Borkumer Kleinbahn
| Borkumer Kleinbahn Borkum narrow-gauge railway | |
|---|---|
 A diesel locomotive hauled train in May 2012 | |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 7.4 km (5 mi) |
| Number of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) |
The Borkumer Kleinbahn is a 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) narrow gauge railway on the German island of Borkum in the North Sea. It is the oldest island railway (German: Inselbahn) in Germany, beginning operation in 1888.[1]
Line[edit]
The 7.5 km (5 mi) long line connects the port with the town of Borkum.[1] It is double tracked since the early 20th century.[2]
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A map of the island showing the railway line
History[edit]
In 1879, tracks for a horse-drawn railway line were laid for the construction of a new lighthouse. The tracks were converted for locomotive-hauled trains about 10 years later,[2] and the line opened in 1888 as a successor of the horsedrawn line.[3] The network reached its peak length in 1938,[2] with a track length of about 45 km (28 mi).[1] The line celebrated its 125th anniversary on June 15, 2013.[4]
Rolling stock[edit]
The fleet consists of multiple passenger cars, diesel locomotives, steam locomotives and a Wismar railbus, which was built in 1940.[1] A steam locomotive from the Bäderbahn Molli is scheduled to run on the line in summer 2019.[5] Both Bäderbahn Molli and the Borkumer Kleinbahn have the same 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) track gauge.[6]
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The Wismar railbus in June 2009 -
Steam engine Borkum in August 2015
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Borkum: Am Anleger wartet die Kleinbahn" [Borkum: The light railway is waiting at the pier]. ndr.de (in German). Norddeutscher Rundfunk. March 26, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ a b c Funck, Nicole; Narten, Michael; Hanewald, Roland (2017). Reise Know-How Borkum [Travel know-how Borkum] (in German) (11th ed.). Reise Know-How Verlag Peter Rump GmbH. pp. 74, 75. ISBN 978-3-8317-4161-8.
- ^ Museumsbahnen: 250 historische Eisenbahnstrecken in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz [Museum railways: 250 historical railway lines in Germany, Austria and Switzerland] (in German). Bassermann Verlag. 2012. p. 59. ISBN 978-3-641-68964-3.
- ^ "Großer Bahnhof zum Jubiläum der Borkumer Kleinbahn" [Anniversary of the Borkumer Kleinbahn]. focus.de (in German). FOCUS Online. June 12, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ "Molli-Lokomotive zum Urlaubsdienst nach Borkum" [Molli locomotive on vacation service to Borkum]. ostsee-zeitung.de (in German). OSTSEE-ZEITUNG GmbH & Co. KG. December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
- ^ "Nostalgische Dampflok von der Ostsee macht Urlaub auf Borkum" [Nostalgic steam locomotive from the Baltic Sea goes on vacation on Borkum]. welt.de (in German). Axel Springer SE. December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
External links[edit]
- Official website (in German)
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