the maintenance of its lines. After the district of Karlsruhe agreed to contribute to the funding of various BLEAG routes, the lines were temporarily saved. In subsequent years, normal operations were restored. In 1931, BLEAG had to file for bankruptcy during the Great Depression. The years under the DEBG (1931–1963) In the wake of the bankruptcy, both of the BLEAG lines in the Kraich Valley and the Katzbach were taken over by the German Railway Operating Company (Deutsche Eisenbahn-Betriebs-Gesellschaft, DEBG) on 1 January 1932. DEBG managed to restore operations on the two lines. It also procured a diesel railcar, which was mainly used on the Kraich Valley Railway, since the most distant part of the Katzbach Railway between Odenheim and Hilsbach were too steep for this vehicle. The outbreak of the Second World War meant that the passenger numbers increased significantly since private transport was restricted due to the war. Because of the fighting, however, operations had to be closed on 2 April 1945. Unlike the experience of many other rail lines, war damage on the two lines was limited. This allowed operations on the Kraich Valley Railway to be resumed on 7 June 1945. The steam locomotives and passenger carriages on the line, which were up to fifty years old, were gradually replaced by diesel haulage from the mid-1950s. Thus, in 1955, DEBG operated a diesel locomotive and, in 1956, six diesel railcar formerly owned by Deutsche Bundesbahn and built in 1936 and 1937. However, the DEBG applied on 7 July 1958 to close all of its tracks in southern Germany. This was resisted by the state of Baden-Württemberg, in particular. The years under the SWEG (1963–1994) DEBG transferred, with effect from 1 May 1963, both lines to the Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (Southwest German Railway Company, SWEG), which had been founded on 10 December 1962 by the state of Baden-Württemberg to preserve a number of private lines before they were closed. The SWEG sought to modernise the line. Thus, the remaining steam trains were replaced by diesel locomotives after the takeover. It also introduced improvements to the line, which also shortened the travel time significantly. As a result, a trip from Bruchsal to Menzingen took only 37 minutes compared to 47 minutes previously. In 1980, several new factories were established in Gochsheim, which led to a marked increase in freight traffic on the Kraich Valley Railway. The SWEG even had