Museumsfeldbahn Leipzig-Lindenau

Over het museum

The railway’s roots go back to 1856, when tracks with horse-drawn wooden carts were laid for the construction of the Karl-Heine-Kanal. From 1888 the canal construction site hit rich gravel deposits in the Schönau fields, and the railway became the backbone of gravel extraction, linking the pits with a mortar works built in 1891. Electric locomotives pulled the trains from 1896, steam locomotives as well from 1905; from 1906 bucket chain excavators dug the gravel.

When the pits had to make way for the construction of the harbor in 1938, new extraction areas were opened near Schönauer Park, and most of the line was rerouted. After 1945 the railway supplied large quantities of building materials for the reconstruction of war-damaged Leipzig; around 1960 the network comprised some twelve kilometers on two track gauges, with up to 35 locomotives and about 700 tipper cars. As the pits were exhausted and construction switched to prefabricated concrete slabs, operations declined from 1965, and the last gravel train ran in May 1991.

Model railroaders who had been studying the railway’s history since the mid-1980s prevented its complete demolition in 1991. In February 1992 a section of track about one kilometer long and the engine shed were placed under heritage protection, and the first museum trains ran in September 1992. In 1995 the interest group became a nonprofit association whose members run the railway as volunteers and have extended the 800 mm line to about 1.5 kilometers.

The collection includes locomotives built between 1928 and 1980, cars and tipper wagons from 1880 onward, road vehicles, and a bucket chain excavator from 1951 that was salvaged in 2005 and has been operational again since 2006. A small exhibition in the museum station explains the history of the railway and gravel extraction.

Hoogtepunten

• Ride on the 800 mm narrow-gauge railway to the Schönauer Lachen
• Diesel and electric locomotives built 1928–1980
• Cars and tipper wagons built from 1880 onward
• Operational bucket chain excavator from 1951
• Exhibition on the history of gravel extraction in Lindenau
• Lantern, St. Nicholas, and mulled wine rides

Vaste collectie

• Feldbahnmuseum im Museumsbahnhof – Small exhibition on the history of the Lindenau gravel railway and gravel extraction, complemented by parked locomotives, cars, and tipper wagons.
• Eimerkettenbagger – A restored excavator from 1951 with an attached screening plant recalls gravel extraction and is demonstrated on selected operating days.

Opgericht

1992

Beheerder

Museumsfeldbahn Leipzig-Lindenau e.V.

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Tickets are sold by the conductor on the train; they are valid for the round trip between the museum station and the Schönauer Lachen and for a visit to the narrow-gauge railway museum.

Toegankelijkheid

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd – vraag het rechtstreeks na bij het museum.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops

Family operating days such as lantern rides at Sandmännchen time and Nikolaus rides; children's and family tickets. Special rides for private celebrations (for example birthdays, first day of school) can be booked. Supervise children near the tracks.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

On foot or by bicycle via the path from the street Hafentor or from Plautstraße (next to house number 39); no access via the grounds of the harbor office.

Service & horeca

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd – vraag het rechtstreeks na bij het museum.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Privéfeesten
• Zakelijke evenementen

Special trips for birthdays, company parties, or first-day-of-school celebrations with guided tour, catering (coffee and cake or barbecue, also on the train), photo stops, and a hand-lever draisine; inquiries by email to sonderfahrt@museumsfeldbahn.de. Since the railway is run by volunteers, not all requested dates are possible.

Je bezoek plannen