The loading ramp in Glossen is a technical monument and testimony to the history of kaolin and stone mining in the Porphyrland Geopark
With the opening of the section of the narrow-gauge railway (today Döllnitzbahn) between Mügeln - Neichen, the loading ramp for kaolin was put into operation at the Glossen stop in 1889. The raw material extracted from the surrounding pits was brought in by carts, loaded into the low tipping lorries and transported to the rail cars provided by means of a loading ramp. In 1903, the kaolin mine owners were given factory connections to the narrow-gauge network, reloading at the loading ramp in Glossen was no longer necessary. The railway company was responsible for the delivery and collection of the railway wagons to and from the works connections. It used so-called narrow-gauge trolleys for the transport of kaolin, onto which the standard-gauge wagons were pushed over a trolley ramp in the loading station. Such a trolley is set up at the loading ramp in glosses. When the Glossen quartzite quarry went into operation in 1925, the loading ramp in Glossen was used to load the crushed rock transported by field railways. Since the closure of the narrow-gauge Mügeln – Neichen section in 1972, the loading ramp has not been in operation.
Photo: Rebecca Heinze