Eis Valley Railway

The Eis Valley Railway (German: Eistalbahn) is a branch line in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, that runs through the Palatine Forest. It runs from Grünstadt in a southwesterly direction through the valley of the Eisbach (or "Eis") to Enkenbach. The section from Grünstadt to Eisenberg was opened as early as 1876 by the Palatine Northern Railway Company. The iron ore industry in and around Eisenberg gave the line considerable importance for the transport of goods, whilst passenger services played a rather secondary role. The remaining stretch of line to Enkenbach was not completed until 1932 under the direction of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. After passenger services had been withdrawn in 1976, strategic considerations during the Cold War prevented its complete closure. Goods traffic between Eisenberg and Enkenbach ended in 1988. In the period from 1994 to 2001 the line between Grünstadt and the Eiswoog reservoir was re-opened; the remaining section, however, stayed closed. Goods traffic ceased entirely in 2001.

Grünstadt station, start of the Eis Valley Railway

Eis Valley Railway
Overview
Native name	Eistalbahn
Line number	3420 (Grünstadt–Enkenbach)
Locale	Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Termini	Grünstadt Enkenbach
Service
Route number	666 (Grünstadt–Eiswoog), ex 272a & 274h
Technical
Line length	26.3 km (16.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend Palatine Northern Railway from Neustadt line from Altleiningen 0.000 Grünstadt Worms–Grünstadt railway Palatine Northern Railway to Monsheim 1.100 Grünstadt Nord 1.900 Asselheim 4.087 Mertesheim 5.440 Ebertsheim Hp 1894–1987 to Hettenleidelheim Seltenbach 6.100 Ebertsheim from 1876–1895, 1954–1976 and since 1994; 1895–1954 only freight B 47 9.000 Eisenberg (Pfalz) eastern platform (part of Eisenberg (Pfalz)) 9.200 Eisenberg (Pfalz) western platform (part of Eisenberg (Pfalz)) 13.405 Ramsen Bockbach viaduct (170 m) 17.302 Eiswoog (since 2001) Eis Valley Viaduct (250 m) Eisbach 17.680 Eiswoog (1933–1976) Dreibrunner Valley Viaduct (176 m) 19.30 Stempelkopf Tunnel (483 m) 20.30 Stempelbrunnen 22.510 Alsenborn Alsenz Alsenz Valley Railway from Bad Münster Klosterbach Klosterbach 26.280 Enkenbach line to Kaiserslautern Alsenz Valley Railway to Hochspeyer Source: German railway atlas[1]

Literature

• Wolfgang Fiegenbaum; Wolfgang Klee (2002), Rückkehr zur Schiene – Reaktivierte und neue Strecken im Personenverkehr 1980–2001 (in German), Berlin: transpress, ISBN 3-613-71185-0
• Klaus D. Holzborn (1993), Eisenbahn-Reviere Pfalz (in German), Berlin: transpress, ISBN 3-344-70790-6
• Heinz Sturm (2005), Die pfälzischen Eisenbahnen (in German), Ludwigshafen am Rhein: pro MESSAGE, ISBN 3-934-84526-6

References

1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas). Schweers + Wall. 2009. ISBN 978-3-89494-139-0.

External links

• Infos zur Eistalbahn
• Förderverein Eistalbahn e. V.
• Bilder der Tunnelportale