Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

EXTERIOR OF DOPPERSBERG STATION, ELBERFELD. A T the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury the sister towns of Barmen and Elberfeld in Rhenish Prussia each boasted less than 20,000 inhabitants. But the development of neighbouring coal and iron mines and of certain chemical and textile industries has caused since then a huge in- crease in population, and at the present day the two municipalities contain nearly 350,000 persons. Barmen and Elberfeld lie in the picturesque but narrow valley of the Wup- per, a tributary of the Rhine. The physical configuration of the country compelled the towns to extend lengthways, east and west, and the need for quick com- THE BARMEN-ELBERFELD RAILWAY. A UNIQUE SUSPENDED RAILWAY. I munication between the extremities of the towns and intermediate points became more and more pressing. In 1893 the munici- palities concerned decided to adopt the Langen type of suspended electric railway to give a quick local service from the eastern end of Barmen, through Elberfeld, Sonnborn, and Vohwinkel—a distance of 8J miles. The line was completed in 1900. The general form of the permanent way will be gathered from our illustrations, but a few details may be of interest. The track is supported by frames, which The TjthcIc* in some places take the shape of the bottom part of the letter A, with inclined struts and a horizontal connecting yoke ; and at others, where street traffic The Locality of the Railway.