The Oberweißbacher Bergbahn (, ) is a German railway in the

Thuringian Highland The Thuringian Highland, Thuringian Highlands or Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate MountainsKohl, Horst; Marcinek, Joachim and Nitz, Bernhard (1986). ''Geography of the German Democratic Republic'', VEB Hermann Haack, Gotha, p. 7 ff. . ( or ''Thüringis ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. Since 1922 it connects Obstfelderschmiede (

Mellenbach-Glasbach Mellenbach-Glasbach is a village and a former municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Schwarzatal Schwarzatal is a town and a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rud ...

) with the village Lichtenhain,

Oberweißbach Oberweißbach (or Oberweissbach, ) is a town and a former municipality in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Schwarzatal.Cursdorf Cursdorf is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and th ...

. The train consists of 1.351 km

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

cable railway A cable railway is a railway that uses a Wire rope, cable, rope or chain to haul trains. It is a specific type of cable transportation. The most common use for a cable railway is to move vehicles on a Grade (slope), steeply graded line that is t ...

and connects to a 2.635 km

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 ...

electrified

adhesion railway An adhesion railway relies on adhesion traction to move the train, and is the most widespread and common type of railway in the world. Adhesion traction is the friction between the drive wheels and the steel rail. Since the vast majority of railw ...

History

Both railways are operationally closely linked. Since January 1982 the Oberweissbacher-Bergbahn is a historical monument. The railway is operated by

Deutsche Bahn AG (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

and offers a half-hourly service from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm. with capacity for about 30 passengers.

Operation

This

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

is unusual because instead of using two purpose-built passenger vehicles, it only features one. The other vehicle is a

flat wagon Flat wagons (sometimes flat beds, flats or rail flats, US: flatcars), as classified by the International Union of Railways (UIC), are railway goods wagons that have a flat, usually full-length, deck (or 2 decks on car transporters) and little ...

that is designed to carry a single standard gauge passenger car, freight wagon or locomotive between the conventional railway systems at the bottom and the top. At the top, both vehicles pull into a passenger halt at Lichtenhain/Bergbahn, but the standard gauge track on the flat wagon can interface with the standard gauge railway. At the bottom, there is a turnout that sends the two vehicles into separate termini. The passenger vehicle is directed into a conventional funicular passenger halt, but the flat wagon is directed to interface with a turntable on the Schwartzatalbahn adjacent to Obstfelderschmiede station. In normal day-to-day passenger service, the flatbed vehicle is loaded with a dedicated passenger car carrying the Oberweißbacher Bergbahn branding. Passenger access to this car is provided at the terminus.Publication: Bergbahn-Zeiten-eine Reise in Bildern (in German)

References

External links

Oberweißbacher Bergbahn official website

Oberweißbacher Bergbahn on the DB-Schwarzatalbahn website

Lichtenhainer Waldeisenbahn
Funicular railways in Germany Railway lines in Thuringia 1800 mm gauge railways in Germany {{Germany-rail-transport-stub