on narrow gauge in Hungary - T2M

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