Sulz Valley Railway

The railway line Neumarkt- Unterdietfurt was a local railway line between Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz and Unterdietfurt at the Altmühltherme. It ran from Neumarkt south along the Sulz, which earned her the name Sulztalbahn, and largely parallel to the Ludwig-Danube- Main Canal to Beilngries and from there along the Altmühltherme to Dietfurt.

History

In the main line Neumarkt- Nuremberg in 1871 and soon subsequent extension to Regensburg in 1873 completed already had plans also to connect the municipalities between Neumarkt and Eichstätt on the railway. Different variations were discussed, including routes to Breitenbrunn and Kelheim, but were soon discarded. In 1886, the plans have been clarified and the building of a distance Neumarkt- Beilngries Unterdietfurt at the Altmühltherme was started. In Greißelbach a route to Frey city should branch off in Beilngries the route should meet the Altmühltal track of Eichstätt Bahnhof.

On 1 June 1888, the section Neumarkt- Beilngries could, together with the branch line Greißelbach -Frey City (popularly called " Lerzerbahn " ) are opened the extension to Dietfurt at the Altmühltherme was released on September 11, 1909. First, the distance recorded in both freight and passenger great success, they also entered into direct competition with the parallel Ludwig Canal and eventually also contributed to the economic decline. With increase of motorized individual but their existence was soon threatened. On 31 July 1966, the passenger on the Unterdietfurt - Beilngries section was set on May 26, 1967 This section was shut down and dismantled in 1968.

With the construction of the new Main -Danube Canal between Bamberg and Kelheim the end of the railway line Neumarkt- Unterdietfurt was heralded final: the track was, especially with the station Beilngries, the major project in the way. On September 25, 1987 reversed the last passenger train between Neumarkt and Beilngries, freight trains in the section Greißelbach - Beilngries until 29 July 1989. Between August 28 1989 and 30 November 1989, the line was cut by the south of the station Greißelbach, only the portion Neumarkt- Greißelbach remained temporarily as a side track in operation. By October 31, 1991, this rest of the branch line was shut down and the tracks stripped down about 5.5 km operational. The remaining track was downgraded to a station siding and built the siding company Max Bögl. During the construction of the port, the accident-prone Fischerhäusl curve of the B 299 was defused and created a new northern access road to the work ( Goal 3). On 1 January 2005, the siding of the company Max Bögl was taken. Since then, the cargo volume has increased. The port is served daily. Since 2011, the Tchibo central warehouse in Neumarkt is supplied via the siding with containers, which are transported from there by truck.

Route description

The route leaves the Neumarkt station in the south and crosses first the Ingolstadt road. Then leads you through the industrial area south where there is a network connection to Pfleiderer AG, and past the hare heath district. Here she is leaving the city Neumarkt and performs the Miss Wood. Then Sengenthal is reached, where a former breakpoint is still present with bulk platform. The nearby pub, where once there was a waiting room for passengers, is now canceled. The route also follows the former B 299 to the commercial area Schlierferheide where the track now runs in 5.8 km in the work Sengenthal (Gate 3) of the Max Bögl GmbH. The actual distance further towards Beilngries is removed from here.

Originally, there was another railroad crossing on the B 299, the route then ran along the main road until shortly before Greißelbach where they again crossed the main road and also the Ludwig Canal and then reached the old station Greißelbach. The station building and ancillary buildings is restored. A former railway land in Greißelbach now serves the owner, the group Bögl, as an innovation center where proprietary infrastructure products are displayed: Different systems of slab track, a segment of a high-speed switch, a Transrapid guideway beams and recently even a tubbing ring. Exhibited here are a pull portion of the Transrapid TR 07, who originally turned on the test track in Emsland his rounds and, since May 29, 2013, the steam locomotive 98 507 (on loan from the city of Ingolstadt ), referred to herein as last series steam locomotive 98.4-5 ( Bavarian D XI) was inserted between Greißelbach and Frey city until 1960 in passenger rail service and is popularly called " Freystädter Bockel ". The Greißelbach station had once three tracks, while track was 2 main track towards Beilngries diverged from track 3, the branch line to Frey city ( Oberpf ) from. The route went further south, crossed again the B 299 and now ran between main road and canal. You now reached Mühlhausen. Then the route waved to the southeast, crossed the old station of Mulhouse ( Sulz ) and led to the Ludwig-Danube- Main Canal, which they now followed in parallel. Shortly before Pollanten the B 299 was crossed a second time, and shortly thereafter reached the stop Pollanten. Canal, railway and national highway ran now directly next to each other and led to the valley of Sulz.

At the entrance of Berching there was the train station with its three tracks. The train station also a rail connection to Flachsröste branched off. The course was here a little way along the ramparts of Berching and continued to follow the Ludwig-Danube- Main Canal.

The route now led by Plankstetten, where there was another bus stop. South of Plankstetten again followed a railroad crossing, the route ran again next federal highway and canal. After Gößelthal was happening - here was the junction Ginter (PA Ginter ) - finally reached the track Beilngries. Here there were two station which the passenger station from 1929 ( the junction station of the branch line to Eichstätt ) and, farther to the freight station from the 1888. These, still exists today, the former station building in the immediate vicinity of the Rhine -Main -Danube Canal, all other railway buildings, including the engine shed were broken in the course of the canal's construction.

The railway line Neumarkt- Unterdietfurt culminated into Altmühltal to the east and followed the valley at the foot of the northern slope. On the northern outskirts of Kottingwörth there was another breakpoint, as in Toeging. The route now swung to the northeast, crossed a second time the Ludwig-Danube- Main Canal and led into the town of Unterdietfurt ( Altmühltherme ), where there was the terminus.

Today's state

Apart from the already described yet in operation 5.8 km long section from Neumarkt station ( Oberpf ) to the plant site, the range has been completely dismantled. In many parts of the course of the railway lines but can still recognize the terrain well. On many sections now run bike trails on the former track bed. Some station buildings from this era are still, as far as it was massive stone buildings and not the wooden Agency buildings, typical of the Bavarian local railways, receive, such as in Greißelbach, Berching and Beilngries. The station building in Greißelbach heard of Max Bögl and was renovated by it for presentations.

In today operated as a siding by Max Bögl remaining piece of the track today runs alongside DB locomotives and the factory switch engine V 60 608 ( former 360 608 the DB). Even people trains ran lately on the old railway line: On 10 October 2010 the steam train of the Franconian Museum Railway Association ( FME), eV is a 2-piece Schienenbusgarnitur as part of a special run of IBSE May 27, 2012 and March 31, 2013 steam locomotive 52 8195 with the museum train the FME as " Easter Express".

At the former breakpoint Sengenthal for some time is a replica of the former station panel.

The anniversary "125 Years Sulztalbahn " was committed on June 2, 2013 steam shuttles on the remaining section of track and a station festival at the former Greißelbach station. In view of this anniversary, the track field received at the factory gates the name " Station Schlierferheide " and it was here a station panel SCHLIERFERHEIDE erected, which was designed based on the previous station panels of Sulztalbahn.