Cruchten – Fels narrow-gauge railway
| Cruchten rock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Cruchten station around 1910,
the narrow-gauge systems were behind the station building, the bridge over the Alzette is visible in the background. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 12.1 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 25 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 60 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The narrow-gauge railway Cruchten rock was a narrow-gauge railway with 1000 mm gauge in Luxembourg . The 12.1 km long route led from Cruchten on the Luxembourg – Spa railway to Fels .
history
Originally, three starting points for the narrow-gauge railway were examined, and Cruchten was able to prevail against Diekirch and Mersch . In 1880 the construction of the railway was decided, the line should be built by the state and leased to the Luxembourg secondary railways . The ceremonial opening of the route took place on February 15, 1882.
In contrast to the Luxembourg – Remich narrow-gauge railway , the traffic result developed significantly worse than planned. Therefore, all systems from the construction period to the decommissioning were completely sufficient. Although the narrow-gauge railway was planned to connect the quarries at Fels and Ernzen , all stones still had to be transported to the station by cart, as no quarry had its own siding. The Junglinster – Fels narrow-gauge railway was therefore planned as early as 1900, so that the quarries should also have a siding.
The narrow-gauge railway, which was planned as the vicinal railway, was not completed, however, the section rock – quarries Ernzen was only opened in 1929, giving the quarries their long-requested siding. In connection with the new line, the narrow-gauge railway was re-routed from 11.2 km and the Fels station was rebuilt at the expense of the state. The operation on the 4.5 km long route to the quarries was handed over to the Luxembourg secondary railways, as no other railway company could have operated this short stretch of the route economically.
Nevertheless, the operating result deteriorated more and more in the 1930s, travelers migrated to the faster omnibuses and the quarries were no longer competitive despite the railway connection.
In 1934, the narrow-gauge railway was taken over by the state company Chemins de fer à voie étroite de l'État (CVE). But even after it was taken over by the state, the narrow-gauge railway could only be operated at a loss, so it was planned to close the line at the end of the 1930s. The project was dropped for the time being after the Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg in 1940.
In contrast to other railway lines in Luxembourg, the narrow-gauge railway survived the Second World War undamaged, only the bridge over the Alzette near Cruchten was blown up by the Wehrmacht in August 1944.
Operations resumed in May 1945, but traffic to Cruchten was only possible after the Alzette Bridge had been repaired in October 1945.
In May 1948 the loss-making operation was stopped and the line was dismantled in 1949/50.
literature
- Ed Federmeyer: Narrow Gauge Railways in Luxembourg
Web links
- www.rail.lu Route Cruchten – Fels