Hönne Valley Railway
| Menden–Neuenrade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number: | 437 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length: | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge: | 1435 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum speed: | 60 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State: | North Rhine-Westphalia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating points and lines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Hönne Valley Railway (German: Hönnetalbahn is a 22 km long, single-track and non-electrified branch line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, running from Menden (Sauerland) to Neuenrade through the Hönne valley. It is operated as timetable route 437 from Unna via Fröndenberg, Menden (Sauerland) and Balve to Neuenrade.
The line runs through two tunnels and across seven bridges made of natural stone through the Hönne valley, which was already praised for its beauty during the period of German romanticism when it was built.
The Menden–Neuenrade railway was inaugurated on 1 April 1912, with construction beginning in 1909.
At its opening there were stations at Neuenrade, Garbeck, Balve, Sanssouci, Binolen and Lendringsen and halts (German: Haltepunkte) at Küntrop, Volkringhausen, Klusenstein, Oberrödinghausen and Menden-Süd. Horlecke station was located between Lendringsen and Menden-Süd, but was no longer classified as a station by 1967.
The railway was primarily used for the industry of the Hönne valley. Because of the new traffic, limestone bridges were built along the railway in Binolen, Sanssouci, Balve and Garbeck. The economic growth was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War, which brought a restriction on passenger traffic. In the “turnip winter” (Steckrübenwinter) of 1917/18, this line also supplied potatoes and grain to the starving population of the Ruhr. After 1925, the operation of excursion passenger trains increased again.
Before the Second World War, there were so many visitors to the valley that "car-free” Sundays were introduced to provide guests with rest and relaxation. In the period after the First World War trains from the Ruhr on Sundays carried up to 1000 people travelling to the valley's numerous restaurants. Between the two wars the narrow valley discouraged the development of an Emden–Hönne valley–Frankfurt railway as a north-south link protected against enemy (French) action.
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Wikipedia