The Harz Railway or Trans-Harz Railway (German: Harzquerbahn) was formerly the main line of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen or HSB) and runs north to south right across the Harz Mountains from Wernigerode to Nordhausen. However, the tourist attraction of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz, is so great that the Brocken Railway is effectively the main line today. The Trans-Harz Railway joins up with the Selke Valley Railway to Quedlinburg at Eisfelder Talmühle where all trains are organised to make good connections.
The line begins at the HSB's narrow gauge station in Nordhausen (Nordhausen Nord). It lies in northwest of and parallel to the standard gauge railway station. After passing the link line to the Nordhausen Tramway that joins it from the right, the railway bends towards the north and runs for 7 km to the station of Niedersachswerfen Ost almost parallel to the standard gauge line from Nordhausen to Ellrich (the South Harz Line). The Harz mountains begin beyond Ilfeld (km 10.7). Behind Netzkater (km 14.0) lies the station of Eisfelder Talmühle (km 17.3), where the Selke Valley Railway branches off in a curve to the right.
The Trans-Harz Railway continues to follow the B 81 federal road as far as Tiefenbachmühle halt (km 19.5) before turning in a westerly direction in order to reach the request stop of Sophienhof (km 21.0), the last stop in Thuringia. The line runs through spruce forests over the state border with Saxony-Anhalt. At Benneckenstein station (km 29.8) the line crosses the ridge at 530 m above NN, its highest point so far. It then runs downhill into the valley of the Warme Bode, where the halt of Sorge (km 33.4; 449 m above NN) is located. Next the route climbs to its next summit at 557 m. After Elend (km 41.6) the line reaches the junction with the Brocken Railway at Drei-Annen-Hohne station (km 46.4). In 2009 the construction of a new stub line from Elend to Braunlage was discussed (see South Harz Railway Company).
Behind Drei-Annen-Hohne the line runs steeply downhill and the railway reaches the 58 m long tunnel below the Thumkuhlenkopf. It is the only tunnel in the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway network. On emerging from the tunnel Wernigerode Castle can soon be seen in the distance. In the vicinity of the station at Steinerne Renne (km 54.5) the line enters one of the HSB's tightest curves with a 60-metre radius, before reaching the station of Wernigerode-Hasserode (km 56.3). The next stations en route are Hochschule Harz halt (formerly Wernigerode-Kirchstraße) and Westerntor station (where the Wernigerode-Westerntor Bahnbetriebswerk is found) at Wernigerode. Its terminus is the station at Wernigerode (km 60.5).
Historyedit
The Trans-Harz Railway around 1900
The first section of the Trans-Harz Railway to go into service was the line from Nordhausen to Ilfeld on 12 July 1897. On 7 February 1898 it was extended as far as Netzkater and on 15 September that year to Benneckenstein. From the north the section Wernigerode to Drei-Annen-Hohne was completed on 20 June 1898. The remaining section between Drei-Annen-Hohne and Benneckenstein was finally opened on 27 March 1899 along with the line up to the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountains. The original operating company was the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company. After the compulsory acquisition of the line in 1949, the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn ran it until 1993.
From 1899 the Trans-Harz Railway crossed another metre gauge line at Sorge. This other line was operated by the South Harz Railway Company (SHE) and ran from Walkenried via Brunnenbachsmühle and Sorge to Tanne. A link line, initially just for passenger trains, was laid in 1913. In 1945 services between Sorge and Brunnenbachsmühle were closed, because this section crossed the Inner German Border. The section from Sorge to Tanne continued to be worked until 1958. The tracks were left on the border bridge until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Operationsedit
Railway traffic has sharply increased in recent years on the section between Nordhausen and Ilfeld. Since 2004 Nordhausen hybrid-trams have run directly from Ilfeld into the tram network at Nordhausen. Other trains run to Eisfelder Talmühle and continue onto the Selke Valley Railway. Apart from one pair of steam trains, all services are worked by diesel railbuses. The only remaining goods trains on the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways work the line between Nordhausen and Eisfelder Talmühle. These regularly transport standard gauge ballast wagons from the Hartsteinwerken Unterberg on rollbocks to Nordhausen. A number of converted diesel locomotives are available for this, which have couplers and buffers at the right height for handling standard gauge goods wagons.[3]
After 1993 daily trains services between Eisfelder Talmühle and Drei-Annen-Hohne were restricted to four pairs of trains. Only two pairs were hauled by steam locomotives. In addition, between Drei Annen Hohne and Wernigerode through trains run on the Brocken–Wernigerode route, the majority being steam-hauled.
Hans Röper; Helmut Becker; Werner Dill; Gerhard Zieglgänsberger (1992), Die Harzquer- und Brockenbahn (in German) (3. erweiterte ed.), Berlin: transpress, ISBN3-344-70747-7
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The Harz Railway or Trans Harz Railway German Harzquerbahn was formerly the main line of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways Harzer Schmalspurbahnen or HSB and runs north to south right across the Harz Mountains from Wernigerode to Nordhausen However the tourist attraction of the Brocken the highest mountain in the Harz is so great that the Brocken Railway is effectively the main line today The Trans Harz Railway joins up with the Selke Valley Railway to Quedlinburg at Eisfelder Talmuhle where all trains are organised to make good connections Harz RailwayTrain heading towards the Brocken onthe Trans Harz Railway near Drei Annen HohneOverviewNative nameHarzquerbahnLine number9700LocaleSaxony Anhalt Thuringia GermanyTerminiNordhausenWernigerodeServiceRoute number326 Nordhausen Drei Annen Hohne 325 Drei Annen Hohne WernigerodeTechnicalLine length60 5 km 37 6 mi Track gauge1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in metre gaugeMinimum radius60 m 196 9 ft Operating speed40 km h 24 9 mph maximum Maximum incline3 3 Route mapThe Harz Railway is shown in blue as part of the HSB network Legend Tramway from the inner town Nordhausen Bahnhofsplatz Tramway to the inner town 0 0 Nordhausen Nordinterchange with DB Netz 184 m System change BOStrab ESBO 0 2 from tramway line 10 since 2004 1 1 Nordhausen Ubergabebahnhof 1 5 Nordhausen Hesseroder Strasse 2 2 Nordhausen Altentor 189 m 3 0 Nordhausen Ricarda Huch Strasse 3 8 Nordhausen Schurzfell 4 5 Nordhausen Krimderode 198 m Zorge B 4 6 0 Niedersachswerfen Herkulesmarkt from Harzungen Lager 7 0 Niedersachswerfen Ost 213 m 8 0 Niedersachswerfen Ilfelder Strasse 9 9 Ilfeld Schreiberwiese 10 7 Ilfeld earlier Ilfeld Wiegersdorf 254 m 11 5 Ilfeld Neanderklinik terminus of line 10 267 m B 4 11 7 Paper factory siding 12 6 Ilfeld Bad 287 m Bere Ilfeld Viaduct B 4 14 0 Netzkater 309 m Brandesbach Kleiner Merkelsbach Grosser Merkelsbach 17 3 Eisfelder Talmuhle 352 m to Stiege B 81 Bere 19 5 Tiefenbachmuhle 411 m 21 5 Sophienhof 445 m ThuringiaSaxony Anhalt state border 25 1 Zlst DTC Kalberbruch formerly timber loading Dammbach Rappbode 29 8 Benneckenstein 530 m 33 4 Sorge since 1974 490 m 33 9 Warme Bode B 242 34 2 Sorge lower station NWE until 1974 490 m to Braunlage Walkenried Braunlage Tanne railway 37 4 Zlst DTC Allerbach formerly timber loading Kleiner Allerbach 38 2 line peak 556 m Ochsenbach 40 5 B 27 41 1 Kalte Bode 41 6 Elend 509 m Wormke Dammastbach Steinbach from Schierke 46 4 Drei Annen Hohneformerly to Rubeland Railway Zillierbach Drangetalwasser 50 4 Drangetal 51 6 Thumkuhlenkopf Tunnel 58 m Braunes Wasser 52 7 Schotterwerk Thumkuhlental 54 6 Steinerne Renne 311 m 54 9 Marble works siding Holtemme Holtemme Holtemme Holtemme 56 2 Wernigerode Hasserode 280 m Braunes Wasser 55 7 Stone loading siding 57 1 Hasserode II Frankenfeldstrasse until 1922 57 5 Paper factory siding 58 0 WR Hochschule Harz WR Kirchstrasse 256 m 58 5 Marschhausen paper factory siding 59 0 Westerntor until 1936 59 3 Westerntor crossing B 244 Zillierbach 59 5 Wernigerode Westerntor 238 m Wernigerode transfer station 60 5 Wernigerodeinterchange with DB Netz 234 m Source German railway atlas 1 2 Contents 1 Route 2 History 3 Operations 4 Gallery 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 Film 9 External linksRoute editThe line begins at the HSB s narrow gauge station in Nordhausen Nordhausen Nord It lies in northwest of and parallel to the standard gauge railway station After passing the link line to the Nordhausen Tramway that joins it from the right the railway bends towards the north and runs for 7 km to the station of Niedersachswerfen Ost almost parallel to the standard gauge line from Nordhausen to Ellrich the South Harz Line The Harz mountains begin beyond Ilfeld km 10 7 Behind Netzkater km 14 0 lies the station of Eisfelder Talmuhle km 17 3 where the Selke Valley Railway branches off in a curve to the right The Trans Harz Railway continues to follow the B 81 federal road as far as Tiefenbachmuhle halt km 19 5 before turning in a westerly direction in order to reach the request stop of Sophienhof km 21 0 the last stop in Thuringia The line runs through spruce forests over the state border with Saxony Anhalt At Benneckenstein station km 29 8 the line crosses the ridge at 530 m above NN its highest point so far It then runs downhill into the valley of the Warme Bode where the halt of Sorge km 33 4 449 m above NN is located Next the route climbs to its next summit at 557 m After Elend km 41 6 the line reaches the junction with the Brocken Railway at Drei Annen Hohne station km 46 4 In 2009 the construction of a new stub line from Elend to Braunlage was discussed see South Harz Railway Company Behind Drei Annen Hohne the line runs steeply downhill and the railway reaches the 58 m long tunnel below the Thumkuhlenkopf It is the only tunnel in the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway network On emerging from the tunnel Wernigerode Castle can soon be seen in the distance In the vicinity of the station at Steinerne Renne km 54 5 the line enters one of the HSB s tightest curves with a 60 metre radius before reaching the station of Wernigerode Hasserode km 56 3 The next stations en route are Hochschule Harz halt formerly Wernigerode Kirchstrasse and Westerntor station where the Wernigerode Westerntor Bahnbetriebswerk is found at Wernigerode Its terminus is the station at Wernigerode km 60 5 History edit nbsp The Trans Harz Railway around 1900 The first section of the Trans Harz Railway to go into service was the line from Nordhausen to Ilfeld on 12 July 1897 On 7 February 1898 it was extended as far as Netzkater and on 15 September that year to Benneckenstein From the north the section Wernigerode to Drei Annen Hohne was completed on 20 June 1898 The remaining section between Drei Annen Hohne and Benneckenstein was finally opened on 27 March 1899 along with the line up to the Brocken the highest peak in the Harz mountains The original operating company was the Nordhausen Wernigerode Railway Company After the compulsory acquisition of the line in 1949 the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn ran it until 1993 From 1899 the Trans Harz Railway crossed another metre gauge line at Sorge This other line was operated by the South Harz Railway Company SHE and ran from Walkenried via Brunnenbachsmuhle and Sorge to Tanne A link line initially just for passenger trains was laid in 1913 In 1945 services between Sorge and Brunnenbachsmuhle were closed because this section crossed the Inner German Border The section from Sorge to Tanne continued to be worked until 1958 The tracks were left on the border bridge until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 Operations editRailway traffic has sharply increased in recent years on the section between Nordhausen and Ilfeld Since 2004 Nordhausen hybrid trams have run directly from Ilfeld into the tram network at Nordhausen Other trains run to Eisfelder Talmuhle and continue onto the Selke Valley Railway Apart from one pair of steam trains all services are worked by diesel railbuses The only remaining goods trains on the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways work the line between Nordhausen and Eisfelder Talmuhle These regularly transport standard gauge ballast wagons from the Hartsteinwerken Unterberg on rollbocks to Nordhausen A number of converted diesel locomotives are available for this which have couplers and buffers at the right height for handling standard gauge goods wagons 3 After 1993 daily trains services between Eisfelder Talmuhle and Drei Annen Hohne were restricted to four pairs of trains Only two pairs were hauled by steam locomotives In addition between Drei Annen Hohne and Wernigerode through trains run on the Brocken Wernigerode route the majority being steam hauled Gallery edit nbsp The station building at Nordhausen Nord nbsp No 199 872 3 in Eisfelder Talmuhle nbsp No 99 7245 in Eisfelder Talmuhle nbsp Benneckenstein station nbsp No 99 7236 at Sorge halt nbsp 99 222 Einheitsdampflokomotive nbsp Elend station with a railbus nbsp Steinerne Renne station nbsp nbsp See also editRubeland Railway There is information on the rolling stock used on the line at Harz Narrow Gauge Railways nbsp Harz portalReferences edit Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland German railway atlas Schweers Wall 2009 pp 44 56 ISBN 978 3 89494 139 0 Lothar Brill Bilder der Strecke 9700 KBS 326 KBS 678 in German Tunnelportale Retrieved 27 November 2017 Veroffentlichung der Interessengemeinschaft Harzer Schmalspurbahnen Archived 2011 07 19 at the Wayback MachineSources editEisenbahnatlas Deutschland Ausgabe 2005 2006 Schweers Wall Aachen 2005 ISBN 3 89494 134 0 Hans Roper Helmut Becker Werner Dill Gerhard Zieglgansberger 1992 Die Harzquer und Brockenbahn in German 3 erweiterte ed Berlin transpress ISBN 3 344 70747 7Film editSWR Eisenbahn Romantik Die Harzquerbahn Folge 327 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harzquerbahn Harzer Schmalspurbahnen GmbH Interessengemeinschaft Harzer Schmalspurbahnen Streckendaten vom Freundeskreis Selketalbahn e V Bilder der Tunnelportale Reisebericht von 1982 Walpurgisfahrt im Jahr 2004 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harz Railway amp oldid 1037628392, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
