655:) over an old course of the Rhine, which still stands today. This was followed by a 314 m-long approach structure with 20 spans. The line then ran across the Rhine island of Salmorth to the Rhine in Spyck where a marshalling yard with four tracks was built for the breaking up and assembling of trains for the train ferry operation. The crossing to the right bank of Welle is one of the narrowest points of the lower Rhine where currents make it possible for a ferry to cross. A similar marshalling yard was built on the line to Elten, which crossed the small Wild river with a 130 m-long bridge with seven spans. It then connected with the
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cables. The ferry was attached by a cable to another cable that ran over the river to resist the current and to serve as a guide rope. A thinner cable ran through the water on to two wheels on the ferry that were powered by a steam engine; the ferry hauled itself across the river by pulling on the cable.
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The ferry pontoons for carrying rail wagons were not able to navigate freely on the river, but instead were attached to two cables that were stretched across the river upstream of the ferry. Successful operation of the train ferry was only achieved when the original chains were replaced with stronger
740:
signed an agreement in relation to the operation of rail and ferry services up to 31 August 1926. Around 1930 the tracks between Welle and Elten on the right (northern) bank were dismantled. In contrast, on the left bank passenger services continued until 1960 and freight ran directly to a vegetable
699:
A disadvantage for the operation of the train ferry was that it was affected by floods, storms and icy conditions during the winter. This meant that for three weeks a year on average operations were disrupted. Nevertheless, annually 20,000-30,000 carriages and wagons crossed the Rhine. The RhE later
695:
Two ferry paths were cleared for operations across the Rhine on 19 April 1865 and two days later on 21 April the first passenger train from
Cologne crossed the ferry to Zevenaar. According to the timetable, the ferry crossing was scheduled to take 20 minutes. Four minutes were required for the
691:
The wagons were pushed by a locomotive down a ramp with slope of one in 48 to the pontoons and were pulled up on the other side by another locomotive. The pontoons would carry either six freight wagons or five carriages. Passengers stayed in their carriages during the trip.
662:
The line from Cleves to the border, including bridges, was authorised for operation on 2 April 1864. The construction of the ferries under their original plans, however, had many problems, so that the opening of the entire route was delayed.
636:, NRS) signed an agreement in Cologne to connect the two railways within Germany. Although preliminary talks in Berlin on a route near the border had indicated that an agreement could be reached, the
728:
to northern
Holland. Then at the end of 1912 the train ferry service was closed and the ramps on both sides were dismantled. Passengers were instead transferred by steamboat. During
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Class B1 Locomotive AETNA of the RhE with two carriages between the pier and the ferry. In the middle of the ferry are the wheels for running on the cable and the boiler
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to run to the Dutch border. NRS had already completed its 5.10 km-long section of the line from there to
Zevenaar on 9 March 1864.
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the line was reduced to two pairs of trains per day. After the war, the Dutch railways (later formally amalgamated as
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Until the nationalisation of the RhE company in 1880, the ferry carried all freight and passengers from the
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Erweiterungsbauten der
Rheinischen Eisenbahn, Zweite Abteilung: Fähranstalten für den Eisenbahnverkehr
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movement of carriages on the ramps at each end and eight minutes for the actual crossing.
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oil mill on the Rhine in Spyck until 1987. At that time, the line from Kleve was closed.
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military was opposed to a fixed bridge over the Rhine and only agreed to a ferry.
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between Spyck on the left (southern) bank and Welle on the right bank in the
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Die
Trajektlinie Zevenaar – Elten – Welle – Spyck – Griethausen – Kleve
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built two other train ferries. On 23 August 1866, it opened the
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885:
Veen, J.H.S.M. (1966). "De spoorverbinding
Zevenaar – Kleve".
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961:"Babberich - Elten - Griethausen - Kleve (Die Trajektlinie)"
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867:(in German). Emmerich: Bundesbahn-Fahrbeamtenverein.
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759:Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas)
720:Remains of the line between Elten and Griethausen
643:In 1865, the RhE extended its line from Kleve to
1009:
88:
872:Schaltenbrand, C. (1870), "Trajektanstalten",
683:Railway bridge over the Old Rhine, Griethausen
943:(in German). heimat-kleve.de/. Archived from
874:Zeitschrift des Vereines Deutscher Ingenieure
871:
751:
811:Eisenbahnen − ihre Geschichte am Niederrhein
842:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
800:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
896:Eisenbahntrajekte über Rhein und Bodensee
893:
785:
715:
678:
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634:Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij
1018:Railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia
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898:(in German). Düsseldorf: Alba Verlag.
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572:. It was established in 1865 by the
13:
918:NRW rail archives of André Joost:
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647:, where it built a 100-meter-long
14:
1039:
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813:(in German). Duisburg: Mercator.
712:Closure of train ferry operations
622:Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft
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272:
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941:"Express Spyck - Welle - Berlin"
702:Rheinhausen–Hochfeld train ferry
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350:Griethausen rail bridge (100 m)
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963:(in Dutch). Victor M. Lansink
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7:
809:Höpfner, Hans-Paul (1870).
706:Bonn–Oberkassel train ferry
626:Dutch Rhine Railway Company
611:
69:18.8 km (11.7 mi)
10:
1044:
653:Griethausen railway bridge
102:Operating points and lines
828:Nieboer, Jonkers (1938).
761:. Schweers + Wall. 2009.
704:and on 11 July 1870, the
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929:Description of line 2266
923:Description of line 2516
894:Schlieper, Hans (2009).
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726:Lower Left Rhine Railway
889:(in German) (5): 71–75.
856:Rhenish Railway Company
832:(in German). Rotterdam.
786:Hartwich, Emil (1870).
574:Rhenish Railway Company
550:Spyck–Welle train ferry
328:approach bridge (384 m)
19:Spyck-Welle train ferry
734:Nederlandse Spoorwegen
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657:Emmerich–Zevenaar line
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570:North Rhine-Westphalia
54:North Rhine-Westphalia
863:Roos, Dieter (1983).
738:German State Railways
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578:Lower Left Rhine line
994:51.83750°N 6.17167°E
790:(in German). Berlin.
616:On 5 July 1862 the (
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947:on 10 February 2010
237:Wild bridge (140 m)
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562:lower Rhine region
999:51.83750; 6.17167
905:978-3-87094-369-1
768:978-3-89494-139-0
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931:: Welle ↔ Elten
925:: Kleve ↔ Spyck
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667:The train ferry
624:, RhE) and the
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914:External links
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852:Annual Reports
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1023:Train ferries
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935:Other links:
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876:(in German),
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854:(in German).
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820:3-87463-132-X
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42:(Welle–Elten)
39:
36:(Kleve–Spyck)
33:
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27:
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17:
975:
965:. Retrieved
949:. Retrieved
945:the original
934:
917:
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886:
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873:
864:
858:. 1861–1882.
851:
829:
810:
787:
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723:
698:
694:
690:
686:
661:
649:truss bridge
642:
615:
566:German state
549:
547:
281:train ferry
85:
997: /
887:Op de Rails
730:World War I
645:Griethausen
554:train ferry
375:Griethausen
214:to Emmerich
153:Netherlands
66:Line length
29:Line number
1012:Categories
982:51°50′15″N
967:26 October
951:26 October
780:References
512:to Krefeld
985:6°10′18″E
838:cite book
796:cite book
606:North Sea
129:to Arnhem
79:Route map
61:Technical
56:, Germany
880:, Berlin
638:Prussian
612:Railways
602:Zevenaar
24:Overview
608:ports.
590:Krefeld
582:Cologne
576:on the
564:of the
556:on the
486:former
429:former
283:(600 m)
157:Germany
902:
817:
765:
618:German
594:Cleves
552:was a
400:Kellen
307:Spyck
261:Welle
159:border
94:Legend
86:
50:Locale
1028:Kleve
745:Notes
651:(the
630:Dutch
598:Elten
586:Neuss
580:from
558:Rhine
457:Kleve
184:Elten
40:2266
34:2516
969:2010
953:2010
900:ISBN
844:link
815:ISBN
802:link
763:ISBN
548:The
179:11.7
584:to
568:of
452:0.0
395:1.4
370:4.1
303:5.5
257:7.8
1014::
878:14
840:}}
836:{{
798:}}
794:{{
708:.
632::
620::
600:,
596:,
592:,
588:,
155:/
971:.
955:.
908:.
846:)
823:.
804:)
771:.
628:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.