Interessengemeinschaft (IG) Weißeritztalbahn (a railway interest group)

Vehicles of the Weißeritztalbahn railway

Diesel locomotives

In the late 1950s, Lokomotivbau Karl Marx (a former East German manufacturer of locomotives) located in Potsdam-Babelsberg further developed the small locomotive of Type Ns4 into the new Type V10C designed to operate on narrow-gauge industrial railway lines and sidings. The first engines were sold in 1959. With 102 HP and a maximum speed of up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) per hour, they were designed rather for light duties in train or shunting service. Thanks to their variable track gauge, they could run on 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) to 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauges. This flexibility in track gauge made the locomotives an export hit, with a total of 498 engines built until 1975. Two engines were operated on the siding of Schmiedeberg Gießerei (foundry) of which one locomotive was taken over by the Weißeritztalbahn interest group.

Narrow gauge diesel locomotive

Type V10C Locomotive No. 1, 1964 model, LKM/250335, formerly VEB Gisag Schmiedeberg

Standard gauge diesel locomotive

V10B diesel locomotive, LKM Lokomotivbau Karl Marx in Babelsberg

Narrow gauge rolling stock

970-443 standard passenger car built in 1930, restored by the railway interest group from a work train car, with original wooden seating
Further narrow gauge freight cars

History of the Weißeritztalbahn

The history of the Weißeritztalbahn railway began with a groundbreaking ceremony not far from the Rabenauer Mühle inn on July 16, 1881. First, the section to Schmiedeberg was opened on November 1, 1882. The entire line to Kipsdorf went into operation less than a year later, on September 3, 1883. During the construction of Malter Dam from 1908 to 1913, the rail section from Spechtritz to Dippoldiswalde needed to be relocated to a new, higher line. At the same time, a narrow gauge interchange track to Potschappel station was built in 1913. After further gap closures up to 1924, at least in theory, it was possible to offer direct train connections on the 750-mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) narrow gauge line from Kipsdorf in the Eastern Ore Mountains to Strehla on the Elbe river.

The route was relocated once again in 1924, with the railway having been removed between Obercarsdorf and Buschmühle as the routing was unfavorable for the traffic along the valley road. From then on, trains have run via the Schmiedeberg Viaduct. Thanks to the railway, the excursion traffic to the Eastern Ore Mountains has developed early. In 1934, the terminal station in Kipsdorf was extended substantially for winter sports traffic. Excursion traffic continued during the period of the GDR, especially to Malter Dam and into Rabenauer Grund valley. This was why, in 1975, it was decided to preserve the Weißeritztalbahn railway line. The entire railway line was listed by the then created Free State of Saxony on March 14, 1994.