Bruchhausen-Vilsen–Asendorf Museum Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route number | 12383 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 7.8 km (4.8 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating speed | 20 max. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Deutscher Eisenbahn-Verein (German Railway Society) or DEV was founded in November 1964 as the Deutscher Kleinbahn-Verein ("German Kleinbahn Society"). Its purpose was the preservation of a working branch line with all its installations as a living open-air museum. The term Kleinbahn was primarily a Prussian concept that referred to light branch lines with lower traffic demands and of more lightweight construction than main lines or normal branch lines, hence the Kleinbahnen were mainly found in northern Germany.
On 2 July 1966, museum railway services began on the narrow gauge section of line from Bruchhausen-Vilsen to Heiligenberg operated by the Verkehrsbetriebe Grafschaft Hoya , about 35 km south of Bremen, using the steam locomotive Bruchhausen and one coach. Setting aside a number of short-lived trials, this was the first museum railway in Germany. [1]
Since then the Lower Saxony Kleinbahn Museum (Niedersächsisches Kleinbahn-Museum) has emerged. At weekends from May to September and in December, regular services are run on the Bruchhausen-Vilsen–Asendorf route - predominantly with steam trains. Under the name Hoyaer Eisenbahn, a connecting service is operated on the Eystrup–Hoya–Bruchhausen-Vilsen–Syke route. In Bruchhausen-Vilsen station, standard gauge vehicles may be transferred to the narrow gauge section by means of rollbocks (Rollböcken) or transporter wagons (Rollwagen).
There were more than 90 vehicles in the museum's collection in 2006, both standard gauge and metre gauge, built between 1892 and 1957, the vast majority of which were operational.
Amongst them were seven steam locomotives (including the former DR 99 5633 and a Lenz-Typ i), five diesel locomotives (including the former DB Class V 29), six railbuses (including a Wismar railbus, a Wismar (Frankfurt version) and one from the Franzburger Kreisbahn , 28 passenger coaches, 6 luggage and mail vans and numerous goods wagons and works vehicles. The society even has some standard gauge vehicles.
In the workshop attached to the museum, increasingly rare skills, such as the rivetting of steam locomotive boilers, are maintained. The operation and maintenance of the vehicles and installations is mainly carried out by volunteers.
Bruchhausen-Vilsen is a municipality in the Diepholz district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated 38 km (24 mi) southeast of Bremen. The nearby communities of Berxen, Bruchhöfen, Bruchmühlen, Dille, Gehlbergen, Heiligenberg, Homfeld, Nenndorf, Riethausen, Stapelshorn, Wöpse, Oerdinghausen, Scholen, Weseloh, Süstedt and Engeln all belong to Bruchhausen-Vilsen. Bruchhausen-Vilsen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Bruchhausen-Vilsen.
The Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum-Dahlhausen is a railway museum situated south of the city of Bochum in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded by DGEG, the German Railway History Company in 1977 and is based in a locomotive depot that was built between 1916 and 1918 and ceased operation in 1969. Then DGEG took over the whole area of 46,000 square metres and built up the biggest railway museum in Germany. In the middle of the museum, there is an engine shed with fourteen tracks. A preserved turntable, coaling, watering, and sanding facilities are still in operation. This museum is integrated into The Industrial Heritage Trail a route of monuments from the history of the industry.
The Ulm Railway Society is a German society for encouraging the preservation of historically valuable railway stock. It is based in the vicinity of Ulm, a city in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The society was founded in 1969, has about 600 members and around 12 steam locomotives as well as numerous historical wagons.
The 'Hanover version' of the Wismar railbus was developed in the early 1930s as a light railbus for economical passenger services on branch lines in Germany.
The eurovapor is a European society of railway fans dedicated to the preservation of steam locomotives and historic railway vehicles.
The Saxon IV K were narrow gauge, 0-4-4-0T Günther-Meyer type steam engines built for the Royal Saxon State Railways with a track gauge of 750 mm. A total of 96 were built between 1892 and 1921, making the Saxon IV K the most numerous narrow gauge locomotive in Germany. In 1925 the Deutsche Reichsbahn grouped these engines into their DRG Class 99.51–60.
The Historic Railway, Frankfurt or HEF is a German museum railway in Frankfurt am Main. The society was founded in 1978 and its aim is the preservation of historic, valuable railway materiel in working order, especially steam locomotives, as technical and cultural monuments.
The single track Wangerooge Island Railway is an unelectrified narrow gauge railway with a track gauge of 1,000 mm 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.
A Lokalbahn or Localbahn is a secondary railway line worked by local trains serving rural areas, typically in Austria and the south German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Lokalbahnen appeared at the end of the 19th century before the use of cars became widespread.
The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km.
The Minden Museum Railway or MEM was founded in 1977 as a society. Its aim was to preserve historic railway vehicles and operate them on the Minden District Railway. It was not long before the first museum train worked the line. The museum's vehicles were initially housed in the coach hall of the MKB's old locomotive depot (Bahnbetriebswerk) at Minden Stadt station.
The Verden–Walsrode Railway or VWE is a transport company with its headquarters in Verden on the River Aller in North Germany.
The Lower Saxon State Railway Office or NLEA was a central authority that managed the operation of many light railways in the North German state of Lower Saxony. These were predominantly those railways which the state had a financial stake in.
The Rügen narrow-gauge railway – nicknamed Rasender Roland – is a steam-powered narrow-gauge railway that runs from Putbus by way of Binz, Sellin, and Baabe to Göhren on the island of Rügen off the Baltic Coast in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Since 2008, it has been run by the Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsgesellschaft Pressnitztalbahn mbH. There is an interchange with the island's Deutsche Bahn mainline network via the Veolia-run OLA railways. The Rasender Roland is one of the island's tourist attractions. It serves several holiday destinations, mainly the bathing resorts in Rügen's southeast.
The Kaiserstuhl Railway is a railway in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is owned and operated by the Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (SWEG), which in turn is owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg.
The Bregenz Forest Railway, is an Austrian narrow gauge railway with a track gauge of 760 mm, the so-called Bosnian gauge. It runs through the state of Vorarlberg and from 1902 to 1983 linked Bregenz on Lake Constance with Bezau in the Bregenz Forest on a 35.33 kilometre long railway line. Today only a 5.01 kilometre long section is still worked as a heritage railway. The remaining line has been closed and largely lifted.
A number of narrow-gauge lines survive, largely as a consequence of German reunification, in the former East Germany where some of them form part of the public transport system as active commercial carriers. Most extensive of those still employing steam traction is the Harz mountain group of metre-gauge lines, the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen. Other notable lines are the Zittau–Oybin–Jonsdorf line in Saxony, the Mollibahn and the Rügensche Kleinbahn on the Isle of Rügen on the Baltic coast and the Radebeul-Radeburg line, Weisseritztalbahn in the suburbs of Dresden. Although most rely on the tourist trade, in some areas they provide significant employment as steam traction is particularly labour-intensive.
The Dampf-Kleinbahn Mühlenstroth (DKBM) is a voluntarily run 600mm narrow gauge steam railway in Gütersloh, Germany. The railway was opened in 1973 to be able to present the corresponding associations collection of vintage narrow gauge railway vehicles to the public. It consists of approximately 1.5 km of track that is set up to allow different types of operations.
The Borkumer Kleinbahn is a 900 mm narrow gauge railway on the German island of Borkum in the North Sea. It is the oldest island railway in Germany, beginning operation in 1888.