Eis Valley Railway

Eis Valley Railway
Overview
Native nameEistalbahn
Line number3420 (Grünstadt–Enkenbach)
LocaleRhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Termini
Service
Route number666 (Grünstadt–Eiswoog), ex 272a & 274h
Technical
Line length26.3 km (16.3 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Route map

0.00
Grünstadt
Palatine Northern Railway to Monsheim
1.100
Grünstadt Nord
1.900
Asselheim
4.087
Mertesheim
5.44
Ebertsheim Hp
1894–1987
6.100
Ebertsheim
from 1876–1895, 1954–1976
and since 1994; 1895–1954 only freight
9.000
Eisenberg (Pfalz) eastern platform
(part of Eisenberg (Pfalz))
9.200
Eisenberg (Pfalz) western platform
(part of Eisenberg (Pfalz))
13.405
Ramsen
Bockbach viaduct (170 m)
17.302
Eiswoog
(since 2001)
Eis Valley Viaduct (250 m)
17.68
Eiswoog
(1933–1976)
Dreibrunner Valley Viaduct (176 m)
19.3
Stempelkopf Tunnel (483 m)
20.3
Stempelbrunnen
22.51
Alsenborn
Klosterbach
Klosterbach
26.28
Enkenbach
Alsenz Valley Railway to Hochspeyer
Source: German railway atlas[1]

The Eis Valley Railway (German: Eistalbahn) is a branch line in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, that runs through the Palatine Forest. It runs from Grünstadt in a southwesterly direction through the valley of the Eisbach (or "Eis") to Enkenbach. The section from Grünstadt to Eisenberg was opened as early as 1876 by the Palatine Northern Railway Company. The iron ore industry in and around Eisenberg gave the line considerable importance for the transport of goods, whilst passenger services played a rather secondary role. The remaining stretch of line to Enkenbach was not completed until 1932 under the direction of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. After passenger services had been withdrawn in 1976, strategic considerations during the Cold War prevented its complete closure. Goods traffic between Eisenberg and Enkenbach ended in 1988. In the period from 1994 to 2001 the line between Grünstadt and the Eiswoog reservoir was re-opened; the remaining section, however, stayed closed. Goods traffic ceased entirely in 2001.

Grünstadt station, start of the Eis Valley Railway

Literature

  • Wolfgang Fiegenbaum; Wolfgang Klee (2002), Rückkehr zur Schiene – Reaktivierte und neue Strecken im Personenverkehr 1980–2001 (in German), Berlin: transpress, ISBN 3-613-71185-0
  • Klaus D. Holzborn (1993), Eisenbahn-Reviere Pfalz (in German), Berlin: transpress, ISBN 3-344-70790-6
  • Heinz Sturm (2005), Die pfälzischen Eisenbahnen (in German), Ludwigshafen am Rhein: pro MESSAGE, ISBN 3-934-84526-6

References

  1. ^ Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.