on narrow gauge in Hungary - T2M

Abstract:„Rolling museums” on narrow gauge in HungaryDr. Gabor JegerCertificated Geographer, Regional and settlement development manager3528 Miskolc, Egressy Gábor utca 33, Hungaryjegerg@yahoo.comNowadays nineteen narrow gauge railwayworks operate in Hungary. During the firsthalf of the XIX. century, the number of them was more than a thousand. After the secondWorld War came the last huge resurrection period, from 1948 to 1960. After that, in Hungary,the goverment did not give more money to upkeep the narrow gauge railways. Some railwayswere liquidated, some were dead broke and nowadays only nineteen of them exist whithpassanger traffic (Engelbert, P. 1999).Among these, there are some railwayworks where are wagons and a railcar, whichruns since 1928. They were built by the Orenstein&Koppel or by the GANZ HungarianWagon- and Machine Factory. The Orenstein&Koppel made seven wagons, the GANZ madetwo wagons and two railcars for the Lillafüred Forestry Railway. Nowadays, four of thesewagons operate on the Lillafüred Forestry Railway, one railcar and five other wagons on theChildren Railway. They are real treasure of the hungarian narrow gauge railways.The Lillafüred Forestry Railway (LAEV) and the Children Railway have morespecialities. The LAEV has the last B26 diesel locomotive, which operate in the world. It wasbuilt by the GANZ in the 1950’s, and it was resurrected by the LAEV, at 2006. On theChildren Railway, the last Mk49 diesel locomotive is under reconstruction.In Hungary the above mentioned cars are in the focus, but not only these wagons orlocomotives are more than 50-60 years old. Some vehichles are in private collections or in anendowment. From the nineteen narrow gauge railwayworks, the LAEV and Children Railwayare in the top, but some little railways also has a great value. Two other has huge collectionstoo. One is in Kemence, near the Slovakian border, by the Ipoly river and the other is inSopron, near Austria. They are not just industrial heritages, but touristical attractions too.In my paper and my presentation I would like to show the Hungarian collections, andthe oldest vehichles which are running daily on our narrow gauge railway systems.Keywords: narrow gauge railway, Hungary, railcar, Orenstein & Koppel, Lillafured ForestryRailwayIntroduction:The historical background of the narrow gauge railways begin in the middle of theXIX. Century. In Hungary, the first narrow gauge railway was built beetwen 1860 and 1865.It used to operate in a mine near Pécs (Fünfkirchen). After it the new mining railways wereopened in Selmeczbánya, Brennbergbánya, Resiczabánya, Salgóbánya and Pereces. Theywere built with 900 millimeter or broader gauge (Herczog Ö. 1874, Gonda B. 1880, Baán I.2001, Jéger G. 2009).The first non mining railway operated in Kapuvar. Kapuvar had a sugar factory andthe railway was built beetwen the sugarbeen fields and the factory (Lovas Gy. 1995). Until1900, the whole country used narrow gauge railways. They where built near the sugarfactorys, in the mines, in the forests and in the fish farms too (Gönczy B. 1901/a, 1901/b).

In Hungary the oldest still operating narrow gauge railway is in the Eperjes-Tokajmountains, in North-East Hungary. It was built in the 1888’s. But the oldest locomotives orvehicles are not here, because there, in Pálháza for long years the rail was used to transportonly stone and wood (Allgaier, T. 1999).The oldest vehicles are on the railways where were passanger transpor from thebeginning or it was started a few years after the railway has opened.That railway is the Lilafüred Forestry Railways (LAEV), which was initially calledSzinvavölgyi Erdei Vasút. The railway was built in the Szinva and Garadna streams valleysand later it was named Szinva valley Forestry Railways. After the First World War, Lillafüred–which is in the middle of the line- became a very important place in Hungary. It was writtenby Halmai B. and Leszih A. at 1929: „Lillafüred is the most beutiful pleace in the Hungaryand it is the best place to make a trip”. After it the railway had a new name, from 1929 it wascalled Lillafüred Forestry Railway. This is the year, when more and more orders were givenfor railcars and other vehicles. The most important is the order which was sent to the GANZ,because they wanted two railcars with five passanger carriages and a salon car (figure 1.).They were built with a most modern technique in the early XX. century (Széchey I. 1999).Rolling museums:Figure 1.: Inside the salon car (www.vonatosszeallitas.hu)The rolling museums are not open air museums, where old locomotives and railwaycarriages stay. They are lines, where the old vehicles - that are most of the times are morethan 60 years old - run every day.The most important is the Lillafüred forestry Railway, which runs from the westernpart of Miskolc, which is the fourth biggest city in Hungary. This line is the most beautiful,since it runs near the Szinva and Garadna streams. The two stream runs over waterfalls andrapids. The railway vanquishes the level difference theough bridges and tunels in the hillside.The bridges and the buildings are near the line from the 1920’s, and they are railwayheritages, too.The LAEV has many locomotives and many wagons. The locomotives are mostlyfrom the second half of the XX. century. After the second World War, the government hasgreat transport develpment plans. Beetwen 1945-1955 the ministry of transportation thought,that the railway is the future. They planned to rebuild the lines across the country and buildsome new ones, too. But not only the tracks, but the vehicles also required renovation. Afterthat, the C-50 and Mk48 locomotives were built by the MÁV (Hungarian State Railway) inBudapest and by the Magyar Vagon- és Gépgyár (Hugarian Wagon- and Machine Factory) in

Győr. Miskolc nowadays has nine locomotives from this two factory. They were the mostpopular narrow gauge locomotives throughout the country. The LAEV has two otherlocomotives, one of them is the B-26 diesel Locomotive, and the other is called „Lilla”. TheLilla is the only steam locomotive with tender on narrow gauge, which was used from thebeginning on the same place (Korek K. 1997).Steam locomotive on the LAEV:The production of type 135 locomotives –based on soviet palns of the KV-4 seriessignal- began in 1950. This type was built in other socialist countries, like Poland, SovietUnion, China etc. This tender locomotive was the medernest one on the Hungarian narrowgauge.The steamers were originally made by MÁVAG reparations for the Second WorldWar in the former Soviet Union. 240 piece was made from it with course number 447. Somelocomotives remained in Hungary. One of them is the Lilla (figure 2.). It was built in the earlyfifties.The locomotive has four axle, the tender is three axles (table 1.). It can carry two tonsof coal. The scheduled services were carried out until 1972. Than it was restored externallyand exhibited on Majláth, where the LAEV has it’s headquarter.At the 1990’s the „Lilla” was renovated in Cierny Balog –Slovakia– and from May2000, the renovated tender locomotive runs with scheduled train in the line beetwen MiskolcDorottya utca and Garadna.Table 1.: Important datas about the steam locomotivesTechnical datasBuild year 1954 Serial, course number 447,401Made MÁVAG, Budapest Type Kv-4General datasNumber of axles(locomotive/tender)4/3 Wheel arrangement DGauge 750-760 mm Maximum speed 35 km/hFull lenghtWalk-in minimum10636 mm(beetwen the bumpers)radius40 mLargest high 2926 mm Gross Weight 28 tWheel diameter 600 mm Axle load 4 tMaximum loadCapacitytTender empty weight 4,8 t Carrying water 5,2 m 3Carrying coal2 t

Figure 2.: The general arrangement drawing of the type KV-4 (www.laev.hu)B-26 diesel locomotive:This type of locomotive was built in the early 1950’s and it was made for the ForestryandField railways. It belongs to the second generation locomotives. The first generation wasthe A-25. It had 25 horse powers and was made for the sugar factories and for field works.But it was very light and it had not enough adhesive weight. Than the Transport equipmentfactory made the B-26, which was heavier than the A-25.Table 2.: Important datas about the B-26Technical datasBuild year 1952 Serial, course number GV-3400MadeTransportequipment factory,Type B-26BudapestGeneral datasNumber of axles 2 Wheel arrangement BGauge 600 and 760 mm Maximum speed 19 km/hFull lenghtWalk-in minimum3130 mm(beetwen the bumpers)radius16 mLargest high 2100 mm Gross Weight 3,5 tWheel diameter 550 mm Axle load 1,75 tMaximum loadCapacity82 t

Figure 3.: The general arrangement drawing of the type B-26 (www.laev.hu)Wagons and Railcars:The most important wagons belong to the Lillafüred Forestry Railway. They have 20passanger wagons, 8 of them was build in 1928 and one in 1930. The other eleven areyounger: nine was build beetwen 1960-1980 and two was made in 2002.From the nine oldest wagons four was built by Orenstein & Koppel, four byHungarian State Railway (MÁV) Miskolc Main Workshop, and one made by the LAEV at1930. The most popular among tourists are the „Diamond” wagons, which were made byOrenstein & Koppel, and they were built in Pusztaszentlörinc (nowadays part ofBudapest)(Szécsey I. 1999).The Diamonds and the „little MÁV wagons”, which were made by the MÁV inMiskolc were open-sided wagons. They were perfect from spring until autumn, but at winterthis wagons were very cold. The LAEV has passanger transport from the beginning. First justoccasionally, but two years after the schedule was regular. Many people went to work fromthe Szinva and Garadna valleys to Diósgyőr, and more and more tourist started to visitLillafüred and Garadna. Because of these facts, the LAEV ordered at 1929 two railcars withtwo wagons from the Ganz and three wagons from the Orenstein & Koppel (Korek K. 1997).The ever-increasing demand built the LAEV the „wagon 31”, which was the firsthome-built passanger wagon in the railway. It was designed to be full sided and with a stove.Therefore, to the first half of the 1930 decade the forestry railway had eight open-sidedwagons, one closed wagon and two railcars with their five closed passanger wagons.The Diamonds (figure 4/a, 4/b.) has four equal parts. Every part have two rows ofbench and every bench is enough for four people. Every part have doors on each side. Onewagon can carry about 32 people (table 3.). Nowadays they look like when they were built in1928. The largest difference is that they are equiped with air brakes, but the main componentsare more than 80 years old.

Figure 6.: Wagon 31 in the Majlath depot (2010)Table 4.: General datas about the Wagon 31 made by Lillafured Forestry Railway(datas from LAEV)General datasNumber of axles 4 Gross Weight 6 tGauge 760 mm Axle load 1,5 tFull lenght(beetwen the bumpers)10200 mm Pivot distance 6120 mmLargest high 3000 mm Seating capacity 32Largest widht2440 mmThe B-26 disesel locomotive and the passanger carriages are daily used nowadays.They are being modernized, they have air brake system so the rail transport is more secure.The interior of the wagons, the stove, the banks are the same than 80 years ago. The steamlocomotive is now out of order, because it’s furnace is cracked. It could not move on it’s ownsince 2008.Railcar on the Children Railway:Nowadays in Hungary only the Children Railway has a railcar. Earlier, beetwen theWorld Wars the Hungarian narrow gauge railways had many railcars. The most famous is theABamot2, which still operates. (The ABamot1 was scrapped in 1980.)These two railcars were build by the GANZ Hungarian Wagon- and Machine Factory(figure 7.). The railcars consisted of two parts. One half was first class, the other half wassecond class. The GANZ made two carriage, too (figure 8.). One was a first class wagon, theother was a saloon wagon with a luggage box. The Orenstein & Koppel Hungarian factorybuilt three other wagons, which are the same as the GANZ wagons (figure 9.). Two weresecond class carriages and the third was third class with a luggage box. The second andprincipally the third class was for the commuters.The trains ran daily, from 1929 until 1948 they were used on the Lillafured ForestryRailway. At 1940 the ABamot1, at 1948 the ABamot2 received a new engine. It was

important, because the increased demand need more power. Therefore the journey timereduced beetwen Lillafured and the city center of Miskolc.Figure 7.: The GANZ manufacture’s plate on the ABamot2From 1948 until 1951 the railcars with their wagons went to the Pioner –nowadaysChildren- railway, to Budapest. There was the opening of the new narrow gauge railway andthe contemporary government wantted the better vehicles to the Pioner railway. The railcars,despite the new engines, were not strong enough to the new path and they came back toLillafured (Herczeg M. 1994).Figure 8.: Railcars and wagons ont he Majlath depot (1930’s)In the early 1970’s the ABamot1 engine was renovated and the ABamot2 got a newengine, which was more stronger than the previous engines. The first engine from 1929 wasjust 66 kW, the second from 1948 was 88 kW and the third, -which was built in the RABAWagon- and Machinen Factory in Gyor-, was 147 kW. After it, thanks to the new locomotives(C-50, Mk-48) the ABamot1 was removed from service and got scrapped in 1977. TheABamot2 was under protection from 1982 and it was removed from service, too and stays onthe depot of Majlath. At 1990 the ABamot2 railcar was sent to the vehicle repair toSzombathely (West-hungary) and after it, this railcar went to the Children railway, Budapest,with its five wagons, too.The ABamot1 was the victim of the socialist transport politics. Other narrow gaugerailways became the victim of this principle, with their locomotives and wagons, too.The ABamot2 after a full resurrection ran daily until 2004 (figure 9.). From 2004 it ranjust weekends and feast-days. It is in a great conditions with its carriages too. It has the samecolors, like 80 years ago and run nowadays so dependably, like in the past, too.

Figure 9.: The ABamot2 on the Childrens railway, Budapest in 2010Table 5.: Important datas about the ABamot2 railcar(datas from LAEV)Technical datasBuild year 1929 Type ABamot2MadeGANZ, BudapestGeneral datasNumber of axles 4 Wheel arrangement BGauge 760 mm Maximum speed 19 km/hFull lenghtWalk-in minimum13220 mm(beetwen the bumpers)radius16 mLargest high 3090 mm Gross Weight 17,2 tLargest widht 2240 mm Axle load 4,3 tWheel diameter 600 mm Pivot distance 8000 mmMaximum load12 (first class)62 t Seating capacityCapacity25 (second class)„Rolling museums” in TourismNowadays, year to year the narrow gauge railways earn bigger part from the tourism.The number of visitors on the narrow gauge railways depends on the wheather. They are anopen air attraction and if the wheather is rainy or foggy, the tourists do not travel with thetrains. Slowly it seems to change, since more and more lines has different attractions for thetuorist. Like little museums, forestry schools, or vehicles which are experiences on their own.The old wagons, locomotives and the railcar are all renewed and they have an airbrakesystem. Therefore, they look exactly like 80 years ago and they are as safe as a modernvehicle. The open sided wagons are very popular among the children. The lines of LAEV runin the forest, across viaducts, streams and tunnels. The environment comes very close to thepassangers, because they can touch the trees, bushes and see wild animals near the trains. The„Diamonds” and the „little MÁV” wagons are real treasures of the Lillafured Forestryrailways, and the „ABamot” railcar of the Children railway, too. They are on the top threenarrow gauge railway in Hungary. The number of visitors is over half million people in a yearon these two railways.

They are touristical attractions and railway heritages, too. The wagons, locomotivesand the railcar have a high value: they are able to attract the visitors. In present days therailway enthusiasts are coming from the neighbouring countries to see these renewed vehicles.It is a good hope for the long functioning, because the Eurpean Union helps the railwayoperations through competitions.SummaryIn Hungary the building of narrow gauge railways started in the middle of the XIX.Century. After it the narrow gauge railways spread in the whole country, and were used in allfield of economy. From the agriculture through the forestry until the mines. The beneficialproperties can used every part of it. The narrower gauge and the lighter vehicles made themcheaper compared to the normal gauge railway.At the first decades of the XX. Centur, there was a huge mechanization term, when theOrenstein & Koppel and the Hungaraian State Railway Miskolcer Main Workshop builtwagons to the Lillafured Forestry Railways (LAEV) and the railcars were built in that time bythe GANZ. They are running daily and they are being used by tourist and by commuters. Thewagons belong to the LAEV from the beginning, they were first used 80 years ago. Nowadaysthey have an air brake system and they are periodically renovated.As I wrote, the railcars had a more adventurous life. They first ran in Miskolc at theLAEV, after that, they were transported to Budapest, to the opening of the Pioneer –nowadaysChildren- railway. After a few years they were brought back to Miskolc and in the socialistera, they were scrapped and one of them was divided, the other went back to Budapest with itswagons, too. Nowadays, it runs at weekends and at holidays. It looks like eighty years agoand runs so dependably, too.The two locomotives, which were built after the Second World War were the lastboom in thehungarian railtransport. The GANZ in Budapest and the RÁBA in Győr builtthousands of locomotives for narrow gauge lines. One of them is called „Lilla”, it is the laststeam locomotive with narrow gauge in our country. The other one is a B-26 diesellocomotive, which is maybe the last in the World. These two unique locomotives only run onthe lines at special occassions, but the tourists and the interested can see them in the depot.The diesel operates in the area of the depot.It shows, that the old vehicles can be real treasure for the railway works, for the touristand for all of the interested people, too. They do not need more, than a little care during theyears.BibliographyAllgaier, T. 1999: Reiseführer zu den Schmalspurbahnen in Ungarn, Röhr Verlag GmbH,Krefeld, 99 p.Baán I. 2001: Pereces bányatelep, a bánya megnyitása és a település közlekedési kapcsolatai(Pereces mine site, the mine opening and the settlements transport links),in.:Tanulmányok Diósgyőr történetéhez 9., Miskolc, pp. 19-30Engelbert, P. 1999: Forestry Railways in Hungary, Locomotives International, Birmingham,England, 67 p.

Gonda B. 1880: A Diósgyőri Vasgyár (Diósgyőr ironworks), in.: Gazdasági Mérnök, IV.évfolyam, 42. szám, Budapest, p. 537Gönczy B. 1901/a: A magyarországi keskenyvágányú vasutak országos hálózata (The nationalnetwork of narrow gauge railways in Hungary), in.: Magyar Mérnök és Építész Egyletközleménye 35. évf. 2. szám, Budapest, pp. 72-92Gönczy B. 1901/b: A magyarországi keskenyvágányú vasutak országos hálózata (The nationalnetwork of narrow gauge railways in Hungary), in.: Magyar Mérnök és ÉpítészEgylet közleménye 35. évf. 3. szám, Budapest, pp. 128-147Halmay B. - Leszih A. 1929: A Szinva völgye (The Szinva valley) in: Magyar városokmonográfiája V., A Magyar városok monográfiája kiadóhivatala, Budapest, 1929, pp.475-485Herczeg M. 1994: MÁV Széchenyi-hegyi Gyermekvasút (MÁV Children railway on theSzéchenyi-mountain), Budapest, 16 p.Herzog Ö. 1874: A selmeczi bányavasút (Selmecz mining railway), in.: Magyar Mérnök ésÉpítész Egylet közleménye 8. évf. 8. szám, Budapest, pp. 335-341Jéger G. 2009: The Pereces 1000 mm gauges railway’s environmental effects, in: ActaUniversitatis Sapientiae Agriculture and Environment, 1. évf. 1. szám, Cluj-Napoca,pp. 157-163Korek K., 1997: A Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút (Lillafured Forestry Railway) in: VárosiKözlekedés 1997/3 Budapest, pp. 202-204Lovas Gy. 1995: Az első hazai gazdasági vasút a Hanságban (The first agricultural railway inthe Hansag), in. Vasúthistória Évkönyv 1995, szerk.: Mezei I., KÖZDOK, Budapest,pp. 316-355Szécsey I. 1999: Hetvenéves a Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút (LÁEV) és a MÁV Rt.Széchenyi-hegyi Gyermekvasút Ganz-és Orenstein & Koppel-gyártmányúmotorszerelvénye (The railcar of the Lillafured Forestry Railway (LAEV) and theMAV Children railway which was built by the GANZ- and Orenstein & Koppel is 70years old), Budapest