Draisine routes in Germany - Draisinenstrecken in Deutschland

In the course of the closure of old railway lines, the question of further use often arises. In addition to museum railways and Railway cycle paths there is also the good old trolley. As the historical trolleys were difficult to operate with hands and arms, the bicycle trolley was invented for the untrained tourists. So you cycle with your feet on rails.

There are now around 30 railway lines that can be experienced by trolley. The highest density of routes can be found in northern and eastern Germany. In the partially structurally weak areas of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the tourist and economic potential of the draisine routes has already been discovered. Southern Germany, on the other hand, is still struggling with attractive leisure time fun. There are only a few shorter routes in Hessen and Baden-Württemberg. In Bavaria there is still no offer at all.

Since 2004 there has even been a competition in handcar cycling. The German Draisinentage take place annually on the Glantalbahn in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The following list gives an overview of the routes in Germany.

Kanonenbahn in Eichsfeld in Thuringia: With the bicycle trolley over the Lengenfeld Viaduct to Großbartloff

background

A bicycle trolley - seen on the track on the Edersee

The Wikipedia article is worth reading "Railway Draisine".

Baden-Wuerttemberg

  • 1  Kochertaldraisine, Aalener Strasse 32, 74429 Sulzbach-Laufen. Tel.: 49 (0)7976 213, 49 (0)1525 322 30 04.Kochertaldraisine (Q99441987) in the Wikidata database.5 km from Laufen am Kocher to Abtsgmünd Untergröningen.

Bavaria

  • no offer so far (as of 09-2020)

Berlin and Brandenburg

Hesse

Überwaldbahn: Viaduct near Vöckelsbach

You can now drive on the most attractive part of the former Überwaldbahn with two tunnels (700m and 64m) and three large viaducts. The scenic driving route is almost 10 km long. With a round trip, it takes just under an hour to drive a total of around 20 km. Due to the steep gradients in the branch line, conventional bicycle trolleys could not be used. Therefore, new solar hybrid draisines with battery storage and electric drive have been developed. An electric drive supports the kicking passengers who step into generators. Furthermore, solar cells were integrated into the roof of the innovative draisines (sun and rain protection almost included). Braking energy also flows back into the battery via the motor brake as electrical energy.

The solar trolley
A solar trolley in the Wald-Michelbach terminus
The line went into operation on August 18, 2013. Price per vehicle: Fri to Sun € 99; Mon to Thu € 69 (currently space for 6 people; 8 people are targeted in the final development). Depending on how long you want to stay in Wald-Michelbach, you can choose between different daily tours. The journey time is just under an hour (around 15 km / h).[1]; Location of the route in Openstreetmap
  • Wehretal-Draisine - Draisine rides have been possible on the former cannon railway between Waldkappel and Bischhausen since summer 2010. The 2 km route can be ridden on a bicycle trolley. Historical signaling technology can be viewed along the route. -> As of 08-2013, the voluntary project is suspended due to the lack of time capacity of the active members. The vehicles can therefore not be rented.[outdated]
  • Eder draisine - On the disused railway line on the Eder, bike trolleys run on 2 km. The attractive stretch of the Affolderner See can be cycled in this way. In principle, the entire disused route from Bad-Wildungen Wega (12 km) with a tunnel, the large bridge over the Eder and the rail connection could be used as a trolley line. Allegedly, this extension is very difficult because in Affoldern the road to Edersee would have to be crossed with the draisines. A traffic light would then have to be set up here, as is the case on other routes (for example on the Glantal Draisinentour in Rhineland-Palatinate) has also happened. Such a traffic light in Affoldern would allegedly threaten backlogs on nice days out, because the road is very busy.[2]

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Lower Saxony and Bremen

  • Draisine fun Ammerland - 6 km from Westerstede to Ocholt

North Rhine-Westphalia

  • Wupper Trail in the Bergisches Land; 8.5 km on a museum railway line along the beautiful Wuppertal.

Rhineland-Palatinate

Draisine station Westheim on the route of the Südpfalzdraisine
  • Aartalbahn - 19 km from Diez via Hahnstätten and Kettenbach to Michelbach in Hesse. Historical hand-lever trolleys can be rented for guided group trips. In 2014 the line in the Rhineland-Palatinate part is to be reactivated. Draisine rides will then no longer be possible.[outdated]

Saarland

  • Warndt Express On the route of the Warndt- and Rosseltalbahn the Warndt-Express (two bicycle trolleys with a total of twelve passenger seats) runs over 12 km in two stages (start and finish: old station Großrosseln): Großrosseln - former mine Warndt and back as well as Großrosseln - Völklingen- Wehrden and back. A total of 24 km, which can be covered in about three hours.

Saxony

Saxony-Anhalt

Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg

  • Marching trolley in Dithmarschen - Marne - St. Michealisdonn route with a length of 8 km. If the wind is right, a sail can be set on each of the bicycle trolleys.
  • route Malente-Gremsmühlen–Luetjenburg - The 17 km long route could be driven with draisines between 2006 and 2008. Then parts of the line were converted to 600 mm narrow-gauge operation. In the meantime, a small tourist train operated until 2010. According to Wikipedia the operation was stopped again and the gauging reversed.

Thuringia

  • Kanonenbahn in Eichsfeld - With four tunnels and a large viaduct, the "Draisine Kanonenbahn" experience in Eichsfeld, Thuringia, is one of the most attractive routes in Germany. There are two routes that can be taken there and back.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑www.morgenweb.de from 07/29/2013
  2. ↑Article about Eder-Draisine on playteam.de accessed in March 2010

Web links

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