Hell Valley Railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hell Valley Railway is a railway line in the Höllental (Hell Valley) region of the Black Forest, Germany. The line connects Freiburg with Donaueschingen, a distance of 25.4 kilometers (15.8 miles). Over its entire course the line rises from an altitude of 278 metres (912 feet) in Freiburg to 885 metres (0.54 miles) in Hinterzarten. The second half of the route has a 5.5% upward gradient, making the Hell Valley line one of the steepest railway lines in Germany.
[edit] History
The line, which opened in 1887, was constructed by the German State and Territorial Railways, and was the last project of railway architect Robert Gerwig. Upon completion the line ended at Titisee-Neustadt, but was extended to Donaueschingen in 1901. Because of the steep gradient, the Hell Valley line was at first operated as a cog railway. However, ten powerful DB 85 steam locomotives were built in 1932/33, which made it possible to operate the route without the centre rack rail.
In 1936, the German Imperial Railway Company electrified the line, installing a 25,000-volt, 50 cycles-per-second current. In 1960, Hell Valley Line was converted to the standard 15KV, 16 2/3 cycles-per-second frequency used throughout Germany.
The Hell Valley line was used successfully to test designs for the Series 144 locomotive. Later, motive power was supplied by the Series 145 (s. Series 144), which was itself replaced by the Series 139. Today, the line uses modern bilevel cars pulled by Series 143 locomotives.
[edit] Route
The line passes through beautiful scenery along its entire length. High points include Deer Jump Rock and a crossing of the Ravennaschlucht by means of a forty-metre high viaduct. Later, between Titisee-Neustadt and Donaueschingen, the viaduct at the former Kappel Gutachbruecke station crosses the Wutach at the begin of its long ravine. Near the station of Doeggingen the line crosses within a 535m tunnel the Europe's main watershed between the Black Sea and the North Sea.
