Benestroff, the ruins of an important railway junction used by the nazis in World War II

@ElentirENG ES 12·11·2023 · 23:25 0

During World War II, the railway was strategically important for transporting troops, vehicles and supplies.

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During that war, one of the most important railway junctions in Nazi-occupied France was in Benestroff, a town in northeastern France located 28 kilometers from the border with Germany, on the railway line of Réding to Metz-Ville. This railway junction, located to the west of the town, had a splendid roundabout for steam locomotives, built between 1929 and 1930 by the Alsace and Lorraine Railway Administration, becoming part of the National Company in 1938. of French Railways (SNCF).

During the World War II, the French region of Moselle, where this railway junction was located, was annexed by Germany, so both the junction and the depot came to be managed by the German railway company Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) from July 1, 1940 until the end of the war.

In its heyday, the Benestroff roundabout housed up to 40 locomotives, and the railway junction played a very important role in sending German troops to France. However, during the war these facilities began to lose their importance, probably due to the intense Allied bombings that occurred in this region.

Benestroff was liberated on November 19, 1944 by the 104th Infantry Regiment of the US Army, passing the railway junction to be managed by the 718th Railway Operations Battalion of the US Army. strong> After the war, the facilities returned to the hands of SNCF, to be finally abandoned in 1956. Last Saturday, LostintimeNL published a video showing the ruins of the old Benestroff locomotive roundabout, today surrounded by trees:

You can see some screenshots from the video here. Here we have an aerial view of the Benestroff roundabout. In the center and to the right we see the garages where the steam locomotives were parked.

An image of the interior of the locomotive parking lot, currently without tracks.