Why and wherefore

The why and wherefore

Maybe a few words about the why rather than the wherefore, the truth is simple, I prefer small scenes with tiny trains. Grafenwalde is merely another generic BLT trackplan slotted into the 4,8 x .75 m space in the workshop, nothing special. 

This is merely a modest collection of DR locos, rolling stock and some buildings on a 4,8m modular layout, whilst the backstory is based on a subtle mix of minor railways of Southern Thuringia that have become Grafenwalde.

 

The supposed location is a terminus at the end of a short 4,5kms spur from Gehren towards Königsee that only reached as far as Grafenwalde due to the topography and funding. Mostly flat to gently rolling slopes, rarely exceeding moderate inclines of 3% to 5% on local connector roads or standard cycle tracks. The trains and services were inspired by Die Laura which ran from Rennsteig to Frauenwalde. 

 

  

The original Grafenwalde, Intermodellbau, Dortmund 2008

The line to Grafenwalde was classed as a Kleinbahn with an initial weight limit of just 12t, which was upgraded in 1917 to 16,8t in order to accommodate the T9.3 that supplemented the line's T3 which pulled a BCPwPosti that Lindner built in 1912 for the line's owners. Link Saalfeld

Buildings

The ‘inspiration’ for the station is built in the style of the SEG Süddeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft AG, common enough in the local area, Arnstadt Ost. On such a small layout there are just a few complete structures, the station group and loco shed.

 

 Archive - Grafenwalde Mk1 at Uckfield click here

Private lines in Southern Thuringia

Prior to ‘49, the SEG owned three Thuringian lines; 

Arnstadt-Ichtershausen Railway

Locos in use on the Itchershausen line painted by Peter Koenig on DSO and 

here

Hohenebra-Ebeleben Railway

Ilmenau-Großbreitenbach Railway

All located in the Soviet occupation zone they were transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn without compensation.

Arnstadt-Ichtershausen Railway

 

Hohenebra-Ebeleben Railway

Ilmenau-Großbreitenbach Railway

The former Kyffhäuser Kleinbahn was a branch line approximately 29 km long in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.It connected the towns of Berga-Kelbra and Artern between 1916 and 1966. 

The railway was operated by the narrow-gauge railway division of the Provincial Association of Saxony in Merseburg , and since October 1945 by the Saxon Provincial Railways GmbH . Although almost 80  percent of the shares were already state-owned, the company was expropriated as part of the economic restructuring of East Germany ordered by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) and assigned to the VVB State Railways of Saxony-Anhalt in July 1948. From there, it was transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German State Railway  ) on April 1, 1949 .

The last journey of the Kyffhäuser railway 
(June 5, 1966)

Local trains

A few local trains of Thuringia - most are short and comprise elderly stock

 

 

  

 All above from Peter König

Excursion train from Berlin, these began in the ‘30s and brought visitors from the city to the healthy, unpolluted small towns of rural Germany. Coaches were hauled up the incline from Ilmenau by BR94 and the branch loco brought them down the branch, the practice continued until closure.

This lovely old Fleischmann D-zug coach needs minimal alterations.

Trix all third Hecht

89 6020 August ‘58 at Rennsteig, used from ‘50 onwards: Gotha, Saalfeld, Arnstadt, Sangerhausen.

Typical passenger vehicles of the SEG

The SEG used similar vehicles to the Bi-type cars that remained in service until closure.

The Wettiner VT135 535 was introduced in the 1930s

 

Books about the Frauenwaldbahn

 

Kleinbahn means little in the sense of short, in this case only 4.9 km (3 miles). It was a normal gauge extension of a Y which served Rennsteig (see map) in the wooded hills of the Thüringer Wald and lasted from 1912 to 1965. The railcar shown was built in 1912, although a Bn2 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, likewise a Bn2t. After WW2 steam locos worked the line until 1960 when diesels took over.  The former roadbed is accessible today as a Wanderweg (walking track).

Workbench

Future projects

89 6225 

Originally part of a group of four locomotives from the Oderbruchbahn converted by the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1960 to include tenders, designated as numbers 89 6222–6225.

After the Second World War, approximately 40 locomotives of the 89.70 series remained in the territory of the Soviet occupation zone , including numerous damaged locomotives that were practically ready for scrap. 

On April 1, 1949, the Deutsche Reichsbahn took over approximately 105 more T  3 locomotives from industrial and private railways, numbered 89 953, 5901–5903, 6001–6016, 6018, 6101–6132, 6134–6159, 6161, 6163, 6164, 6204–6211, 6215, 6216, 6218, 6220, 6221, 6228–6232, 6235, 6306, 7566–7568, 7571–7573, and 7578. 

Among them were several "genuine" Prussian T  3 locomotives. The numbering was based on the axle load, with the first two digits indicating this: 59xx meant... 9 t axle load, 60xx 10 t, 63xx then 13 t. The series continued to be used in service, particularly on the formerly non-state-owned railway lines.

 

If you have a real "railway enthusiast's obsession," the Oderbruch Railway is a familiar name, even if you've never actually ridden it, if only because of the real and "fake" T3 locomotives with tenders. Here's a "quasi-T3" (89 6221 - 6225) in the Oderbruch region.

The T3 BR89

Trix 22241

The bell on the front of the chimney is distinctive, Weinert 8024

The bell is steam operated and needs both an input and exhaust - Ulf Steckel

The T3 BR89 from Framos

BR89 T3 Ichtershausen

 

Ichtershausen-Arnstadt owned by the SEG

Boizenburger Stadt and Hafenbahn 89 6154 - almost all from Peter Koenig

This is Müncheberg-Stadt station. From here, the Oderbruch Railway trains ran to Hasenfelde, and the Müncheberg Light Railway trains ran to the Müncheberg State Railway station.

 The Maerklin 4507

It will lose the brakehouse, get some wheels, and a dull green repaint to become an ordinary service wagon.