Grafenwalde - eine kleinbahn

 

 The why and wherefore

 

The blog is about the restoration of an earlier version of Grafenwalde  that was sold and later abandoned by its new owner however some of the buildings were subsequently discovered and returned for some TLC.

It began as a small fictitious location in Southern Thuringia, it is merely an amalgam of features of existing locations in the area, in short, a plausible fiction.

 

A map of Thuringia

 

Carlsfeld 1960

Grafenwalde - a plausible fiction

 

The plausible fiction

The layout is based upon a once private Kleinbahn, the KRG, (Rennsteig - Grafenwalde Kleinbahn), a short line, in this case only 4.9 km (3 miles), it was a normal gauge line that was served by tiny trains and lasted from 1912 to 1965. The railway had to meet the transport needs of the predominantly rural structure of the area. The main transports were agricultural produce, livestock, fertilisers, coal and building materials.

The railcar shown below was employed until WW2, although a 0-4-0 tank loco with road number 5 plus passenger cars and goods cars was also employed. This loco was supplemented by one obtained from the Kleinbahn Neuhaldensleben–Weferlingen former roadbed is accessible today as a Wanderweg 

 

The railway survived the Second World War without any damage. The diesel railcar was seized by the military government, so that all trains were driven by steam again. The railway was intended for dismantling with many other lines, but this could be prevented. In 1949, the railway was nationalized and the operation was taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn. 

In the early 1950s, tourism in Thuringia increased sharply. In 1952, continuous express trains from Berlin were led to Grafenwalde for the first time. In Rennsteig, the train consisting of four express train cars was split. Three cars continued to ran to Schmiedefeld, the other three were transported from one to Grafenwalde. In 1960, the last of the small steam locos was retired due to a cylinder damage and replaced by a diesel locomotive of the V15 series that ran until the closure.

 

A short film of the the Rennsteig

Tiny trains

 

The locos represent those that may have been used on a quiet rural line in the 50s.

 

 

 

Small trains

Small diesels - these replaced the smallest steam locos after the track had been upgraded for heavier locos.

 

 

 

 

 

V15

 

 

V36

 

BR78

BR94

 The VT135 was replaced by a redundant BR195 trailer

 

 

 

The V36 also used in the '60s

 

 

 

Various VB (trailer cars) were repurposed as ordinary coaches

 

 

BCPwPost4i

 The BCPwPost4i 

 

 

 

In 1913, the Rennsteig-Frauenwald Kleinbahn (KRF) was opened. From 1912 onwards, the Gottfried Lindner A.G. wagon factory in Ammendorf near Halle (which later became the well-known VEB Waggonbau Ammendorf) supplied several narrow-gauge railways with four-axle combined passenger, mail, and baggage coaches with eight upholstered 2nd-class seats and 40 wooden 3rd-class seats. The first of these coaches was delivered to the Rennsteig-Frauenwald Kleinbahn (KRF), and another went to the Obereichsfelder Silberhausen-Hüpstedt Kleinbahn (OEK), which opened around the same time. Two more coaches were delivered to the Kyffhäuser Kleinbahn (Artern-Berga-Kelbra) around 1916. These were equipped with toilets due to the significantly longer route. The Genthin Kleinbahn also received a coach of this type. From the 2nd-class compartment, passengers could access the luggage compartment via a side corridor past the mail compartment, and from there into the seating and cargo compartments. The mail and luggage compartments had sliding doors on both sides. The carriages had a steel undercarriage. A wooden car body rested on this, clad in sheet metal on the outside. Heating was provided by steam from the locomotive, and the mail compartment also had a stove with a smoke vent on the roof. Originally, the carriage had vacuum brakes and was lit by kerosene. Thus, the carriage combined everything necessary under one roof. 

 

In the 1930s, the KRF had its carriage converted to electric lighting; a little later, the vacuum brakes were replaced by compressed air brakes. Thus, the KRF carriage survived World War II and was taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) in 1949. Shortly thereafter, the carriage underwent fundamental modifications: the previously open platforms were replaced by closed ones, and the mail compartment and the luggage compartment were combined. The shortage of materials during those years is likely due to the fact that only one revolving door was installed on the side where the platform was in Allzuhah, and two of different widths on the other side. 

 

Thus, the car remained in use on its home line until the end of the 1950s. Around 1960, it is said to have been "transferred" to the (Meiningen-) Rentwertshausen - Römhild line. Its further whereabouts are unknown. The OEK car was converted to a pure passenger car, but retained its open platforms. In this form, it is being gradually "rebuilt" to its original form by the Friends of the Halle-Hettstedt Railway to commemorate the now-vanished Ammendorf vehicle-building tradition.

 

Another description

 

BCPwPost4i were four-axle passenger coaches, independently developed by the G. Lindner wagon factory in Halle/Saale. They were used by several provincial Saxon Kleinbahns, such as the Rennsteig-Frauenwald Kleinbahn. These vehicles were capable of handling the entire traffic volume of the Kleinbahns equipped with them. They had open platforms on both sides. The Kyffhäuser Kleinbahn also acquired similar vehicles in 1915, two of which were used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn during the course of nationalization, initially with the running numbers 99151Erf and 99152 Erf, later 210-404 and 210-405. In 1960, one such coach was seen at Leipzig Central Station, being transported to its home station after being repaired. At that time, the open platforms were fitted with a protective wall extending up to the roof, including a door to the transition facility. At [www.verlag-rockstuhl.de], you have to go up and there's a search function where you can type in Laura. The book "From the History of the Rennsteig-Frauenwald Kleinbahn 1913-1965 / The Rennsteig Railway / The Laura" by Günter Fromm appears. The cover of this book shows such a model, pulled by a locomotive. In the book, Knipping, Andreas; Quill, Klaus-Peter et al.: The "6000 Series" of the German Reichsbahn. Routes and vehicles of the expropriated private and Kleinbahns in the GDR. (EK-Verlag, Freiburg: on page 347, there is a beautiful photo of such a representative, which had a protective wall extending up to the roof, including a door to the transition facility, on the open platforms. Waggonfabrik G. Lindner also produced several such carriages, both in the same and slightly modified form, for Merseburg Kleinbahns. The carriages had a 2nd-class compartment at one end, adjoining a mail and baggage compartment, each with sliding side doors. The other part of the carriage was furnished as a 3rd-class compartment. I hope you enjoy this article. I would be happy to receive any questions, suggestions, additions, criticism, or suggestions for improvement.

 

On the KRF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The model - from Lok Schlosserei

Note the variations

 

The model directly above has the same configuration of double doors as seen in the image of the accident in 02/56

 Handy Links

 

 Construction of a BCPwPost4i of the KRF  You need to use Google translate

Photos of the build

 

 Additional bits needed

 

 OBK coupling (Michael Weinert / H0fine #100)

Flange for the OBK (Michael Weinert / H0fine #112)

Spirit stain (H0fine #400) Basswood strips (H0fine #605)

Signal holder (Weinert 8265)

Suction air hoses (Weinert 8285)

Grab bar holder (Weinert 8465)

Spring buffer, double-slotted (Weinert 8608)

Handbrake crank (Weinert 9267)

0.3 mm brass wire (Weinert 9300)

0.3 mm nickel silver wire (Weinert 9309)

The farm

 The small farm comprises of 95,5 hectares of land, a low house and a small yard separated by a railway line.

The farm buildings include a Wills SS30 barn kit that has been improved with a layer of Polyfilla fine surface render.

 

 

Just a couple of scenes in the farmyard, the farm is a tiny dairy unit, just three working buildings around a courtyard.

 

 

 

 

The 'futtersilo' a must-have on any farm from Epoch 2 onwards but this is the actual reason why there is a silo

 

Hunting for Frogs

The earth cellar. 

Whilst looking around an old farm we found an odd feature found beside the farmhouse, it was a small stone hut built into the side of the hill. It was the entrance to a cold store or 'Erdkeller' for the 18th century farm, although farmhouse had a basement it also had a separate earth cellar. 

In terms of room height and shape, it penetrates far less deeply into the ground, only two steps lead down to the brick entrance. The quarry stone vault of the cellar is also completely covered with soil and potatoes are stored here over the winter - dark, cool, but frost-free.

There were a couple of other similar garden cellars in the village, one was not built into the side of a hill, instead merely cut into the farm garden and covered with the displaced soil.