Söhrebahn
| Kassel-Bettenhausen-Wellerode Forest | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number : | 3905 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 10.6 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Söhrebahn was a standard gauge small train from Kassel - Bettenhausen to Wellerode . It is named after the large forest area Söhre south to south-east of Kassel, on which parts of the geo-nature park Frau-Holle-Land (Werratal.Meißner.Kaufunger Wald) spread out. The railway line existed from 1912 to 1966.
history
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While the Hanoverian railway industry was already busy with preparatory work for the Söhrebahn in 1908, the Söhrebahn AG, founded in 1910 by three municipalities and two entrepreneurs, opened a standard-gauge railway from Kassel-Bettenhausen station to Wellerode Wald , where mainly lignite , but also on August 21, 1912 Basalt and wood was loaded. But numerous other companies also settled along the route and got sidings . Passenger traffic was also quite significant at times.
For decades, the main shareholder with 60% of the capital was Hessische Braunkohlen- und Ziegelwerke-GmbH. Until 1945, the Kassel-based mechanical engineering company Henschel & Sohn was also heavily involved in the AG, which was converted into a GmbH in 1955.
The railway significantly promoted the connection between the Söhre and the city of Kassel, and numerous residential buildings for commuters were built near the train stations. However, bus routes and private transport led to a decline in passenger traffic from the late 1950s. The decline and finally the cessation of lignite mining in the Welleröder district also resulted in a decline in freight traffic in the Lohfelden-Wellerode section.
Decline and degradation
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The economic development led on September 1, 1966 to the cessation of passenger traffic and part of freight traffic. After the basalt and lignite industry had lost interest in the railway, the German Federal Railroad took over the rest of the freight traffic, the staff, the infrastructure and the vehicles of the Söhrebahn on January 1, 1970. The Söhrebahn GmbH expired on February 1, 1970. The line from Wellerode Wald to the outskirts of Lohfelden-Vollmarshausen was dismantled in the 1970s and has been used as a cycle and hiking trail ever since .
Until December 16, 1970, the line from Kassel-Bettenhausen to Lohfelden and on to Kassel-Waldau was used to transport goods from Bettenhausen a. a. to be transported to the AEG plant in Waldau. However, this freight traffic was transferred to new connecting railways and other modes of transport in the following years. Finally, in the early 1980s, a new industrial main track was laid in Kassel-Waldau, which has been used to service industrial operations ever since. This made the Söhrebahn route unnecessary and dismantled. Only the first 1.2 km of the route in Bettenhausen until shortly before the former Ochshäuser Straße level crossing are still there and are still used today to connect several freight customers.
The section from Lohfelden (approximately from the level of the comprehensive school in Söhre) to the swimming pool in Ochshausen has also been used as a cycle and hiking trail since it was closed in the 1980s. There are also numerous other traces of the railway, for example the station buildings in Wellerode Wald, Vollmarshausen and Lohfelden are still in place and renovated, and the route is largely preserved except for a section on the southeastern outskirts of Lohfelden and is largely used as a cycle path. The location of the former small train station in Bettenhausen, south of the Raiffeisen warehouse, can still be seen clearly; the reception building was also there until a few years ago, but has since been demolished.
Train stations
Kassel-Bettenhausen Söhrebahnhof
The station was south of the Kassel-Bettenhausen station on the Kassel-Waldkappel railway line, immediately behind the Raiffeisen granary on Söhrestrasse, which is still in use today. The original station building, which was kept in the same style as the others along the route, was destroyed in the Second World War and replaced after the war by a simpler flat-roof functional building that has since been demolished. The track systems are still partially available and are used to park freight cars.
Iron hammer
This stop was in front of the Forstbachweg level crossing. Nothing can be seen of him anymore.
Lohfelden
The station building, which is located not far from the center of Ochshausen between Bahnhofstrasse and Karlsbader Strasse, has been preserved and restored true to the original and serves as a residential building.
Vollmarshausen
The station building has also been preserved as a residential building.
Wellerode (place)
The station was at the northern exit of Wellerode and consisted of a half-timbered building that was demolished in the 1980s due to dilapidation. On the west side there was a loading line mainly for timber handling. Their remains can be seen to this day.
Wellerode forest
The former station building now functions as a village community center. The locomotive shed, which had been used by an industrial company in the meantime, was demolished to create building land. During the operation of the Söhrebahn there was a restaurant in the station building. The station was the end of the Söhrebahn line from Kassel to Wellerode.
Traction vehicles
When operations began, the locomotive fleet consisted of two Henschel steam locomotives (company numbers 1 and 2). They were purchased in 1912 and retired in 1962. Another steam locomotive was bought in 1937 and operated under road number 3. It was retired in 1969.
In 1958 and 1961, two diesel locomotives of the type DH 850 D from Henschel were procured to replace locomotives number 1 and 2 . They remained in service until the line was closed. After the takeover by the German Federal Railroad , they became part of their portfolio as DB class 279 . In 1971 both locomotives were sold to the Italian private railway ACT in Reggio Emilia . In 2009 both locomotives went to Ferrovie Emilia Romagna together with the railway division of ACT . They have been owned by the private EVU Dinazzano Po since 2012 , where they are still in use today.
literature
- Gerd Wolff, Andreas Christopher: German small and private railways. Volume 8: Hesse . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-88255-667-6 , p. 319-330 .
- Memory of the Söhrebahn . In: Railway courier . EK-Verlag, 2006, ISSN 0170-5288 , p. 62-66 .
Web links
- Photos of the route (2003) on forgotten tracks
- Article about the Söhrebahn on erinnerungen-im-netz.de
- Photos and profile on steamy.de
- Herbert Crede - The Söhrebahn
- Section Bettenhausen - Vollmarshausen Film recorded in 1962 by JJvan Kerkhoff
Individual evidence
- ^ Letter from the Hanoverian railway industry (La / Ro.) To Colberger Sprudel GmbH , Coburg , Raststrasse 8 dated December 19, 1908
- ↑ a b c Bettenhausen - Wellerode Forest. Retrieved May 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Description ACT 850.004 Henschel serial no. 30308
- ↑ Description ACT 850.005 Henschel serial no. 30339