Silkeborg – Kjellerup – Rødkærsbro Jernbane

Rødkærsbro – Silkeborg
Engine shed in Kjellerup, Dæmningen 2, today Jysk Brandmuseum
Railway map of North Jutland 1932, Silkeborg-Kjellerup-Rødkærsbro Jernbane drawn in brown
Route length:	35 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Operating points and routes
Legend Langå-Struer-banen from Langå 35.0 Rødkærsbro Industrial connection Langå-Struer-banen to Struer 31.5 Bredmose 30.1 Sjørslev 28.7 Aunsbjerg 26.6 Donsborg 25.3 Kjellerup 21.9 Hindbjerg 20.2 Nørskovlund 18.1 Hung 14.8 lemming 12.1 Ørevadbro 10.2 Skægkær 8.0 Øster boarding 6.3 Hvinningdal 3.1 Lysbro Langå-Bramming-banen from Bramming Skanderborg – Skjern railway from Skjern Horsens-Bryrup-Silkeborg Jernbane from Horsens 0.0 Silkeborg (SKRJ) 0.0 Silkeborg (DSB) Langå-Bramming-banen to Langå Skanderborg-Silkeborg Jernbane to Skanderborg

Silkeborg – Kjellerup – Rødkærsbro Jernbane (SKRJ) was a private Danish railway company . It operated a railway line between Silkeborg and Rødkjærsbro in what is now the Midtjylland region , which was opened in two sections between 1912 and 1924. The line was discontinued on March 31, 1968.

history

A railway line from Rødkærsbro via Kjellerup to Silkeborg was included in the Railway Act of May 8, 1894 . However, this project was not implemented and was transferred to the Railway Act of May 27, 1908 .

Rødkjærsbro – Kjellerup Banen (RKB)

On this legal basis, the Rødkjærsbro – Kjellerup Banen was founded, which built the line between Rødkjærsbro and Kjellerup and opened it to public transport on July 23, 1912. Three steam locomotives were procured from Germany for operation, and the railway's initial equipment also included three two-axle passenger cars , one two-axle mail and baggage car, and four open and six closed freight cars , two of which had a brakeman's cab.

Locomotives

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
1		Tank locomotive	1 B	Henschel & Sohn , Kassel	10762 1912	Water tank on the right, coal tank on the left, turbo generator for electric train lighting, 1924 SKRJ 1
2		Tank locomotive	1 B	Henschel & Sohn, Kassel	10763 1912	Water tank on the right, coal tank on the left, turbo generator for electric train lighting, 1924 SKRJ 2
3		Tank locomotive	1 B	Henschel & Sohn, Kassel	10764 1912	Water tank on the right, coal tank on the left, turbo generator for electric train lighting, 1924 SKRJ 3

Silkeborg – Kjellerup – Rødkærsbro Jernbane (SKRJ)

There was dissatisfaction in Silkeborg, as Kjellerup was economically more oriented towards Viborg. With the Railway Act of March 20, 1918 , the decision was made to extend the route to Silkeborg. This was inaugurated on August 1, 1924 and at the same time the company was renamed Silkeborg – Kjellerup – Rødkærsbro Jernbane . The law stipulated that the extension of the route would have to pass through Hindbjerg, Hinge and Lysbro. In Kjellerup, the route in the direction of Funder via Vinderslev and Kragelund was planned. In Funder there was a connection with the diagonal line to Esbjerg since 1920 . The variant described in the law prevailed, but this resulted in a winding route with stops in places of no great importance. It was not until 1949, when the SKRJ took over the bus company Viborg – Kjellerup – Silkeborg, that Kjellerup got a relatively direct connection with Silkeborg.

In addition to the three locomotives and wagons taken over from Rødkjærsbro – Kjellerup Banen , additional vehicles were procured for the now more extensive operation .

Locomotives

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
4th		Tank locomotive	1 C	Henschel & Sohn , Kassel	20038 1923	Heusinger control, turbo generator for electric train lighting, 1941–42 awarded to DSB, on May 30, 1953, accident caused by a dam slide near Hinge, retired in 1953, scrapped in 1954
8th		Tank locomotive	1 C	Henschel & Sohn, Kassel	20499 1925	Heusinger control, turbo generator for electric train lighting, bought in 1953 from Varde – Nørre Nebel Jernbane (VNJ), retired in 1968

In 1925, the first attempts to carry out passenger transport with railcars began. A four-axle diesel railcar was procured from Triangel , the substructure of which was supplied by Deutsche Werke Kiel AG . It was only used for a year and was sold in 1930. Four other railcars from the same manufacturer were used between 1927 and 1968 for different periods of time. One of these railcars was converted into a diesel locomotive for freight traffic in 1956. From 1948, three four-axle Scandia railcars carried the bulk of the passenger traffic.

Buildings

All of the stops between Rødkærsbro and Kjellerup had brick sheds, and wooden huts were built between Silkeborg and Kjellerup. All station buildings on the route have been preserved.

At the beginning, the workshop and engine shed as well as the administration were located in Kjellerup. After the line was extended, a three-tier locomotive shed with a turntable and coaling system was built in Silkeborg .

The operations manager was treasurer, accountant and station manager of Kjellerup. The workshop and administration were moved to Silkeborg on April 1st, 1930. After 1924 the operations manager was no longer the station manager. Kjellerup station was managed by a senior assistant to the operations manager until 1931, who was assigned its own station board. All other stations were so-called women's stations ( Danish "kone-stationer" ), which were served by female expeditions.

The operational tasks in Rødkærsbro and in Silkeborg were carried out by the staff of Danske Statsbaner . In Silkeborg there was no space for the track of the SKRJ in the DSB station, so the trains were dispatched on their own platform on Drewsensvej.

In the last two years of operation of Aarhus – Hammel – Thorsø Jernbane in 1955 and 1956, this had a joint administration with the SKRJ in Silkeborg. From 1963, SKRJ had a joint administration with Randers – Hadsund Jernbane , first in Randers and from 1966 in Silkeborg, from where the liquidation was carried out until 1977. During this procedure there was a fruitless attempt to obtain the Rødkærsbro – Kjellerup section for freight trains.

18 kilometers of the railway embankment have been preserved, eleven kilometers of which are the Kjellerupstien cycle and hiking trail between Lysbro and Lemming. A fire brigade museum is located in the former engine shed in Kjellerup.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Erik V. Pedersen: SKRJ – Stationer. Retrieved July 7, 2014 (Danish). 
2. ↑ Rødkærsbro – Kjellerup Banen - RKB. Histories and rolling material. In: jernbanen.dk. Retrieved July 8, 2014 (Danish). 
3. ↑ RKB - Kjellerupbanen, steam locomotive. In: jernbanen.dk. Retrieved July 8, 2014 (Danish). 
4. ↑ Silkeborg – Kjellerup – Rødkærsbro Jernbane - SKRJ - Kjellerupbanen, steam locomotive. In: jernbanen.dk. Retrieved July 30, 2020 (Danish). 
5. ↑ Silkeborg – Kjellerup – Rødkærsbro Jernbane - SKRJ - Kjellerupbanen, motor locomotives. In: jernbanen.dk. Retrieved July 30, 2020 (Danish). 
6. ↑ Erik V. Pedersen: SKRJ – Stationer. Retrieved July 8, 2014 (Danish). 

Web links

Commons : Kjellerupbanen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Signal post. February 1977, pp. 133-150 , accessed July 8, 2014 .