Meckesheim–Neckarelz railway

Schwarzbach Valley Railway
Overview
Native name	Schwarzbachtalbahn
Locale	Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Termini	Meckesheim Neckarelz
Line number	4110 (HD-Karlst.–Meckesh.–N'elz)
Technical
Line length	30.8 km (19.1 mi) operational: 19.1 km (11.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	330 m (1,083 ft)
Maximum incline	1.4%
Route number	707
Route map Elsenz Valley Railway from Neckargemünd 19.8 Meckesheim 141 m Elsenz Valley Railway to Bad Fr'hall-Jagstfeld 24.9 Eschelbronn 154 m 26.7 Neidenstein 157 m 30.1 Waibstadt 166 m 320 Neckarbischofsheim Nord 172 m Krebsbach Valley Railway to Hüffenhardt 34.9 Helmstadt (Baden) 178 m 38.9 Aglasterhausen 206 m 39.3 Daudenzell 218 m 42.5 Asbach (Baden) 240 m Mörtelstein Tunnel(690 m) 44.0 Mörtelstein 220 m Erlesrain Tunnel(98 m) 46.9 Obrigheim 181 m 49.1 Finkenhof   (for the Goldfisch armaments factory, 1944–45) 49.1 Kalksberg Tunnel(147 m) 49.4 Neckar Bridge(ca. 310 m) 50.0 Neckarelz(to 1879) 155 m 50.6 42.1 Neckar Valley Railway from Heilbronn 42.0 old course of the Odenwald Railway(to 1895) 41.8 Mosbach link curve(to ca. 1960) line from Osterburken 41.0 Neckarelz(since 1879) 154 m Neckar Valley Railway to Heidelberg Source: German railway atlas

Source: German railway atlas

The Meckesheim–Neckarelz railway is a branch line in northern Baden between Meckesheim and Aglasterhausen that used to run to Neckarelz. It was part of the former Baden Oldenwald Railway from Heidelberg to Würzburg, and thus a main line, which is why its trackbed was built for two tracks. The section remaining today also goes under the name of Schwarzbach Valley Railway (German: Schwarzbachtalbahn).

The line runs on the border between the Kleiner Odenwald ("Little Odenwald") and the Kraichgau regions. It is also now known as the Schwarzbach Valley Railway (Schwarzbachtalbahn) as the remaining section of the line follows the Schwarzbach, a right tributary of the Elsenz river.

It also has no major engineering structures because it runs consistently in the valley between Meckenheim and Aglasterhausen. The now disused section between Aglasterhausen and Neckarelz had more difficult topographical conditions, however, so a total of three tunnels were built. The naming of the Kalksberg Tunnel is curious, as the tunnel runs under the Karlsberg (mountain), not the Kalksberg.

On the remaining section of line there are just two bridges that are more than twenty metres long. One crosses the Elsenz between Meckenheim and Eschelbronn. The other bridge crosses federal highway 292 between Waibstadt and Neckarbischofsheim Nord. The biggest bridge on the line used to be the bridge over the Neckar between Obrigheim and Neckarelz, which was blown up by the retreating German army in 1945.

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