Schiefe Ebene — Rauhe Mauer Viewpoint

The Rauhe Mauer platform is one of the stops on the Lehr- und Informationspfad Schiefe Ebene, the signed educational trail laid out in 1991 by Marktschorgast's public works department with the support of Marktschorgast, Himmelkron, Neuenmarkt and the German Steam Locomotive Museum. It stands about 9 m (30 ft) from the nearer of the two tracks, near trail board 'Schiefe Ebene 07', with the Rauhe Mauer and its valley below. Trains climbing from Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg toward Marktschorgast work hard on the 25 per mille grade and can be heard before they come into view. A heavy container train with a pusher is the prize here; regional railcars are more frequent and much quicker.

The line runs along a wooded hillside above the Streitmühlbach valley, carried by the Rauhe Mauer: a stone embankment wall 760 m (2,493 ft) long and up to 32 m (105 ft) high, built of irregular rock blocks and pierced by three bridges that let the side valleys drain (fichtelgebirge-oberfranken.de). The trail boards along the path mark the culverts and bridges; Brücke No. VII lies about 110 m (360 ft) away. Forest closes in on both sides, and the platform looks out over the valley and along the embankment.

The Schiefe Ebene was built between 1844 and 1848 for 917,318 guilders and opened on November 1, 1848, as part of the Ludwig-Süd-Nord-Bahn from Bamberg to Hof. It climbs 157.7 m (517 ft) over 6.8 km (4.2 mi) at a maximum of 25 per mille (1:40). The German Steam Locomotive Museum describes it as the first line in Europe to overcome a height difference of 158 m at 1:40 while remaining usable without any assistance such as cables or racks. Heavy trains still needed help: the depot at Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg kept banking locomotives, including Mallet types, and the old depot now houses the museum. In 1983, during the Cold War, a concrete drop-barrier (Fallkörpersperre) was built in a deep cutting nearby to block the line in case of invasion; it is a protected monument today and stands about 200 m (660 ft) from the platform.

An 1848 incline, still worked by pushers for heavy freight, a 760 m (2,493 ft) stone embankment, a Cold War drop-barrier and a steam museum at the foot of the grade all within a few kilometres, linked by one signed trail with information boards at each structure.