Home base Geislinger Steige
In Germany's extensive railway network, there is a short but special section. It lies in the middle of the Paris-Vienna railway corridor, at Europe's biggest watershed. It is the heart of the first Württemberg, the Swabian Railway. And it is a complete structure that also bears the signature of LEONHARD WEISS.
In Germany's extensive railway network, there is a short but special section. It lies in the middle of the Paris-Vienna railway corridor, at Europe's biggest watershed. It is the heart of the first Württemberg, the Swabian Railway. And it is a complete structure that also bears the signature of LEONHARD WEISS.
The Geislinger Steige. It is only 5.6 kilometers long, but has a remarkable gradient of 22.5 %. Its construction in the mid-19th century set new technical standards and involved more than 4,000 workers from Germany and abroad. Even today, it remains one of the most challenging routes – for the train drivers and their locomotives, who have to climb 113 meters. But also for the maintenance of the line, which runs along sheer rock faces and narrow bends to the Alb plateau.
After the Second World War, LEONHARD WEISS was entrusted with the ongoing reconstruction work on this special line. Over the decades, the Geislinger Steige has repeatedly presented the company with tricky challenges. Initially, the company tackled these challenges with the simplest of means and by hand, later with technical support. Over the years, the legendary line between Geislingen and Amstetten became a home base for LEONHARD WEISS.
Track renewal at the end of the 1960s
Track renewal at the end of the 1960s: large teams of 30 to 40 men work their way along the tracks. The landscape is spectacular, but there is no time to enjoy the view of the Fils valley. Each worker had to replace five sleepers in the allotted time. Using forks and picks, the men remove the ballast from the track bed, pull out the sleepers and insert the new ones. Then they fill in the gaps. All by hand and in teams.
Before big machines can do the heavy work, the demand for labour on the Geislinger Steige is immense. Workers are brought in from all directions and bussed to the site. It was one of the big projects that everyone who was there remembers.
I got on the bus, there were maybe two people on it. I was sitting in the third row. Then someone came on and said, 'Move over, that's my seat'. So I moved a bit further back. Ten minutes later the next person came in and said "Move over, that's my seat". This went on until I was sitting at the back. The following Saturday I went to Göppingen and bought my first VW Beetle. It wasn't fully functional, but I drove it onto the building site and waved to the people in the bus.
As freight and passenger traffic increased, the section between Geislingen and Amstetten became a bottleneck on the Deutsche Bundesbahn's north-south axis. Despite technical developments, such as bi-directional track switching in 1975, the need for an alternative route became increasingly apparent. However, maintenance work on the line had to be carried out while the train was running because of the high level of traffic
Construction work on the Geislinger Steige, June 1987
Construction work on the Geislinger Steige, June 1987: A particularly demanding task for LEONHARD WEISS. A large rock overhang next to the railway line was a cause for concern for Deutsche Bahn. In order to prevent the 60 cubic meters of rock from sliding onto the tracks, the rock face was scaffolded and supported with pillars. The weathered rock faces will be treated with shotcrete to create a large, smooth surface. Intercity and freight trains pass just meters away from the workers at the foot of the steep rock face.
In December 2022, the high-speed line between Wendlingen and Ulm, with trains travelling at up to 250 km/h, will replace the high-speed traffic on the Geislinger Steige. Even today, in an increasingly fast-moving world, trains can only negotiate the narrow, steep bends at a maximum speed of 70 km/h. Today, just as 175 years ago, people like to look out of the window at this point, where everything slows down a little, and take in the landscape and the railway line, which also tells a piece of LEONHARD WEISS' company history.
In 2025, the Geislinger Steige will proudly celebrate its 175th anniversary - and as luck would have it, LEONHARD WEISS will also be celebrating its 125th anniversary in the same year. A special connection in every aspect.