Radebeul–Radeburg railway

Radebeul–Radeburg railway

Train on the Radebeul–Radeburg railway leaving Radebeul East station
Overview
Type Narrow gauge railway
Termini Radebeul East
Radeburg
Line number 6970
Operation
Opened September 14, 1884
Operator(s) Royal Saxon State Railways, Deutsche Reichsbahn, DR, Saxon Steam Railway Company
Depot(s) Radebeul
Technical
Line length 16.49 km (10.25 mi)
Track gauge 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Minimum radius 75 m (246.1 ft)
Operating speed 30 km/h (19 mph)
Maximum incline 16.6 ‰ or 1.66 %
Route number 509, 12501
Route map


Legend
 Km
0.00 Radebeul Ost
 (to Leipzig–Dresden railway)
1.57 Dresden tram line 4
 1.60 "Weißes Roß"
2.84 Niederlößnitz power plant siding
 3.51 Lößnitzgrund valley
4.75 Friedewald Haltepunkt
 6.13 Friedewald Bad
 8.58 Moritzburg
10.31 Cunnertswalde
 11.57 Bärnsdorf
 13.86 Berbisdorf
 15.16 Berbisdorf-Anbau
15.98 Chamotte plant siding
16.01 Radeburg South Jcn
17.92 Radeburg South
16.28 Glassworks siding
16.55 Radeburg
16.63 (end)
to Reichsautobahn works (to 1938)
18.08 Radeburg North
 (Connection to North Saxon Railway)

The Radebeul–Radeburg railway, also known as the Lößnitzgrundbahn ("Lössnitz Valley Railway"[1]) and locally nicknamed the Lößnitzdackel (Lößnitz Dachshund), is a 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) gauge narrow gauge steam-hauled railway in the outskirts of Dresden, Germany. It should not be confused with the Lößnitz Tramway, known in German as the Lößnitzbahn or the Lößnitzschaukel, which was a metre gauge interurban tramway that connected Dresden with Radebeul.

Primarily a tourist attraction, the Radebeul–Radeburg railway maintains a year-round timetable and runs between Radebeul East station on the main Deutsche Bahn line between Dresden and Meissen and the small towns of Moritzburg and Radeburg north of Dresden. Scheduled traffic on the line is maintained by Sächsische Dampfeisenbahngesellschaft mbH (former BVO Bahn), using steam locomotives built in the 1950s.

Older trains, using engines and cars built in the late 19th and early 20th century, are maintained by the non-profit Traditionsbahn Radebeul. The older trains operate on the line for special events.

History

On 12 September 2009, two steam-hauled passenger trains were involved in a head-on collision between Friedewald Bad and Friedewald stations. A total of 121 people were injured, four seriously.[2]

In early 2011, it was reported that proposed budgetary cuts on the Saxon narrow gauge lines may involve the closure of the section of this line from Moritzburg to Radeburg. The section between Radebeul and Moritzburg carries a significant number of tourists visiting Schloss Moritzburg, but the remaining 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) onward to Radeburg is less used. An alternative proposal was to serve this section with a railcar, allowing a more frequent service as far as Moritzburg without needing additional steam trains.[3]

Train at the 100 year anniversary in 1984
In the Lößnitz valley
Train leaving Radebeul
Steam locomotive No. 99 777, built in 1953 by VEB Lokomotivbau Karl Marx Babelsberg (LKM), photographed in 2012 pulling an excursion train at Moritzburg

References

  1. ↑ Saxon Elbe Region at www.dresden.de. Accessed on 14 Mar 2013.
  2. ↑ "Schmalspur-Loks fahren frontal aufeinander" (in German). Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  3. ↑ Fender, Keith (February 2011). "Partial closure for Lößnitzgrundbahn". Today's Railways. Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 61.
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