Stumpfwald Railway
| Stumpfwald Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Diesel locomotive and flat wagon at Eiswoog Halt
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| Line length: | 3,5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge: | 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Stumpfwald Railway (German: Stumpfwaldbahn) is a 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) narrow gauge heritage railway that has operated since 1996 in the Stumpfwald, a woodland area in the north of the Palatine Forest in the municipality of Ramsen.
The western end of the Stumpfwald Railway starts at Eiswoog railway station, next to the eponymous lake. Some years after the line opened, a railway halt was built on the nearby (standard gauge) Eis Valley Railway, which also bears the name Eiswoog. This halt is served by most of the trains on the Eis Valley Railway on Sundays and holidays. On weekdays, however, services on the Eis Valley line ends in Ramsen.
The original eastern operating point of the Stumpfwald Railway was Bockbachtal station, but this was moved further to the east as part of the extension of the line in 2007 and has been converted to a passing loop, which is now the halfway point on the way to Ramsen. Just before Ramsen are Kleehof station and the Schützenhaus halt. At the terminus of Ramsen West there is also a small engine shed and depot for the Stumpfwald Railway.
About halfway between Bockbachtal station and the terminal stop at Eiswoog is the old passing loop for multiple train operations. On the new section of line towards Ramsen West there is another loop at Kleehof station, which however, like the old loop, is only used when there are high levels of traffic or for slow moving guest vehicles.
In the late 1980s the Stumpfwaldbahn Ramsen e. V. society was established with the aim of building and operating a museum Feldbahn railway in the Stumpfwald. For this purpose a timber-framed station building was erected by the car park below the Eiswoog reservoir as the starting point for the line, and the Kleehof marshalling yard constructed in the direction of Ramsen. There, at Bockbachtal station, was the terminus of the Stumpfwald Railway. On 9 September 1996 the line was inaugurated.
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