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A ''Lokalbahn'' or ''Localbahn'' ("local line", plural: -en) is a secondary railway line worked by local trains serving rural areas, typically in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and the south German states of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
and
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 ...
. ''Lokalbahnen'' appeared at the end of the 19th century before the use of cars became widespread.


Development

Because the construction and operation of main line railways was not always covered by their income, simpler solutions were sought. As early as 1865 the engineering conference of the Union of German Railway Administrations (''Verein Deutscher Eisenbahnverwaltungen'') had set out the principles for secondary lines. These were enshrined in law in 1878 with the Railway Act for German Railways of Secondary Importance (''Bahnordnung für deutsche Eisenbahnen untergeordneter Bedeutung'').


Bavaria

By the 1880s, the Bavarian main line network was largely completed and attention now turned to its expansion into the hinterland. On 21 April 1884 the first Bavarian ''Lokalbahn'' (also spelt ''Localbahn'') law was passed. This was based on the premise that funding for land purchase and construction would be a local affair, although earthworks would be paid for by the state. However, the state would also take the profit. To make them viable, the ''Lokalbahnen'' were to be built and operated as simply as possible. Structures too were to be simple. This led to the widespread use of standard buildings and structures; nevertheless branch lines and their stations still retained a lot of individual character based on the region and local material available for construction. The real boom period for branch line construction in Bavaria was from 1894 to 1910, a time when more than half of all branch lines were completed. The average time to build was four years and the construction cost per kilometre worked out at about one fifth that of main lines. The ''Lokalbahnen'' in Bavaria were built to standard gauge and, initially, an axle load of just 10 tons.


Characteristics

A ''Lokalbahn'' line typically began at a station on the main line and ran, as a branch line, to the next largest town. On the lowland plateaus of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, for example, many market towns and other towns were linked to the railway network by ''Lokalbahnen''. In keeping with their secondary status and simplified regulations the following simplifications were made to improve their economy compare with the main lines: * lower axle loads, narrower rail gauges (in some areas) and lower speeds * fewer regulations, simpler
signalling A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...
*
Mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In some countries, the term refers to a freight train carrying various different types of freight rather a single commodity. Although common in the ...
operations (passenger coaches and goods wagons in one train) From the 1950s, increasing bus and car traffic led to the closure of branch lines, including numerous lines built as ''Lokalbahnen''. Several routes continue to be operated today as
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
s. Sometimes lines that are still referred to today as ''Lokalbahnen'' have been upgraded into modern modes of transportation and local means of public transport. In
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, the Badner Bahn still carries its ''Lokalbahn'' designation, despite operationally being a modern
tram-train A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...
line.


Rolling stock


Goods vans

Between 1884 and 1906, over 250 lightweight goods vans were built for the '' Lokalbahnen''. They were designated as class GwL and had open end-platforms at both ends and either hinged or sliding doors in the centre of the side walls. On either side of the side doors were windows.


Light trains

The following coaches and wagons were intended for operation with the light twin-axled 'motor locomotives' (''Motorlokomotiven'') such as the Glaskasten. The coaches were built between 1905 and 1911 and were unsuitable for military transport. They had open end-platforms with ''Lokalbahn'' steps and open gangways. The coaches were equipped with a screw brake on the end-platform, Westinghouse brakes, paraffin lamps and steam heating.


Footnotes

B = letters compartment / P = packets compartment Not all numbers; for details see the coach design sheet (''Wagenblatt''). Numbers based on the scheme in use from 1893. {{Reflist, group=note


See also

* ''Lokalbahnen'' in Bavaria * Bavarian Localbahn Society * Tyrolean Museum Railways *
Sekundärbahn Bavarian branch lines comprised nearly half the total railway network in Bavaria, a state in the southeastern Germany that was a kingdom in the days of the German Empire. The construction era for branch lines lasted from 1872, when the first r ...
*
Vizinalbahn Bavarian branch lines comprised nearly half the total railway network in Bavaria, a state in the southeastern Germany that was a kingdom in the days of the German Empire. The construction era for branch lines lasted from 1872, when the first r ...
* Kleinbahn *
Lokalbahn AG The Lokalbahn AG company (''Lokalbahn Aktien-Gesellschaft''), or 'LAG' for short, was a private company based in Munich, Bavaria, whose lines of business was the construction and operation of branch lines (the so-called ''Lokalbahnen'' or ''Sekundä ...


Sources

* Walter Ledig, Ferdinand Ulbricht: ''Die Sekundär-Eisenbahnen des Königreichs Sachsen'', Berlin 1887
Digitalisat
* Th. Sorge: ''Die Secundärbahnen in Ihrer Bedeutung und Anwendung für das Königreich Sachsen'', Dresden 1875
Digitalisat
* Wolf L. Temming: ''Nebenbahnen: eine Epoche deutscher Eisenbahngeschichte'', Transpress, Berlin 1993


External links


''Lokalbahnen'' in Rölls railway encyclopaedia
Rail transport in Germany Rail transport in Austria