Lake Constance train ferries explained

The Lake Constance train ferries (Bodensee-Trajekte) were train ferries that were set up in the 19th century by railway companies to transport rail freight wagons across Lake Constance (Bodensee) between the five states located around the lake at the time. In the heyday of the railways, they were of great importance, especially for freight traffic.

Early history

Traffic parallel to the shore initially dominated shipping on Lake Constance. It was not until railways reached some port cities that the importance of the connections across Lake Constance increased, especially for grain traffic. Starting from 1824, steamboats were operated by different companies, rising to 2,874 in 1874.

The railway companies could initially only be connected with each other over the lake, since the Lake Constance Belt Railway (Bodenseegürtelbahn) on the German side was only built between 1867 and 1901 (in several stages). A line to Bregenz in Austria and continuing to Switzerland was only completed with the opening of the line to Bregenz on 24 October 1872. Until then passengers travelling to Switzerland had to continue over Lake Constance on a ship. The goods arriving by train were loaded at the final stations onto steamers (at that time combined cargo and passenger ships) or towed barges and at the destination they were reloaded onto the freight wagons of another railway company. The use of train ferries could reduce these transshipment processes. With the opening of the Swiss Gotthard Tunnel, the rail route over Lake Constance came to have great importance for all the railway companies.

Train ferry traffic

At first, the emerging train ferry traffic used barges that were towed by steamers. Two parallel tracks were laid on the decks of the barges, each of which could accommodate up to eight wagons. Loading and unloading had to proceed in stages, because the complete unloading of only one of the two parallel tracks would have caused the barge to lean so much that the remaining wagons would have fallen into the lake. The barges were towed across the lake either by a passenger steamer or a dedicated tug.

Establishment of individual train ferries

Ferry operations

After the completion of the Lake Constance Belt Railway, the costs of the train ferry operations were investigated. This showed that transport by train ferry was twice as expensive as transport around the lake by rail. However, since the single-track Belt Railway could not accommodate the additional traffic and the train ferry was faster (as so much time was lost at the two border clearances on the line via Bregenz to Switzerland), train ferry operations were retained. So work was also carried out between the two world wars on the improvement of the ferry operations. The port facilities were expanded and the train ferry ramp was equipped with electrical controls. Deutsche Reichsbahn, which was responsible for all train ferry traffic on Lake Constance from 1920, commenced operation with the ferry Schussen in 1929. The ship was powered by two diesel engines and could carry ten freight wagons on two parallel tracks across the lake. This ferry could now also carry cars. The new Hafenbahnhof (port station) was opened together with the rebuilt tracks at the port of Friedrichshafen on 7 March 1933. It now houses the Zeppelin Museum.

Closure of train ferry operations

Overview of train ferry links

ConnectionsOpenedAdjustedComments
–align=center 1869align=center 1939Interrupted in the First World War
Romanshorn–align=center 1869align=center 1976Interrupted in the First and Second World War
–align=center 1884align=center 1917
Lindau-Insel–Konstanzalign=center 1873align=center 1899
Bregenz–Romanshornalign=center 1884align=center 1915
Bregenz–Friedrichshafen Hafenalign=center 1884align=center 1913

Ferries

The train ferry traffic over Lake Constance on the Friedrichshafen–Romanshorn route began in 1869 with a steam ferry. In addition, in the same year, unpowered barges were towed by the Bavarian State Railways on the Lindau–Romanshorn route. From 1929 motorised train ferries were used for the carriage of freight wagons or motor vehicles.

Unpowered barges

In order to increase transport capacity, all national and state railways used non-powered ferry barges. Specifically, in the home port of Lindau there were three train ferry barges (Trajektkähne) I, II and III (1869), in the home port of Konstanz there were three ferry barges, the Ludwigshafen (1872) and Baden (1893), in the home port of Friedrichshafen there were the Tr. I (1877) and Tr. II (1885) and the screw propeller ferry Buchhorn (1891), in the home port of Bregenz there were ferry barges I, II, III, and IV (1885) and the screw propeller ferry Bregenz (1885) and in the home port of Romanshorn there were ferry barges A (1884) and B (1885). One or two barges were hauled across the lake by a passenger ferry or a steamship. Six ferry barges were converted from 1926 into self-propelled boats and motorised. A motor ferry towed a ferry barge carrying 14 wagons.

Steam ferries

The first steam train ferry was put into operation in 1869 in Friedrichshafen jointly by the Royal Württemberg State Railway and the Swiss Northeastern Railway.[1] The engineer was an Englishman, John Scott Russell, who had already built the Stadt Schaffhausen in 1851 for Switzerland and was also involved in the construction of the Great Eastern (which at the time of its launch in 1858 was by far the world's biggest ship). Like many of the working ships built at that time by Escher-Wyss of Zürich in Romanshorn, it had no name. Because of the enormous coal consumption of more than 50 kg of coal per km, it was soon popularly called the Kohlefresser (coal eater). The uneconomic ferry was taken out of service after boiler damage in 1883 and scrapped in 1885. In 1874, the Royal Bavarian State Railway received another steam train ferry, also built by Escher-Wyss.[2] The ferry was used on the Lindau-Romanshorn route until 1914. At the beginning of the First World War, operations were suspended and were not resumed after the war. After more than twelve years in Lindau harbor, the ship was scrapped in Altenrhein in 1927. The two steam train ferries were the only ships on Lake Constance with two funnels.

Motor train ferries

Only two years after the scrapping of the Lindau steam train ferries, the first new motor train ferry, the Schussen was put into operation in Friedrichshafen. In the 1930s, some older train ferries were motorised and some were still in use until 1966. Other motor train ferries followed with the Romanshorn in 1958 and the Rorschach in 1966. With the discontinuation of train ferry operations in 1976, these three double-ended ferries were converted into car ferries. Car ferry operations between Friedrichshafen and Romanshorn have continued to this day.

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DF Dampftrajekt I: "Leviathan oder Kohlenfresser" . https://web.archive.org/web/20160701222129/http://www.bodenseeschifffahrt.de/Fhafen-Dampf/dampftrajekt1.html. 1 July 2016. DF Steam Ferry I: "Leviathan or coal-eater". Bodenseeschifffahrt.de. 26 November 2018. de.
  2. Web site: DF Dampftrajekt II. https://web.archive.org/web/20151117103831/http://www.bodenseeschifffahrt.de/Lindau-Dampf/dampftrajekt2.html. 17 November 2015. DF Steam Ferry II. Bodenseeschifffahrt.de. 26 November 2018. de.

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