Black Forest Railway (Württemberg)

Black Forest Railway
Overview
Native name	Schwarzwaldbahn (Württemberg)
Locale	Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Termini	Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen Weil der Stadt
Line number	4810
Technical
Line length	48.5 km (30.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	335 m (1,099 ft)
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Operating speed	120 km/h (74.6 mph) (maximum)
Maximum incline	1.8%
Route number	790.6
Route map Franconia Railway from Stuttgart Hbf 0.0 Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen 281 m Franconia Railway to Würzburg Goods line to Kornwestheim Rbf high-speed railway to Mannheim 1.2 Neuwirtshaus (Porscheplatz) Goods line from Kornwestheim Rbf 3.6 Korntal 300 m Strohgäu Railway to Weissach 5.8 Weilimdorf 7.7 Ditzingen 11.0 Höfingen 14.4 Leonberg 366 m 17.9 Rutesheim from Malmsheim Airfield (from ca. 1937) 20.5 Renningen 411 m Rankbach Railway to Böblingen S 60 22.7 Malmsheim 22.8 to Malmsheim quarry (1900–1960) from the Weil der Stadt industrial estate (1970–1990) 25.7 Weil der Stadtterminus of S 6 404 m 29.6 Schafhausen (Württ) 33.6 Ostelsheim Forst Tunnel (696 m long) 37.8 Althengstett 511 m 41.6 Calw Ost(1944–1945) 41.7 Calw-Heumaden(since 1974) Hirsau Tunnel / Welzberg Tunnel (554 m long) 45.35 to the Welzberg quarry (1872–1975) 47.8 Ziegelbach Bridge over the B 296 Nagold Valley Railway from Pforzheim 48.5 Calw(until 1989) 348 m Nagold Valley Railway to Nagold Source: German railway atlas

Source: German railway atlas

The Black Forest Railway (German: Schwarzwaldbahn) – also known as the Württemberg Black Forest Railway (Württembergische Schwarzwaldbahn) to distinguish it from the railway of the same name in Baden is a railway line in southern Germany from Stuttgart to Calw, passing through the foothills of the Black Forest, that was opened in stages between 1868 and 1872. The section from Weil der Stadt to Calw was closed to passenger services in 1983 and goods traffic ceased in 1988.

In 1865, the parliament of Württemberg determined to build the Black Forest Railway from Stuttgart via Leonberg and Weil der Stadt to Calw. Planning and construction of the line was directed by Carl Julius Abel. The Black Forest Railway was planned and built as a main line railway, that is with few curves, large radius curves and few level crossings. Moreover, the civil engineering of the line—the two tunnels and the bridgedecks of all the bridges—was designed to allow the construction of a second track. The formation of the line was however generally built as a single-track line, except for the Althengstett–Calw section, which was built as two tracks, so that operations on the 10.5-kilometre-long Calw–Althengstett ramp could run smoothly. This was the first two-track section built on a line in Württemberg during its initial construction.

The Royal Württemberg State Railways completed the section from Zuffenhausen to Ditzingen in 1868 and a year later the section to Weil der Stadt. The last and hardest part of the line between Weil der Stadt and Calw was not completed until 1872. It included a tight loop with a radius of 335 metres to pass by Hackenberg (hill) near Schafhausen. A loop built on a similar principle was built at the end of the line at Hirsau. Here it was necessary to overcome the large height difference between Calw and Althengstett by extending the line. The line runs through the valley of the Tälesbach, a tributary of the Nagold in an extended loop and then turns back and runs through the Hirsau Tunnel to the flank of the Nagold valley. That meant that trains running from Calw towards Althengstett, initially ran to the north and then looped around on the eastern slope of the Nagold valley to run parallel on the same hillside but a lot higher and now running south. The model for this type of alignment was the Brenner Railway in Austria.

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