An historical account of the narrow gauge and light railways that have served the Hellweg area of Germany – an area within Nordrhein-Westfalen Land, bounded by the river Ruhr to the south and Lippe to the north. The area was once the site of several interesting railways, including the Ruhr-Lippe-Kleinbahn, Ruhr-Lippe-Eisenbahn and Ruhr-Lippe-Gesellschaft.
The book describes the development of these railways, which were built mainly to transport agricultural produce from the Lippe lowlands and materials to and from the industrial heartland of the upper Ruhr valley. In their heyday the lines formed a thriving and effective transport network.
Like almost all small railways, these experienced a rapid decline after the Second World War. Only a few short sections now remain and these are used only rarely for (sporadic) freight traffic and occasionally special trains.
As well as tracing the history of these railways, Kleinbahn-Zeiten zwischen Ruhr und Lippe focuses in particular on some of their extremely interesting vehicles, such as the narrow-gauge mallet steam locomotives of the RLK and several rare railcars from various manufacturers.
The book is well illustrated with archive black & white photographs and more recent colour material. Maps, diagrams are statistical data are also provided, including fleet lists of standard and narrow gauge vehicles to have operated on the various railways. 208 pages. Hardback. German text.