Hesper Valley Railway

The Hesper Valley Railway (German: Hespertalbahn) is a German heritage line running steam locomotive services between Kupferdreh Old Station and Haus Scheppen on the Baldeneysee lake in Essen.

Steam locomotive on the Hespertalbahn
Hespertalbahn
 Prince William Railway from Essen-Steele
 Prince William Railway to Wuppertal-Vohwinkel
 DB–Hesper Valley Railway junction
 0.0 Essen-Kupferdreh Hesper Valley Rly
(ex. Essen-Kuperdreh)
 Ruhr Valley Railway to Essen-Werden
 former DB–Hespertalbahn junction
 to Prinz Friedrich mine
 Cement works
(former transfer station)
Kupferdreh Hesper Valley Railway
siding
3.5 Haus Scheppen
Margrefstraße
Pörtingsiepen mine
Hesperbrück

As a narrow gauge wagonway it linked opened up Erzgruben in 1867, and the Pörtingsiepen mine in 1877. The upgrading of part of the line to standard gauge followed in 1918. In 1973 the line was closed. In June 1975 the Hesper Valley Railway Preservation Society (Verein zur Erhaltung der Hespertalbahn) saved the route and has since operated it as a heritage railway. The top speed on the line is 15 km/h.

The Hesper Valley Railway is part of the Route der Industriekultur, route 12 (The Ruhr — past and present) and route 15 (Railways in the area).

Photographs
  • Hespertalbahn with diesel loco, 2006
  • Haus Scheppen terminus, 2007

Location
  • Prinz-Friedrich-Straße 1, 45257 Essen-Kupferdeh

Sources
  • Leitsch, Joachim: Die Hespertalbahn. Eine Zechenbahn im Wandel der Zeiten. In: Der Anschnitt 1–2 (1995), S. 44–54
  • Leitsch, Joachim: Kohle, Kalk und Erze. Die Geschichte der Hespertalbahn. Hrg.: Verein zur Erhaltung der Hespertalbahn e.V. Essen 1993.
  • Leitsch, Joachim / Dirk, Hagedorn: Kohle, Kalk und Erze. Die Geschichte der Hespertalbahn. Hrg.: Hespertalbahn e.V. Essen 2008 (erweiterte Auflage)
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