Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld

The Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld was a narrow-gauge railway linking the cities of Breckerfeld and Voerde with Haspe to the bergisch-märkischen Eisenbahn. Construction lasted from 1901 to 1906. The original owners were:

*The country of Prussia
*Provinzialverband Westphalia
*Voerde, formerly a municipality; now belongs to Ennepetal

This narrow-gauge railway is 18.39 km (11.43 mi) long and runs 2.4 km (1.5 mi) over publicly owned roads. The majority of the span is sub-graded. Major areas of the track are used by boxcars in the valleys of Hasperbaches and Breckerfelder Hochfläche. For this purpose, a standard gauge is used. The rail passes over the Hasper Dam. One of the trains is now in display in a museum railway in Switzerland ( [http://malletlok.de/ge/ge_ch/bc105.htm] ).

After World War I, the company went into financial crisis and had to adjust its passenger load in 1921 due to an economic downturn.

To avoid bankruptcy, the company was bought in 1927 by Hagener Straßenbahn AG in Hagen, and the city of Hagen expanded service at that time. The railroad then became electrified, using 1100 V DC.

External links

(in German)
* [http://www.route-industriekultur.de/routen/09/09_24.html Industrial route in Ruhrgebiet 9]
* [http://www.route-industriekultur.de/routen/15/15_10.htm Route of Ruhrgebiet 15]
* [http://www.bergisches-staedtedreieck.de/bergische_museumsbahn/fahrzeuge/fahrzeug_337.html Photo of a street car in Hagen]
* [http://www.route-industriekultur.de/routen/09/09_25.htm Excursion: The Hasper Dam]