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The Wiehltalbahn (Wiehl Valley Railway)

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Graphics: Gernot KallweitGraphics: Gernot Kallweit It leads through the middle of the Wildlife park "Bergisches Land" east of Cologne and Bonn:
The Wiehltalbahn from Osberghausen to Waldbröl has a length of 23 km (14.5 miles) and has a  7 km (4.5 mile) branch from Hermesdorf to Morsbach.

After 7 years of decay, volunteers brought new life back to it and turned it into a renewed old axis of traffic in the Bergisches Land.

The picture above is nearly complete:
A modern railcar and a steam train at  Waldbröl station. Just the freight train is missing - but this is our goal:
modern public transport, freight transport and tourist rides on the listed Wiehltalbahn.

We have already achieved many of our objectives:

  • The line that was closed by Deutsche Bahn in 1994 had not been lifted, but on the contrary has been renovated and reactivated by us in co-operation with the Rhein-Sieg-Eisenbahn GmbH - at times against massive resistance by local authorities.
  • Since 1999 tourist passenger trains have been travelling the Wiehl valley again.
  • The stations at Wiehl and Oberwiehl are incorporated into the nationwide railway network as freight terminals. There have even been logging trains to Switzerland!
  • Moreover:
    The Wiehltalbahn - including all construction, track, embankments and cuttings - has been placed under a preservation order.
  • We obtained a 50-year-operating license for the entire line

All this has a value of its own and also is a building block towards reaching the goal we were actually formed for, which is the implementation of  modern local public transport on the Wiehl valley rails, together with an  attractive network of regular, scheduled public-transport buses and demand-oriented services (e.g. pre-booked shared taxis). This network will increase the desirability of the upper Berg county as a place to live.

Thanks to the steam train and rail bus rides of the "Bergischer Löwe", which we conduct together with our colleagues from the Dieringhausen Railway Museum, today you are already able to ride on the line. We wish you a good trip!


Let us join hands together to ensure the "Bergischer Löwe" can carry on steaming and the Wiehltalbahn can get closer to the realisation of the other goals as well! We are also, of course very glad to receive your donation!

From:
The members of the "Förderkreis zur Rettung der Wiehltalbahn e.V." Wiehl Valley Railway Preservation Society -  registered society, serving the public good)