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© Rüdiger Pohl / Verein Stellwerk Köln-Dünnwald · CC BY-SA 4.0

Stellwerk Köln-Dünnwald

Railway signalling museum in Dünnwald preserving a rare DrS2 interlocking, one of Germany's first electronic signal boxes, and a working operations simulator.

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Housed in a former signal box building in Dünnwald, this museum is dedicated to railway signalling and telecommunications technology. Its centrepiece is a fully preserved interlocking installation that visitors can see in operation.

At a Glance

Type
Railway signalling and telecommunications museum
Location
Dünnwald district, Mülheim borough, at the former Köln-Dünnwald depot
Centrepiece
Preserved DrS2 push-button interlocking installation
Second exhibit
One of Germany's first electronic signal boxes (SIMIS B type, 1991)
Founded
2011
Operator
Stellwerk Köln-Dünnwald e. V. (registered association)
Did you know?

The museum has fully restored one of Germany's first electronic interlockings: the SIMIS B system from Essen-Kupferdreh station, built in 1991 – a pioneering device that was decommissioned as early as 2003, while all other units of this type remained in Deutsche Bahn service until the end of 2016.

From Signal Box to Museum

The building stands at the former Köln-Dünnwald depot along the Mülheim-Speldorf–Troisdorf railway line. The station was originally served from both ends and controlled by two mechanical standard-design signal boxes. In 1970, a DrS2 route-relay interlocking was installed in the Köln-Kalk-facing box, which later served solely to protect level crossings. The signal box was decommissioned in 2010 after the level crossings were upgraded to centrally controlled block signals operated from Köln-Kalk. Museum construction began in the building the following year.

The Exhibition

The star of the collection is the surviving DrS2 push-button interlocking. Its original relay assembly is displayed behind glass in a purpose-built section of the operating room, giving visitors a clear view of the inner workings. A second installation has been fully restored to working order: a SIMIS B electronic interlocking from 1991 — one of the earliest of its kind on the German rail network. It originally operated at Essen-Kupferdreh station, where it was taken out of service as early as 2003; Deutsche Bahn retired all SIMIS B units network-wide by the end of 2016 due to their age.

Railway Communications

A further section of the museum explores internal railway communications. The complete telephone exchange from a signal box — including the query and switching equipment — has been fully reconstructed. An operations simulator allows visitors to experience rail traffic management from a variety of perspectives.

Timeline

  1. 1970
    DrS2 track diagram relay installed at the station
  2. 1991
    Electronic interlocking SIMIS B commissioned in Essen-Kupferdreh
  3. 2003
    SIMIS B interlocking Kupferdreh decommissioned
  4. 2010
    Level crossings modernised, interlocking decommissioned
  5. 2011
    Museum construction begun in the interlocking building
  6. 2016
    Last SIMIS B interlockings retired from Deutsche Bahn service

Map

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Address

Rönsahler Str. 1
51069 Köln

Contact

0221 2615080

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