Ice field – Schönbrunn narrow-gauge railway
| Ice field – Schönbrunn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Course book section (DB) : | 190g (1944-1967) , 165c (1939) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 17.8 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 26 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 75 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The narrow-gauge Eisfeld – Schönbrunn railway was a nearly 18-kilometer-long railway line that connected Eisfeld with the central Schleusetal valley to the north . Because the terminus was in the Schleusegrund, the railway line was also called "Gründerla" in the population.
history
The local railway was a "Meiningsche Staatsbahn" because the construction costs of 625,000 marks were largely financed by the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen . The construction and operation of the railway took place in accordance with a contract dated June 16, 1886 by the local railway construction and operating company of the construction company Hostmann & Co from Hanover. The entire route from Eisfeld to what was then Unterneubrunn was put into operation on May 1st, 1890. Vering & Waechter took over management of the business in the winter of 1890/91 . The entire railway was bought into Prussian state ownership on May 27, 1895 , and the state railway has been in operation since then. From 1920 it was part of the network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and belonged to the Reichsbahndirektion Erfurt . In 1945 the Werra bridge near Eisfeld was blown up along with other railway systems. After the end of the war, the narrow-gauge trains were led over the bridge of the Werra Valley Railway until the old bridge was restored in 1950. Starting in April 1946, the line was dismantled by Soviet orders from Unterneubrunn. At distance kilometers 13.06, the work came to a halt due to the intervention of the residents, the Soviet order was lifted and the route was allowed to be rebuilt.
Inadequate route maintenance led to the cessation of passenger trains on September 23, 1967. On December 1, 1970, the line was converted into a route siding with three shunting districts. Freight train traffic was stopped on March 31, 1973. The dismantling of the line was completed in April 1974.
route
The terminus of the narrow-gauge railway was on the northern side of the Werra Railway station in Eisfeld, in the area of today's forecourt. The route initially ran parallel to the main line, with which it crossed the Werra on a widened bridge . Then the railway line bent to the north and circumnavigated Eisfeld in the west parallel to Hildburghäuser Strasse. The route then swiveled north-west. At the exit of Eisfeld, the train crossed Schleusinger Strasse for the first time. A second crossing followed only a few hundred meters. Following the Waisagrund, the railway crossed Schleusingerstraße a third time before Brno, which was bypassed to the north. The fourth level crossing on Schleusinger Strasse was at the entrance to Brattendorf. In Brattendorf the route ran in sections to the porcelain factory parallel to Schleusingerstraße before it was passed a fifth and last time. The route bent towards the north and crossed a forest area south of the Brattendorf – Schwarzbach road. The Schwarzbach station was 494.71 m above sea level. NN the highest station on the route and was on the eastern edge of the municipality. The following section with the descent into the valley of the lock ended in Biberau. Most of the route ran along the road. The narrow-gauge railway followed the lock as far as Schönbrunn, although technically more complex, only on its left side, as the right bank belonged to the Prussian district of Schleusingen .
traffic
Initially, three pairs of passenger trains ran daily on the route, four from 1938 and mostly three pairs of trains after 1957. The journey time was initially about 90 minutes and in 1944 about an hour. The railway line was particularly important for freight traffic. From the beginning, standard-gauge wagons were transported with trolleys . In 1926, the company switched to operation with trolleys , but until operations were closed, only the transport of two-axle standard-gauge wagons was permitted. In the 1950s, freight trains with a total load of up to 440 t were driven with double traction. In 1970 there were usually four freight trains running daily.
Goods customers included the glass factories in Schönbrunn and Biberau, the porcelain factory in Brattendorf, a brickworks in Rother Haag and a metal weaving mill in Brno.
Traction vehicles
First two locomotives were used as locomotives, which were later known as pr. M 31.1 were designated, followed later by, among other things, the genus pr. T 33 and pr. T 40 replicas . In 1930/31 three standard locomotives of the DR class 99.22 were built especially for the route . After the Second World War , in addition to the remaining 99 222 (the other two locomotives of this type had been transferred to Norway in 1944 and never returned), new class 99.23-24 locomotives were also used. When operations ceased, the locomotives 99 231, 235, 236 and 237 were still in use. These were transported to the Harzquerbahn .
All vehicles, with the exception of the trolleys, were coupled with the automatic Janney coupling . In Germany, this type of coupling was only used on the narrow-gauge railways Eisfeld – Schönbrunn and Hildburghausen – Lindenau-Friedrichshall . Only after passenger traffic had ceased were the locomotives, with the exception of 99 237, fitted with a conventional central buffer with locking pins to make coupling with the trolleys easier.
Relics
Most of the course of the railway line is still clearly visible. However, there are places where everything has been removed or built over. With the new construction of the B 89 and the demolition of all railway systems including the boiler house and reception building in front of and next to the Eisfeld standard gauge station, most of the remains of the railway have been removed. In 2011, in the west of Eisfeld, the street Am Thomasberg runs along the route of the railway. A few kilometer stones, the reception building of the Eisfeld-Stadt stop and the steel girder bridge over Bergstrasse have been preserved. After crossing Schleusinger Straße, the new construction of the B 4 , today Landesstraße 3004, B 281 and BAB 73, no longer shows any traces. In Brno, the route is still available from the now inhabited train station at the entrance to the village and is from now on used as a cycle path to Brattendorf; a smaller bridge stopped. In Brattendorf, the train station, a few curbstones, milestones and a speed indicator have been preserved. A cycle and pedestrian path continues along the route.
The edge of the platform can be seen at the Brattendorf-Porzellanfabrik stop. In the forest area from the stop at the Roter Haag to Schwarzbach, the embankment has been preserved and is moderately overgrown, partly accessible. Schwarzbach station is now a residential building. The route through the forest from Schwarzbach to Waldau is in good condition. Little vegetation, intact water passages, a few kilometer stones and railway gravel can be found. In Biberau there are no traces apart from a small bridge. The railway building and platforms were completely removed in the course of the redesign of the intersection. A smaller steel girder bridge that passes when leaving Biberau has been dismantled and the abutments are badly damaged. From Biberau to Schönbrunn, the route is used as a hiking trail. Water passages and retaining walls are well preserved. In the course of the construction of the path, the only remaining railway sleepers were removed and are now stored on the edge of the former route. In Schönbrunn today the Mühlgrabenweg leads over the former route. The station building and the foundation of the water house on the bank of the lock have been preserved from the former station grounds.
literature
- Hans Löhner: The “Gründerla” from Eisfeld to Schönbrunn. History of a narrow-gauge railway in the Thuringian Forest. 3rd unchanged edition. Eisenbahn-Fachbuchverlag, Coburg 1998, ISBN 3-9805967-2-9 .
