Visiting Clausthal

When in Germany and not too far away from Clausthal any sane person with my name knows where to go! Considering that the town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld in addition is home to the oldest mine shaft steel headframe in Germany and on the UNESCO world heritage list, a visit was quite unavoidable. I was on my way home from the international narrow gauge meeting in Ilmenau.

Mine shaft headframe from 1876.

The Ottiliae Schacht mine shaft headframe is not only the preserved oldest in Germany, but also appears to be the oldest in Europe. The headframe once served a mine shaft almost 600 m deep. The shaft served workings of lead and zinc and was taken out of service in 1930. Since the workings served as water resevoirs for water turbines. That use terminated in 1980 and in 1984 the shaft was filled with concrete and the buildings turned into a museum. A 600 mm line connects the museum with the former railway station in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.

B 660 tandem locomotive from Betrieb für Bergbauausrüstungen, Aue. The type was built from 1980 to 1990 when the production was closed down due to the collapsing economy of DDR. With a weight of 5.5 t it develops 8.4 kW.

Lots of interesting stuff to explore on the tracks near the headframe. To the left a compressed air powered locomotive.

The B 660 pulling 3 wagons having just left the mine museum.

The Clausthal area is hilly and mountainous and the B 660 has a tough job ahead of it, when returning uphill to the mine shaft. The mine museum is located in a very beautiful area