Elster Valley Railway

Gera Süd–Greiz–Plauen unt Bf–Weischlitz
Section of the 1902 route map of Saxony
Route number: 541
Line number: 6269
Line length: 60.38 km
Track gauge: 1,435 mm
Maximum incline: 9  %
Minimum radius: 275
Maximum speed: 80
Legend
 from Leipzig
from Weimar
-1,7 Gera Hbf
0,1 Gera Süd
to Gößnitz
to Saalfeld
2,6 Gera-Ost
4,1 Gera-Liebschwitz
4,6 Liebschwitz Viaduct (226 m)
6,5 Wünschendorf Nord
6,6 Meilitz Viaduct (130 m)
Werdau–Weida–Mehltheuer
from Weida
Wünschendorf Lime Works siding
9,4 Wünschendorf/Elster
to Werdau
10,2 White Elster (120 m)
12,1 Lochgut Tunnel (53 m)
12,2 White Elster (70 m)
18,2 Berga (Elster)
21,9 White Elster (60 m)
22,1 Rüßdorf Tunnel (264 m)
24,1 Neumühle (Elster)
25,2 White Elster (100 m)
26,0 White Elster (50 m)
26,1 Bretmühlen Tunnel (118 m)
26,3 White Elster (75 m)
30,1 Schloßberg Tunnel (270 m)
30,3 (20 m)
30,4 White Elster (70 m)
30,7 Greiz
to Neumark
31,9 White Elster (110 m)
Greiz paper factory siding
32,6 White Elster (60 m)
32,7 Rothental Tunnel (139 m)
32,9 White Elster (70 m)
33,6 Greiz-Dölau
Anst ANFC Greiz-Dölau
Saxony–Thuringia state border
35,9 Elsterberg
36,1 White Elster (60 m)
36,4 Elsterberg Tunnel (358 m)
Enka Elsterberg siding
37,0 Elsterberg Kunstseidenwerk
39,6 White Elster (43 m)
39,8 Steinicht Tunnel (88 m)
39,9 White Elster (43 m)
40,3 White Elster (43 m)
40,5 White Elster (40 m)
Rentzschmühle Quarry siding
40,7 Rentzschmühle
42,2 White Elster (55 m)
42,9 Barthmühle
Leipzig–Hof (Elster Viaduct)
43,5 Trieb (30 m)
45,1 Möschwitz Tunnel (206 m)
45,2 White Elster (40 m)
45,8 White Elster (49 m)
47,5 White Elster (32 m)
48,6 White Elster (65 m)
from Lottengrün
49,7 Plauen (Vogtl) Chrieschwitz
Stahltechnologie Plauen, Fernheizwerk Plauen siding
51,0 Plauen (Vogtl) Mitte (planned)
52,7 Plauen (Vogtl) unt Bf
Vomag siding
54,4 Plauen (Vogtl) Zellwolle
Köstner Stahlzentrum siding
57,4 White Elster (38 m)
from Plauen ob Bf
58,1 Kürbitz
59,9 Weischlitz
to Cheb

The Elster Valley Railway (German: Elstertalbahn) is a main railway line in the German federal states of Thuringia and Saxony that runs along the valley of the White Elster from Gera via Greiz and Plauen to Weischlitz.

Contents

History

The construction of the line goes back to the section from Gera Hbf–Wolfsgefärth on the Gera–Saalfeld railway. The section from Wolfsgefärth to Greiz went into service on 17 July 1875. The second section was that from Greiz to Plauen Lower Station ('unterer Bahnhof) which opened on 8 September, the last section to Weischlitz followed on 20 September of the same year, and the line formed a junction with the Plauen–Eger railway. The construction of the many bridges and eight tunnels drove the operating company (Sächsisch-Thüringische Eisenbahngesellschaft) into financial difficulties in 1876, so that the line had to be sold to the Saxon State Railway (Sächsische Staatsbahn). Not until 1 December 1892 was there a direct connexion from Wünschendorf to Gera at the station of Gera Reuß, which no longer exists but was near the site of the present-day Gera Süd. On the same date traffic on the line from Wünschendorf to Wolfsgefärth was withdrawn.

Gallery

Sources

External links