page_title: Waldheim–Rochlitz railway
section_title: Stations
hierarchical_section_title: Waldheim–Rochlitz railway / Stations
caption_attribution_description: Bahnhofsgebäude in Waldheim
context_page_description: The Waldheim–Rochlitz railway was a single-track branchline of about 21 km length in Saxony, connecting the towns of Waldheim and Rochlitz via Hartha and Geringswalde. It was opened in 1893, closed in 1998 and served mainly the purposes of the local industry and population.
context_section_description: Waldheim (51.0764°N 13.0139°E)
  Waldheim station was opened in 1852 when the line between Limmritz and Chemnitz, the last section of the Riesa–Chemnitz railway, was opened. Despite the fact that two branch lines — the Waldheim–Rochlitz railway and the Waldheim–Kriebethal railway which was opened 1896 - joined the mainline here, the track plan of this junction station remained comparatively simple. In the last years of the line there was only one track with a run-around loop for the locomotives of the Rochlitz trains. They used the island platform which at this time had remained the only platform in the station (a second platform without a canopy had been removed when the mainline was re-doubled and electrified). The opposite side of the island platform was and still is used by the mainline trains between Riesa and Chemnitz. With the building work progressing, the Rochlitz track was joined to the mainline, too, but is hardly used any more. The station building had stood empty and suffered from increasing decay for several years until most of it was demolished in 2015, leaving only the porticus. The long goods shed and the engine shed that was accessible via a turntable are also abandoned and decaying. The engine shed used to house locomotives for shunting duties and for the freight services to the paper mills in the Zschopau valley. Some team tracks have remained in use for a few years after closure of the WR line, but now (2016) only a passing loop and two crossovers between the mainline tracks are left beside the latter.
  Hartha (Kr Döbeln) (51.0905°N 12.9727°E)
  After Geringswalde, Hartha was the second most important intermediate station on the line. It had two passenger platforms to enable occasional train crossings. It was more important for freight traffic, as there were four sidings serving the local industry, three of which remained in operation until shortly before the closing of the line. Main customers were the agricultural co-operative warehouse and the textile industry. The following buildings existed: a station building with two and a half stories (Saxon standard design, built in brick), a goods shed, a non-residential and a residential building and a loading dock. In order to cope with the increasing shunting demands, a new Kö I with Number 0236, built by Windhoff, based in Riesa depot, was stationed here at least until 1945.
  The name of the station changed over time:
  until 30 September 1904: Hartha bei Waldheim
  until 30 June 1911: Hartha (Stadt)
  until 3 Oktober 1953: Hartha Stadt
  since 4. Oktober 1953: Hartha (Kr Döbeln)
  Geringswalde (51.0726°N 12.9077°E)
  The station had an island platform where trains could cross and which could be accessed from the station building through a pedestrian tunnel. The ticket barrier at the tunnel entrance was last used in the 1970s. The station building was of the same type as that in Hartha, but had been extended by a spacious waiting room, whose eastern interior wall was decorated with a mural with railway motives.
  After the first goods shed on the southern side of the station proved too small, a second, larger one was built on the northern side. A small shunting engine was stationed in Geringswalde in the 1930s, too. After World War II two tracks were removed as war reparations.
  Freight customers were the local industry and the agricultural warehouse. The latter had its own siding. Another siding served a toolmaking factory and linked the animal fodder mill to the railway network via an asymmetric turntable.  Level crossings were situated at both ends of the station. The eastern one had been kept closed for vehicles since the mid-1970s, and could only used by pedestrians. When the line was upgraded to carry higher axle loads in the 1980s, a work train with accommodations for the workers was stationed in Geringswalde.
  Arras (51.0558°N 12.9015°E)
  Until the end of World War II there was a private siding at Arras halt. The waiting room was paved with wood.
  Obstmühle (51.0423°N 12.8639°E
  This station once had an extra team track that also served a loading dock. After its removal
caption: Front of Waldheim station building (2009)
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