The 9th Historik Mobil took place from Friday, 31.07.2015 to Sunday, 02.08.2015. A festive event organized by the Zittau narrow-gauge railroad for all railroad enthusiasts and nostalgics. For the second time, our university was also involved in this major event along the route of the small steam railroad. Colleagues and students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ' welcomed around 350 visitors to the Zittau Süd station in Brückenstraße at the weekend and were met with great interest.
The agreement on the transfer of use of the signal box rooms at Zittau Süd station was signed by the Managing Director of SOEG, Mr. Ingo Neidhardt, and the Chancellor of the university, Ms. Karin Hollstein, at a ceremony on 31 July.
SOEG is making the signal box rooms at Zittau Süd station available to the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences free of charge for teaching purposes. This makes classes / courses particularly practical.
The university management would like to express its thanks to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and in particular to Mr. Patrick Hornung, M.A., who worked hard to ensure that the interlocking was made available by SOEG for the training of electrical engineers without any complications.
On Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., the safety systems of the training signal box were demonstrated to the public. The systems include
- Indoor installations, in particular the lever bank of the standardized signal box from 1937
- Outdoor installations, including a mechanical point machine with transmission equipment, a form main signal and several light signals
- Safety equipment for level crossing with the road, specifically a level crossing safety system of type WSSB 64b
- Typical components and signaling equipment in the exhibition of the DIE archives
On the basis of the extensive safety installations, visitors were able to understand the train journeys that actually take place at the station from the perspective of railroad operations and safety technology and to carry out the necessary operating steps themselves from the beginning to the end of a train journey.
During the technical discussions with the visitors, further technical and historical details of the railroad station and local railroad operations came to light. It was also possible to take up the statements of former and current employees of the railroad companies. The following people were among the visitors at the weekend:
- The former signal and telecommunications (SF) post manager Zittau, Mr. Peter Ettrich.
- The managing director of the railroad operating company SOEG mbH, Mr. Ingo Neidhardt.
- The former dispatcher Mr. Christian Rönsch (service in Zittau Süd from 1955 to 1967).
- The control and safety technology (LST) foreman Mr. Egbert Gocht.
- Other former and currently employed dispatchers.
- As well as former and currently employed train drivers with line knowledge.
The unanimous opinion was that the development around the signal box in recent years is very positive. Since the beginning of 2014, the university has been working on the restoration and conversion of the facility affected by the 2010 floods for teaching purposes. In addition to internal teaching staff and numerous students, various supporters have also been involved in their free time.
The commitment of Mr. Christian Rönsch (see above) deserves special mention here. As a retiree, he has significantly supported the development of the project by providing information and, in some cases, specially created teaching materials on the operational handling of safety technology, including a fictitious tour of the plant during the Historik Mobil.
Thanks to the support of Mr. Thomas Dießner, the exhibition on typical components and signalling equipment as well as the history of the railroad line (see above), which was started in 2014, has also been significantly expanded through further permanent loans.
At the weekend, however, it also became clear once again how important the commitment of the citizens of Zittau was in preventing the closure of the railroad line in the 1990s. Thanks to the efforts and foresight of that time, the technical monument can now make a valuable contribution to passing on knowledge to future generations.
We would therefore like to thank all visitors and supporters of the narrow-gauge railroad - then and now!
On August 10, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences will once again begin its class / course on control and safety technology, during which the signal box and the Zittau Süd training station will once again be of great use.
Contact
Patrick Hornung
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science'
Phone: +49 3583 - 611571
Fax: +49 3583 - 611330