Goetheweg station
Encyclopedia
Goetheweg station is located between the stations of Schierke
and Brocken on the Brocken Railway in the Harz Mountains of Central Germany at a height of 956 m above sea level.
The track layout today consists, as in the past, of a horizontal reversing track (Rückdrückgleis) and just one turnout, whilst the running line maintains its continuous gradient of 33 permille
. It is now purely a railway depot.
.
All the buildings had been destroyed during the Second World War and had not been rebuilt. Since that time its facilities have only consisted of a garden bench and an operator control for the key lock. The station is not listed in the timetable and is only used as an operating point for train crossings. For a long time it was only equipped with So 5 railway signs (i.e. trapezium boards). Today, however, after changes to the operating system following the train accident in Thumkuhlental in 1994, signals have been installed again.
Above the station on the mountain of Königsberg
in the Harz National Park
are the rocky crags of the Hirschhornklippen which are not accessible.
Schierke
Schierke is a village and a former municipality in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Wernigerode.Schierke was first mentioned as Schiriken in a 1590 deed...
and Brocken on the Brocken Railway in the Harz Mountains of Central Germany at a height of 956 m above sea level.
The track layout today consists, as in the past, of a horizontal reversing track (Rückdrückgleis) and just one turnout, whilst the running line maintains its continuous gradient of 33 permille
Permille
A per mil or per mille is a tenth of a percent or one part per thousand. It is written with the sign ‰ , which looks like a percent sign with an extra zero at the end...
. It is now purely a railway depot.
History
The station was first opened on 17 July 1900. During the 1930s it was given a new station building, entry signals and accommodation for the track maintenance gang. The station was only manned by a stationmaster during the summer half-year because, in the winter, no trains ran on the Brocken Railway. After 1961 only goods trains worked the route and, in the 1980s, supply trains for the Brocken, usually moved by a pusher engine, terminated at Goetheweg station because of the increasingly poor condition of the permanent wayPermanent way
The permanent way is the elements of railway lines: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on the sleepers embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway...
.
All the buildings had been destroyed during the Second World War and had not been rebuilt. Since that time its facilities have only consisted of a garden bench and an operator control for the key lock. The station is not listed in the timetable and is only used as an operating point for train crossings. For a long time it was only equipped with So 5 railway signs (i.e. trapezium boards). Today, however, after changes to the operating system following the train accident in Thumkuhlental in 1994, signals have been installed again.
Above the station on the mountain of Königsberg
Königsberg (Brocken)
The Königsberg is a neighbouring peak of the Brocken and, at 1034 m above sea level the third highest elevation in the Harz mountains. It lies on a long ridge that runs from southeast to northwest about 1.5 km south of the Brocken's summit....
in the Harz National Park
Harz National Park
The Harz National Park is a nature reserve in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises large portions of the western Harz mountain range, extending from Herzberg and Bad Lauterberg at the southern edge to Bad Harzburg and Ilsenburg on the northern slopes...
are the rocky crags of the Hirschhornklippen which are not accessible.