Weißeritz Valley Railway
Overview
Native nameWeißeritztalbahn
Line number6966
LocaleSaxony, Germany
Service
Route number513
Technical
Line length26.335 km (16.364 mi)
Track gauge750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Minimum radius50 m (164 ft)
Operating speed30 km/h (18.6 mph) (maximum)
Maximum incline3.47%
Route map
Connecting line from Freital-Potschappel
-0.113
 Freital-Hainsberg
184 m
Dresden–Werdau railway
0.973
Wild Weißeritz (46 m)
1.192
Red Weißeritz (Rote Weißeritz, 38 m)
1.583
Spinnerei Coßmannsdorf siding
1.620
 Freital-Coßmannsdorf
(former Bf)
192 m
1.995
Steinbruch Coßmannsdorf siding
2.556
Rote Weißeritz (43 m)
2.941
Rote Weißeritz (38 m)
3.123
Rote Weißeritz (28 m)
3.170
Einsiedlerfelsen tunnel
(17 m; opened out in 1906)
3.196
Rote Weißeritz (30 m)
3.614
Rote Weißeritz (17 m)
3.760
Rote Weißeritz (15 m)
4.197
Rote Weißeritz (13 m)
4.286
Rote Weißeritz (17 m)
4.411
Rote Weißeritz (24 m)
4.550
Rote Weißeritz (24 m)
4.645
Rote Weißeritz (15 m)
4.728
Rote Weißeritz (13 m)
5.175
 Rabenau
249 m
5.195
Oelsabach (11 m)
5.391
Rote Weißeritz (29 m)
5.909
Borlasbach (12 m)
6.758
 Spechtritz
(former Bf)
274 m
6.800
former route until 1912,
connection to Malter Dam
6.885
Spechtritz cork mill siding
7.973
bridge over stream (20 m)
8.478
Seifersdorf bridge
(70 m; former route until 1912)
8.660
 Seifersdorf
301 m
9.926
Goldgrubenweg bridge (45 m)
10.404
dam construction cooperative siding
10.820
 Malter
335 m
11.244
Bormannsgrund bridge (66 m)
13.800
Former route until 1912
14.006
Rote Weißeritz (18 m)
14.322
Wholesale company siding
14.357
Ratsmühle Dippoldiswalde siding
14.885
14.800
 Dippoldiswalde
km change +85 m[1]
348 m
16.172
Rote Weißeritz (22 m)
17.263
 Ulberndorf
374 m
18.443
Rote Weißeritz (15 m)
18.505
Kitchen furniture factory siding
18.820
 Obercarsdorf
395 m
Former route until 1924
20.140
Bundesstraße 171 (16 m)
20.730
 Schmiedeberg-Naundorf
410 m
metal processing factory siding
21.731
Schmiedeberg viaduct (170 m)
21.825
Schenkgasse (21 m)
Pöbel Valley Railway (never completed)
22.052
Schmiedeberg (Bz Dresden)
(island station) 445 m
23.074
Schmiedeberg foundry siding;
former route until 1924
23.303
 Buschmühle
462 m
23.785
Red Weißeritz (13 m)
25.400
 Kurort Kipsdorf Ldst
517 m
26.137
 Kurort Kipsdorf
534 m
Source: German railway atlas[2]

The Weißeritz Valley Railway (German: Weißeritztalbahn) is a steam operated narrow gauge railway in Saxony, Germany. The line connects Freital, near Dresden, with the spa of Kipsdorf in the Ore Mountains, and follows the valley of the Red Weißeritz.

The line was the second Saxon narrow gauge railway to be built, and is also considered to be the oldest public narrow gauge railway in Germany still in operation.[3]

Since 14 September 2004, the line has been operated by Saxon Steam Railway Company (formerly the BVO Bahn), a company that also operates the Fichtelberg Railway and Lößnitzgrund Railway.[4]

Train on reconstructed section in Rabenau

History

Train in Seifersdorf

The construction started in 1881. The gauge selected for the line was 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in), in common with other Saxon narrow gauge railways. The first section to Schmiedeberg was put into operation on 1 November 1882. On 3 September 1883, the regular trains reached the terminal station at Kurort Kipsdorf.

In 1912 a part of the track was relocated to allow construction of the Malter Valley Dam. In 1920 construction began on the Pöbel Valley Railway (Pöbeltalbahn) that was to link Schmiedelberg, on the Weißeritz Valley Railway, to Moldava, now in the Czech Republic. This line was expected to bring additional freight traffic, but construction was abandoned in 1923 and never resumed.

Freight traffic ceased on the line in 1993, leaving only passenger traffic. By the time of the floods in 2002, the railway carried approximately 200,000 passengers per year.

Damage in 2002 floods

A bridge under reconstruction in Rabenau

The railway was badly hit by the major flooding in 2002, which severely damaged most of the track and infrastructure. This damage mirrored that of 1897, when almost all the line's bridges were damaged or destroyed.[4]

The damage was estimated to be around €20 million and a fund-raising campaign was organised. The Federal government and the Government of Saxony agreed to cover one half of what is needed to rebuild the railway line. The section of line between Freital-Hainsberg station and Dippoldiswalde, the normal passing point for trains, was reopened on 14 December 2008. Six return trains per day are normally operated on this section.[4]

The section of line from Dippoldiswalde to the terminus at Kurort Kipsdorf was due to reopen in 2010, however reconstruction was halted whilst the cost of rebuilding the first section to reopen is investigated. The rebuilding was originally expected to cost €19 million, but as of 2010 had cost €22.5 million. As this increase has coincided with budgetary cutbacks for the Saxon narrow gauge lines, new sources of funding had to be found if the rebuilding were to be completed.[4][5]

Funding was secured, and work on rebuilding the remainder of the line resumed in 2014; the remaining section from Dippoldiswalde to Kurort Kipsdorf reopened on 17 July 2017.

Technical specification

Locomotive 99 1746
  • Gauge: 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
  • Length: 26.3 kilometres (16.3 mi)
  • Elevation difference: 350 metres (1,150 ft)
  • Min. curve-radius: 50 metres (160 ft)
  • Max. gradient: 1:40
  • Stations/Stops: 13
  • Bridges: 34

The route

Station at Freital Cossmannsdorf
Station at Dippoldiswalde

The track begins at Freital-Hainsberg station on the standard gauge railway from Dresden to Chemnitz, and at an altitude of 184 m (604 ft).

The other stations and stops are as follows:

  • Freital Cossmannsdorf; 1.6 km (0.99 mi); 192 m (630 ft)
  • Rabenau; 5.3 km (3.3 mi); 249 m (817 ft)
  • Spechtritz; 6.7 km (4.2 mi); 274 m (899 ft)
  • Seifersdorf; 8.7 km (5.4 mi); 301 m (988 ft)
  • Malter; 10.8 km (6.7 mi); 335 m (1,099 ft); by Malter dam
  • Dippoldiswalde; 14.8 km (9.2 mi); 343 m (1,125 ft)
  • Ulberndorf; 17.3 km (10.7 mi); 374 m (1,227 ft)
  • Obercarsdorf; 18.8 km (11.7 mi); 390 m (1,280 ft)
  • Schmiedeberg-Naundorf; 20.7 km (12.9 mi); 410 m (1,350 ft)
  • Schmiedeberg; 22.1 km (13.7 mi); 441 m (1,447 ft)
  • Buschmühle; 23.3 km (14.5 mi); 463 m (1,519 ft)
  • Kurort Kipsdorf; 26.1 km (16.2 mi); 533 m (1,749 ft)

References

  1. ↑ STREDA – Total distance directory of the DBAG; status: 1 February 2003
  2. ↑ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.
  3. ↑ Älteste öffentliche Schmalspurbahn Deutschlands at www.ig.weisseritztalbahn.de. Retrieved 24 Dec 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Nock, Andrew (April 2009). "Weisseritztalbahn reopens to Dippoldiswalde". Today's Railways. Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 61.
  5. ↑ Fender, Keith (February 2011). "Weisseritztalbahn cost increase puts rebuilding in doubt". Today's Railways. Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 61.

Bibliography

  • Thiel, Hans-Christoph (1996). Schmalspurbahn Freital-Hainsberg – Kipsdorf. Verlag Kenning Nordhorn. ISBN 3-927587-67-2.
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