Fichtelberg Railway - Track Description

Track Description

The railway starts at the standard gauge station Cranzahl at 653 m (2,142.4 ft) of the Zschopautal Railway. The passenger trains start on the same platform as the standard gauge trains. The former freight yard and its loading ramp for the transporter flatcars is on the northern end of the station. The narrow gauge trains leave the station in a left turn and follow the right side of the Sehma valley through the village of Neudorf.

The first stop is Unterneudorf, next is Neudorf. The following stop Vierenstrasse is a popular starting point for hiking into the Fichtelberg area. Leaving Vierenstrasse, the track follows a long incline (1:33) through the densely covered Fichtelberg forest. The next station Kretscham-Rothensehma is used to allow valley-bound trains to pass. The track continues to climb, reaching the watershed of the Pöhlbach river, arriving at the next stop of Niederschlag.

The tracks now lead downward into the Pöhlbach valley, crosses the Bundesstrasse 95, and follows along the border to the Czech Republic uphill to the Hammerunterwiesenthal station. Leaving Hammerunterwiesenthal, the valley becomes so narrow that there is only room for the state road and the railroad tracks, steep meadows on the right hand side, and a steep forest to the left that already belongs to the Czech Republic.

After the next stop Unterwiesenthal, the track unwinds itself from the narrow valley, the Fichtelberg on the right, and the Klinovec to the left become visible. After crossing the federal route again, the railway leads over a 110 m (360.9 ft) long and 23 m (75.5 ft) high steel viaduct, and reaches the terminus of Oberwiesenthal at 893 m (2,929.8 ft).

• Steam engine 99 785 at the water crane in the Cranzahl station

• Vierenstrasse stop near Neudorf

• Valley-bound train approaching Kretscham-Rothensehma

• Trains passing in Hammerunterwiesenthal

• Shortly before reaching Oberwiesenthal

• Oberwiesenthal station

• Engine shed in Oberwiesenthal