Breitspurbahn

The Breitspurbahn (, ) was a railway system planned and partly surveyed by Nazi Germany. Its track gauge – the distance between the two running rails – was to be , more than twice that of the standard gauge used in western Europe. The railway was intended initially to run between major cities of the Greater Germanic Reich (the regime's expanded Germany) and neighbouring states.

History

Since reparations due after World War I had to be paid, the German railway company Deutsche Reichsbahn lacked money for appropriate expansion and sufficient maintenance of their track network and rolling stock.

Commercial and civilian traffic increased due to economic stimulation after the rise of the NSDAP and Hitler's seizure of power. Deutsche Reichsbahn was now faced with a serious capacity problem. As a result, in part driven by its military objectives, the government prepared plans to modernize the railway network and increase transport capacity. Hitler believed that the standard Stephenson gauge was obsolete and was too narrow for the full development of railways. under the management of Ministerial Counsellor .

Proposed routes

thumb|right|Proposed route map 1943 (postwar drawing with borders of 1937)

Early plans for routes considered India, Iran, Syria, Vladivostok and Canada (via Bering Strait) as the ultimate goals of the railways, but by 1943 the planning was focused exclusively on European cities. Due to mountainous terrain, the initial phase routes of Aachen-Paris and Budapest-Bucharest were drawn via Antwerp instead of Liège, and via Belgrade instead of the Hungary/Romania border respectively.

East-West: Rostov - Donetsk - Poltava - Kiev - Lvov - Krakau - Kattowitz - Breslau - Cottbus - Welthauptstadt Germania (Berlin) - Hannover - Bielefeld - Ruhrgebiet - Aachen - Liège - Saint-Quentin - Paris
Initially proposed the Flemish corridor as Aachen - Antwerp - Ghent - Paris
North-Southeast: Hamburg - Wittenberge - Welthauptstadt Germania (Berlin) - Leipzig - Gotha - Bamberg - Nuernberg - Munich - Simbach am Inn - Linz - Vienna - Preßburg - Budapest - Bucharest - Varna/Burgas - Istanbul
Initially proposed the Serbian corridor as Budapest - Belgrade - Bucharest
North-South-Parallel: Welthauptstadt Germania (Berlin) - Dresden - Aussig - Prague - Iglau - Znaim - Vienna - Trieste - Rome
East-West 2: Munich - Augsburg - Stuttgart - Karlsruhe - Metz - Reims - Paris - Marseille - Barcelona - Madrid

For further routes, see German version and Dutch version.

Tracks

thumb|300px|left|Comparison with [[Standard gauge|Standard and Russian gauge]]

Originally proposed to run on a track, the Breitspurbahn was ultimately developed with a track gauge of , more than double the width of the common standard gauge track, and three times the width of the common semi-narrow metre gauge track. Planning called for a ballastless track (much as was developed 30 years later for San Francisco BART and 40 years later for German high-speed lines) which consisted of two parallel pre-stressed concrete "walls" sunk into the ground, joined at the top by a flat transverse slab. The rails were fixed on top of the "walls", with an elastic material between rail and concrete. Because it did not have conventional railway sleepers, this track would also have formed an ideal road for maintenance and military purposes. The rails would be either , as on the Pennsylvania Railroad; tall) rails or proposed (height-width ratio of 1:1) rails. The passing loop length would be more than a mile (1 km).

Vehicles

Locomotives

Forty-one different locomotive designs were suggested by the industry partners. These ranged from classical steam locomotives through steam turbine, gas turbine-electric and diesel-hydraulic to electric locomotives. The designs ranged from 12 axles (UIC: 3′Fo3′, Whyte: 6-12-6) to 52 axles (UIC: 2′Fo′Fo′2′ + 5T5 + 5T5 + 2′Fo′Fo′2′, Whyte: 4-12-12-4 + 10-10 + 10-10 + 4-12-12-4). Power ranged from . All locomotives would have automatic couplers, ranged from Janney couplers to SA3 couplers. Several designs were short listed with passenger locomotives to be mainly electric and diesel-hydraulic with SA3 couplers, and freight locomotives to be mainly conventional steam with Janney couplers.

Multiple units

Diesel and electric multiple units of between five and eight coaches were proposed for shorter distance journeys. Despite being of somewhat lower standard, proposed designs included promenades, bars, lounges and large dining rooms.

Carriages

thumb|right|Models of two proposed Breitspurbahn passenger carriages next to a 19th century standard-gauge carriage at the [[Nuremberg Transport Museum|DB Museum]]

The proposal was that high-performance locomotives should pull 8-axle bi-level carriages with a length of , width of and height of .

1st/2nd class day car: 48 first class seats in 12 compartments, 144 second class seats in 24 compartments, bar, lounge, reading room, luggage compartments, 12 toilets.
3rd class day car: 460 seats in 56 compartments, lounge, 12 toilets.
1st/2nd class dining car: 130 seats at 24 tables, kitchen, pantry.
3rd class day car with dining room: 244 seats in 28 compartments, 176 seat dining room, kitchen, pantry.
1st/2nd class sleeping car: 16 first class beds in 16 cabins, 41 second class beds in 19 cabins, breakfast room, kitchen, washrooms, 10 toilets.
2nd class sleeping car: 104 beds in 104 cabins, washrooms, 12 toilets.
3rd class sleeping car: 264 beds in 44 cabins, breakfast room, kitchen, shower rooms, 10 toilets.
Day/night car for Ost-Arbeiter: 480 seats in 52 cabins, kitchen, washrooms, staff room.
Theatre car: 196-seat theatre.
Observation car: 16 first class seats in four compartments, 32 second class seats in eight compartments, 160 third class seats in 20 compartments, galley, cold buffet, bar, observation deck.
Mail car: mail storage and sorting, parcel space, crew room, space for 6 automobiles, dog kennels.
Baggage car: baggage rooms, space for two automobiles, dog kennels, canteen, crew room, multiple 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, ammunition storage and gun crews.

Successors and similar plans

After Nazi Germany collapsed, several super-broad-gauge railways were proposed, with track gauges ranging from . Locomotive options added nuclear-powered locomotives, and passenger carriages lengths ranging from . Most passenger carriages would have Dutch doors and a retractable boarding staircase, with some exceptions for low-level boarding only.

In fiction

A ride on a Breitspurbahn-like train is featured in the video game Wolfenstein: The New Order. The railway network is also mentioned in novels Fatherland and The Fuhrer's Orphans.

An American version of the Breitspurbahn is depicted in the TV series Supertrain.

References

External links

Breitspurbahn.de Pictures of the "Breitspurbahn"
epilog.de Concept drawings and discussion of the Breitspurbahn