GERMAN NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS
This purpose of this page is to compile a comprehensive list of German narrow-gauge railways. While several excellent books on the subject have been published in German, there is little available in English.
In addition, researching railway lines on the internet can be difficult if you don't know something about the line in advance. The information provided will be basic: name(s), route, mileage and disposition. This will give you a starting point for those who'd like to learn more about a particular line. Wikipedia in particular, has a wealth of information on individual railway lines.
STATE OF SACHSEN (SAXONY)
The Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahn (Royal Saxony State Railway) constructed a large number of 750mm guage branch lines totaling 511 kilometers. This included a network of connected lines west of Dresden that grew to 229 kilometers, the largest narrow-guage network in Germany. In 1896, the Klotsche-Königsbrück line was converted to standard guage. In 1906, the Zittau-Oybin-Jonsdorf Eisenbahn was absorbed into the Saxony State Railway.
The Saxon State Railways were absorbed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft in 1920, inheriting 511 kilometers of 750mm gauge lines. The DRG added 24 kilometers to the total by opening the Klingenberg Colmnitz-Oberdittmansdorf line and extending the Heidenau-Geising line to Altenburg. The narrow guage system stayed largely unchanged between the world wars. However, the DRG converted the Heidenau-Altenburg to line standard-guage in 1938, and discontinued passenger service on the Mosel-Ortmannsdorf line in 1939. After World War II, Saxony was occupied by the Soviet army who dismantled the Taubenheim-Dürhennersdorf and Herrnhut-Bernstadt lines as war reparations in 1945. In addition, the Zittau-Hermsdorf line was closed as it crossed the newly established Polish border. Operations ceased on the Polish section in 1961.
On October 7th, 1949 that part of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany became a state-owned railrway, inheriting 454 kilometers of Saxon 750mm line. In 1951, the Mosel-Ortmannsdorf, Eppendorf-Grosswaltersdorf and Goßdorf Kohlmühle-Hohnstein lines were dismantled to provide track material for construction of the Berlin outer ring railway line. Lack of maintenance and loss of traffic took its toll, and in 1964 the Deutsche Reichsbahn adoped a policy of “Verkehrsträgerwechsel”, which called for replacing uneconomical rail lines with trucks and busses. While this included most narrow-guage railway lines, eight lines in areas popular with tourists were to be retained for historic preservation. This included four Saxon lines: Freital Hainsberg-Kurort Kipsdorf , Radebeuel-Radeburg, Cranzahl-Oberweisenthal and Zittau-Oybin/Johnsdort. In addition, the Mügeln-Nebitzschen-Kroptewitz line remained to haul kaolin until 2001. The chart below a complete listing of Saxon State Railway narrow guage lines. It includes the year the line first opened, last date of passenger service and the final year of freight service. The numbers on the right are the timetable numbers from various Kursbücher.
On January 1st 1994, the Deutsche Reichsbahn became part of Deutsche Bahn, which decided to divest itself of its narrow guage railways. All five existing lines were transferred to private interests and remain in operation to this day. In addition, three museum lines have restored service on abandoned lines for a total of 107 kilometers of active line.
SÄCHSISCHE DAMPFEISENBAHNGESELLSCHAFT, (FICHTELBERGBAHN)
Cranzahl-Oberweisenthal, 17.4 km, Daily steam
SÄCHSISCHE DAMPFEISENBAHNGESELLSCHAFT, (WEIßERITZTALBAHN)
Freital Hainsberg-Kurort Kipsdorf, 26.1 km, Daily steam
SÄCHSISCHE DAMPFEISENBAHNGESELLSCHAFT, (LÖßNITZGRUNDBAHN)
16.6 Radebeuel-Radeburg, 16.6 Km, Daily steam
ZITTAUER SCHMALSPURBAHN
Zittau-Bertsdorf-Oybin/Jonsdorf, 16.0 km, Daily steam
DÖLLNITZBAHN
Oschatz-Mügeln-Nebitzschen-Glossen/Kemmlitz, 18.7 km, Occasional steam, diesel trains on school days
MUSEUMSBAHN STEINBACH-JÖSTADT (PREßNITZTALBAHN)
Steinbach-Jöhstadt, 8.0 km, Occasional steam
MUSEUMSBAHN SCHÖNHEIDE e V
Stützengrün Hp-Schönheide Mitte, 3.3 Km, Occasional steam
VEREIN SCWHARZBACHBAHN e. V.
Lohsdorf-Gleisende, 1.3 km, occasional steam
STATE OF SACHSEN-ANHALT
HARZER SCHMALSPURBAHNEN
The Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (HSB) operates a 140 kilometer network of 1000mm lines in the Harz Mountains. Visiting it is a must for fans of steam locomotives or narrow-guage trains. It operates daily steam trains, diesel railcars and dual-power streetcars in Nordhausen. It was originally part of a 168 kilometer network of three meter-guage railroads in the Harz Mountains that operated in Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen and Niedersachsen. Capsule histories of the three lines are outlined below.
NORDHAUSEN-WERNIGERODER EISENBAHN (HARZQUERBAHN & BROKENBAHN)
The Nordhausen-Wernigeroder Eisenbahn (NWE) constructed a 60,5 kilometer meter-guage line between its namesake cities, as well as a 18,9 kilometer branch from Drei Annen Hohne to Broken, the highest elevation in the Harz mountains. Construction began in September of 1896, with the first train reaching Broken on October 4th, 1898 with the main line completed in March of 1899.
The line suffered significant damage in World War II; while the main line was re-opened in October of 1945, the branch to Broken remained closed until May 15th, 1949. The line became part of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) on April 1st, 1949. The DR built new steam locomotives in the fifties and upgraded the right-of-way to allow standard guage freight cars on rollwagen by 1964. As part of their program to secure their borders, the East German Government closed the line between Schierke and Broken to the public on August 13th, 1961. The line continued to serve the East German and Soviet military facility in Broken until German reunification. A small section of the line crossed into West Germany near Broken, so trains had to negotiate a series of gates and walls. Scheduled passenger trains returned to Broken on May 31st, 1992, and the line was transferred to Harzer Schmalspurbahnen on February 1st, 1993.
GERNRODE-HARZGERODER EISENBAHN (SELKETALBAHN)
The Gernrode-Harzgeroder Eisenbahn (GHE) began construction of a 17.5 kilometer meter-guage line between its namesake cities in September 1886, with the first train arriving in Harzgerode on August 1st, 1888. The line was gradually extended 26 kilometers from Alexisbad to Hasselfelde opening on May 1st, 1892. An 8.6 kilometer extension between Stiege and Eisfelder Talmühle opened on July 15th, 1905, providing a connection to the NWE.
In 1946, the Soviets dismantled 38.6 kilometers of the line between Gernrode, Harzgerode and Stiege as war reparations. The NWE assumed operation of the remaining 13,5 kilometers between Hasselfelde and Eisfelder Talmühle. The NWE was absorbed by the Deursche Reichsbahn (DR) on April 1st, 1949. By July 1950, The DR had managed to scrounge enough material to reopen 24.8 kilometers of the line between Gernrode, Harzgerode and Lindenberg. Finally, the last 13.8 Kilometer gap between Lindenberg and Stiege was replaced, with the first passenger train running on June 3rd, 1984.
The line was transferred to Harzer Schmalspurbahnen on February 1st, 1993. In 2004, Deutsche Bahn closed the standard guage lines connecting the HSB to the national network at Gernrode. The HSB acquired the 8.8 kilometer right-of-way between Gernrode and Quedlinburg, rebuilt it to meter guage, and began regular service on June 26, 2006.
SÜDHARZ EISENBAHN
The meter guage Südharz Eisenbahn (SE) opened its 24.3 kilometer line between Walkenried and Braunlage on August 15th, 1899. On August 24th, an 8.3 kilometer branch was opened, extending from Brunnenbachsmühle to Iron Mines Tanne which crossed the NWE at Sorge. After World War II, the SE ended up on both sides of the Iron Curtain and the branch was closed between Brunnenbachsmühle and Sorge. The NWE assumed freight operation on the 3,2 kilometers of line between Sorge and Tanne, which continued until 1958. On the western side of the Iron Curtain, the line between Walkenried and Braunlage remained open, but loss of traffic from the mines at Tanne took its toll. The last passenger train ran on September 30th 1962, and the line was closed completely on July 31st, 1963.