The Route from Osberghausen to Waldbröl
The Wiehl Valley - seen from above: In the lower left corner you can see the Wiehl Valley bridge of the Autobahn A4. The factory buildings belong to the company Kind & Co. The place north of them is Bielstein and in the upper left corner the outskirts of Wiehl are visible. And in between is the Wiehltalbahn. Photo (2007): Ulrich Clees.
Since 18-April-2010 the entire line between Osberghausen and Waldbröl is operational again. Currently the trains end at Denklingen until further notice due to the reconstruction of the Denklingen railway bridge.
0.0 Km Osberghausen
Here we go - onto the Wiehltalbahn: Our route branches from the line Köln-Gummersbach at Osberghausen. Osberghausen used to be a subsidiary station of Dieringhausen. The building at the back was once the wagon repair workshop. Today trains between Köln and Marienheide do not call at Osberghausen and the only platform is on the branch line. Photo (26th.April 2008): Ulrich Clees.The starting point of our ride through the Wiehl valley is Osberghausen. This former station today just serves as passing loop for the Aggertalbahn between Cologne, Overath and Gummersbach. The Wiehltalbahn part of the Osberghausen station area has a passing loop as well as a siding with end-loading platform. The renovated signal tower building and the repeatedly rebuilt freight wagon repair shop building still roughly indicate the former proportions of the station.
During your ride on the Wiehltalbahn you should always keep in mind the reasons for its construction. The main reason was to establish a convenient transportation facility for the greywacke stone quarries. Growing towns like Cologne, Solingen and several places in the Wupper valley used the rocks for road construction and the railway needed it to build new lines. So the Wiehltalbahn was opened up to Wiehl in 1897 and in 1906 up to Waldbröl (Waldbröl already was connected to the railway network by the narrow gauge "Brölthaler Eisenbahn (Bröl Valley Railway)". In 1908 the gap to the "Wissertalbahn” (Wissen Valley Railway) between Hermesdorf and Morsbach (which already was connected to the railway network since 1890 via Wissen) was closed. As the "last building blocks" of the railway network in the Berg county the line from Brüchermühle to Wildbergerhütte (1910) and the local railway from Bielstein to Waldbröl (1915; native line of the steam locomotive "Waldbröl") were added. They were also the lines where the dismantling of the Berg county railways began after the access to the Sieg valley railway was already broken during WW II.
The Wiehl Valley has prominent and less prominent witnesses from the quarrying period. A prominent witness is the crusher of the "Kohlmeier" quarry right at the beginning of our line. Photo (with the VT1 of the Wiehltalbahn): Stefan ChristSo we start our ride at milepost 0.00 from Osberghausen Station., cross the B55 after roughly 200m and follow the course of the Wiehl upstream. Next to kilometre 1 there is the first former greywacke quarry: Kohlmeier. Today the erstwhile siding can just be guessed at. Below the surface of a parallel lane remains of the rails can be found. There also are fragments of the loading- and capstan facility left, as well as of the crushers. To those interested in these industrial-archaeological aspects we recommend the article on the website "Verein Rheinische Industriekultur".
By the way - you can find a rare motion picture from the loading of quarrystone in the twenties of the last century in a report of the series "Eisenbahnromantik (Railway Romanticism)" from the year 2008 on our video page.
A modern railcar for local traffic (Regioshuttle) on a demo ride in the upper Berg county. Photo (October 2000): Ulrich Clees
2.3 Km Weiershagen Halt
"Waldbröl" hauling the "Bergischer Löwe" near Weiershagen. Photo: Frank Ringsdorf
Passing through Weiershagen in a gentle curve. Photo (26th.April 2008): Ulrich Clees
Passing a scenic area we reach Weiershagen Halt. After passing this place - just after the second level crossing - we can see the currently-unused siding of the Kind & Co special steel works on the right hand side. Their Diesel shunter (Deutz Bdm, Fabriknummer 55670) was retired some years ago and is now owned by the "Regensburger Eisenbahnfreunde".
3.9 Km Bielstein Halt
We cross the Wiehl on a steel bridge and arrive at Bielstein Halt. Just the single railtrack and a sad relic of a platform are left of the railway equipment once belonging to the station. Station building, crossings and sidings had to give way to a bus terminal and to the town centre expansion. The Bielstein brewery is just a stone's throw away. It is well known beyond the borders of the upper Berg county for its Pils and Kölsch. You can admire the brewery's polished copper brew kettles from the street. Right after the level crossing we cross the Wiehl again (steel bridge) and note the parallel pedestrian bridge. It is one of the few still existing relics of the standard gauge privately-owned local railway from Bielstein to Waldbröl that branched here. The pedestrian bridge linked the local railway station to the town centre and the Bielstein national railway station. The area of the former local railway station is in an unrecognisable condition now because of house building. The last remaining locomotive of this local railway - the steam locomotive "Waldbröl" - is the workhorse of the "Bergischer Löwe" train (a joint project of the Dieringhausen Railway Museum and the Wiehltalbahn) since spring 2010. A nice stone viaduct of that local railway still leads across the Wiehl.
Nature protection area "Auf dem Friesenauel"
On the occasion of "Winter Steam In The Wiehl Valley" on the 29th January, 2006, the P8, 2455 “Posen" casts nice shadows on the snow. Photo: Ulrich Clees.
The "Bergischer Löwe" near Kehlinghausen. Photo: Ulrich Clees
Between Bielstein and Alperbrück our track leads through the nature protection area "Friesenauel".
Modern local traffic in the Wiehl Valley: This is our objective. Demonstration trip of a modern railcar for local traffic of the "Regioshuttle" type in autumn 2000. Photo: Ulrich Clees.
6.4 Km Alperbrück Halt
The stonecrushers at Alperbrück were at the heart of the greywacke industry around Alperbrück. The quarried stone arrived here from the Alpe Valley and from Wiehl on a narrow-gauge railway. Several companies had their stone crushed in here and loaded onto the railway. Photo: Roland U. Neumann
When Raimund Wehner visited the stone-crushing facility there was still loading taking place onto the railway.
In December 2004 electrical transformers were handled for the last time. Photo: Roland U. Neumann
Today Alperbrück is known nation-wide mainly because of the big dahlia exhibition that happens each autumn. The entrance is right next to the platform.
In the further course of the track we pass a scenic, photogenic valley next to the Bielstein district of Kehlinghausen and arrive at Alperbrück Station. The former railway equipment here also is in an unrecognisable condition. Until recently the branch connection of the "Bergisch-Märkische Steinindustrie (stoneworks of Berg county and Märkischer district)" at km 6.4 was used for the transport of transformers of the "RWE (Rhine-Westphalia Energy )" to/from the Bomig electric power transformer substation. The erstwhile crusher building is privately owned today and is planned to be converted into an art- and stone-industry museum.
Furthermore the society "Rheinische Industriekultur (Rhine industry culture)" provides a very interesting web page (German only) on this topic. The former locomotive of the "Bergisch-Märkische Steinindustrie" (Jung Bdm, 1940, Ser.No. 8808) sadly has been scrapped by the "Eisenbahnfreunden Flügelrad Oberberg (railway friends "winged wheel" upper Berg county)" in summer 1997.
8.6 Km Wiehl Station
Railcar VT1 of the Wiehltalbahn in front of the Wiehl Station building. Photo: Klaus Sieben
Right next to Wiehl Station is the stop of the "upper Berg county stage coach". Photo: Ulrich Clees After another two uphill kilometres and a further steel bridge in Altklef we arrive at Wiehl station. Aside from the through rail track the station comes with a passing loop and a siding. A loading track as well as the link to the freight shed were disconnected and lifted in favour of a bus stop some years ago. A few years ago there was the wooden shed of the concrete workshop across from the station building, where concrete piles and milestones were made for the regional railway administrative office in Wuppertal. The freight shed was attached to the station building and has sadly been excluded from the preservation order and demolished in favour of a roundabout, after a citizens' initiative had unavailingly campaigned for its preservation. At Km 8.7 we activate the level crossing devices and cross the road with gusto as another uphill part is in front of us. On the left hand side of milepost 9.4 there is the factory siding of the "Bergische Patentachsenfabrik Wiehl (Berg county patent axle factory Wiehl)" (Kotz Bros. & Sons). The rail tracks in the factory premises were lifted after the abandonment of the freight traffic by DB some years ago. The former factory locomotive (Deutz Bdm, 55179) can be viewed today at the "Rheinisches Industriebahnmuseum (RIM; Rhenish industry railway museum)" in Cologne-Nippes.
10.9 Km. Oberwiehl Station
The goods loading platform at Oberwiehl Station is an excellent place for the shipping of timber. Photo: Ulrich Clees At Km 10.9 we arrive at Oberwiehl Station, which is a beautiful, privately-owned quarrystone building but has been downgraded to a halt. The loading siding had been used for the shipping of storm damaged timber throughout the year 2007 and still is available for freight transport.
12.7 Km. Remperg-Mühlenau Halt
Following the course of the Wiehl we pass through a largely undeveloped area and "return to civilisation" at Km 12.7 in Remperg-Mühlenau. For a while the trains ended here, but after years of overhauling by the voluntary Wiehltalbahn track construction crew (supported by the RSE Rhine-Sieg Eisenbahn) the continuing track has been useable again up to Waldbröl since April 18th, 2010.
On our line the bridge with the widest span crosses the Wiehl near Remperg-Mühlenau. Photo (323 462 with a maintenance train on 31st.January 2006): Ulrich Clees. 
Also the "Bergischer Löwe" puffs alongside the Bieberstein Reservoir. Photo: Stefan Christ
Not far from Remperg-Mühlenau Halt is the Biebwerstein reservoir, which invites for a visit just two bends further onward. The reservoir was impounded in the 1930s to prevent recurring flooding of Wiehl and to provide a constant water flow to the hydroelectric power plants in Oberwiehl and Wiehl. Before the reservoir had been impounded a wooden bridge spanned the valley. The stone for the dam was brought to the loading facility of the Wiehltalbahn from the quarry on the opposite shore by horse and cart. The spoil tips on the opposite hillside are still visible and the bases of the loading facility. After crossing the road in Sengelbusch and passing the former quarry loading facility the journey takes us uphill towards Brüchermühle.
15.9 Km. Brüchermühle Halt
This former station today sadly just provides one rail track. It is hard to believe that another national railway line branched here leading to Wildbergerhütte. Brüchermühle once had quite substantial railway property - today just witnessed by the noble, privately-owned station building.
18.0 Km Denklingen Halt
Once more we activate the level crossing device and enter the next uphill part of the track in the direction of Denklingen. From this former station also just the though rail track is left - at least here there was a siding for the local scrap metal merchant until DB abandoned freight traffic. Needless to say that also this station building is privately owned nowadays, but noteworthy is its good condition. Especially during the winter time (when the cover of vegetation isn't that dense) the building reveals its fantastic condition thanks to extensive renovation works. A few metres further we cross an adventurous looking replacement bridge, which originated from the period after WW II. Shortly before the end of the war one half of the viaduct became victim of several kilograms of explosive and was replaced by the current construction - nothing is longer lasting than an interim solution! The extensive renovation of both parts of the bridge - the concrete span as well as the steel interim solution - is our big project for the years 2010 - 2012. Thousands of hours of voluntary work have been spent on the bridge by our active members - apart from the many thousand hours for the "normal" work of the track construction crew.
20.8 Km Hermesdorf Station
The next stone bridge awaits us in Schneppenberg and subsequently the journey leads through the great outdoors up to Hermesdorf. Here the track branches to Morsbach and leads via Kömpel through the romantic Zielenbach valley, which is also gladly used by hikers for their walks. We are currently working on the reconstruction of this part of the track as well. More about this line on a seperate website! We continue our ride on the route to Waldbröl and reach its outskirts in the form of the Boxberg industrial estate just after Hermesdorf. After passing Boxberg we arrive at Waldbröl Station.
23.6 Km. Waldbröl Station
Even today the area of Waldbröl Station is of ample extent. Nevertheless, looking at old maps reveals that significant parts of the area serve a new purpose today. The loco shed and rail tracks near the station building were not dismantled until the end of 1999 to clear the space for a Raiffeisenmarkt (cooperative market). From this direction the rail track of the private local railway from Bielstein to Waldbröl led to Waldbröl Station until operation was shut down on the southern section in the late 50s.
Waldbröl also had another station - the station of the narrow-gauged Rhein-Sieg Eisenbahn AG (PLC; German only) (not to be confused with the present Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn GmbH (Ltd.)). It was the first public narrow-gauge railway in Germany and sadly is also a thing of the past. Back to the present: Waldbröl Station still has sufficient land for passenger and freight traffic. The station consists of a freight section and a passenger section which has been laid out in the direction of the town centre. Platforms still exist, as well as loading ramps and the remains of a weighbridge. Platform 1 is paved with greywacke stone and has been reconstructed with the hard work of members of the preservation society as have the rail tracks themselves. Our preservation society has moved into the former signal box and the former ticket office in the station building. We use these duty rooms as waiting rooms for our passengers, as well as exhibition- and conference rooms. The fact that we are able to travel up to Waldbröl again is entirely due to the work of the active members of our society in the field, on the track and indoors at the desk and phone. You can find numerous before and after comparisons in the dokumentation of the reconstruction of the track (pdf-file; German only). Our ride on the Wiehltalbahn ends here in Waldbröl and we start our journey back. We hope that you enjoyed it and come back for another visit!