Weißeritztalbahn is going to be rebuild

Hello,

I've got some great news for you. The 750 mm narrow gauge railway in Saxonia, the weisseritztal railway, will now hopefully be rebuild by the end of 2016. The damaged part of the railway line which hasn't been rebuilt yet, will be reconstructed by some local companies. After that, it's again possible to reach the Kurort Kipsdorf by narrow gauge steam trains.

Some general information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weisseritztal_railway

Information about the reconstruction and friends of the weisseritztal railway:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weisseritztal_railway https://www.facebook.com/IGWeisseritztalbahn

Cheers

Fred

 

I went on it just after the wall came down. Happy memories.

 

First visited in DDR days and last did the full length in '95. Have been back since but will be good to go beyond Dippoldiswalde again.

 

Great news. I was in the area last spring & am now kicking myself that I didn't drive on beyond Dippoldiswalde to get some photos of the track bed for the record. It does beg the question as to how SDG will operate the line. Currently, they get away with 1 engine in steam and so surely extending will require another lok & stock with all the attendant increases in operating costs. Maybe if they only run a couple of trains each day over the full length & continue to run short to Dippoldiswalde for the others they could continue with 1 train set?

 

Using the 170 from Czech to get to/from Dresden steam fest noticed a lot of work going on south of Dippoldiswalde. Lot of track removed and bed being scraped c;lean by 360 road railers. Still a couple of bridges to replace which were being worked on at Obercarsdorf. The viaduct and loop bridge over the station access road at Schmeideburg was complete with track ben scraping going on in the platforms. Some reinforcement work to the embankment by the signal box at Kipsdorf. I was surprised all the loops etc are being replaced at all the stations, do not think the timetable will need them - only having one line at Schmeideburg for example would have save one bridge at least. Apart from Buschmule to Kipsdorf alongside the I170 road the scenery is urban with much running alongside houses and gardens. With operating costs doubled or more once the line gets to Kipsdorf I do wonder if its money well spent by the taxpayers. On the other hand Kipsdorf looks dead without the railway. Perhaps it should have been converted to SG as the Muglitztalbann was. I also used this and it was the best way to from Dresden. 1 in 27 gradients and still some old NG bridges and abutments after all these years.