Wutach Valley Railway
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The Wutach Valley Railway or german: Wutachtalbahn is one of the most unusual and impressive stretches of railway in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It links the town of
Waldshut-Tiengen Waldshut-Tiengen (; gsw, label= Alemannic, Waldshuet-Düenge, italic=no), commonly known as Waldshut, is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldsh ...
, on the
High Rhine Railway The High Rhine Railway (german: Hochrheinbahn) is the Deutsche Bahn railway line from Basel to Singen. It is also part of the tri-national S-Bahn Basel and referenced as . It was built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways as part of the Ba ...
(''Hochrheinbahn'') and the border of
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...
and Switzerland, with
Immendingen Immendingen is a municipality in the district of Tuttlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany located on the Upper Danube. It is famous for the Danube Sinkhole. Geography Immendingen is located on the Upper Danube. On the municipal area are part ...
on the Black Forest Railway (''Schwarzwaldbahn''). Because of the twisting route of its central section, it is popularly known as the ''Sauschwänzlebahn'' (pigtail line). The line was planned in the 1860s, though construction was not completed until the 1890s, and its purpose was at least partly strategic, to allow a means for moving military supplies around the south of the Black Forest; the German Empire having seized
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
from the French in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, a revenge attack in this area from the French or a preemptive strike to prevent one were key issues in German military thinking at the time. The normal commercial route along the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
passed into Swiss territory so could not be used for military purposes. The southern section of the line, following the valley of the Wutach river from Waldshut-Tiengen to Weizen (part of the town of
Stühlingen Stühlingen is a town in the Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the border with Switzerland, with a border crossing to the village of Oberwiesen in Schleitheim municipality, 15 km northwest of Schaffhausen to ...
), is relatively conventional. However, the middle section, from Weizen to
Blumberg For the town in South Australia previously called Blumberg, see Birdwood, South Australia. Blumberg is a municipality situated in the Schwarzwald-Baar region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Nineteen kilometres south of Donaueschingen, it li ...
, involved an approximately 250 meter gain in height, and the military authorities specified that the line must not have a gradient of more than 1:100 since there was a need to move heavy military equipment. Accordingly, the line proceeds in a series of curves (including one complete circle), taking 26.5 km of track to travel a beeline distance of 9.5 km, with spectacular large viaducts, tunnels and bridges including the only spiral railway tunnel in Germany. The track is of standard gauge and is mainly single track; the bridges and tunnels were built on a scale to allow eventual doubling of the track, though this was never carried out. The final section, from Blumberg to meet the Black Forest Railway near
Geisingen Geisingen is a town in the district of Tuttlingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the Danube, 13 km southwest of Tuttlingen, and 21 km southeast of Villingen-Schwenningen. History Geisingen is referenced (spell ...
, is again relatively conventional. The unconventional configuration of the track resulted in increased fares, as ticket prices were calculated on the distance travelled along the track. The line did indeed play a strategic role at various times in its history, and its most recent refurbishment (in the early 1960s) was carried out with
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
funds. However, in the period after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
its commercial use declined, and, section by section, passenger service was withdrawn, though the southern section remained open for freight traffic until 2001. After the
Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remaine ...
withdrew passenger services on the central section in 1974, a voluntary organization was set up in 1976 to re-open it as a museum line under steam traction, and it is now a popular tourist attraction. There have been a number of initiatives to re-open passenger services on the other sections of the line as part of a regional transport strategy, and since December 2004 the northern section has formed part of the 3rd Ring Railway (''3er Ringzug'') network of local railway lines in the south-eastern part of the Black Forest, in the districts of
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
, Rottweil and
Schwarzwald-Baar Schwarzwald-Baar () is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Ortenaukreis, Rottweil (district), Rottweil, Tuttlingen (district), Tuttlingen, ...
. The southern section remains out of regular use, though the line remains usable.


References


External links


Official page of the museum railway
(in German)
An enthusiasts' site for the ''Sauschwänzlebahn''
(in German)
Pictures Landscape & Railway
(in German) {{coord, 47, 50, 16, N, 8, 33, 23, E, region:DE-BW_type:landmark, display=title Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg Heritage railways in Germany