Wangerooge Island Railway
| Wangerooge Island Railway | |
|---|---|
Island railway near the West Pier
|
|
| Overview | |
| Line number |
1542 (Wangerooge West Pier) |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 5,9 km |
| Track gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) |
| Operating speed | 20 km/h |
| Route number | 10007 |
| Line and stations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1542 (Wangerooge West Pier)
1543 (Saline–Westen)
The single track Wangerooge Island Railway (Wangerooger Inselbahn) is an unelectrified narrow gauge railway with a rail gauge of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) located on the East Frisian island of Wangerooge off the northwestern coast of Germany. It is the most important means of transport on the island and is the only narrow gauge railway operated today by the Deutsche Bahn.
The Wangerooge Island Railway was opened in 1897 with its present-day rail gauge of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in). Its operator was the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State Railways (Großherzoglich Oldenburgische Eisenbahn or GOE). It was worked from the outset by steam locomotives, and not as a horse-drawn railway as on several neighbouring islands. The line led from the newly built pier in the southwest of the island to the middle of the island village, or Inseldorf, in the centre of the island. A train needed about 20 minutes to negotiate the 3.5 kilometre long route at a top speed of 30 km/h. These timings are still valid today, even though the route has been changed several times.
In 1901 a 1.9 kilometre long stub line was built from the Saline, the half-way point on the route towards the western part of the island in order to link the military base there.
In 1905 a second pier, the East Pier or Ostanleger, was erected and a 5.4 kilometre long rail link built from there to the Inseldorf. In order to handle the growing stream of traffic, in 1906 a new, large station was built on the southern edge of the village and a station hall built over the two tracks; the station has remained largely unchanged to the present day.
In 1912 a new West Pier, a little to the east of the old one, was opened. It was connected to the junction at Saline by a new track running roughly parallel to the old one. The old pier was taken out of service and its associated track was lifted. The purpose of this measure was the development of Wangerooge as a military fortification served by a capable railway network. During the course of World War I numerous branches were laid to military installations. As a result, on this small island there were four sections of the island railway with as many as 24 branches.
...
Wikipedia