What began on 4 October 1977 with 17 railway-loving founding members is today a lively association with an operational ten-coach train, a historic steam locomotive from 1916 and a home on the Lower Rhine. A journey through almost five decades of our history.
Milestones at a glance
- 1977The association is founded on 4 October by 17 railway friends.
- 1978Steam locomotive HSW 1 (Henschel, built 1916) arrives in Wesel.
- 1979First public special trips with passengers between Wesel and Drevenack.
- 1981Into the age of steam: first steam train trip for the 125th anniversary of the Cologne–Amsterdam line.
- 1983Move to Wesel station at the invitation of stationmaster Theo Klingenberger.
- 1984The ‘Donnerbüchsen’ HSW 17 and 18 arrive from Weiden – the basis of today’s train.
- 1985In the anniversary year ‘150 years of German railways’ the collection grows considerably.
- 1992The boiler of steam locomotive HSW 1 is rebuilt at the RAW Meiningen works.
- 1999‘Bahnhöfe 2000’: the search for a new site begins.
- 2004Mayor Ulrike Westkamp makes the HSW a top priority.
- 2007The NRW Foundation supports the move with €60,000.
- 2008Contracts signed – move to the Römerwardt.
- 2010–2015Several freight wagons and passenger coaches restored as part of CJD training projects.
- todayAround 80 members, about 20 of them active. The train runs all year round.
The beginnings
1977 – 1980
On 4 October 1977, 17 railway friends met to found Historischer Schienenverkehr Wesel e. V. The goal was quickly defined: besides their shared hobby of model railways, they wanted above all to preserve and operate historic rail vehicles.
In the beginning there was plenty of idealism, no money – and a 20-tonne steam locomotive. Thanks to the help of Wesel businessman and patron Siegfried Landers, the locomotive, built in 1916 by Henschel & Sohn in Kassel, was brought from Remscheid to Wesel. On 18 September 1978 it was unloaded by mobile crane. The engine was given the club number HSW 1.
[Photo: HSW 1 being unloaded in Wesel, 18 September 1978]
A few days later, in September 1978, coach no. 6 of the Moerser Kreisbahn joined – a coach built in 1908 by Van der Zypen & Charlier in Cologne. As HSW 10, the ‘Moerser’, it became the association’s first passenger vehicle. With it we ran our very first public special trips from Wesel to Drevenack on 7 October 1979 – hauled by the small shunting locomotive of Wesel station.
As early as 1979 we tried to find a permanent home at the Stadtwerke Wesel exchange sidings. Part of the collection stood on track 4, which we rented from the town. In 1980 the luggage van HSW 11 – built in 1883, and so older than any member – added a unique piece of railway history.
Into the age of steam
1981 – 1985
With a steam locomotive, a passenger coach and a luggage van, the association took the step into the age of steam on 17 and 18 October 1981. The occasion was the 125th anniversary of the Cologne–Amsterdam railway. For the first time an HSW steam train ran on Wesel’s harbour railway.
In 1983, at the invitation of the then stationmaster Theo Klingenberger, we moved to Wesel station. The poor accessibility of the Römerwardt and the good offer at the station tipped the balance. This was the start of 26 years at home in Wesel station. In the same year four of our coaches received a major inspection at the Kiffe company in Münster – from then on the association was also allowed to run on Bundesbahn tracks.
In 1984 the ‘Donnerbüchsen’ HSW 17 and HSW 18 arrived from Weiden – today the buffet car and a seating coach of our train, and thus the backbone of the historic train set. In the anniversary year 1985, celebrated enthusiastically by the railway community as ‘150 years of German railways’, further vehicles joined, including passenger coach HSW 16 (type Cd28, built 1927) and several historic freight wagons.
[Photo: steam train on the Wesel harbour railway, early 1980s]
Growth and first challenges
1986 – 1998
In the late 1980s the collection continued to grow. In 1989 passenger coach HSW 20 was added; its interior was later restored on the club grounds, until 2006, as part of a job-creation scheme of the employment office. Two platform coaches from Austria, HSW 26 and HSW 27, were also acquired in 1994.
In 1992 a major technical project was due: the boiler of steam locomotive HSW 1 was rebuilt at the Reichsbahn repair works in Meiningen, Thuringia, in line with the then new technical regulations – with unchanged external dimensions.
As membership grew, so did the demands: trips were organised, vehicles maintained, operations professionalised. Most members were not originally railwaymen, but over the years railway-loving hobbyists turned into railway professionals. Several young members even chose careers on the railway.
A question of survival – and the answer
1999 – 2008
In 1999 the ‘Bahnhöfe 2000’ project was launched in North Rhine-Westphalia to improve the surroundings of railway stations. With our vehicles we stood in the way of these plans. The search for a new home began – and was to take almost a decade.
In 2004 the plans for a tunnel under Wesel station took shape. The fear of having to leave Wesel or give up altogether grew ever greater. In the autumn of that year Ulrike Westkamp was elected mayor – and made the HSW a top priority. With the help of her team, the Stadtwerke Wesel and the NRW Foundation, what had long seemed impossible was achieved: an attractive new site at the Römerwardt, right next to the listed remains of the old Rhine bridge.
The contracts were signed on 25 March 2008. We tell the full story of this move on the Relocation page.
Restoration as an ongoing task
2009 – today
The new site at the Römerwardt marked the start of a phase of intensive restoration. As part of employment-agency projects with CJD Wesel (Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschland, a youth charity), several vehicles were refurbished: covered freight wagon HSW 101 (2010), luggage van HSW 11 (2011–2013), freight wagon HSW 100 (2012) and freight wagon HSW 104 (2013–2015).
These projects served two purposes: they brought historic vehicles back into presentable condition and at the same time gave young people without qualifications a chance to train. A combination of railway history and social commitment that remains characteristic of us to this day.
The association today
Today Historischer Schienenverkehr Wesel e. V. has around 80 members, about 20 of whom are actively involved in operations. We are school pupils and pensioners, people from all kinds of jobs and professional railway workers. What unites us is our enthusiasm for historic rail vehicles.
Our operational ten-coach train seats 233 passengers. In Wesel it is usually hauled by Deutz diesel locomotive HSW 5; Henschel steam locomotive HSW 1 is undergoing a major overhaul. On longer excursions, NIAG locomotives take our train at up to 90 km/h to destinations in the Eifel, the Sauerland, the Middle Rhine, the Ahr, Moselle and Lahn valleys.
An overview of our vehicles can be found on the Vehicles page. If you would like to learn more about the individual acquisitions and restorations in our collection, you can download the detailed Chronicle of vehicle acquisitions as a PDF (in German).
We welcome every railway enthusiast who would like to join us. Find out more on the Get Involved! page.