The Friedrichroda railway, known as well as ''Waldsaumbahn'', is a single-track non-electrified railway line in the German state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. It is now only used for regional passenger transport, using Class 641 (

Alstom Coradia The Alstom Coradia is a family of diesel multiple unit, diesel and electric multiple units for Inter-city rail, intercity and Regional rail, regional service manufactured by Alstom, with variants operating in Europe, North America, and Africa. ...

A TER)

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s. The line was opened in 1848 and is the oldest branch line in Thuringia and one of the oldest lines in Germany.

History

The line was opened on 28 May 1848 as a spur of the

Thuringian Railway Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon sp ...

(german: Thüringer Bahn) from

Fröttstädt Fröttstädt is a village and a former municipality in the district of Gotha in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2011, it is part of the municipality Hörsel. Its railway station has a unique water supply method. History Within the German Em ...

Waltershausen Waltershausen is a town in the south-western part of the district of Gotha in the state of Thuringia, Germany. Geography Geographic location Located on the verge of the Thuringian Basin just before the Thuringian Forest, Waltershausen is so ...

. It is the oldest branch line in Thuringia. An extension to

Friedrichroda Friedrichroda () is a town in the district of Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the north foot of the Thuringian Forest, 21 km by rail southwest of the town of Gotha. It is surrounded by fir-clad hills and possesses numerous han ...

was opened on 2 July 1876. On 1 November 1896 the line from Friedrichroda to Georgenthal was opened to connect with the Ohra Valley Railway, but on 2 November 1947 the extension was closed and dismantled as

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Current situation

After the loss of freight traffic the terminus at Friedrichroda is now very run-down. The abandoned and overgrown rail tracks and the now oversized station building with its very large goods shed testify to the former importance of the line and the Friedrichroda station. While a youth club is located in part of the entrance building, the rest of the building along with the entire entrance building at Reinhardsbrunn-Friedrichroda is now disused and subject to decay and vandalism. File:Friedrichrodaer_Bahn1.jpg, A Class 641 train in

station File:Bahnhof Waltershausen.JPG, The entrance hall of

station File:Thuringia asv2020-07 Friedrichroda town img9.jpg, The entrance hall of Reinhardsbrunn-Friedrichroda station

Notes

References

* *{{cite book, first= Günter , last= Fromm , title=Die Geschichte der Friedrichrodaer Eisenbahn 1876-1896 , publisher= Rockstuhl , location= Bad Langensalza , year= 2002 , ISBN =978-3-934748-98-9 , language=German Railway lines in Thuringia