Olbernhau-Grünthal–Deutschneudorf railway

Olbernhau-Grünthal–Deutschneudorf railway
Map of the line
Overview
Other name(s)	Schweinitztalbahn
Type	Heavy rail
Status	dismantled
Locale	Saxony, North Bohemia
Termini	Neuschönberg junction Deutschneudorf
Stations	6
Line number	169b (1969)
Operation
Commenced	23 June 1913 (1913-06-23)
Planned opening	1 May 1915 (1915-05-01)
Opened	2 May 1927 (1927-05-02)
Completed	24 October 1924 (1924-10-24)
Closed	26 September 1969 (1969-09-26)
Operator(s)	Deutsche Reichsbahn
Character	branch line
Events
Passenger traffic ended	21 May 1966 (1966-05-21)
Technical
Line length	8.196 km (5.093 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	180 m
Maximum incline	2.5 %
Route number	6670; sä. KD
Route from Pockau-Lengefeld 0 Olbernhau-Grünthal 1,270 Abzw Neuschönberg (junction) to Neuhausen (Erzgeb) 1,679 Flöha (border Germany–Czech Republic) 2,678 Brandau(closed in 1945) 491 m 2,844 Schweinitz (border Czech Republic–Germany) 4,304 Niederlochmühle 508 m 6,369 Oberlochmühle 558 m 6,489 Oberlochmühle viaduct 7,440 Deutschkatharinenberg 576 m 7,980 spur to Zimmermann & Co. 9,466 Deutschneudorf 613 m 9,603 Schweinitz (border Germany - Czech Republic) 9,655 loading site Fa. J. A. Wagner 9,734 end of line

The Olbernhau-Grünthal–Deutschneudorf railway, also known as Schweinitztalbahn, was a standard gauge branch line in Saxony from Olbernhau to Deutschneudorf in the Ore Mountains. For a short stretch, it also traversed Bohemia. It was opened in 1927 and closed in 1969.

After the railway from Pockau to Olbernhau was opened in 1875, the communities in the valley of the Schweinitz river requested already in 1887 that a narrow-gauge branch line from Olbernhau be built towards Deutschneudorf. This project was turned down for economic reasons. The discussion was taken up anew in 1908, and in its course the Austrian side proposed to build the railway in standard gauge and to extend it over Deutschneudorf into the lignite mining area of Oberleutensdorf in North Bohemia. This line of 32.3 km length was to be built within two years at a cost of 5.78 million Mark. Saxony opposed the project because the projected stations would have been located too far from the populated places in the Schweinitz valley, and the building costs were regarded as too high.

Nevertheless, on 13 August 1913 the Royal Saxon State Railways consented to a concession for a standard gauge line from Olbernhau to Deutschneudorf, which was to be traced out as a secondary line, but with the parameters of a main line because of the expected through traffic to Bohemia. Thus, there were no level crossings at all on the whole line.

Construction work started on 23 June 1914 and was to be completed by 1 May 1915. However, the outbreak of World War I delayed the work.

Since the line traversed the territory of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire between kilometres 1.86 and 2.84, a treaty dated 16 January 1916 between the countries involved regulated the conditions for the cross-border corridor traffic. In Autumn 1916 the works on the line were stopped due to the war, and the construction tracks were lifted in 1917. At this time, some of the engineering structures and the homes for the railway officials in Niederlochmühle and Deutschkatharinenberg were already finished.

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Wikipedia