May 2, 2008
On 28th of April, we went to Felsötarkany next to Eger to try the small train. Unfortunately it was running only from May to October on week-ends.
We went also to Nagybörzsöny. This is a very nice area in the national park of Duna-Ipoly close to the Slovakian border. The train is working from April to November on days off. It will bring you in the hills of the Börzsöny massif.
May 2, 2008
Sunday, 27th of April. In the western part of the Bükk hills in the north of Eger, is an idyllic little train. The destination is a meadow of the Szalajka völgy, in the basement of the Bükk massif, 5 km away from Szilvasvarad. It is a ritual to take the train to go up to the meadow and go back down to Szilvasvarad by foot. The train works from April to October using open carriages.
May 2, 2008
Friday, 25th of April. The Miskolc station is situated close to the nice and famous castle of Miskolc along the tramway 1. This touristic train goes to Garadna and stops at Lilafüred (Lila baths). It works all year round. Garadna is a departure for hikes in the Bükk hills whereas Lilafüred is a thermal resort with a hotel-castle and a nice environment. You will find there the lovely village of Lilafüred, a water fall and the 2 small caves: Anna and Istvan.
May 2, 2008
Wednesday, 23rd of April. In the early morning we succeed to arrive to Palhaza by hitch-hiking on time to catch the small train. It was a cold morning of April so in the only carriage is working the stove. It smells nice of burned wood. We are the only passengers.
This small forest line is the oldest in Hungary. It has been built in 1888. Nowadays it is held by the National Forest Office. It was built to connect Palhaza and Kökapu. The track slopes from Kökapu so at the beginning the empty carriages were pulled up by horses. Downwards the main power was gravitation. The first steam engine began to work in 1902. The tunnel which is under Kökapu castle was built in 1903. The line created a direct connection to the narrow-gauge economic railway from Sarospatak to Satorljaujhely. The small train has been carrying passengers since 1958.
In 1990 the line was expended 1.3 km to Rostello. Nowadays, the train is merely a touristic attraction. It passes through the valley of Kaunce stream along the lake Kökapu and the hunting castle. It runs from mid April to end of October.
May 2, 2008
Thursday, 20th of April. Departure from the Nyiregyhaza train station. The weather alternates from sun to rain. Here is not only a touristical train. Locals get on the kisvasut to reach small passed villages. The line is more than 100 years old. It was built in 1906. Next to the station of Dombrad you will find a small museum and an exhibition of railway machines and old carriages. It is not the fastest way of transportation but probably the nicest. If you are lucky you could see roe-deers or pheasants and other animals.
If you go to Dombrad, a short walk will lead you to the Tisza banks. At Balasa you are about 12 km from the famous town of Tokaj.
May 2, 2008
Saturday, 19th of April. The small train (Zsuzsivasut) left the small station of Debrecen in a small rain at 8h30. One hour later, we arrived at the last stop: Harmashegy. The place is very peaceful and situated in the forest. From there starts several hiking trails. You will also find a horse farm and a lake.
The train is touristical and works only on week-ends and free days (3 times a days and 4 in summer). The station is in the outskirt of Debrecen and the ticket is 800 HUF.
April 17, 2008
Monday, 13th of April. The third small railway to experience was near the beautiful lake of Balaton in Balatonfenyves. The small train runs all year round 5 times per day (in summer 6 times per day). It consists of 1 wagon and a locomotive. The controller is a very gentle man, greeting everybody – obviously knowing everybody around. He sells the tickets inside. One way ticket to the last stop, Somogyszentpal, costs 330Ft. The train stops on Központi Fömajor station and then Palmajor station before reaching its final destination.
Somogyszentpal. The one way journey is about 40 min, during which the train passes trough beautiful meadows and forests and picturesque villages. If you are lucky you might see wild fauna as roe deers or pheasants.
April 11, 2008
Saturday, 5th of April. A one day excursion to visit the small railway going from Kismaros to Kiralyrét. This small train stops in a few stations before arriving in Kiralyrét. This stop is on a dead end automobile road site in the Börzsöny massif. The railway is partly along a small river and cross fields and woods. At 40 min by train from Budapest, the landscape let to forget the urbanisation. From Kiralyrét there are many possibilities to hike and have fun on the railways bikes.
April 3, 2008
The terrain itself is tremendously hard for making a railway. There were no routes before constructing the railway. Along whole section (125 km) were made 25 tunnels. The longest one – at the Avramovi huts – is 314 m. For the track – lying were use construction technology allowing small radius of curvature, which gave good opportunities to deal with rugged terrains.
The first part (Septemvri – Varvara) is finished in 1921. The second section (Velingrad – Dobriniste) is the harder part of the route. It is passing through the steep slopes of Rodopi and Pirin mountains. It is finished after the Second World War in 1945.
Passing along the picturesque slops and wonderful little villages make the railway not just a mean of transportation but also a nice and ecological way of traveling and tourism. That is why the railway Septemvri – Dobriniste is in the international list of the most interesting railways in Europe.
Nowadays on the railway section are traveling four couples of trains. They go from Septemvri and take the 125km section to Dobriniste for 5.05 hours. In 2004 the train has been reconstructed for tourism. The first reconstructed locomotive has been produced in Poland in 1949. Its first traveling was in December 1949.
The railways in Bulgaria are owned by the state. At the moment there is procedure conducting by Bulgarian government to give the railway for renting to a private company. Most probably the action will be in the autumn. We hope this transfer will not decrease the quality of the service but increase it.
March 12, 2008
Wednesday, 12th of MArch 2008. It was the first experience of our project with the Gyermek Vasut for a trip from Huvosvolgy to Szechenyi-hegy. In that train, the controllers are children. You will be asked for buying a ticket in the train in case the ticket office is closed. This train is situated on the Buda hills. It crosses several stations in the hoods of the hills, completely cut from the capital. From the stations you can follow nice marked hikes. Unfortunately the weather was very bad and my camera ran out of batteries…
Here are the pictures:
