Erkrath – Hochdahl steep ramp

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The main line of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft between Düsseldorf and Wuppertal with a steep ramp
Ramp between Erkrath (front) and Hochdahl (rear).

The ball ramp Erkrath-Hochdahl is the 1841 by the railway company Dusseldorf-NIV in operation taken portion of the railroad track Dusseldorf-Elber field is omitted, the (m 150) to which the largest part between Dusseldorf (40 m) and Elber field existing height difference. It is located between the Erkrath and Hochdahl train stations (above) and was originally an inclined rope level .

Special feature of the route

There is a height difference of 82 meters between the two ends of the approximately 2.5 kilometer long steep ramp, which results in a gradient of 33.3 ‰. The section is one of the steepest main sections in Germany , while the rest of the route is very flat. This means that the average gradient of the entire route is very low with an altitude difference of 110 meters and 27 kilometers = 4 ‰. Since 2013, the bridge over the Bergische Allee on the steep section in Erkrath has been provided with a lettering: Europe's steepest main railway line until 1981 . This apparently refers to two-track main lines , as there are numerous single-track main lines with significantly greater gradients . The LGV Sud-Est , which was inaugurated in 1981, is also two-pronged and has a gradient of up to 35 ‰.

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Basics

At that time, additional drive power was required to overcome height differences, which was kept stationary. Accordingly, efforts were made to concentrate the incline on short and steep sections. In order to use rope hoists, it was also necessary that the route was exactly straight.

Beginning of the steep ramp down at the Erkrath S-Bahn station
End of the steep ramp seen from Hochdahl

Stationary winch

When the line went into operation in 1841, the steep ramp could only be mastered with the help of a stationary steam engine similar to a funicular railway , which pulled the trains up the mountain with a rope.

Pulleys

As early as 1841 the process turned out to be uneconomical. The system was rebuilt in such a way that a train traveling downhill pulled an oncoming train traveling uphill using this rope over three pulleys up the ramp. A locomotive specially stationed in Hochdahl was often used for the pulling descent. The stationary steam engine could then be dispensed with. The machine house was only demolished in the early 1980s. Remnants of the wall and foundations of the first train station were found during construction work in 2008.

Additional locomotives

In 1926, the rope hoist operation became superfluous through the use of locomotives with sufficient power. Instead, up to two pushing locomotives were used from Erkrath and, especially in the case of heavy freight trains, additional pre-tensioning locomotives, so that up to four steam locomotives could carry a train up the mountain with a run-up.

Only since the electrification of the steep route in 1963 and the entire route in 1964 have the trains made it up to Hochdahler Bahnhof without further assistance. With that the forced stop of all express trains in Erkrath was over, with which one advertised a settlement in the place. In 1914, 84 trains stopped daily.

Up until the 1980s, the steep stretch was a challenge even for modern trains. In 1988 it still happened that trains that had to stop on the mountain had to move back to Erkrath in order to climb the mountain with a new attempt.

photos

  • View from Bf Erkrath up the steep stretch to Bf Hochdahl

  • Rail zeppelin on the steep ramp June 26, 1931

  • Deflection pulley of the rope hoist company erected as a monument in Hochdahl

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.wz-newsline.de/lokales/kreis-mettmann/erkrath/hinweis-auf-die-teilste-eisenbahnstrecke-ist-komplett-1.1398378
  2. ^ Deutsche Bundesbahn (ed.), Meinhard Sucker: The cable system in Hochdahl ; Düsseldorf 1988.
  3. ^ City of Erkrath (ed.): Erkrath ; 1986; P. 239 ff.
  4. ↑ Traffic and Beautification Association for Erkrath and the Surrounding Area, 1914, (facsimile, ed. Bergischer Geschichtsverein Abt. Erkrath, 1996), p. 7
  5. ^ Deutsche Bundesbahn (ed.), Meinhard Sucker: The cable system in Hochdahl ; Düsseldorf 1988.

Coordinates: 51 ° 13 ′ 10 "  N , 6 ° 55 ′ 34"  E