Wuerttemberg Black Forest line

The line from Zuffenhausen (in the North of Stuttgart), leading to Nagold via Leonberg, Weil der Stadt and Calw, became known as "Württembergische Schwarzwaldbahn" (Wuerttemberg Black Forest line). It was inaugurated in several stages from 1868 to 1872. Its elongation to Horb got ready in 1874, when the Nagold valley line from Pforzheim to Horb was established. In 1879, the "Gäubahn" was realized, which connected Freudenstadt with Stuttgart on the direct way. It was catenated at Hochdorf with the Nagold valley line, which was coming from Calw.

H.-M. Hebsaker 2001-04-18 Calw, railway bridges Photo: © Hans-Martin Hebsaker Between Weil der Stadt and Calw, there is a ridge which could be passed by the railway only by stretching out the rail track on each side with a wide loop. Within the present picture, the line uses the upper bridge crossing the main street from Calw to Stuttgart. Here, this line commes together with the Nagold valley line coming from Pforzheim, where at the visible location there is still an essential difference in altitude between both tracks. Therefore, the lower line needed an own bridge. A common level is reached in the railway station Calw about 1 km rightside of the visible part of the landscape. The line from Calw to Weil der Stadt is suspended since a lot of years, and the railway station was replaced by a simple stop in the downtown (about 500 m leftside of the landscape's visible part), where only the lower line to Pforzheim can be reached. Since that time, the trains no longer stop at the old railway station of Calw.

Kübelbach viaduct near Dornstetten H.-M. Hebsaker 2001-04-18 Kübelbach Viaduct Photo: © Hans-Martin Hebsaker When building the "Gäubahn", the town Freudenstadt was reached 1879 from Stuttgart via Herrenberg and Hochdorf. Just before Freudenstadt, some deep clefts had to be crossed. Immediately behind Dornstetten, there is the "Kübelbach-Viadukt", a construction with iron bars consisting of 5 parts with spans of 49,5m and 60m, which crosses the valley in a height of 45m. Today, the main line from Stuttgart to Switzerland along the upper Neckar valley leads directly to Horb (via Herrenberg) without touching Hochdorf and Freudenstadt. Freudenstadt is reached today only by local trains coming from Horb, Rastatt and Hausach at the "(Baden) Black Forest Line".