three of the original diesel locomotives (D 52 and D 53, both from Deutz, type Bdm and the diesel-electric small locomotive DEL 110, type Köe, manufacturer: Henschel 1938) and a freight car will be received from the Hamm museum railway .

literature

Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways, Volume 6 North Rhine-Westphalia, northeastern part . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2000, ISBN 3-88255-664-1 , pp. 318-361.
Friedhelm Ketteler: Firmly rooted in home. The Ruhr-Lippe Railways: History and Stories . Westfälische Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH, Münster o. J.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ The history of the railway in Werries and Uentrop when the canal was built around 1925

[1] The history of the railway in Werries and Uentrop when the canal was built around 1925