Background (1874–1890) The
Elmstein Valley, densely covered in woods and hence sparsely populated, suffered in earlier times from a poor road infrastructure, especially away from the direct route between Neustadt and Kaiserslautern. The valley follows the upper reaches of the
Speyerbach river, the most important
Palatine tributary of the
Rhine. The key resource of the Speyerbach source region has always been its wood. For centuries, cut or split logs were transported by
timber rafting down the river, i.e. propelled by the current, and were sold in the almost treeless
Anterior Palatinate. As early as March 1874 entrepreneurs from the villages of
Frankeneck and
Neidenfels complained that transporting goods to Lambrecht station by road would be very expensive. For this reason, they launched a petition to the
Palatine Railways, which aimed at the establishment of a halt and loading point, exclusively for goods traffic, between the stations of
Weidenthal and Lambrecht. This was to be built in Frankeneck immediately next to the confluence of the
Hochspeyerbach and the Speyerbach. The hope was that, using this planned operating point on the
Palatine Ludwig Railway, would save on transportation costs. These efforts were initially unsuccessful. However, at the end of 1881, the
Palatine Ludwig Railway Company built a stackyard at Lambrecht railway station. On 28 May 1888, 67 entrepreneurs sent a request to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior - at that time the Palatinate belonged to the
Kingdom of Bavaria - with the aim of building a tramline from Neustadt via Lambrecht and
Frankeneck to Elmstein. However, this submission was not successful: the administration of the Palatine Railways came to the conclusion that the road network was satisfactory and the distance to the existing stops on the Ludwig Railway was too short to justify an additional connection. The forest authorities also criticized the proposal for a tram line because it would have made an additional transhipment of wood necessary. The Bavarian government considered it pointless to create a transport link parallel to the Ludwig Railway between Neustadt and Lambrecht.
Planning and opening of the Lambrecht–Sattelmühle section (1890–1902) The Bavarian government had received a draft law on 5 April 1892 concerning the construction of branch lines in the
Palatinate. This was intended to assign interest rate guarantees to certain routes based on the model given. During this time, the establishment of a branch line from Lambrecht to Elmstein was also discussed, for which the MP,
Andreas Deinhard, used his influence in the Chamber of Representatives. With the gradual demise of timber rafting at the end of the 19th century, the main source of livelihood in the Elmstein Valley was threatened and the population was forced to find other sources of income. Those affected saw the solution to the problem as a railway link that would act as a replacement for the transportation of wood using timber rafts. In addition the planned line was seen as a way of stimulating the economy of the valley. In August 1895 a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Lambrecht's mayor that sent another petition to the Bavarian government. At the same time the committee engaged the relevant communities with a memorandum entitled "The Necessity of an Elmstein-Neustadt Valley Railway" (
Die Nothwendigkeit einer Elmstein=Neustadter=Thalbahn). Finally, one year later, the company of
Vering & Waechter was awarded the contract. Planning was completed by January 1897.
Planning the railway line (1902–1904) The committee continued to campaign for a full branch line by the construction of an extension of the industrial siding to Elmstein. The government in Bavaria took the view that it should be a national responsibility to build the line, especially because of the imminent transfer of the Palatine Railways into the ownership of the
Royal Bavarian State Railways. At the beginning of 1904, a meeting of the Palatine Forest Railway Committee (
Pfälzer Waldbahn-Komitee) took place. Because the line affected various parishes whose villages were some way from the direct route - for example,
Hambach,
Kirrweiler and
Lachen – determining the course of the trackbed proved very difficult. The villages of Elmstein and Kirrweiler were prepared to offer the necessary land for the railway without being paid. In addition, Elmstein strove to increase the contributions from
Esthal, Hambach and Lachen. During the course of the negotiations, it turned out that a sum of money in the five-figure range would be needed. Elmstein wanted a grant of 35,000 marks towards land acquisition costs, but because of the opposition of the royal treasury, they were only awarded 30,000 marks. In addition, individuals such as
Albert Biirklin and Count D'Arlon gave both money and land for the railway. Furthermore, road construction engineers confirmed that the maintenance costs of the planned railway line would be significantly lower than that of the local roads. On 18 January 1909, a test run on the line was undertaken in order to check it technically. The train being used for the test arrived at Elmstein station at 11 am. The official inauguration took place five days later. The first train was due to depart Elmstein at 6.20 am. However, as it was about to leave there was a fatal accident. The Jungfern service was just a few metres from the end of the line when, owing to a wrongly set turnout, the train accelerated at full steam into the locomotive shed and killed a spectator. The
locomotive escaped with only a few scratches; the shed, however, suffered more serious damage that had to be repaired. As a replacement, a train from Lambrecht arrived at the end of the section at 8.15 am; around 10 am the first train finally left Elmstein for Lambrecht. The operator was initially the Bavarian State Railways who, since 1 January, had taken over the whole Palatine railway network; so that the opening of the railway was its first official duty there. Although it was initially called the Elmstein Valley Railway (
Elmsteiner Talbahn), over time the nickname "Little Cuckoo Line" (
Kuckucksbähnel) was adopted. The call of cuckoos was once a common sound in the Elmstein Valley, which is why the local population in Elmstein were given the nickname "cuckoos" (
Kuckucke). The term
Kuckucksbähnel was probably coined by the owner of the s
Lokschuppen restaurant at Elmstein station. The regional press gradually adopted the name until it eventually became the official name of the line. On 28 May 1960, regular passenger services were finally withdrawn. After the disbandment of the Mainz Division, its counterpart in
Karlsruhe became responsible for the line on 1 June 1971. In 1977, goods traffic also ceased because the line had been used less and less by the
forestry industry and goods takings had reduced sharply. The last scheduled goods train had already run on 30 June 1976. In its last years of operation the railway line had only had the official status of an industrial siding.
Plans for a heritage line (from 1977) In the county of
Bad Dürkheim, formed in 1969 and in which the line now lay, politicians began attempts in 1971 to preserve the line as a heritage railway. This was initially unsuccessful because DB blocked it. Nevertheless, these efforts to preserve the line did not come to a halt. For example, in the time that followed the then Transport Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate,
Heinrich Holkenbrink, took part in an inspection visit. Initially DB was persuaded to delay the planned closure and intended lifting of the line to a later date. At this time the trackage was already showing signs of needing structural repair. In addition, the Karlsruhe Federal Railway Division declared itself ready to sell all the land on the collective municipality of Lambrecht (
Verbandsgemeinde Lambrecht). Because the revival of the line initially appeared unrealistic, plans were made to convert the trackbed into a cycleway or track for post coaches. Meanwhile, the broadcasters,
Südwestfunk, were planning a television series,
The Soldier of Fortune - The Adventures of Robert Curwich. The company saw the village of Breitenstein, including the railway, as a suitable location, which is why the partially overgrown line between Lambrecht and Breitenstein had to be cleared. In addition, the railway embankment had to be made safe and the track repaired in places. Shooting itself took place in May 1983. At the same time there were lengthy discussions with DB which saw the railway being sold to the county. The contract was signed in Spring 1984. The plans envisaged operating the line as a heritage railway in cooperation with the
German Railway History Company's
museum at
Neustadt an der Weinstraße. On 14 February 1984 railway fans founded the "Little Cuckoo Line Operating Company" (
Kuckucksbähnel-Betriebs-GmbH) or KKB, which was initially owned by the town of
Neustadt an der Weinstraße, the collective municipality of Lambrecht, three clubs from the region and several private individuals.
Heritage railway (since 1984) Finally, on 2 June 1984, the museum line was opened. Since then the line has been mainly used by holidaymakers and day trippers. As a result of the large numbers of customers, trains also had to be lengthened. In the years that followed, special trains were often run, for example, the
Glass Train visited twice. In June 2004 the Cuckoo Line celebrated its 20th anniversary as a heritage railway. == Route ==