Mirsk–Świeradów Nadleśnictwo railway (before 1945 known as the Isergebirgsbahn or Izera Mountains Railway) was a single-track, non-electrified railway line with a length of 11.011 km, which connected with . The line was located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, within the counties of Lwówek (Gmina Mirsk) and Lubań (town of Świeradów-Zdrój).
The construction of the line was initiated by private interests. The first work began in 1908, and regular operations on the Mirsk–Świeradów-Zdrój section started on 31 October 1909. The section to Świeradów Nadleśnictwo was opened for regular use on 10 June 1910. The newly built route was initially a narrow-gauge railway with a track gauge of 600 mm, which was later converted to standard gauge after a few years. After World War II, the line was taken over by Polish State Railways, and the first train ran on 18 December 1946 after the bridge over the Kwisa river was rebuilt. The section from Świeradów-Zdrój to Świeradów Nadleśnictwo was scheduled for closure on 15 December 1995. The last passenger train departed from Świeradów-Zdrój railway station on 11 February 1996, but freight traffic continued for another two years.
Between 2021 and 2023, the former Izera Mountains Railway, along with the section No. 317 from Gryfów Śląski to Mirsk, was revitalized, and regular passenger services were inaugurated on 10 December 2023. Since then, the entire route from Gryfów Śląski to Mirsk and Świeradów-Zdrój has been designated as .
Route
Mirsk–Świeradów Nadleśnictwo railway began at , where it connected with Legnica–Jerzmanice-Zdrój railway. In 1999, the Mirsk–Gryfów Śląski section was designated as . Initially, the lines ran parallel in a southwesterly direction, with Legnica–Jerzmanice-Zdrój railway continuing toward Pobiedna and eventually the Czech border. After a road-rail crossing, the lines diverged, with the Izera Mountains Railway veering left, moving closer to .
The line continued over flat terrain, passing through agricultural fields in the , part of the . Along the way, it crossed numerous country roads. The line maintained a southerly direction, parallel to the Kwisa river. Approximately 3.5 km from Mirsk station, it reached , with a 30-meter elevation difference between the two points.
After Mroczkowice, the line slightly diverged from the road, still passing through fields with several intersections with country roads. At approximately 4.7 km, near the junction with a siding to a timber mill, the line entered the Jizera Mountains, specifically the northeastern foothills of . It then passed through Orłowice, continuing through a small forest before climbing a modest incline to reach (5.4 km). This segment saw an elevation gain of 25 meters.
At Orłowice station, there was a junction for a second siding, leading to a mica schist quarry. After the station, the line passed under a road overpass on , then followed a 400-meter curve, running on an embankment before crossing a railway bridge over the Kwisa river. It then made a 300-meter curve to the right, heading south along the village of Krobica.
The line continued through sparse residential areas, meadows, and small patches of forest, running along the Kwisa river valley at the base of . After exiting the forest, the line passed under another road bridge and entered Świeradów-Zdrój railway station, having climbed an additional 50 meters from the previous station.
Beyond Świeradów-Zdrój station, the line gradually shifted to a southeast direction, again running through residential areas, meadows, and agricultural fields. It also crossed local roads, mainly those providing access to nearby properties. Finally, the line reached , overcoming a further 60-meter elevation difference.
History
Origins and initial construction plans The area along the Mirsk–Świeradów Nadleśnictwo railway had a well-developed road network, but maintaining these roads was costly, partly due to the heavy traffic load. This region was also economically developed, with numerous industrial facilities such as water mills, sawmills, brickyards, and weaving mills. The proposed railway at that time could relieve the roads and further support industrial development. Świeradów-Zdrój, located to the south, was a rapidly growing spa town – in 1904, the town attracted 10,581 tourists and spa visitors.
Before the connection to Świeradów-Zdrój was established, a railway line to Mirsk was built. The decision to construct the railway line from Lwówek Śląski to Mirsk via Gryfów Śląski was made in 1882, and the line to Mirsk was officially opened on 1 November 1884.
After the line to Mirsk was completed, plans emerged to extend the route to Świeradów-Zdrój. The first project was initiated in 1897, as part of a narrow-gauge railway system proposed by the Schaffgotsch Chamber Office, aiming to build a 600 mm narrow-gauge line from Mirsk to Świeradów-Zdrój. The primary focus was on passenger transport for spa visitors, with freight transport as a secondary goal. The entire narrow-gauge railway system was intended to connect major towns of economic and tourist significance with the state railway network. However, this project did not receive approval from Liegnitz and was never realized.
The next project emerged in 1901 when the company Allgemeine Deutsche Kleinbahn-Gesellschaft AG from Berlin advocated for the construction of a standard-gauge line between Mirsk and Świeradów-Zdrój. Although the project received approval, it was not implemented for unknown reasons, likely due to a lack of financial resources. Two years later, the company Hutter, Walter & Co. from Hamburg sought to build a standard-gauge line. Despite receiving permission, the company did not proceed beyond preliminary studies.
The previous failures of private companies did not deter other potential investors from pursuing the construction of the line, as evidenced by petitions and requests sent to the Ministry of Public Works. On 23 April 1909, the President of the Province of Silesia issued a statement indicating that the state did not plan to construct new railway lines in the Jizera Mountains region in the near future.
Construction of the line The construction of the railway line to Świeradów-Zdrój was finally initiated through private efforts. The company Eisenbahn Gesellschaft Becker & Co. from Berlin submitted a petition on 2 October 1905 to begin preliminary work on a standard-gauge connection between Mirsk and Świeradów-Zdrój. Permission was granted in January 1906, and the first work commenced on February 1 of that year. However, two weeks later, due to harsh winter conditions, the fieldwork was halted. On March 19 of the same year, work on the project resumed, driven by the need to create detailed maps.
By 1907, the project plan for the line was ready. The main objectives of the project included the construction of a sufficiently durable track (12-meter steel rails on pine sleepers) designed to withstand a load of 6 tons per wheel, the erection of four bridges, and in the future, three road bridges over the Kwisa river to accommodate roads leading to the stations. The plan also highlighted the absence of the need for tunnel construction, the shared use of station buildings with the state railway in Mirsk, the construction of stops at Mroczkowice and Krobica with identical facilities, the building of the Świeradów-Zdrój station (with the station building designed to harmonize architecturally with the town's buildings), the construction of the Świeradów Nadleśnictwo station (without the need for a station building there), communication between stations via telephone connections, and the performance of major rolling stock repairs in state-run facilities.
The initial total cost of construction was 1.3 million marks, which increased to 1.45 million marks by 1907. After gathering all necessary data, the County Office in Lwówek Śląski sought to obtain a loan. The decision to grant a loan of 342.5 thousand marks was made on 4 September 1907.
After receiving the first of five loan installments in January 1908, the company Friedeberg-Flinsberger Kleinbahn AG was established on February 1 of the same year. Four days later, on February 5, the president of Liegnitz granted the newly formed company permission to build and operate the railway using steam traction for a period of 90 years (until 1998).
The first fieldwork began in March 1908. Due to challenging construction tasks (such as building the bridge over the Kwisa river and blasting rocks along the ), the first phase of construction was completed on 1 October 1909 (the Mirsk–Świeradów-Zdrój section). The remaining section (to Świeradów Nadleśnictwo) was finished on 29 July 1910. Regular operations on the Mirsk–Świeradów-Zdrój section began on 31 October 1909, while the section to Świeradów Nadleśnictwo was put into regular use on 5 June 1910. The newly constructed line was a narrow-gauge railway with a track gauge of 600 mm.
Railway before 1945
After the line was converted to standard gauge (1,435 mm), the company Friedeberg-Flinsberger Kleinbahn AG was renamed Isergebirgsbahn AG (Izera Mountains Railway SA). This company had its headquarters in rooms of the Rübezahl hotel (later known as the Kryształ hotel) in Świeradów-Zdrój.
Starting in 1929, the number of passengers using the Izera Mountains Railway began to decline. The decreasing passenger numbers, along with a reduction in freight traffic, made the railway less profitable. In response, efforts were made to introduce modern rolling stock (motorized railcars), as the lack of such vehicles was seen as a key factor in the drop in passenger numbers. However, these motorized railcars did not fully replace the existing rolling stock due to their high purchase cost. The first of these vehicles was acquired in 1934. That same year, on October 31, a ceremony was held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the railway's opening, featuring a series of events and special tourist trains.
To save the Izera Mountains Railway, other measures were also taken, including the introduction of direct carriages from Berlin, Dresden, and Wrocław, as well as reducing operational costs (such as introducing mixed passenger and freight trains).
During World War II, traffic on the line decreased. Additionally, there was an accident related to brake failure in the winter of 1941 in Świeradów-Zdrój, when a coal wagon detached from a train and rolled towards Mirsk, where it collided with a passenger train. Although all people had been evacuated from the station beforehand, the wagons were damaged. Towards the end of the war, retreating German forces destroyed one of the supports of the bridge over the Kwisa river.
Plans to extend the line to Szklarska Poręba
Both before and after the opening of the line to Świeradów-Zdrój, there were plans to build or extend the line to Szklarska Poręba. Such a line could have shortened the route between Berlin and Szklarska Poręba by about 30 km. As early as the 1860s, plans existed to construct a line from Gryfów Śląski through Mirsk and Świeradów-Zdrój to Piechowice, but due to a lack of local interest, this idea was never realized.
After the construction of the line to Świeradów-Zdrój, between 1912 and 1913, despite negative opinions from the Ministry of Railways, a project was developed to extend the line to Górzyniec. This new line was planned to be 15 km long, with an estimated construction cost of 3 million marks (more than double the cost of building the Izera Mountains Railway). The project was abandoned during World War I. In 1925, the project was revived, this time aiming to build an electrified line to Szklarska Poręba. However, for economic reasons, this project was also never realized. The idea was revisited during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the railway in 1934, as well as later, in the period leading up to World War II.