Junglinster – Fels narrow-gauge railway
| Junglinster rock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 13 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The narrow-gauge railway Junglinster – Fels was a project of a narrow-gauge railway with 1000 mm gauge in Luxembourg . Of the planned 13 km long route including a 1.6 km long siding to the Ernzen quarries, only the 4.5 km long section from Fels to the Ernzen quarries was opened in 1929, on the Junglinster – Heffingen section no tracks were laid despite the completed subgrade .
history
Around 1900 the quarries around Fels and Ernzen urgently needed a direct railway connection. For this reason, the Cruchten – Fels narrow-gauge railway was opened as early as 1882 . However, all the stones still had to be transported to the Fels train station by cart, as no quarry had its own siding.
A new narrow-gauge railway was planned for the first time around 1900; the Cruchten – Fels narrow-gauge railway was to be connected in Junglinster with the Luxembourg – Echternach narrow-gauge railway that was under construction . As the operator of the Vizinalbahn route planned by the state, the company that operated the narrow-gauge railway Luxembourg – Echternach was to receive the privilege. The construction costs should total around 1.3 million Swiss francs, three steam locomotives, five passenger cars and around 20 freight cars were to be purchased.
At first nothing happened, it wasn't until 1910 that the Luxembourg secondary railways applied for operation, and the state was supposed to take over the construction according to the law of March 1911. Since the necessary funds still had to be raised, the first land required for the railway construction was not acquired until 1913. After the outbreak of World War I, the acquisition of land came to a standstill for the time being , but first cuts were made as emergency work . By the end of the war, the route was largely completed up to about kilometer 12.6. In order to create a corresponding through station in Fels, the Cruchten – Fels narrow-gauge railway was re-routed and the station relocated after 1918 at Larochette's expense. This work dragged on until 1930, meanwhile the construction costs had risen to over 5.5 million francs.
In 1929, the 4.5 km long Ernzen – Fels quarries section was opened for freight traffic; passenger traffic did not take place. It was the last narrow-gauge railway to open in Luxembourg, and despite the completed substructure, no superstructure was laid on the rest of the route.
The route was operated together with the Cruchten – Fels narrow-gauge railway by the Luxembourg secondary railways, as another company would not have been able to operate the short stretch of the route economically.
The connection to the quarries came too late, however, and the line could never be operated without losses. In 1934 the Luxembourg secondary railways were taken over by the state company Chemins de fer à voie étroite de l'État (CVE), which in turn planned to cease operations immediately. The project was dropped for the time being after the Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg in 1940.
By 1940 at the latest, individual passenger trains were also run as far as Heffingen. In autumn 1944, after the German withdrawal, traffic came to a standstill, and operations were not resumed until spring 1945.
The newly founded Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois ceased operations in May 1948 and had the line dismantled in 1949/50.
literature
- Ed Federmeyer: Narrow Gauge Railways in Luxembourg , 1991
Web links
- www.rail.lu Route Fels – Heffingen – Ernzen quarries