- Kleinbahn
The term Kleinbahn (literally 'small railway') was a concept used especially in Prussia for a railway line that "on account of its low importance for general railway transport" had less strict requirements placed on its construction and operation that main lines ("Hauptbahnen") or secondary lines ("Nebenbahnen" i.e. normal branch lines). Even public railway lines built for constructional or industrial purposes were counted as "Kleinbahnen".
Origin and use
The concept was defined in the Prussian "Kleinbahn" law of 28 July 1892, that was designed to encourage the construction of local railway lines by private companies. The word "Kleinbahn" was chosen by a majority of MPs in the Prussian parliament instead of a range of other options - "Lokalbahn" (local line), "Bahn unterster Ordnung" (line of the lowest order) or "Bahn untergeordneter Bedeutung" (line of secondary importance) - because it was neither a foreign word nor had negative overtones.
In several former German states such as (
Mecklenburg , Oldenburg andBaden ) the concept "Kleinbahn" was partially adopted for lines of limited length and light construction. In the other German-speaking states, the terms "Lokalbahn" (Baden, Bayern, Austria), "Sekundärbahn" (Saxony) or "Vizinalbahn" (Bayern) were preferred.In everyday speech the term "Kleinbahn" is widely used as a synonym for
narrow gauge lines orgarden railway s. Despite that, "Kleinbahnen" may be built in eitherstandard gauge (1,435 mm) as well as in narrow gauge.Construction and operation
The construction and operation of "Kleinbahnen" were carried out to less stringent requirements, e.g. tracks were laid in a gravel rather than a normal ballast bed, and usually by private companies, which nevertheless in many cases involved substantial participation by the state, the province or local communities. The "Kleinbahn" company with the largest railway network in the whole of the
German Empire was the 'Pomeranian state railways' ("Pommerschen Landesbahnen") founded in 1940.Today
Except in
Berlin , the "Kleinbahn" law has been superseded everywhere by new national railway laws. The former "Kleinbahnen" are classified today as "Nebenbahnen".List of "Kleinbahnen"
There is a German language list of other examples of German "Kleinbahnen" at [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_ehemaliger_deutscher_Eisenbahngesellschaften Liste ehemaliger deutscher Eisenbahngesellschaften] .
ee also
*
German Railway Society which runs a preserved "Kleinbahn" museum railway nearBremen .External links
* There is an English-language discussion forum at [http://germanrail.8.forumer.com/ Railways of Germany]
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