The Celle–Wittingen Light Railway ( German : Kleinbahn Celle–Wittingen ) was founded on 21 June 1902 by the Prussian state , the town of Celle and 33 municipalities. On 15 August 1904 it opened the 51 km long, standard gauge line from Celle Stadt (Nord) via Beedenbostel and Hankensbüttel to Wittingen West (now the Celle–Wittingen railway ). This line was also called the Lachte Valley Railway ( Lachtetalbahn ) because part of it ran along the river Lachte . The journey time on the Celle–Wittingen line in 1906 was about 2 hours and 20 minutes. In 1908 the station at Wittingen West was moved to the east side of the state station in order to enable a common station to be created with the Kleinbahn Wittingen-Oebisfelde , opened in 1909, and the Kleinbahn Bismark-Gardelegen-Wittingen , later the Altmärkische Kleinbahn AG . The new route made the construction of embankments and a bridge over the state railway necessary.
8-405: From 22 July 1912 the 'Salt Railway' ( Salzbahn ), a 7 km long branch, ran from Beedenbostel in a northerly direction via Mariaglück to Habighorst, where potash and salt works had been established in two separate locations. But by 1924 Mariaglück had become the terminus for trains on the branch. The Celle–Wittingen Light Railway had reached an agreement before 1914 to run operations jointly with
16-571: A public railway due to standardisation of the Reich's regulations. This was reflected in the company's new name: the Celle-Soltau, Celle–Munster Railway ( Eisenbahn Celle-Soltau, Celle–Munster ). On 1 March 1944 a merger agreement with the Celle-Wittingen Railway went into force to form the new company of Celle Railway Company ( Celler Eisenbahn AG ); this was merged in turn on 10 July 1944 into
24-756: The Celle-Garßen-Bergen Light Railway . From 1910 this company called itself the Celle-Soltau, Celle-Munster Light Railway GmbH . On 8 November 1940 the Celle–Wittingen Light Railway became a public transport railway. From 23 February 1940 it was renamed the Celle-Wittingen Railway ( Eisenbahn Celle-Wittingen AG ). On 27 March 1944 this firm took over the Kleinbahn Celle-Soltau, Celle-Munster GmbH , with which it
32-578: The district of Celle , the Kingdom of Prussia , the Province of Hanover and the districts of Fallingbostel and Soltau , the town of Celle and several villages along the line. During Germany's re-armament prior to the Second World War several sidings were built to serve military bases (Scheuen, Bergen) which caused a sharp rise in traffic. From 1940 the line was no longer handled as a light railway but as
40-592: The state railway) followed suit on 1 September 1910. The railway facilities in Garßen were not dismantled until the 1930s. In 1905 joint operations were agreed with the Celle-Wittingen Light Railway. On 23 April 1910 the railway was extended from Bergen to Soltau and from Beckedorf to Munster. Two years earlier, in 1908 the Celle–Soltau, Celle–Munster Light Railway had been founded as a GmbH , supported by
48-602: The town of Celle about the routing of the line within the town limits. With the permission of the Celle–Wittingen Light Railway a solution was found in the shape of a junction on their line. It was more than two years later, on 13 December 1904, that direct services from Bergen to Celle became possible when the line to Celle-Vorstadt on the Celle–Wittingen railway was opened. As a result, passenger trains no longer stopped at Garßen and goods trains (transferred to
56-606: Was already linked as part of the operating group of Celle Light Railways ( Celler Kleinbahnen ) and was renamed again into the Celle Railways ( Celler Eisenbahnen AG ). On 10 July 1944 it was merged into the East Hanoverian Railways ( Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen or OHE ) along with several other railway companies. Celle-Soltau, Celle-Munster Light Railway The Celle-Soltau, Celle-Munster Light Railway ( German : Kleinbahn Celle-Soltau, Celle-Munster GmbH )
64-650: Was until 1908 a publicly owned company run by the district of Celle in North Germany and was originally named the Garßen–Bergen Light Railway ( Kleinbahn Garßen-Bergen ). It was the builder and operator of the Celle–Soltau railway and its branch line from Beckedorf to Munster . The initiative to build a railway to Bergen came from Celle district, who opened the first section from Garßen via Beckedorf to Bergen on 23 April 1902. The terminus had to be built at Garßen because no agreement could be reached with
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