The Heuberg Railway (''Heubergbahn'') was a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

railway line in the German federal state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. The line operated between 1928 and 1966, and ran from Spaichingen, past five railway stations and a stop to Reichenbach am Heuberg. The line was originally planned as a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

line through Reichenbach and Egesheim to Nusplingen. It was significant in the development and industrialization of the communities of the Heuberg plateau.

Building

The first sod was turned on 30 January 1913. The highest point of the railway would be at Gosheim station at 841 metres above sea level. The work should be finished in 1915. Because of World War I work was stopped in November 1916. The work was restarted in 1919. The work was stopped again in April 1920. In 1926 the work was restarted. At this time, 80% of the work was finished. The railway was built only as far as Reichenbach and not to Nusplingen. On 25 May 1928, the railway was opened to Reichenbach (Heuberg).

Operations

Railway operations had stopped by the end of World War II. Railway operations began again on 7 January 1946. From 23 May 1954, only one pair train of trains ran each day from Monday to Friday, but there were additional buses. In March 1964, Deutsche Bundesbahn planned to close the railway. The railway was closed on 23 September 1966.

Planning

In 1908 the government master-builder (''Regierungsbaumeister'') Wallersteiner made plans for a 6000 Goldmark extension to Nusplingen-

Heuberg Training Area The Truppenübungsplatz Heuberg is a training ground of the Bundeswehr in the districts of Sigmaringen and Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg. Since the establishment of the Wilhelminism, Wilhelmine Empire it has always been a reflection of Germ ...

-Meßstetten–Ebingen . The cost reached 8000 Goldmark.Stadtarchiv Pläne Heubergbahn Meßstetten mit Militärbahnhof HR-E 787.11/01-05
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References

Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg Railway lines opened in 1928 Railway lines closed in 1966 Closed railway lines in Germany {{Germany-rail-transport-stub