Narrow-gauge railway Weimar – Rastenberg / Großrudestedt

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Weimar – Rastenberg / Großrudestedt
Course book section (DB) : 185 h (1944)
Route length: 54 km
Gauge : 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top speed: 50 km / h
Weimar-Rastenberg
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0.10 Weimar Thuringian train station 243 m
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from Weimar train station
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( Three-rail track )
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0.50 Weimar Nord (Weimar Secundairbf until 1940) 244 m
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1.55 Dürrebach
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3.50 Schondorf 297 m
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Route to Buchenwald
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6.33 Wohlsborn 306 m
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8.68 Liebstedt 270 m
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10.47 Sachsenhausen - Leutenthal 252 m
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13.32 Daasdorf 215 m
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14.08 Buttelstedt 210 m
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to Großrudestedt (see below)
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17.70 Krautheim
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20.21 Großbrembach
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Straussfurt – Großheringen route
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24.50 Guthmannshausen (to the Pfefferminzbahn )
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26.29
(0.00)
Mannstedt
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(2.83) Buttstädt (on the Straußfurt – Großheringen route )  
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Route from Buttstädt
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29.38 Hardisleben
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( Three-rail track )
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31.48 Rastenberg
Buttelstedt – Großrudestedt
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from Weimar (see above)
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14.08 Buttelstedt
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to Rastenberg (see above)
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18.24 Schwerstedt 202 m
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21.41 Neumark 190 m
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23.98 Vippachedelhausen 183 m
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26.04 Markvippach 175 m
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27.91 Dielsdorf 178 m
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30.21 Castle Vippach 170 m
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34.23 Großrudestedt (on the Sangerhausen – Erfurt route ) 163 m

The narrow-gauge railway Weimar – Rastenberg / Großrudestedt was a 54-kilometer-long narrow-gauge railway network with a 1000 mm gauge . The narrow-gauge railway, also known locally as Laura , ran from Weimar-Nord via Buttelstedt to either Rastenberg or Großrudestedt. There was also a short branch line to Buttstädt.

history

The Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach was the largest state in Thuringia, but the area consisted of three larger parts and numerous enclaves. The construction of the railway was encouraged by the Grand Duchy at an early stage, and two lines were built entirely at state expense. The agricultural area north of Weimar was not developed for the time being, the first serious attempts for a railway connection were made in 1880. Due to unclear financing, the Weimar – Großrudestedt project with a branch to Rastenberg could not be implemented for the time being. The construction of a sugar factory near Großrudestedt in 1886 had given new impetus to negotiations between the Railway Committee and the Grand Ducal Government and the responsible Ministry of Economics.

Finally, the Weimar-Rastenberger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (WREG) was founded on March 29, 1886. Most of the shares in the stock corporation were taken over by Dresdner Bank, with total investment capital of 2.6 million marks. The grand ducal government and the city of Rastenberg also held larger shares, the rest was taken over by other shareholders, including numerous towns along the planned narrow-gauge railway. On April 1 of the same year, the company received the concession to build a "meter-gauge railway of minor importance", since a standard-gauge railway was viewed as unprofitable.

The route was to lead from Weimar in a northerly direction east around the Ettersberg to Buttelstedt . There, the route of the ridge of the forked in a 17-kilometer Streckenast north to Rastenberg on the southern edge fin and a 19-kilometer Streckenast west to Großrudestedt at the state railway Sangerhausen Erfurt. The northern branch of the route crossed the Straussfurt – Großheringen (Saale-Unstrut Railway) railway line at Guthmannshausen , which was popularly known as the Pfefferminzbahn .

The Soenderop & Co company from Berlin began construction work on May 1, 1886. The company was opened on June 26, 1887 for passenger and August 29, 1887 for goods traffic. The private railway network, which was initially around 51 kilometers long, had connections to the state railway at the Weimar and Großrudestedt stations as well as in Guthmannshausen with appropriate facilities for reloading the goods. Nevertheless, a further connection to the “Pfefferminzbahn” in Buttstädt soon seemed to make sense, for the construction and operation of which the concession was granted on June 18, 1890.

From November 18, 1891, between Guthmannshausen and Rastenberg, a three-kilometer branch line to the Buttstädt station, which was also on the Pfefferminzbahn, branched off northeast of Mannstedt at a track triangle. The trains now made a “detour” to Buttstädt on their journey from Weimar to Rastenberg. This doubled the travel time between Guthmannshausen and Rastenberg from 22 to 44 minutes.

The company was based in Weimar, but the center of operations was in Buttelstedt, where the vehicles were also stationed.

Initially three, from 1887 four pairs of trains ran daily. Outside of the beet season, the freight wagons were carried on the passenger trains.

In passenger transport, the result of the new narrow-gauge railway was satisfactory, but fell short of expectations. Goods traffic was even worse, however, where mainly agricultural products such as beets and grain as well as coal, fertilizers, clay, bricks and animals were transported. In addition to the sugar factory in Großrudestedt, there were steam brick factories in Schloßvippach and Buttelstedt. The WREG had its own gravel pit near Schwerstedt. Full capacity utilization was practically only to be expected at harvest time. The route network was simply too big and too expensive to maintain to make a profit. The lack of income discouraged shareholders from investing more money in the railway, as losses began to arise from the first year of operation. Overall, the construction costs of the route network amounted to around 2.8 million marks.

So all hopes were placed on the railway entrepreneur Herrmann Bachstein from Berlin, whose central administration for Secundairbahnen Herrmann Bachstein (CV) also owned several branch lines in Thuringia, mostly after a renovation by him economically working branch lines. Among other things, he also operated the Weimar-Berka-Blankenhainer railway . So that he could now organize rail operations more effectively at WREG, he was temporarily given operational management from May 3, 1897. Since the company threatened to go bankrupt, they tried to sell the routes. However, the Prussian state refused the purchase, and on April 1, 1898, Herrmann Bachstein bought the railways for around 800,000 marks, and the stock corporation was dissolved.

Bachstein initiated drastic renovation measures from 1898. In 1908 his son, Herrmann Bachstein jr. business after the death of the father. In negotiations with the economy ministry of the grand ducal government, he made his intentions clear: he wanted to increase tariffs and receive more subsidies from the neighboring communities, otherwise unprofitable sections of the route would have to be closed.

The Mannstedt – Buttstädt section was the first to be closed down. The cause was the new direct standard gauge railway Buttstädt – Rastenberg opened in 1910 with a connecting railway to Billroda. It had become necessary because of the considerable increase in freight traffic due to the increase in potash mining near Rastenberg. The Bachstein company was awarded the contract to transport potash from the new pits created there and built the new building within a year. The new route coming from Buttstädt threaded into the old one at Hardisleben, which was now laid out with three tracks as far as Rastenberg. The Mannstedt – Buttstädt section of the line was then closed, as the new Buttstadt standard-gauge station was built on the same site as the narrow-gauge station.

The new connection withdrew some of the passengers from the Buttelstedt – Rastenberg route - especially in the difficult post-war years. Bachstein therefore wanted to give up the unprofitable route network after the First World War and tried to permanently release the traffic obligation. The Buttelstedt – Rastenberg section was closed for passenger traffic on June 17, 1923. Goods traffic was maintained until 1925 because of the beet transports to the sugar factories. Then the dismantling of the narrow-gauge tracks began. The economic situation in Thuringia and the resulting difficulties on some private railways led to the foundation of the Thuringian Railway Company (THEAG) on October 6, 1923 , which also took over the narrow-gauge railway. It also belonged to the CV.

Herrmann Bachstein Jr. made a significant contribution to streamlining the railway administration and the operating machine service. He only had one central workshop in Weimar, where all vehicles on his railways were serviced. The old three-couplers from Hartmann were parked and more powerful locomotives for the Südharz Railway - including a Bachstein Railway - were procured. Furthermore, the administration of the Thuringian operations department was combined in Weimar. Changes also affected the tariff system, the company organization and the buildings. New engine sheds were built in Buttelstedt and Großrudestedt. In addition, the connected municipalities support the railway operations financially.

A fundamental renovation of the route was not carried out. Her condition was more than questionable until the end. New sleepers or tracks were only laid where it was absolutely necessary, most of which were made from old material from the disused Weimar-Rastenberg railway lines. Because of this lack of maintenance measures, the line speed had to be reduced in part, which led to a further deterioration in income. In the meantime, motor traffic gained momentum and represented increasing competition to the railways. Tariff increases led to protests from the communities, but Bachstein continued his renovation course. With the support of the state, he purchased a railcar that partially replaced the cost-intensive steam operation. But even this measure was not enough to bring about a substantial improvement in revenues.

Bachstein had long since lost interest in the continued existence of the railway and repeatedly submitted applications for closure, as of May 31, 1932 - but to no avail. The narrow-gauge railway continued to operate until April 11, 1946. The Soviet occupying power had ordered the dismantling of the tracks as reparations ; the dismantling was completed on October 11, 1946.

vehicles

At the start of operations, the railway had four steam locomotives of the type Cn2t, which had been supplied by the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik . In addition, 15 passenger cars, three baggage / mail cars and 68 freight cars were included in the initial equipment. In the following year a fifth locomotive was procured, a sixth in 1888, and a 7th in 1891. The lever brake was used as the service brake .

Under the administration of Bachstein, one locomotive each was sold in 1899 and 1900. 1925–1928 three mallet locomotives of the Südharzeisenbahn were converted to the WRE, but most of the Hartmann locomotives were parked. After moving another mallet, the last three-axle locomotive was also scrapped in 1934. In 1934, the Dessauer Waggonfabrik also procured a two-axle railcar , which was similar to the GHE T 1 . The rolling stock has also been modernized. In 1936 Mallet locomotive 53 was relocated to another line and the 52 was parked. In 1936 another mallet locomotive, the 51, was taken out of service. Two 1'C1 'locomotives were ordered in 1944 to cope with war-related breakdowns and for increased traffic through the Buchenwald Railway, but were no longer delivered. For that arrived in December 1944, two locomotives of Pillkaller light railway to WRE. Almost all existing vehicles came to the Soviet Union after the dismantling in 1946.

remains

The former routes of the Bachstein Railway in Weimarer Land can still be discovered in many places today. Some of the routes are still preserved as field and cycle paths, or they are prominent in the landscape with trees. Of the few bridges, only the stone arch bridge over the Dürrebachtal in Weimar-Kleinroda and a steel girder bridge near Krautheim, which was never used by the railway, still exist. The stone arch bridge was built as part of the expansion of the Buchenwaldbahn in order to be able to transport higher loads on the route. A swiveling of the route to this bridge was prevented by the end of the war and was not implemented afterwards. The bridge was never used and is still inoperative as a soda bridge in the allotment gardens.

The built here on the route of the railway Laura bike path follows the old track alignment. The new bridge on the bike path built in 2010, which replaced a wooden bridge built after the fall of the Wall, still uses the concrete pillars of the old railway line. Only abutments or no structural traces at all are left of other bridges. However, numerous walled brook culverts still exist. However, buildings no longer exist in the state in which they were in operation. They were either torn down or rebuilt, like the building of the Schloßvippach train station. Of the vehicles, the body of the Wroclaw BCi No. 6 passenger car still exists , which is now owned by IG Hirzbergbahn in Georgenthal / Thuringia.

literature

  • Günter Fromm, Harald Rockstuhl: The Laura - Kleinbahn in Weimar and Sömmerdaer Land - The Buchenwaldbahn , Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 3rd edition 2006, ISBN 3-937135-44-8
  • Uwe Rau: Opened 130 years ago: The Weimar-Rastenberger Railway . In: The Museum Railway . No. 3 , 2017, ISSN  0936-4609 , p. 17-25 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Günter Fromm, Harald Rockstuhl: The Laura - Kleinbahn in Weimar and Sömmerdaer Land - The Buchenwaldbahn , p. 16