Prims Valley Railway

Wemmetsweiler–Nonnweiler railway
Overview
Locale	Saarland, Germany
Line number	3274 (Wemmetsweiler–Nonnweiler) 3211 (Dillingen–Primsweiler)
Technical
Number of tracks	2: Wemmetsweiler–Illingen
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Wemmetsweiler–Illingen:15 kV/16.7 Hz AC Overhead catenary
Route number	681, 683 645 (until 1992) 267 (until 1970) 265k (1944) 236b (1936)
Route map Hochwald Railway from Trier 52.9 Nonnweiler (Museum railway) A 1 to Türkismühle 51.3 Mariahütte Werk 1951 – 49.9 Mariahütte (last siding) Current end of line 48.8 Kastel 45.6 Primstal Prims 42.2 Krettnich Löster 38.9 Wadern Prims 34.8 Büschfeld former line to Merzig former border of Saar (LN) (1920–35) current siding 31.6 Limbach (Kr. Saarlouis) 23.6 Michelbach (Saar) 25.8 Schmelz 23.3 Primsweiler Primsweiler junction (see under) 19.5 Current start of line 18.6 Lebach-Jabach 17.4 Lebach 219 m former Köller Valley Railway from/to Völklingen 14.1 Bubach 12.6 Eppelborn 232 m A 1 8.8 Dirmingen 246 m 6.2 Wustweiler 3.1 Illingen 2.3 Wemmetsweiler-Gennweiler (since 2004) 0.8 Wemmetsweiler curve junction) Fischbach Valley Railway from/to Saarbrücken 0.0 Wemmetsweiler 312 m Fischbach Valley Railway to Neunkirchen Source: German railway atlas

The Prims Valley Railway (German: Primstalbahn) is a partly closed railway line that ran south from Nonnweiler to Primsweiler along the upper reaches of the Prims and then turned to the east and ran via Lebach to Neunkirchen in the German state of the Saarland. The Lebach–Neunkirchen section is still operated.

It was built in three phases. The first section, which was about eight kilometres long, ran from Neunkirchen to Wemmetsweiler (and from there continued south towards Saarbrücken). It was opened on 15 October 1879 and is now part of the Fischbach Valley Railway.

A Prussian law authorising the construction of the Hermeskeil–Wemmetsweiler line was approved on 10 May 1890. But construction to Hermeskeil did not begin until 15 April 1894. Because the whole line was being constructed simultaneously, the domestic labour market was soon exhausted and foreign workers from Italy and the Balkans had to be used. On 15 May 1897, the section from Wemmetsweiler to Lebach was taken in operation. The remaining 35.6 km to Nonnweiler was opened on 10 December 1897.

The line from the beginning served workers from the thinly populated northern areas of the Saarland. Lines branched In Primsweiler to Dillingen (Saar) in the west, in Lebach to Völklingen over the Lebach–Völklingen railway and in Wemmetsweiler south towards Saarbrücken. Trains from Lebach-Jabach now run over the Wemmetsweiler curve, which was opened in 2006, and over the Fischbach Valley Railway to Saarbrücken. Trains from Illingen run through the new railway junction to Homburg.

Passenger services on the Wadern–Nonnweiler section were closed on 3 October 1959 and freight traffic ended on 30 April 1968. However, few trains had run on this section since 1945. Passenger traffic between Wadern and Lebach and between Dillingen and Wadern ended on 30 May 1980. Regular freight traffic continued to Wadern until 30 May 1992. After this time, the basalt works in Michelbach and the Meiser company in Limbach were served over the Dillingen branch. On 1 January 2005, the siding was sold to the Meiser company. The track is used by the railway company of the Dillinger Hütte (steelworks).

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