Preserving History
"There is no future without the past" - this holds true, and particularly for the Wiehltalbahn.
The description and explanation by Rainer Gries and Herbert Nicke lead to the placing of the railway track including all structures and track under a preservation order. Quarries and the development of the railway went hand in hand – one of the reasons why the railway route, together with all its structures and the track, was given “protected monument” status.
We maintain the Wiehltalbahn historic monument entrusted to us in various ways:
First and foremost of course by using the listed raiway track as what it is: As a railway track.
You can ride on it and experience it - what could happen to a historically significant railway line that is better than this? Of course time doesn't stand still and new directives e.g.. lead to changes to signalling equipment. We now use the railway control centre in Waldbröl station building as railway control centre again - but the equipment has to comply with modern standards. Nevertheless we try to deal with the monument as sensitively as possible.
On operating days you can visit a little exhibition dealing with the Wiehltalbahn in the Waldbröl station building. There you can find original Wiehltalbahn artifacts from the past like e.g. the original ticket rack of the Waldbröl ticket office.
You can experience the past very closely on one of our guided walking tours in conjunction with a train ride. We take you with us in search of striking and low-key signs of the past, for example to old quarries and spoil heaps. A fixed date for these tours is the annual "Tag des offenen Denkmals (Public Monuments Day)" in September. Please look out for our announcements in the events calendar for these tours.
If you would like to walk on your own you can find tips in the book "Wandern mit der Wiehltalbahn (Walking with the Wiehltalbahn)". The Wiehltalbahn is also part of the "Straße der Arbeit (Road of Labour)". Walking tours related to industrialisation can be found on the website of the "Straße der Arbeit" (Sorry, German only!).