STEAM RAILROAD MUSEUM - RUHR VALLEY
Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum-Dahlhausen
It
is the largest railroad museum in Germany, just a few miles south of
Essen in the heart of
the once
heavy industrial region of
the North
Rhine-Westphalia, near the town of Bochum. The River Ruhr valley was
from the mid-1850s to the 1960s the center of Germany’s coal and
steel industries. The heavy locomotives from Dahlhausen would daily haul
loads of coal from the region's mines to the mills and manufacturing
plants crowding the Ruhr River Valley. Much of the
industry in the area fueled the
German war machines of two world wars. The Essen factories of famed arms
innovator Krupp were supplied by these rail lines (see Krupps
War Factories). Alfred Krupp’s mansion Villa Hügel
is a few short miles from Dahlhausen, once served by its own private
rail line.
The
rail complex at Dahlhausen along the industrial region of the Ruhr
were heavily bombed toward the end of WWII. The bombing of a dam on
the
Ruhr flooded the valley with a wave that destroyed much of the track.
Many of its locomotive were sent to the Eastern Front and the
railway and towns were dynamited when the Wehrmacht retreated as
the allies advanced. Coal and steel production recovered after
the
war and by the
late 1950's Dahlhausen had 50 locomotives and almost 600 workers in its
maintenance yard, but coal mining ended in the region by 1969. The main
line station was moved from Dahlhausen to Hattingen in 1979 and Dahlhausen
was turned into a museum with operating trains by the German DGEG Railway
History Society. The facility comprises the engine shed built in 1916-1918
during WWI to serve the war needs with 14 tracks and a large turntable.
The passenger station building at Dahlhausen was begun in 1913 as part
of
the railway of West Prussia and was completed during the First World
War (see Bridge at Remagen). It survives with decorations from the 1920s.
ACES: A Novel of WWII from England to the Ruhr Valley
The
Eisenbahnmuseum Railway Museum at Bochum-Dahlhausen,
a stop on the Industrial Heritage Trail
(Route
der Industriekultur)
now houses
200 historic rail road vehicles and exhibit machines. Massive DRG class
heavy locomotives,
beasts of steam power, diesel haulers and switchers, rail freight and
passenger cars from the 1920s to the 1950s. Tour the
round house, repair sheds and engine cabs. Activities and steam operation
demonstrations for kids and rail road rides. A tree shaded picnic area
and snack bar is located in the center of the 46,000 square meters of
open air museum space.
The
Rail Museum at Bochum-Dahlhausen is the west terminus of the Ruhrtal
Bahn tourist railway which follows
the beautiful wooded
Ruhr River from
Dahlhausen to Hagen, with new sections of track repaired and online for
for 2008. Other industrial heritage sites nearby Bochum is the German
Mining Industry Museum where you can ride down the shaft into the deep
mining exhibits to the top of the high mining tower and the regions original
mine and steel factory from 1854 the Henrichshütte Iron and Steel
Works a short bus ride from Hattingen.
Visiting Rail Museum Bochum Dahlhausen
The Bochum-Dahlhausen
Eisenbahn Museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays, Sundays and Holidays
from
10am to 5pm, March to November.
By car it is
five minutes south of the A40 and A52 autobahn junction at Essen, about
30 minutes from Düsseldorf or Dortmund. By rail, the museum can
be reached from the Essen main rail station or Hattingen via the S3 train
with a 10 minute walk from the Dahlhausen rail station or directly by
local bus line 345 from the Bochum rail station. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Web Info
Eisenbahnmuseum
Bochum
Ruhrtalbahn
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Locomotive photo courtesy Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum-Dahlhausen.
See Also:
RAIL MUSEUM DARMSTADT-KRANICHSTEIN
BOPPARD
WINE VILLAGE ON THE RHINE
STUTTGART
MUSEUMS
GERMAN WINE ROAD - WEINSTRASSE
VERKEHRS TRANSPORT MUSEUM - DRESDEN
