Mansfeld Mining Railway

Under the name of the Mansfeld mining railway (MBB ) is operated on a part of the once extensive network of mine railway in the Mansfeld region, a steam-operated railway museum. She has the track width 750 mm.

History

Beginnings in the 19th century

After centuries of ore (copper shale) had been promoted from the mines and small enclosures to the focal spots and cabins with carts, pushed one end of the 19th century with the opening of larger shafts and the opening of the jug hut in Eisleben to the limits. It was therefore decided in 1886 to build a " locomotive conveyance path ". Due to the hilly terrain, it was decided ( mainly because of lower technical and financial expenses ) to build a narrow gauge railway with 750 mm track width. On November 15, 1880, the Mansfeld mining railway opened its operation to transport ore, coal, coke and other materials. First, a 4.5 km long route between the happiness auxiliary shaft in Welfesholz and the copper chamber hut was opened in Hettstedt. It quickly became apparent that the railway transport brought significant financial benefits. Therefore, the route network in the years 1882-1886 has been developed systematically. Backbone of the network was the 24 km long stretch of Eisleben to Hettstedt. She started on the pitcher hut in Eisleben and then went (later renamed Klostermann field) over Ernst Schacht and Hövel inch bay for Mansfeld station. From there we went over Leimbach, God reward huts, copper Kammerhütte for carbon Station Hettstedt. In this main line, only the immediately nearby wells were connected.

Extension

In the years 1898-1906 the new open-minded trunks such as circle - pit, the Niewandt bays and the Paul- shaft were connected. In the 25th year of existence, the railway network had grown to 48 km, addition there were 26 km connection and branch lines. Parallel to the construction of the mine's train special narrow-gauge railway stations were built on the state railway Mansfeld and Hettstedt. Their tracks were 6.5 m lower than that of the standard gauge railway, so that transhipment of bulk materials was carried out by tilting the standard gauge wagons. Other goods such as machine parts or mine timber was loaded onto adjacent tracks, as well as the coming of the huts cinder blocks. By connecting the pitcher hut in Eisleben (1901 ) and the copper-silver smelter in Hettstedt (1914 ) to the standard gauge network lost the Umladebahnhöfe much of their meaning. In addition to the material transport, the train was also used for passenger transport. 1906 had the mine train over 26 locomotives, 705 wagons ( 2-6 t payload ) and 30 passenger cars with 1,100 seats; the staff consisted of 401 employees. This year, tons of cargo and about 780,000 people were transported over 980,000.

Further expansion

The next expansion of the route network to 95 km was carried out in the years 1913-1924, when the United shafts Vitzthum Bay and Wolf Bay were connected. The route network from this period shows the picture. A major innovation was the introduction of the rolling operation in 1932. Here, the goods have not been reloaded, but the standard gauge cars were completely ascended to a specific narrow-gauge cars ( " piggyback " ) and transported. A planned further modernization could not be implemented because of the Second World War. It was not until the early 1950s was the rolling stock to be replaced, 8 steam locomotives ( 1951-1954 ) and 8 diesel locomotives ( 1959-1962 ) and new people and larger carts were purchased. Nevertheless, the operation was uneconomic because the net transport performance was unsatisfactory because of the high empty weight of the standard gauge cars. The transport capacity was increased, on weekdays tons of ore 1500 t metallurgical intermediates and 80 to 120 standard gauge freight cars were transported 6000. At peak times perverse up to 52 passenger trains a day, and mastered the majority of commuter traffic, but this was converted to bus operation in 1960.

Dismantling and decommissioning

The exhaustion of the deposit in the Mansfeld basin and the shift in the Sangerhäuser depression led to significant changes. Thus, the primary smelter was connected in Helbra to the standard gauge network, so that the rolling operation was virtually ceased on 1 November 1961. Until 1969, gradually all bays included in the Mansfeld; the route length shrank to 20 kilometers. With the setting of the copper shale mining and smelting and the liquidation of the VEB Mansfeld Kombinat Wilhelm Pieck Eilsleben ends the story of the Mansfeld mining railway in control mode.

Railway Workshop Klostermansfeld

Already in 1882 a railway workshop was built at Mansfeld station. It was used for maintenance of cars and locomotives. For a long time all had to work with high physical effort be carried out only in the 1950s was followed by a modernization, especially after the introduction of diesel locomotives. The workshop activities required high technical skills, so that a tribe of skilled craftsmen could train. This fact has enabled the survival of the workshop after the end of mining and smelting. By a " management buyout " was in 1991 from the railway workshop of VEB Mansfeld Kombinat Wilhelm Pieck Eilsleben the Mansfeld locomotive and wagon railway workshop Mansfeld GmbH ( Klostermansfeld ), now MaLoWa railway workshop GmbH in Benndorf. MaLoWa specializes in repairs of steam and diesel locomotives and passenger and freight cars of all track widths, which are operated by eg museum railway clubs on.

Museum operations

In 1991, railway enthusiasts joined the club Mansfeld mining railway eV (MBB eV) together. Thanks to the club vehicles and a piece of the route network were obtained. Right next to the Klostermansfeld DB station, the association operates its own railway station, which is called to distinguish Benndorf. In 1994 the club bought 11.8 km of track and since then take care of the receipt of 7 bridges and 17 level crossings. The association has its seat in the station building of Klostermansfeld. The district of Mansfeld- Suedharz supports the activities, the company commits itself to the mining traditions of the land. With funding from the EU, the former station restaurant has been remodeled and is available for events.

Rolling stock

• Lok 9, Orenstein & Koppel 1931
• Lok 10, Orenstein & Koppel 1936
• Lok 11, Orenstein & Koppel 1939
• Lok 20II, LKM Babelsberg 1951

• Lok 31, LKM Babelsberg 1961
• Lok 33, LKM Babelsberg 1962
• Lok 35, LKM Babelsberg 1962
• Lok 36 LKM Babelsberg 1961

• Lok 7, Orenstein & Koppel 1931 - Rügensche Bäderbahn than 99 4011-5
• Lok 8, Orenstein & Koppel 1931 - Mansfeld Museum