Notes concerning the Railroad between Memel and Laugallen
The Bahnhofwirtschaft postcard shows an inn next to the rail line in Laugallen, and shows a train behind the inn. This page contains notes concerning the rail line, known as the Memeler Kleinbahn ("small railroad" or "narrow gauge railroad" of Memel). The routes of the Memeler Kleinbahn are shown in black below.
Grosser Atlas der Eisenbahnen (1910)
[Large Railroad Atlas]
"Provinz Ost-Preussen"
A railroad ticket for the Memeler Kleinbahn appears in Alexandras Kubilas, Curonian Spit in Old Postcards, Vilnius: Lietuvos kolekcininku asociacija (1999), ISBN 9986-9223-1-3, p. 112. The ticket lists the stops on the route from Memel and Laugallen: Memel, Luisenhof, Bachmann, Barschken, Clemmenhof, Clausmühlen, Jacken, Miszeiken, Szilluppen, Matzwöhlen, Gaiten - Schugsta-Stenzel - Dawillen, Grambowischken, Laugallen.
These towns with railroad stops and stations are shown highlighted on the 1929 Karte des Deutschen Reiches below:
The abbreviation "Bhf." at Dawillen and Laugallen stands for Bahnhof (train station). The abbreviation "Hp." shown at the remaining stops along the rail line stands for Haltepunkt (stopping point, or small rail station).
Führer
durch
Memel und Umgegend (Guide through Memel and
Surroundings, 1913), states: "Into the neighboring country - to
Russian Krottingen, Garsden, Polangen. To whoever wants to visit
our eastern neighbor, Russia, in order to learn about the border
life of the characteristic border small towns, Memel offers
three different possibilities." The guide describes a Grenzkarte
(border ticket), offered at the Police Information Office, Neuer
Park 6. After describing the rail trip to visit Kretinga, the
Guide states: "A similar type [of small town] is small Garsden,
which lies on the picturesque right bank of the Minge and is
even more convenient to reach by the Memel-Dawillen-Laugallen Kleinbahn."
See Ch. XXI.
For further information, see
at Encyclopedia of Russian Narrow Gauge Railways.
Bahnhofswirtschaft postcard