Haderslebener Kreisbahn

Haderslev Amts Jernbaner (Haderslebener Kreisbahn)(Narrow Gauge)(Retired Line)

The Haderslev Amts Jernbaner or in German: Haderslebener Kreisbahn was a municipal enterprise of the district of Hadersleben in North Schleswig, which was ceded to Denmark in 1920.

In 1914, the narrow-gauge railway network had a circumference of 209 kilometers. From 1936 onwards, the railway was no longer able to cope with the competition from the massively promoted road traffic, and the lines were closed one after the other, most recently the Haderslev–Toftlund section in 1939.

Haderslev Amts Jernbaner History

In the predominantly Danish-speaking North Schleswig, the Prussian state attempted to massively improve the infrastructure. This included the construction of narrow-gauge railways in accordance with the Prussian Narrow-gauge Railway Act of 1892.

The meter gauge railway operated on the following sections.

Hadersleben–Christiansfeld

           Route                                                          km           Opening                  Decommissioning

• German: Christiansfeld – Hadersleben
• Danish: Christiansfeld – Haderslev        18.9         March 4, 1899         June 25, 1932

In the 1920s, there were plans to move the main line (Fredericia–) Kolding–Pattburg to the east, because Haderslev and Apenrade, the two largest cities in North Schleswig, should no longer only be accessible via branch lines and narrow-gauge railways. This solution would have included parts of the Kolding Southern Railway and the Christiansfeld–Haderslev district railway line in the new main line. However, this project never got beyond the planning stage. Instead, the highways in the region were expanded.

Hadersleben–Gramm–Rödding

           Route                                                                                                                  km          Opening                   Decommissioning

• German: Hadersleben–Ustrup / Danish: Haderslev–Ustrup                     11.3         August 4, 1899         June 23, 1939
• German: Ustrup–Woyens / Danish: Ustrup–Vojens                                    7.9            August 4, 1899        November 30, 1938
• German: Wojens–Gramm–Rödding / Danish: Vojens–Gram–Rødding    27.1         March 5, 1899          November 30, 1938

Gramm–Arnum

           Route                                                                                     km         Opening                            Decommissioning

• German: Gramm–Arnum / Danish: Gram–Arnum         9.1         September 13, 1910         May 21, 1937

Haderslev–Aarösund

           Route                                                                                                              km          Opening                 Decommissioning

• German: Hadersleben–Aarösund / Danish: Haderslev–Årøsund         28.6         May 28, 1903         February 15, 1938

Haderslev–Schottburg

In 1905, the Flensburg–Fredericia railway line was raised and the narrow-gauge line was built, partially using the cleared subgrade.

           Route                                                                                    km           Opening              Decommissioning

• German: Hadersleben – Sommerstedt – Schottburg
• Danish: Haderslev – Sommersted – Skodborg               37.3         July 1, 1905         February 1, 1933

The section of line between Amtsbanegaard and Statsbanegaard, which was equipped with a three-rail track in gauges of 1000 mm and 1435 mm, was taken over by the DSB in 1934 in order to be able to maintain train traffic to the port.

Ustrup–Toftlund–Arnum–Scherrebek

           Route Length                                                   km          Opening                            Decommissioning

• German: Ustrup–Oberjersdal–Toftlund
• Danish: Ustrup–Over Jerstal–Toftlund         34.5         April 2, 1904                      June 24, 1939
• German: Toftlund–Arnum
• Danish: Toftlund–Arnum                                9.4           September 15, 1910       May 21, 1937
• German: Arnum–Scherrebek
• Danish: Arnum–Skærbæk                              21.0         April 1, 1911                     May 21, 1937

In Arnum the “Kreis” railway closed in 1910 and the expansion phase ended in April 1911.

In Scherrebek there was a transfer to the Marschbahn . In Gramm you could change to the other section of the “Kreis”bahn (to Rödding).

The 1914 Reichskursbuch lists four to six train pairs daily on the individual sections under the number 102 h; between Gramm and Rödding there were even seven.

The vehicle fleet included 35 steam locomotives, 62 passenger cars, 5 baggage cars, 17 mail cars, 335 freight cars and 26 others.

The traffic was always loss-making and there was no money to renew the lines. So the circular railway was discontinued early on.

Ferry Connection Aarøsund – Assens

• From 1923 onwards there was a need to transport sugar beet from Jutland to the sugar factory in Assens on Funen . For this purpose, the ferry port of Aarøsund, which until then had only been used for car traffic, was equipped with railway tracks. The vehicle ferry Sønderjylland, built by the Schmidt-Tüchsen & Hegge shipyard in Laboe, had been in use there since 1921.
• In 1923, the car ferry was converted into a railway ferry with tracks with a gauge of 1000 mm at Aalborg Værft , so that the vehicles loaded on the circular railway could be transported to Funen. The bow and stern openings of the ferry were widened to 2.9 metres by removing the panelling and fitted with new wooden doors. On October 5, 1923, the first three freight cars were brought from Aarøsund to Assens.
• On 22 May 1937, scheduled traffic on the Haderslev Amtsbanegaard–Aarøsund Havn line ended. The narrow-gauge railway continued to transport freight wagons to Assens until the end of the 1937/38 sugar beet campaign.

After the beet transports had ended, the line was interrupted 350 m before Aarøsund and the line to Haderslev was dismantled on 15 February 1938. The locomotive shed in Aarøsund, the tracks in the station and on the ferry pier, as well as the remaining 350 metres of track, the steam locomotive No. 44 (1448/1910/Jung) and 64 open wagons were taken over by Roedyrkerforeningen Haderslev Näs, which belonged to the Assens Sukkerfabrik . This continued to transport the freight wagons by ferry.

After hitting a mine on October 22, 1942, the Sønderjylland sank south of Årø. After being raised in the spring of 1943, she was repaired at Svendborg Skibsværft . Due to the oil shortage during the Second World War , the ship only sailed during the beet campaign from October to January until 1946.

Hadersleben State Station–Christiansfeld Overview

Timetable Route : 102 h (1914)
Route Length: Hadersleben Kleinbf–Christiansfeld 18.5 km
Track Width: 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Minimum Radius: 150 m
Top Speed: 30 km/h

Hadersleben Kleinbahnhof–Arnum Overview

Timetable Route: 102 h (1914)
Route Length: 49.7 km
Track Width: 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top Speed: 30 km/h

Gramm–Rödding Overview

Timetable Route: 102 h (1914)
Route Length: 9.1 km
Track Width: 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top Speed: 30 km/h

Hadersleben–Aarösund Overview

Timetable Route: 102 h (1914)
Route Length: 28.6 km
Track Width: 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top Speed: 30 km/h

Hadersleben Kleinbahnhof–Schottburg Overview

Timetable Route: 102 h (1914)
Route Length: 38.4 km
Track Width: 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top Speed: 30 km/h

Ustrup–Scherrebek Overview

Timetable Route: 102 h (1914)
Route Length: 65.8 km
Track Width: 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top Speed: 30 km/h

In February 1951, after the end of the 1950 beet campaign, the transport of railway wagons by ferry was stopped and the tracks on land were dismantled