Sajdakiem Tunnel

The Sajdakiem Tunnel (German: Köhlerbergtunnel) is a railway tunnel under Sajdak in the Wałbrzyskie Mountains of south-western Poland, between Jedlina-Zdrój and Głuszyca. It carries the Kłodzko Główne–Wałbrzych Główny railway and forms part of the historic mountain railway infrastructure of the former Prussian Silesia.^[1][2]

The tunnel complex consists of two parallel bores. The first was driven during construction of the Wałbrzych–Kłodzko railway in the late 19th century, and the second was added during the early 20th-century expansion of the line to double track.^[1][2]

The tunnels pass beneath Sajdak, a mountain rising to 586 m (1,923 ft) above sea level in the Wałbrzyskie Mountains.^[2] Railway documentation cited by Przemysław Dominas gives a length of 384 m (1,260 ft) for the tunnel bore, while the inscription on one of the southern portal stones records a length of 384.13 m (1,260.3 ft).^[2]

Both bores are straight, single-track railway tunnels. The original bore was built with a horseshoe-shaped cross-section, comparable to the other tunnels on the Wałbrzych–Kłodzko line.^[2] The tunnel portals are faced with stone, and the southern portals retain rusticated cladding of red sandstone blocks.^[2]

The older bore was substantially rebuilt in 1936–1938 after suffering structural damage. During that reconstruction it received a brick lining with a parabolic vault, and parts of the interior were strengthened with broader brick rings to resist rock pressure.^[2] Stone retaining walls were also added at the northern portal to protect the approach against slope movement.^[2]

According to Dominas, both bores remain passable, but regular rail traffic is conducted through the eastern bore.^[2]

Construction of the Wałbrzych–Kłodzko railway began in 1874 as part of the extension of railway infrastructure in the Prussian province of Silesia.^[1] The line opened on 15 October 1880 and included three major tunnels, under Świerkowa Kopa, Sajdak and Mały Wołowiec.^[1]

The first Sajdakiem bore was excavated between 1876 and 1879.^[2] During its construction, workers used hand-operated pneumatic drills of the Rescas system in parts of the heading, reflecting the engineering methods then being introduced on major European railway works.^[2]

As traffic increased, the Wałbrzych–Kłodzko route was upgraded to double track in the years 1908–1913.^[1] A second parallel bore was driven at Sajdak in 1909–1911 and entered service with the upgraded route in 1912.^[2][1]

The southern portal of the newer bore bears the date “1909–1910” together with the surnames “Rietzsch – Frewert – Guttstadt”, referring to officials connected with the construction works. The older eastern portal carries the inscriptions “Erbaut 1876–1879” and “Erneuert 1936–1938”.^[2]

The Sajdakiem Tunnel forms part of the historic railway landscape of the Wałbrzych–Kłodzko line, which the National Heritage Institute has described as an outstanding work of engineering and architecture on a supra-regional scale.^[1] Together with the neighbouring tunnels on the line, it is regarded as an important example of 19th- and early 20th-century railway engineering in Lower Silesia.^[1][2]

• The two southern portals of the Sajdakiem Tunnel
• Southern portal of the eastern bore
• Tunnel entrance from the Jedlina-Zdrój side

• Rail transport in Poland
• Kłodzko Główne–Wałbrzych Główny railway
• Jedlina-Zdrój
• Głuszyca