Franconian Forest Railway

The Franconian Forest Railway (German: Frankenwaldbahn), route no. KBS 840, is an 88 kilometre long, electrified, double-tracked main line from Lichtenfels via Kronach to Saalfeld. It is part of the Munich–Nuremberg–Bam­berg–Jena–Halle/Leipzig–Berlin trunk route. It was completed in October 1885.

Franconian Forest Railway
Trogenbach Bridge Ludwigsstadt, a Class 151 banking locomotive returning to Probstzella
Overview
Native name	Frankenwaldbahn
Locale	Bavaria, Thuringia, Germany
Line number	5100, 5010, 6383, 6340, 3800
Technical
Line length	88 km (55 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	300 m (984 ft)
Electrification	15 kV/16.7 Hz AC catenary
Maximum incline	2.9%
Route number	840, 841
Route map Bamberg–Hof railway from Bamberg 31.90 Lichtenfels see Bamberg–Hof railway 40.20 0.00 Hochstadt-Marktzeuln to Hof (Bamberg–Hof railway) Main Bridge 3.50 Redwitz 7.24 Oberlangenstadt 9.00 Küps Neuses–Weißenbrunn railway from Weißenbrunn 12.70 Neuses bei Kronach Rodach Valley Railway from Nordhalben 15.44 Kronach 305 m above NN 20.30 Gundelsdorf Sonneberg–Stockheim railway from Sonneberg 23.67 Stockheim 343 m above NN Pressig-Rothenkirchen–Tettau railway from Tettau 29.22 Pressig-Rothenkirchen 376 m above NN 35.12 Förtschendorf 455 m above NN 41.44 Steinbach am Wald 594 m above NN Ludwigsstadt–Lehesten railway from Lehesten Trogenbach Bridge (200 m) 47.61 Ludwigsstadt 457 m above NN Taugwitz Valley Bridge (56 m) 50.56 Lauenstein 410 m above NN 52.80 Falkenstein 375 m above NN 52,91 166,66 Bavarian–Thuringian border 164.99 Probstzella 365 m above NN Sonneberg–Probstzella railway to Ernstthal Link line from Ernstthal 160.96 Marktgölitz 310 m above NN 155.76 Unterloquitz 280 m above NN from Blankenstein 152.08 Hockeroda 258 m above NN 149.85 Kaulsdorf 229 m above NN until 1954 Eichicht (Saale) 145.81 Breternitz 216 m above NN Saale Bridge Breternitz (114 m) 140.01 Saalfeld (Saale) 211 m above NN Arnstadt–Saalfeld railway to Arnstadt Saal Railway to Großheringen Leipzig–Probstzella railway to Leipzig Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Franconian Forest line branches off from the Ludwig South-North Railway at Marktzeuln. Climbing the ramps from Pressig-Rothenkirchen and Probstzella to Steinbach am Wald the line ascends the heights of the Franconian Forest (Frankenwald). The ramps have a maximum incline of 29 ‰ and, even today, heavy goods trains require an additional banking locomotive at the front or rear of the train.

Route

The Franconian Forest Railway leaves the Ludwig South-North Railway, which runs through the Main Valley from Bamberg to Kulmbach, at Marktzeuln and heads into the Rodach Valley to Kronach. From there it switches to the valley of the Haßlach and follows it, getting ever narrower and steeper, to Pressig and onto the watershed between the Rhine and Elbe basins in Steinbach am Wald. Here the line reaches its highest point at 594.54 m above NN and crosses the Rennsteig in a cutting. It immediately begins its descent on the left hand side of the valley towards Ludwigsstadt, where it reaches the Loquitz. After passing the old halt of Lauenstein the line traverses the foothills of the Thuringian Slate Mountains on the left bank of the narrow river valley reaching Probstzella shortly after crossing the Bavarian-Thuringian border. Next the line follows the bends of the River Loquitz, as the valley widens, until the point where the river discharges into the Saale at Kaulsdorf. The railway accompanies the River Saale on the remaining ten kilometres to Saalfeld, crossing it once beyond Breternitz. Parallel to the railway line runs the B 173 main road from Lichtenfels to Kronach and the B85 from Kronach to Saalfeld.

References

Footnotes

1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland [German railway atlas]. Schweers + Wall. 2009. pp. 68, 80, 81. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

Sources

• Manfred Knappe, ed. (1985). "100 Jahre Frankenwaldbahn". Eisenbahn-Journal (in German). Fürstenfeldbruck: Hermann Merker Verlag (special edition III/85). ISSN 0720-051X.
• Ulrich Rockelmann, Thomas Naumann (1997). Die Frankenwaldbahn. Die Geschichte der Steilrampe über den Frankenwald (in German). Freiburg: EK-Verlag. ISBN 3-88255-581-5.