Pferdebahn

Transport of the raw material for processing

Between the chestnut trees visible in the background, the gravel of the former horse-drawn railway can still be seen. As in this location, elsewhere the first railways were pulled by horses on iron-shod wooden planks.

The horse-drawn railway connected the shaft of "Zufriedenheit" with the processing of "Albertsgrube." Here – and not as originally planned on the site of "Zufriedenheit" – the facilities for ore processing were installed. At this station, the original path diverges from the Napoleonsweg, which at that time did not lead continuously to the processing of "Albertsgrube" but instead merged directly into today's Hastenrather Straße.

The Meyer family operated this horse-drawn railway – just like another horse-drawn railway – between today's Hastenrather quarry and the Concordia hut (Eschweiler). For this purpose, Robert Meyer had over 40 horses in his transport business in 1911.

On February 27, 1851, the approval for a lead and zinc ore processing plant at the Henriette shaft in the mining area of Zufriedenheit was granted. However, the construction of the approved ore processing plant did not take place as requested at the Henriette shaft, but below the machine shaft of Albertsgrube (see sign "Albertsgrube").

The reason for this was the water management tunnel (60 m deep) that was never fully developed, which had a planned total length of 500 Ruthen (1,883 m), and its completion was presumably abandoned for economic reasons.

To process the mined ores from the shafts of the Zufriedenheit concession, a horse transport railway had to be constructed accordingly.

The diverging railway here was replaced by a new railway track with the approval of the application from January 3, 1906. This ran over the continuously laid Napoleonsweg, which required less elevation to overcome.

Nevertheless, the operation of the new railway was not particularly easy, as it often experienced derailments. Therefore, the old railway was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

(Text: Jens Mieckley)