Harzer Schmalspurbahnen
The Harzer Schmalspurbahn comprises some 140 kilometres of 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in) gauge railway criss-crossing the Harz mountains in central Germany, linking Wernigerode, the system's headquarters in the north, with Nordhausen in the south, and Quedlinburg in the east. The jewel in the system's crown is the Brockenbahn, which follows a spiral course up the Brocken to the old East German listening post on the top, and is almost exclusively steam hauled. The majority of the engines are 2-10-2s built in the 1950s, hauling four-axle carriages.
The system, which is the most extensive steam-hauled narrow gauge network in Germany, consists of the interconnected Brockenbahn, Selketalbahn and Harzquerbahn lines, and is operated by the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen GmbH company, whose members are chiefly the various local authorities whose territories it serves.
The main line runs from Wernigerode to Nordhausen but the Brockenbahn is now by far the busiest line, with about hourly trains going from Wernigerode to the summit of the Brocken (return fare EUR 24 in 2006). There are some fantastic walks from the railway and of course you can do them in downhill only mode by using the railway.
On 26 June 2006 the Selketalbahn was extended to the World Heritage city of Quedlinburg by regauging a recently closed standard gauge DB branch, which should now make the eastern part of the railway much more accessible to tourists than when it started at the smaller less accessible city of Gernrode.
The Selketalbahn joins the main line at Eisfelde Talmüle and further along the mainline towards Nordhausen the track is shared by dual power Nordhausen diesel-electric Combino trams. The roll-block siding at Nordhausen is still used to convey standard gauge wagons on narrow gauge transporters to and from a limestone quarry near Stiege.
If you take a journey on the HSB you will not be fast. A journey from Wernigerode to Nordhausen might take 3 hours but it allows you access to views and walks in the Harz which are unique to this form of transport. It provides disabled access to the summit of the legendary Brocken mountain all year round.
Further reading
- Speakman, Fleur and Colin, (1994), Walking in the Harz mountains - including walks from the Harz narrow gauge railway, Cicerone Press, Milnthorpe, Cumbria, ISBN 1-85284-149-4.
External links
- HSB Website (most pages are in German only) [1]
