Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company

The Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company (short BME, also: Bergisch- märkische railway company ) belonged to the Cologne -Minden Railway Company and the Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft to the big three ( nominally ) private railway companies, from the middle of the 19th century especially, have the Ruhr and large parts of Westphalia opened up by the railway the Rhineland.

History

Foundation

Bergisch - Märkische Railway Company was founded on October 18, 1843 in Elberfeld (now Wuppertal to ). Since the Cologne -Minden Railway Company had decided at its railway construction for Routing over Duisburg and at a distance through the valley of the Wupper, they wanted to create a rail link in an easterly direction for this highly industrialized area and the Bergische Land, especially for connection to the Brandenburg coal fields near Dortmund. The required Prussian concession was granted on 12 July 1844. A connection to the west of the Rhine had already been completed in 1841, which was founded in 1837 Dusseldorf - Elberfeld Railway Company.

On start-up capital, the Prussian State involved with a quarter, the share of private sector among others a significant Elberfelder Bank. The insufficient profitability of the first track disabled naturally the funding of a further route expansion. There were mismanagement and mismanagement. " Clueless and without any control they had gewirtschaftet. " A government loan could not be repaid in 1849. A solution saw the presidency of the company in 1850 in the application of state aid for a loan of 600,000 thalers at the former Prussian Minister of Finance August von der Heydt ( 1801-1874 ), partner of Bankhaus von der Heydt -Kersten & Sons, Elberfeld, and temporary president the Board of Directors of the Bergisch- Märkischen Railway Company. With the granting of its capital rata share of the Prussian state claimed an involvement with the railway operations of the company in order not to endanger the capital of the state, or by the Prussian Seehandlung capital. The operating lease agreement entered into force on 23 August 1850. Thus, the management of the nominally still private railway company was transferred to the newly established on September 14, 1850 Royal Directorate of Bergisch- Märkischen Railway Company on 15 October 1850.

This changed on March 13, 1854 changed its name to Royal railway management to Elberfeld. Next, one built from the original route, in 1855 by 54 kilometers to the east of Dortmund Unna to Soest and 1857 by 27 kilometers to the west of the Rhine by taking over the Dusseldorf - Elberfeld Railway Company, which required a finance cost of 1.7 million dollars.

Trunk routes

Your first 56 kilometer route ran from Elberfeld to Dortmund Barmen ( Wuppertal since 1929 ), Schwelm, Hagen, weather and Witten. 1849, the track was completed. In the following years the company built in the Ruhr other major and minor routes between Hellweg, the Ruhr and the Rhine. The 1862 opened an east-west connection between Dortmund and Bochum- Witten Langendreer, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr in Duisburg was the economically most profitable. The full development of the Ruhr valley for rail transport through the Ruhr Valley Railway goes back to the Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company.

Influenced, however, the company is through the many acquisitions of smaller railway companies to round out their work area. Your energetic later chairman, the Privy Counselor Daniel von der Heydt, it did not succeed in spite of years of effort to acquire the standing in the possession of the Prussian state Royal Westphalian Railway Company with its network of up to 460 kilometers in length. This initially to Rheine -reaching rail network would have brought the Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company from the grid circuit of the two companies in Hamm closer to the desired access to a German seaport.

The section Rheine -Emden (called " Hanoverian Western Railway " ) was built by the Royal Hanoverian State Railways, but came in 1866 after the annexation of Hanover in State Prussian hand, and one to two years later at the Royal Westphalian Railway Company. Only after nationalization of all private railway companies Prussia, we began to operational merger in the " Royal Railroad Direction Cologne ( right bank ) ."

Expansion

Larger expansions began in 1859 with the construction of the 106 -kilometer Ruhr -Sieg line from Hagen to Siegen at the local mines. The line was opened on 6 August 1861. Its construction cost of 12.9 million dollars.

From 1858 followed across the Ruhr, the Witten - Duisburg railway, whose first section was opened as Duisburg- high fields industrial railway for freight on 19 August 1859. The 52 km long route via Bochum- Langendreer, Steele, Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr, with connections to several coal mines was completed on 1 May 1862. She brought in Steele, the northern connection with the existing since 1847 and 1854, acquired for 1.3 million dollars Steele Vohwinkler Railway ( Prince William Railway ).

In Duisburg was changed because of the better tracks have the station building with the Cologne -Minden Railway Company. This compound quickly became the most profitable line of the company. Together with the Wuppertal main line and in 1867 opened connection Elberfeld- Deutz both now serve the Intercity Express trains of Deutsche Bahn in the metropolitan area Rhein- Ruhr.

Logically was then 1866, the step over the Rhine via rail ferry Ruhrort -Homberg with the aim of connecting with Belgium and the Netherlands by purchasing managed by the Aachen- Dusseldorf - Ruhrorter Railway Company tracks for seven million dollars. Bergisch - Märkische Railway Society established for a complete takeover of railway owned by the state the Prussian state the necessary funds available. In 1870 was after completion of a fixed bridge across the Rhine in Dusseldorf -Hamm - to be opened by the distance from Dusseldorf Neuss - the hammer railway bridge. This created a second connection between the right bank and left bank network.

In addition to many smaller open up routes followed until 1876 an extension to the east, the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway via Arnsberg, Bestwig, Brilon-Wald and Warburg to wood Minden on the Weser. Here the Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company took over on 17 April 1868, the Hessian Northern Railway with its 130 km long stretch of Gerstungen Bebra and Kassel to Karl port at a cost of eight million dollars. Before the war, in 1866 this railway was known as Elector Friedrich -Wilhelms- railway. Left of Rhine, the network was expanded in 1870 with the routes of Reydt - Odenkirchen to Eschweiler - Aue and Düren by 66 kilometers. In the course of the upcoming nationalization, the company took over in 1880, the 78 km comprehensive rail network of the Dutch -Westphalian Railway Gelsenkirchen - Bismarck Dorsten and Borken to Winterswijk in the Netherlands as well as the branch line from Borken to Bocholt.

Opening and acquisition of major routes

Locomotives and cars

The Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company presented a few exceptions at the beginning only three-axle locomotives in service, while it was 1-B- or C -coupled machines.

She started driving in 1848 with 10 locomotives, 22 passenger and 259 freight cars. By 1865 they procured for the rapid rail 10 Crampton locomotives with the wheel arrangement 1-A - 1 and a driving wheel diameter of 1676 mm only because of the mountainous route profile and ten 2-A - coupled machines.

Later, more than 100 aircraft followed with the wheel arrangement 1-B for the express and passenger trains mostly by Borsig, Berlin. With 683 C -coupled locomotives Bergisch- Märkische Railway Company had at its nationalization the largest inventory of all nationalize companies at this time for the freight train traffic.

The cars were two-axle compartment cars. It was only around 1880 made ​​it the first three-axle compartment cars in service.

See also Locomotives of the Bergisch- Märkischen Railway Company.

Nationalization

The law on nationalization of the Bergisch- Märkischen Railway Company was announced on 28 March 1882. At this time the Prussian State already owned 64 percent of the share capital of the Company. The Royal Railroad Direction to Elberfeld took over the management with effect from 1 January 1882.

The Company had at the nationalization of over 768 locomotives and 21,607 wagons. It operated a railway network of 1,336 kilometers in length. Of which 720 km were double track. The financed by government bonds purchase price amounted to 633 847 500 Mark. The company was dissolved on January 1, 1886.