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A Feldbahn, or Lorenbahn, is the German term for a narrow-gauge field railway, usually not open to the public, which in its simplest form provides for the transportation of agricultural, forestry (Waldbahn) and industrial raw materials such as wood, peat, stone, earth and sand. Such goods are often transported in tipper wagons, known in German as Loren, hence such a railway is also referred to as a Lorenbahn.
During the First World War, the enormous logistical demands of trench warfare led to the development of military narrow-gauge railway or Heeresfeldbahn networks, also referred to as trench railways. Throughout World War I, the British and French also used trench railways, called War Department Light Railways and Decauville railways respectively. However, the German approach was less improvised and more permanent. With each successful advance, the British and French forces faced ever lengthening supply lines, while the Germans retreated deeper towards their homeland. As a result, the Feldbahn was an organic growth of existing agricultural, industrial and mining railways. After the war, much remaining trackage and rolling stock was put to use in more conventional narrow-gauge applications throughout Europe.
In the processing industry, these narrow-gauge railways once held an important role. As a result, Feldbahnen were frequently associated with refractory clay factories, brickyards, sugar factories and iron and steel mills. They were also used for pulling canal barges, transporting military materiel and personnel and removing materials from large-scale building sites and the rubble from ruined cities after the Second World War. Rail gauges were between 400 mm (15+3⁄4 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge .
The track (rails and sleepers) utilised, ranged from light, rail frames that could be carried and laid by two men and were often laid directly on the ground with no trackbed, to properly laid, ballasted lines for heavy loads and extended use. Tight curves enabled lines to be more easily routed, largely without structures being required, even in difficult terrain. Provisional track laid along the edges of ditches as they were being extended forward, often on soft ground, led occasionally to derailments. As a result, on many Feldbahnen, wooden planks and other lifting gear were carried. Turntables were usually operated by hand.
Simple and robust vehicles characterised everyday operations. Locomotives were not always available, so it was quite common for individual wagons - even when loaded - to be moved with horses or by human muscle power alone. In tight spaces or where access was difficult, the help of children and youngsters was enlisted to haul tipper wagons.
Frequently rolling stock was hand-built or was manufactured to order in small batches. Usually no signals were installed, the low speeds enabling trains to be driven by sight. At level crossings on larger roads, temporary bells or light signals were installed, that enabled trains to cross safely.
In the munitions depots of the German Federal Navy (Bundesmarine), narrow-gauge railways with a rail gauge of 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) were used to move ammunition and materiel. In the depot at Laboe type S 14 (14 kg/m or 28.2 lb/yd) rail profiles were laid and later changed to new S 20 (20 kg/m or 40.3 lb/yd) rails . One type DS 60 locomotive and 18 DIEMA DS 90 locomotives were used. The railway stock there also included a fire fighting train, a snow blower and even a rotary snow plough. Three seated coaches were available for the transport of personnel. The line at Aurich depot was closed in 1982 and last operations in Laboe took place in 1993. Finally, in December 1996, the Laboe railway was closed. Its total track length was 25 km (16 mi). A DS 90 locomotive, no. 9, is still in the depot at Laboe as a memorial.
The use of Feldbahnen declined dramatically in the late 20th century, as their tasks have been taken on by lorries and electrically driven conveyor belts. They are now used only where the ground conditions (e.g. moorland or peat bogs) or lack of space (mining) render the routine use of other means impractical. The Feldbahn is still widely used in Germany in industrial peat extraction, especially in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. In addition they are still used occasionally in brickworks and other industrial premises. As a result, increasing numbers of museums and societies dedicate themselves to the protection of historical Feldbahn railways. This includes efforts in many places to restore closed Feldbahnen again and to give them new life as museum railways.
The War Department Light Railways were a system of narrow gauge trench railways run by the British War Department in World War I. Light railways made an important contribution to the Allied war effort in the First World War, and were used for the supply of ammunition and stores, the transport of troops and the evacuation of the wounded.
The Froissy Dompierre Light Railway is a 600 mm narrow gauge light railway running from Froissy to Dompierre-Becquincourt, through Cappy, in the Somme department, France. It is run as a heritage railway by APPEVA and is also known as P'tit Train de la Haute Somme. It is the last survivor of the 600 mm narrow gauge trench railways of the World War I battlefields.
The Murtalbahn is a 760 mm narrow-gauge railway largely located in the state of Styria in Austria. The line runs along the valley of the River Mur, from the market town of Unzmarkt through Murau to Tamsweg, which is just over the Styrian border in the state of Salzburg. The railway is operated by Steiermärkische Landesbahnen (STLB), which is owned by the state of Styria. With a total length of 76.1 km (47.3 mi), it is the fourth-longest narrow-gauge railway in Austria.
A Heeresfeldbahn is a German or Austrian military field railway. They were field railways (Feldbahnen) designed for the military transportation purposes.
The Burgsittensen Moor Railway is a 600 mm narrow gauge light railway or Feldbahn, which is based on an old peat line near Tiste on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany.
Schöma is a company based in Diepholz, Germany, specialising in the construction of small diesel locomotives.
The first railway in Austria was the narrow-gauge line from Gmunden in the Salzkammergut to Budweis, now in the Czech Republic, this was 1,106 mm gauge. Some two dozen lines were built in 760 mm gauge, a few in 1,000 mmmetre gauge gauge. The first was the Steyrtalbahn. Others were built by provincial governments, some lines are still in common carrier use and a number of others are preservation projects. The tramway network in Innsbruck is also metre gauge; in Linz the rather unusual gauge of 900 mm is in use.
The Imperial Russian narrow railway track gauge was 3 ft 6 in, the current track gauge is predominantly 750 mm. In Soviet Russia, narrow-gauge railways were mostly common in forestry and peat industries in low inhabited places. Usually they have one main line and number of temporary branches. There was commonly a passenger service to villages and towns for workers.
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.
Denmark made extensive use of narrow-gauge railways using a wide variety of gauges.
Numerous industrial narrow-gauge lines were built for peat extraction, clay extraction for brickworks and construction sites. The dominant gauge for industrial lines was 700 mm, contrary to the 600 mm gauge used in neighbouring countries.
Around 1935, Latvian narrow-gauge railways consisted of 536 km of 600 mm gauge, 432 km of 750 mm gauge, and 48 km of meter gauge.
Europe inherited a diversity of rail gauges. Extensive narrow-gauge railway networks exist in Spain, Central Europe and Southeastern Europe.
The Wiesloch Feldbahn and Industrial Museum is a narrow-gauge railway and industrial heritage open-air museum established in 2001, at Wiesloch, Germany. The museum is centred around the former locomotive shed of the Tonwaren-Industrie Wiesloch (TIW) brickworks, and houses industrial equipment from large excavators to small machine tools, plus large and small locomotives.
The Riedlhütte narrow-gauge railway is a not for profit light railway in Sankt Oswald-Riedlhütte in the Bayerischer Wald.
Tonwaren-Industrie Wiesloch was a brickworks which existed in Wiesloch, Germany between 1895 and 1989. It was one of the largest and most significant factories in Germany. The factory was located just north of Wiesloch-Walldorf station and was the largest employer in Wiesloch.
H0f gauge, occasional as H0i gauge designated, is a rail transport modelling scale representing Feldbahn-style 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways using 1:87 HO scale running on Z gauge 6.5-millimetre (0.26 in) track. The Normen Europäischer Modellbahnen NEM 010 specification defines H0f for modelling gauges 400–650 millimetres (16–26 in), as part of the 1:87-scale family that includes narrow-gauge railway models using H0e gauge and metre-gauge railway models using H0m gauge.
The light railway of the Ryttaren Peat Factory is a 3.5 kilometres (2 mi) long narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 600 mm near Kättilstorp in Falköping Municipality in Västergötland in western Sweden, which is still operated as a heritage railway. Since 2012, the former factory has been protected as an industrial monument (Byggnadsminne) in accordance with the provisions of the Swedish Cultural Heritage Act.
The Iwanowo light railway was an approximately 170 km (110 mi) long military light railway with a track gauge of 600 mm from Ivatsevichy via Iwanowo to Kamin-Kashyrskyi with two branch lines to the area west of Pinsk.
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