Weisseritz railway

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Steam locomotive IV K in Seifersdorf

Weisseritz railway (Deutsch: Weißeritztalbahn) is the second Saxon narrow gauge railway and also the oldest operating public narrow gauge railway in Germany. The line, connecting Freital by Dresden with Kipsdorf in the Ore Mountains, was built through 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 750 mm (2 ft 5¹⁄₂ in), 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 abolished in 1993, only public transport remained. Since September 14, 2004, the line is operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Erzgebirge GmbH (BVO), a company that also operates the Fichtelbergbahn and Lößnitzgrundbahn.

1 Destruction in August 2002
2 Technical specification
3 The Track
4 External links

[edit] Destruction in August 2002

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

The damages were estimated at 20 mio Euro level. Complete reconstruction is planned. Both the Federal government and the Government of Saxony should cover one half. The reconstruction officially started on September 14, 2004, 5 days before the elections to Saxon parliament. The politicians promised to finish the reconstruction till the end of 2005. However, except for clearance of debris in the Rabenauer Grund area, nothing had happened (as of July 2006). On July 5, 2005, a press release of BVO Bahn GmbH announced the deadline was shifted to 2007.

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.

[edit] 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

[edit] 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: