Traditionsbahn - Kleinbahnen des Kreises Jerichow 1 (www.kj-1.de)

[rekoboy]

We have finally managed to get back to Germany for an extended stay - it had been 18 months since the first lockdown in 2020, and it has been great to be back. I have managed two rail adventures in Germany since the beginning of October, and first was the open weekend at the 'Traditionsbahn Kleinbahnen des Kreises Jerichow 1' in the village of Magdeburgerforth, which is located on the border of the states of Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt south of Genthin - in the middle of nowhere in a large forest to be precise! The rail network which served the Prussian council district of Jerichow 1 (yes, there was a Jerichow 2, too) was in 750mm gauge and extended from Gommern on the Magdeburg-Dessau-Leipzig main line across via Loburg and Ziesar to Burg and to Wusterwitz, both on the Magdeburg-Brandenburg-Potsdam main line - a total of 121 km! Between 1960 and 1965 the whole network was closed down with the exception of the section from Loburg to the military training area at Altengrabow, which had been dual gauge and became simply standard gauge. In the early 2000s a group of enthusiasts (including the owner of my favourite model shop in Ziesar, Hans-Gerd Ludwig) decided it was time to recreate a chunk of the KJ1 and raised funds to buy the station at Magdeburgerforth and a few kilometers of trackbed. The intention is to restore the Ziesar line between Altengrabow and Schopsdorf. So far progress has been determined but slow, and following the renovation of the station at Magdeburgerforth (which was a junction) and its small loco depot, a couple of miles of track have been laid with lots of practical support from the DB Netz PWay centre and its apprentices in Königsborn near Magdeburg. The enthusiasts own one steam loco for which funds for its overhaul are being raised and a couple of small diesels and wagons. On open days the carriages required are borrowed or hired from steam railways in Saxony - so if you see a low-loader with a DR Reko 750mm gauge carriage on it on the motorway north of Leipzig, then it is probably on its way to Magdeburgerforth for an enthusiasts' weekend. Such matters make open days expensive to run, and they are held generally only a few times a year. Very occasionally a steam loco from Saxony is hired in, too, and for the unloading of road low loaders a special ramp has been constructed. See photos! On this occasion, because of a delayed inspection by the Eisenbahnbundesamt trains for the public were running only a short distance between the very basic halt at Lindenstraße and the former works siding at the rag-recycling plant - der Lumpenbahnhof.

[Bernard Lamb]

Good to hear that you were able to make a trip.

SWMBO managed to visit her two brothers last month.

She flew to Berlin and then went by train. South to Leipzig and north to Rostock. A pity I could not go.

Health checks were strict with the local service in Leipzig checking at 8am that she had arrived the evening before. The only time I have seen any thing from that line was in a photo collection. Probably Gunter Mayer, but I can't think of where I saw it . I was not aware of the survival of the line. I will add it to the bucket list when I do get a chance to visit.

Bernard