Wiesentalbahn

Wiese Valley Railway
Overview
Native name	Wiesentalbahn
Locale	Baden-Württemberg, Basel-Stadt
Termini	Basel Bad Bf Zell (Wiesental)
Line number	4400
Technical
Line length	28.75 km (17.86 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	300 m (980 ft)
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary
Maximum incline	1.1%
Route number	735
Route map Rhine Valley Railway from Mannheim -1.59 Basel Bad BfS 6 Basel Trams Basel Link Line to Basel SBB S 6 Upper Rhine Railway to Singen 0.8 Riehen Niederholz 2.92 Riehen 4.31 Switzerland/Germany border Gartenbahn from Weil am Rhein S 5 5.02 Lörrach-Stetten 5.8 Lörrach Museum/Burghof 6.51 Lörrach Hbf 7.8 Lörrach-Schwarzwaldstraße 9.06 Lörrach-Haagen/Messe 10.21 Lörrach-Brombach/Hauingen Wiese (51 m) 13.75 Steinenterminus S 5 Wiese (45 m) 16.7 Maulburg 18.3 Schopfheim West 19.92 Schopfheim Wehra Valley Railway to Bad Säckingen 21.93 Fahrnau 24.03 Hausen-Raitbach Wiese (55 m) 27.16 Zell (Wiesental)terminus S 6 Todtnauerli to Todtnau Source: German railway atlas

Source: German railway atlas

The Wiese Valley Railway (German: Wiesentalbahn) is a 27.2 km long, electrified main line in Baden-Württemberg in the triangle where Germany, Switzerland and France meet near the Swiss city of Basel. It runs alongside the Wiese River from Basel Badischer Bahnhof in Basel – initially on Swiss territory – to Zell (Wiesental).

The line was built as the first private railway in the Grand Duchy of Baden by the Wiese Valley Railway Company (Wiesenthalbahn-Gesellschaft) and opened on 7 June 1862 to Schopfheim with a length of 20 km. It was continued up the valley as the Hintere Wiesenthalbahn (“rear” Wiese Valley Railway) on 5 February 1876 by the Schopfheim-Zell Railway Company (Schopfheim-Zeller Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft).

This was followed on 7 July 1889 by a narrow-gauge railway owned by the Baden railway consortium of Herrmann Bachstein, later called the South German Railway Company (Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft AG), the Zell im Wiesental–Todtnau railway, known as the Upper Wiese Valley Railway (Obere Wiesentalbahn) and also as the Todtnauerli.

Because the German Empire demanded that the Grand Duchy of Baden construct an efficient railway from Weil am Rhein to Säckingen for military reasons (in order to avoid crossing Switzerland), including the existing Lörrach–Schopfheim section, all of the line from Basel to Zell was taken over by the Baden government and incorporated it into the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway. The transfer of ownership took place to Schopfheim on 1 January 1889 and a year later to Zell. It was one of the first lines in Germany to be electrified in 1913, together with the Wehra Valley Railway (Wehratalbahn), as a result of its strategic importance and the abundant hydroelectricity available nearby.

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Wikipedia