A children's railway or pioneer railway is an extracurricular educational institution, where children interested in rail transport can learn railway professions. This phenomenon originated in the USSR and was greatly developed in Soviet times. The world's first children's railway was opened in Gorky Park, Moscow,[1] in 1932. At the breakup of the USSR, 52 children's railways existed in the country.
Many children's railways are still functioning in post-Soviet states and Eastern European countries. Many exhibit railway technology not seen anymore on the main lines and can be seen as heritage railways. Even though few exceptions exist, most children's railways built in the Eastern Bloc have a track gauge of at least 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)[2] and can carry full size narrow gauge rolling stock.
List of children's railways edit
Armenia edit
Azerbaijan edit
Belarus edit
Bulgaria edit
China edit
Cuba edit
- Camagüey, Parque Camilo Cienfuegos
- Havana, Parque Lenin (not operating)
- Havana, Havana Zoo
Georgia edit
Germany edit
- Berliner Parkeisenbahn,[4] Berlin, Wuhlheide
- Parkeisenbahn Krumbholz, Bernburg, Krumbholzallee
- Parkeisenbahn Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Küchwald
- Parkeisenbahn Cottbus, Cottbus, Eliaspark - Spreeauenpark
- Ferienlandeisenbahn Crispendorf, Crispendorf, Ferienland
- Dresdner Parkeisenbahn, Dresden, Großer Garten
- Parkeisenbahn Gera,[5] Gera, Tierpark
- Görlitzer Parkeisenbahn,[6] Görlitz, An der Landskronbrauerei
- Parkeisenbahn Peißnitzexpress Halle,[7] Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Peißnitzinsel
- Leipziger Parkeisenbahn, Leipzig-Wahren, Auensee
- Pioniereisenbahn Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Rotehornpark, until 1967
- Parkeisenbahn Plauen,[8] Plauen, Syratal
- Parkeisenbahn Vatterode, Vatterode, Vatteröder Teich
Hungary edit
Kazakhstan edit
- Aktobe (now defunct)
- Alma-Ata Children's Railway, Almaty
- Arkalyk (now defunct)
- Atbasar (now defunct)
- Ekibastuz (now defunct)
- Karaganda Children's Railway, Karaganda
- Kokshetau Children's Railway, Kokshetau (now defunct)
- Kostanay (now defunct)
- Astana (now defunct)
- Pavlodar (now defunct)
- Semey (now defunct)
- Schuchinsk (now defunct)
- Shymkent Children's Railway, Shymkent
- Zhezkazgan (now defunct)
Poland edit
- Chorzów, Silesian Culture and Recreation Park
- Poznań, Park Railway Maltanka (now run by the city)
Russia edit
- Chelyabinsk
- Chita
- Ekaterinburg
- Irkutsk
- Kazan
- Kemerovo
- Far East Children's Railway, Khabarovsk
- Krasnoyarsk
- Kratovo
- Kurgan
- Liski
- Nizhny Novgorod
- Novomoskovsk
- Small West Siberian Railway, Novosibirsk
- Orenburg
- Penza
- Rostov-Na-Donu
- Sankt-Petersburg, Malaya Oktyabrskaya railway
- Svobodny
- Tyumen
- Ufa
- Vladikavkaz
- Volgograd
- Children's Railway Sakhalin, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
- Yaroslavl
Slovakia edit
Slovenia edit
Turkmenistan edit
Ukraine edit
United Kingdom edit
Uzbekistan edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Children's railways: Gorky Park, Moscow (in Russian)
- ^ de:Pioniereisenbahn
- ^ "Cildren's Railroad "Zname na mira" in Plovdiv". Archived from the original on 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ "Berliner Parkeisenbahn - Fahrplan". www.parkeisenbahn.de.
- ^ "Parkeisenbahn". www.gera.de.
- ^ "Görlitzer Oldtimer Parkeisenbahn - Startseite". www.goerlitzerparkeisenbahn.de.
- ^ Wodzinski, Christian. "Startseite". www.pe-halle.de.
- ^ "Förderverein Parkeisenbahn Syratal Plauen - Home". www.parkeisenbahn-plauen.de.
External links edit
- Children's railways of the USSR (in Russian)
- Children's Railways of the former USSR (in English)
- [1] (in Hungarian)
- [2] (in Hungarian)