Background
Starting 1835, the railway development in Germany proceeded very quickly and in 1847 the railway line from Ludwigshafen/Rhine towards Saarbrücken had reached Neustadt. In those days steam locomotives had to be serviced after about every 50 kms and a two-road locomotive shed and a turntable were constructed alongside the passenger station. With the development of branch lines north and south of Neustadt the original depot was found to be too small. Consequently in 1890 a new depot was built to the east of the station. It comprised of a 14-road roundhouse, a larger turntable and full facilities necessary to maintain steam locomotives. The original loco shed near the station continued to be used for more involved repairs, day-to-day maintenance was carried out in the new depot. The now obsolete turntable was removed, but its position can still be identified by a curve in the retaining wall.
The Railway Museum
In 1967 the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte (DGEG, German Society for Railway History) was founded by railway enthusiasts with the aim of preserving rolling stock and items of Germany’s railway history. Located in the former depot at Bochum-Dahlhausen, by 1972 the collection had become so large that three locomotives offered on loan by Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) could not be accommodated.
A group of local members were able to lease the now redundant loco shed and the area of the old Neustadt depot to accommodate the new engines. In the following years the volunteers restored the shed and the workshop building. A derelict building behind the shed was demolished to make room for additional tracks, the track layout was modified to make shunting easier and presentation of the rolling stock greatly improved. A collection of signals was erected in the space of the curved retaining wall and an access for visitors from the street above the site was created. In 1981 the land was purchased and the old depot was officially opened as a railway museum.
In 1977 after the end of steam in western Germany, DB announced they planned to scrap the three locomotives on loan to DGEG and displayed in the Neustadt museum, they were18 505, 23 105 and 45 010. Last minute fund raising enabled DGEG to purchase four cylinder compound locomotive 18 505, which is now the highlight of the collection. Fortunately, the other two locomotives were later preserved at the National Railway Museum. Nevertheless, the collection at Neustadt grew constantly, for example with locally important locomotive 0-4-0WT „Berg“, the last of a class that was used on the unique ship-bridge across the River Rhine at Speyer. Also, on display are the last three existing locos constructed for the local Palatine Railway. There is also a two-car electric multiple unit, built 1935, which can be said to be a great-grandfather of today’s ICE high-speed-trains, plus many more exhibits, large and small.
The locomotive shed along with the railway museum has been listed together with the station building and the old signal box. Today it is the oldest German locomotive depot which has been in permanent use for railway purposes since 1847.
In 1992 a new ceiling and floor was built in the loco shed where a group of members have built a gauge 1 model railway layout (1:32 scale). The layout measures 19 x 7 metres and is regularly open to the public.
The preserved railway (the Cuckoo Line)
Just 7 kms west of Neustadt, near Lambrecht station is a 13 km-branch line through the Palatinate Forest to the village of Elmstein. Built in 1909, its main purpose was to transport wood from the local forests, the Palatinate Forest being the largest forested area of Germany. Soon after the opening of the line tourists discovered the beauty of the area, and as a result there were more passenger trains running on Sundays than on weekdays. Like in many other rural German areas, the inhabitants of the villages have nicknames, people from Elmstein are known as “the Cuckoos”, this was because of the number of these birds in the forests around the village. Logically the railway was nicknamed “the Cuckoo Line”, a name which it keeps to this day.
Following road improvement in the 1950s, a bus service was introduced which led to the cancellation of passenger services on the line in 1960. Freight trains continued to use the line until 1977. They mostly carried wood in wagons which often exceeded the axle weight limit on the line and this brought about complete closure. Fortunately, the line was not torn up.
Since then, there had been several attempts by the railway museum to run steam trains on this scenic line, but they all failed for various reasons. In 1983 part of the line was restored for the filming of a TV-serial, in which a locomotive from the railway museum was used. Suddenly the local people became aware of the potential of a preserved railway, and with the combined efforts of the museum staff, the THW (technical emergency aid department) and a tracklaying company the line was restored for use by steam hauled trains. On 2nd June 1984 the first train ran between Neustadt and Elmstein beginning an unbelievable success story.
The museum has a permanent way gang which continuously improves the condition of the track and stations. More locomotives and coaches were restored by the museum to cope with the traffic generated by reopening the line. Today, trains run on fourteen Sundays and bank holidays between 1st May and mid-October every year. Wine-tasting or music-specials have been very popular and are repeated several times each season. During the festive season children and adults can enjoy up to eight Santa trains. A train ride from Neustadt to Elmstein takes just over an hour, and there are two trains outward and return on each operating day.
The railway and museum are entirely run by volunteers, all of whom have received appropriate training for maintaining the line, the rolling stock and operating the trains.
For the dates of our services and the timetable see „Kuckucksbähnel – Fahrplan und Fahrpreise“. When you visit the railway museum or enjoy a ride on one of our trains, don’t hesitate to ask our staff if you have any questions. Most of our volunteers speak English and are happy to answer your questions.