Verden (Aller) –Walsrode Nord railway line

Verden – Walsrode North

Route number (DB) :

9140 (Verden – Stemmen)
9141 (Böhme – Walsrode)

Course book section (DB) :

215h (Verden – Stemmen)
210b (Böhme – Walsrode)

Route length:

38.5 km

Gauge :

1435 mm ( standard gauge )

Top speed:

25 km / h

Legend

		from Bremen
		Verden (Aller)
		to Hanover
	0.0	Verden (Aller) Süd / Kleinbahnhof
	1.4	Masterfoods industrial branch
	2.5	Eitze village
	3.6	Eitze train station
	4.6	Luttum
	5.9	Hohenaverbergen
	7.4	Armsen
	9.0	Neddenaverbergen
		Lehrde
	11.8	To stem
	15.1	Otersen
	17.6	Klein Häuslingen until 1924
	20.0	Groß Häuslingen
	21.6	Altenwahlingen
	25.2	Böhme
	25.0	Kreisstraße 114 (tracks dismantled)
	27.3	Kreisstraße 118 (tracks paved over)
	28.2	Altenboitzen (start of 600 mm track)
	28.8	Altenboitzen village
	30.2	Hollige West (end of 600 mm gauge)
	30.9	Hollige
	33.3	Benzene
	34.5	Connection to the Bundeswehr (until 2000)
	36.3	Vorwalsrode
		Böhme
	37.8	from Hanover
	38.1	Walsrode
		to Soltau (Han)
		to Bomlitz
	38.5	Walsrode Nord / Kleinbahnhof

The Verden (Aller) –Walsrode Nord (Verden-Walsrode Railway) railway line is a partially dismantled railway line that connected the Lower Saxony cities of Verden and Walsrode . The Verden-Walsroder Eisenbahn is a transport company based in Verden ( VWE ).

history

The Verden-Walsroder Eisenbahn GmbH (VWE) was founded as Kleinbahn Verden-Walsrode GmbH based in Verden. Almost three quarters of the shares were taken over by the Prussian state and the province of Hanover ; the rest was spread over the districts of Verden and Fallingbostel as well as some municipalities. The state and province later left society. The main shareholder today is the district of Verden with 69% of the capital in addition to the city of Verden , the district of Heidekreis and the municipality of Kirchlinteln .

On March 2, 1911, the line between Verden and Walsrode was opened. Passenger and freight traffic on the section between Verden and Altenboitzen had already started on December 17, 1910, and three days later to Vorwalsrode.

In 1912, 150,175 people and 59,616 tons of goods were transported.

In addition to the development of the predominantly agricultural region, the removal of the quantities of potash that had been mined from large and small houses until 1924 played an important role. An attempt was made to compensate for the loss of these transported goods - and the associated income - by transferring the management of the operation - from 1924 to 1959 - to the Hanover regional small railway authority. However, because these savings were not sufficient, a third of the line - namely the Stemmen –Böhme section - was shut down on November 2, 1936 and the tracks there were dismantled.

Only after the Second World War did the situation of the railway improve increasingly, among other things through the transport of the oil produced in the area. The reconstruction of the dismantled section was also temporarily considered. In 1959 the management was taken over by the dissolved Lower Saxony State Railway Authority . However, now the passenger traffic shifted more and more to the road, because the continuous rail connection from Verden to Walsrode had not been re-established. On March 2, 1931, the company put its first motor vehicle line into operation. As a result, continuous passenger traffic between Verden and Walsrode was restored.

On May 30, 1964, rail passenger transport on the eastern part of Böhme –Walsrode (route number 9141) and on September 27, 1969 on the western part of Verden – Stemmen (route number 9140) was completely replaced by the railway's own buses. The freight transport Walsrode – Böhme took over in 1970 the German Federal Railroad. The infrastructure here still belonged to VWE. VWE also performed shunting services in the DB stations in Verden and Nienburg . VWE is a member of the Bremen-Lower Saxony railway network .

Since 1996, locomotives of the Bomlitz factory railway have been providing freight traffic on behalf of DBAG, and since 2002 locomotives for OHE and other EVUs. Freight traffic was carried out to Hollige at that time, traffic Altenboitzen – Böhme was stopped in 1990. The Hollige – Altenboitzen section was closed on January 1, 2008. The level crossings with the district roads K114 and K118 are no longer available between Böhme and Altenboitzen, the route is already heavily overgrown with vegetation in this area.

Various EVUs loaded coniferous wood for the pulp and paper industry in the Hollige and Vorwalsrode stations. The entrance to the DB station Walsrode done on main signal (Hp0 / Hp2), therefore the intended train had to Vorwalsrode the dispatcher in Walsrode ( interlocking Wnf) offered are. The only technically secured level crossing on the Walsrode – Böhme section was located in Vorwalsrode. Highway 190 was crossed.

At the beginning of 2011, VWE announced that it would like to give up the Böhme – Hollige section (km 25.2 - km 30.670). The tender period ran from January 15 to April 16, 2011. In 2017, the remaining section of the eastern part from Hollige to the infrastructure connection border in Walsrode (km 30.627 - km 37.4) was tendered for third parties to take over. The deadline for this section ran from December 22, 2017 to March 23, 2018.

Hollige train station
locked between Hollige and Böhme
Altenboitzen station
K 118 level crossing

vehicles

Operation began with four three-axle locomotives from Hanomag and a second-hand locomotive from Henschel , there were 13 passenger cars, two baggage cars and 18 freight cars. In 1932 a Wismar rail bus was procured. In 1936 and 1939, Humboldt-Deutz acquired two brand-new B-coupled small locomotives. The younger one was sold to a dealer in Dortmund in 1957, the older one was retired and scrapped in 1970. In 1947 a second Wismar rail bus was purchased, but it burned down in 1948. In 1949 the Walsroder company Wolff took over a T 151 railcar from 1923, built by DWK , which was modernized and was in use until 1969. In 1954, the T 114 , another used multiple unit, was acquired by the Süddeutsche Eisenbahn Gesellschaft . From 1950 to 1956 a converted Bavarian PtL 2/2 with the number 298 was used. From 1964 to 1983, a Krauss-Maffei ML 500 C diesel locomotive was used, which had been bought second-hand by the German Federal Railroad.

Verden transport company

Logo of the VWE / VVG

The Verdener Verkehrsgesellschaft ( VVG ) is a wholly owned subsidiary of VWE and operates city transport with buses in Verden and Kirchlinteln .

Transport performance: 1,258,177 passengers at 617,927 km (2000) .

VVG and VWE operate publicly as AllerBus and are partners of the Bremen / Lower Saxony transport association (VBN).

The museum railway traffic

Western section

VEF museum train

The founding of the Verdener Eisenbahnfreunde e. V. took place on March 20, 1989. Initially, it was planned to set up a museum railway operation on the former DB line Verden - Rethem , so they chose the Hülsen station on this line as their domicile . But soon they decided, also because of the upcoming closure of the line, to start negotiations with Verden-Walsroder Eisenbahn GmbH about the use of the 12 km long Verden Süd – Stemmen small railway line. After the successful conclusion of the negotiations, the company managed by the Dampfeisenbahn Weserbergland e. V. acquired museum train, consisting of the former VWE diesel locomotive 241 (now V 11) and three railcar trailers, to be transferred to Verden. The old Deutz diesel locomotive, however, did not receive an operating license. The VWE DL2 diesel locomotive ( Gmeinder , built in 1947) was rented as a replacement vehicle . The locomotive, henceforth known as the V 20, then pulled the museum trains from 1993. At the same time it was joined by the V 22 “Magdeburger” diesel locomotive, a former GDR small type V 22 locomotive . The V 22 was refurbished to act as a replacement for the V 20 due for the main inspection. When the V 20 was accepted in 2000, now belonging to the Railway Friends, it was used again as a plan locomotive. Since then, the train pattern has also changed, the railcar trailers gave way to passenger cars with end platforms. The commissioning of the “ Donnerbüchse ” (company number 1) in 2005 finally made the use of the last TA 10 railcar trailer superfluous. He left Verden at the beginning of 2006 in order to work as a reinforcement vehicle for the Lüneburg Railway Friends ( AVL ).

The first years of the museum railroad association were characterized by restoring the vehicles they had bought and putting them back into operation. There was also a consolidation of the rolling stock, which meant that some vehicles left the museum railway again. The fleet now available shows roughly what was on the move on small railways in the 1950s. Today the volunteer small railroaders own four diesel locomotives, one diesel multiple unit, three passenger cars, a baggage car and four freight cars as well as a hand-lever trolley . Of course, not all vehicles are ready for use, a diesel locomotive is being restored, another is operational. The railcar is currently being refurbished, two passenger cars, one freight car and one baggage car, as well as the draisine, are in active use to transport day-trippers, cyclists and railway enthusiasts with increasing success through the Verden and Kirchlinteln countryside. The museum railway has developed into an important tourism factor. In addition to the vehicles, the stations were also refurbished. The platforms along the route were rebuilt based on the historical model, the Stemmer station building was restored and many a gem, such as an announcement board for the former Kleinbahn Verden-Walsrode GmbH or an enamel sign Mauxion chocolate , was refurbished and can be viewed today. The museum railway is also a tourist railway and a kind of stationary museum and shows how the small railway, village and district town formed a well-functioning structure back then.

In 2007 the association was renamed Verdener Eisenbahnfreunde Kleinbahn Verden-Walsrode e. V.

Eastern section

On the eastern section between Hollige and Walsrode, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verkehrsfreunde Lüneburg e. V. Special trips with the Heideexpress , including the Bomlitz – Walsrode railway line . The combined route Bomlitz-Hollige was also Jordan Bomlitz train called because it from the valley of the Jordan creek into Bomlitztal led.

On the section Hollige West Altenboitzen (-Böhme) since 2012. For trolley rides instead. On May 1, 2014, the Böhmetalbahn gUG acquired this section and converted the route to 600 mm narrow gauge. The route was formally shut down and de-dedicated. However, it is still designated as a special area that enables operation with trains and draisines. Since May 2015, a locomotive-operated small train has been running on the section Hollige West - Altenboitzen (-Böhme) in addition to the draisine rides that are still offered. Two Deutz OMZ 122 F locomotives are used . On December 5, 2019, the Vorwalsrode – Hollige section, which had also been previously de-dedicated, was acquired as a continuation of the existing line. The re-gauging of this section began in January 2020.

literature

On rails through the Kleinbahn district - on the move with the Kleinbahn Verden-Walsrode . Verden Railway Friends, 1st edition 2007
Gerd Wolff: German small and private railways. Volume 10: Lower Saxony 2. Between Weser and Elbe. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2007, pp. 185–209, ISBN 978-3-88255-669-8