Weisseritz railway

Weisseritz railway (German: Weißeritztalbahn) is the second Saxon narrow gauge railway and also considered to be the oldest still operating public narrow gauge railway in Germany. The line, connecting Freital near Dresden with Kipsdorf in the Ore Mountains, was built in the Valley of the Rote Weißeritz (Rabenauer Grund) and around the dam Talsperre Malter. The trains are powered by steam locomotives.

The construction started in 1881. The first section to Schmiedeberg was put into operation on November 1, 1882. On September 3, 1883, the regular trains reached the terminal station Kipsdorf. The rail gauge is RailGauge|750, as is the case for the other Saxon narrow gauge railways. In 1912 a part of the track was shifted to allow construction of the Malter dam. The commodity transport was expected to increase after a construction of Pöbel Railway from Schmiedelberg to Bohemian Moldava. However, the line was never completed. The commodity transport was stopped in 1993, only public transport remained.Since September 14, 2004, the line is operated by BVO GmbH, a company that also operates the Fichtelbergbahn and Lößnitzgrundbahn.

Destruction in August 2002

The railway was badly hit by the hundred-years-floods. Most of the track was destroyed. A fund-raising campaign was organised and the sections "Freital-Hainsberg - Freital Coßmannsdorf" and "Seifersdorf - Dippoldiswalde" have been repaired. Steam trains continue to carry tourists at the weekends.

The damage was estimated to be around 20 million euros. Both the Federal government and the Government of Saxony will cover one half of what is needed to rebuild the railway line. The reconstruction officially started on September 14, 2004. However, the works were put on hold. Except for clearance of debris in the Rabenauer Grund area, nothing has happened until June 2007. Reconstruction is currently underway.

Similar devastation as in 2002 already happened during the 1897 floods. In that year, all forty bridges were destroyed.

Before the floods the railway annually carried approx. 200.000 passengers.

Technical specification

*Gauge: 750 mm
*Length: 26.3 km
*Elevation difference: 350 m
*Min. curve-radius: 50 m
*Max. gradient: 1:40
*Stations/Stops: 13
*Bridges: 34

The Track

The track begins in Freital-Hainsberg (km -0,1) at the Railway Station of standard gauge railway Dresden-Chemnitz at 184 m. The other stations and stops are as follows:
* 1,6 km Freital Coßmannsdorf 192 m
* 5,3 km Rabenau 249 m
* 6,7 km Spechtritz 274 m
* 8,7 km Seifersdorf 301 m
* 10,8 km Malter 335 m (by Malter dam)
* 14,8 km Dippoldiswalde 343 m
* 17,3 km Ulberndorf 374 m
* 18,8 km Obercarsdorf 390 m
* 20,7 km Schmiedeberg-Naundorf 410 m
* 22,1 km Schmiedeberg 441 m
* 23,3 km Buschmühle 463 m
* 26,1 km Kurort Kipsdorf 533 m

External links

* [http://www.weisseritztalbahn.de/ Website of Weißeritztalbahn e.V.]
* [http://www.bahnzeichnung.de/hai_kips.html Site with a map]
* [http://www.schmiedeberg1924.de Model of Schmiedeberg]
* [http://www.kipsdorf1930.de Model of Kipsdorf]
* [http://www.hainsberg-kipsdorf.de Model of Hainsberg-Kipsdorf]
* [http://weisseritztalbahn.blogspot.com/ Blog of Weißeritztalbahn rebuilding work]