The narrow-gauge railways in Saxony were once the largest single-operator narrow-gauge railway network in Germany. In Saxony, the network peaked shortly after World War I with over 500 km (311 mi) of tracks. At first, it was primarily created to connect the small towns and villages in Saxony – which had formed a viable industry in the 19th century – to already established standard-gauge railways. But even shortly after 1900, some of the railways would become important for tourism in the area.
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 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.
Siegburg/Bonn station, in the town of Siegburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line and the Sieg Railway. It was rebuilt for the high-speed line and is connected to Bonn by the Siegburg line of the Bonn Stadtbahn. It is in the network area of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg.
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 Prussian Class P 8 of the Prussian state railways was a 4-6-0 steam locomotive built from 1906 to 1923 by the Berliner Maschinenbau and twelve other German factories. The design was created by Robert Garbe. It was intended as a successor to the Prussian P 6, which was regarded as unsatisfactory.
The German Railway History Company or DGEG is a society concerned with the history of the railways. The objectives of the society are:
The Uerdingen railbus is the common term for the multiple units which were developed by the German firm of Waggonfabrik Uerdingen for the Deutsche Bundesbahn and private railways after the Second World War. These vehicles were diesel-powered, twin-axle railbuses of light construction. The diesel motors were built into the chassis underneath the vehicle. The VT 95 and VT 98 of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn in particular, are associated with this concept. These vehicles were employed in passenger train duties on branch lines where steam or diesel train operations were less profitable. Including the units built under licence, a total of 1,492 power cars were built from 1950 to 1971; and the total number of units, including trailer and driving cars, was 3,306.
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 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 Mosbach–Mudau engines Nos. 1 to 4 were six-wheeled, narrow gauge, tank locomotives designed for the metre gauge line from Mosbach to Mudau.
The Busenbach–Ittersbach railway is a line in the northern Black Forest in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The mostly single-track and continuously electrified line branches in Waldbronn-Busenbach from the Alb Valley Railway —with which it is closely linked operationally and historically—and runs as a branch line to Ittersbach. The Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft is responsible for the railway infrastructure and is the only company operating on the 14.4 kilometre-long line. Originally the Busenbach–Ittersbach railway was operated together with the Ittersbach to Pforzheim line, which later became the Pforzheim Light Railway. The whole line from Busenbach to Pforzheim was initially built to 1,000 mmmetre gauge, later the section from Busenbach to Ittersbach was rebuilt to 1,435 mmstandard gauge and the Pforzheim Light Railway was closed. The line has been operated as part of line S 11 of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn since 1994.
The Bröl Valley Railway was the first public narrow gauge railway in Germany and had a track gauge of 785 mm. It was the heart of a railway company, which from 1925 also ran bus services and from 1956 its passenger services only ran by road. Goods trains continued to run until 1967, when the remaining trackage was 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 Waldeisenbahn Muskau is a 600 mm narrow gauge railway connecting Kromlau, Weißwasser and Bad Muskau in Saxony, Germany. It is the longest 600 mm gauge heritage railway in Germany, with a track length of 20 km (12 mi).
