The Thalbahn Habsheim (German for Habsheim Valley Railway) was a long narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of at Habsheim in Alsace.
History The Thalbahn was built during the First World War by German soldiers and Romanian prisoners of war as a military light railway with a gauge of 600 mm. For the construction of the route, steel rails were permanently laid onto wooden sleepers.Die Feldbahn Habsheim - Tagsdorf fuhr durch Landser. Aufnahme von Wilhelm Rummel, März 1917, damals im Eisenbahn-Regiment Nr. 2.
Route The route ran initially from Habsheim railway station to the southwest to Tagsdorf. On the way, there was a long branch line to Schlierbach and secondary spurs to the ammunition depot Kägymühle and the Pioneer Park Steige. The main route was later extended by to Altkirch and by to Wahlbach.
Buildings The railway staff's offices were located in Landser's town hall and on the first floor of the Le Bœuf Rouge restaurant.
The camp of the Romanian prisoners of war was located within a military camp at the eastern exit of Dietweiler. Many prisoners of war died due to malnutrition, forced labor and poor living conditions and were buried in the Romanian cemetery in Dietweiler.
Locomotives
One of the locomotives was the O&K ten-wheeler No. 8285/1917 (0-10-0). It was delivered on 13 June 1917 from Berlin and is now preserved on the Chemin de fer Froissy-Dompierre.Jens Merte: Museal erhaltene Lokomotiven O&K, Werk Berlin.
References
External links
A commemoration of the travels on railways that were built or operated by Kodeis B (commander of the railway troops) in the period from 28 May to 3 June 1918, Goswin von Haag, Captain & Commander of the Railway Troops