Baederbahn Molli.

The history of this railway.
In 1886, it took only 3 months to plan and build the railway and run the first train on 
it. In Mai, 1886, trackwork began and on the 7th July the first train was up and 
running. The concession for this line had been granted June 19, 1886.
The line was named "Baederbahn" in these days and was built and run under the 
regency of the "Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn".
In the beginning, tram - locos were used to pull the short trains. Soon, they had to 
replaced with stronger locos with a 0-3-0 wheel arrangement. In the 1920's, the small 
C-couplers, how they are called in German, had again to be replaced with stronger 
locos due to heavier trains and more traffic on the line. Those locos were of the type 
"Einheitslokomotive", meaning that most of their parts are interchangeable with other 
types of locos. This kept repair cost down and assured a profitable run of a 
locomotive. The "Baederbahn" bought 3 locos of this typ with the running board 
numbers 99 321, 99322, and 99323. They were delivered by Orenstein & Koppel with 
their original numbers 12.400, 12.401, and 12.402.
Those locos from the 20's and 30's traffic could be maintained until the mid 1950's 
when standards had to be upgraded once again. Therefore, the "Baederbahn" bought 
3 surplus-loos from  "VEB Kombinat Wismut AG Betriebsteil Obersehma (Saxony) 
and had them rebuilt for the "Baederbahn" in the shops of  "RAW Goerlitz". The cabs 
had to be rebuilt because it was too wide for the narrow passage in the streets of Bad 
Doberan.
After the re-union of East- and West-Germany, traffic figures rose sky-high until they 
stagnated and finally dropped during the last 3 years.

The line privatised 3rd September, 1995 and is now owned by the regional government 
of Bad Doberan.

There have been rumors concerning the sale or scrapping of the locomotives. 
Fortunately, just the contrary has come true : According to the "Baederbahn" - 
officials, steam-traffic will be expanded; only during morning and evening-hours 
additional buses will run. They need just about the same time from Baqd Doberan to 
Kuehlungsborn-West as the train does...


(This article has been translated into english. The original is found in DMOLLI.TXT 
in this library. Translation has been done with agreement by the original author.)