The Hessencourrier is the first museum railway Hessen. The honorary members have been receiving old passenger cars and locomotives since 1970 and have been able to present them on their own route since 1992, the former small railroad kassel-Naumburg.
history
The story of the Hessencourrier begins in 1970, when the railway friends from kassel two passenger cars of the Kleinbahn kassel-Naumburg bought. The fleet grew quickly and was initially pulled by rented diesel locomotives until 1977, when the company's first steam locomotive, the HC 5, was acquired. In 1982 the HC 206, also known as the "six", was added. After several hours of work and almost three years, the locomotive, which served as a memorial for thirteen years, was able to go back into operation. She took over almost all of the journeys of the Hessencourrier, who now drove more and more regularly. The number of passengers also increased, so that a more powerful steam locomotive was needed for the increasingly heavy trains, in 1990 the 52 4544 came out Poland to the Hessencourrier.
To shut down the route Baunatal-Naumburg To prevent this, the municipalities along this route teamed up with the Hessencourrier and founded the association "Regional Museum Naumburger Kleinbahn e.V.", which raises and provides the financial means for maintaining the route. After it became known that a new depot for the Hessische Landesbahn (HLB) and the cantus transport company would be built, the association moved in 2007 to Johanna-Waescher-Strasse not far from the old site. The members of the Hessencourrier built the new Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe Süd train station there with painstaking work.
For more information on the story see Regiowiki and of course the website of the Hessencourriers.
fleet
- HC 5: 1952 by Henschel in kassel built, it could be purchased in 1977. It has 350 hp and a top speed of 35 km / h. With a weight of 38 t it is the smallest locomotive in the Hessencourrier's fleet.
- HC 206: 1941 by Krauss-Maffei in Munich built and acquired in 1982. It is the last surviving of the six locomotives of the former construction of the Kassel-Naumburger-Eisenbahn with 750 HP, a top speed of 60 km / h and a weight of 64 t.
- 52 4544: 1944 as a freight locomotive from Cegielski in Poses built, it was acquired in 1989. With 1620 hp, a top speed of 80 km / h and a weight of 130 t, it is currently the Hessencourrier's most powerful locomotive.
- 81 004: Oldest locomotive, built by Hanomag since 1928, acquired in 1986. The locomotive is not operational, has 860 hp, a top speed of 45 km / h and weighs 67.5 t.
- V 15: 1958 from MAK in Kiel built diesel locomotive. It has 650 hp, reaches a maximum of 70 km / h and weighs 54 t. This locomotive was purchased in 2001.
- 50 3691: This locomotive was owned by the Hessencourrier from 1993-2003. Coming directly from the Deutsche Reichsbahn, it was sold to Altenbeken in 2003. Today it is owned by the Falkenberg steam locomotive collection.
- VW Bulli Draisine: Official designation as Draisine Klv 20-5022 with 24 HP, a maximum speed of 65 km / h and an empty weight of 1.5 t. The 1955 from WMD Donauwörth The built draisine will soon be available to interested parties again.
More information on the website of the Hessencourriers.
Route network
The Hessencourrier's trains are mainly on the former small railroad kassel-Naumburg on road. This 33.4 km long railway line runs from the station Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe South above Baunatal, Schauenburg and Bad Emstal to Naumburg (Hesse) and thus largely through the Habichtswald Nature Park. The highest point is the so-called "Hoofer Pforte" near the ruins of the Schauenburg at 403.3 m above sea level Timetable can be seen, the former stops were Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe West, Kassel-Niederzwehren West, Kassel-Nordshausen, Altenbauna, Großenritte, Elgershausen, Hoof, Breitenbach, Breitenbach quarries, Bad Emstal-Sand, Balhorn, Altenstädt and finally Naumburg. The trains took about 1 1/2 hours for this route.
Today the museum railway stops at Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe Süd, Altenbauna, Großenritte, Elgershausen, Hoof, Breitenbach, Bad Emstal-Sand, Bad Emstal-Kurpark, Balhorn, Altenstädt and Naumburg. Requirements are Breitenbach, Balhorn and Altenstädt, see also the current one Timetable.
Accompany the route Hessencourrierradweg and the Habichtswaldsteig. Activities on these can be combined with a train ride with the Hessencourrier.
