Borzhava narrow-gauge railway. Part Two.

The continuation of the report about the visit on the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the "Borzhava narrow gauge" (among the people it is called "Kushnytska Antsya")



A boxcar, by the way, is very dirty. It is the last in the train and it is always covered with smoky soot. The diesel engine generates so much smoke that it would be jealous of any engine.



We arrive at the station Khmelnyk - a folk group is already here. And let's go for a new dance. Well done, well worked. They posed elegantly.

Now a bit of history. Basically - sad. According to the words of the chief of this depot, Borzhava narrow-gauge railway was started in 1908 and in 2008 it celebrated the 100th anniversary. Nevertheless, the Czech researcher and engineer Carel Benesh wrote in his book that each region of Transcarpathia had its own system of narrow gauge railways, some of which had begun its work in 1896. During last 20 years the length of active routes of Borzhava NGR declined in three times. It had 120 km. length in 1986. This is not counting side branches and forest roads which were on the balance of wood plant. Now, the total length of track is about 70 kilometers. 25 km. - Vynohradiv - Khmelnyk, 16 km - Khmelnyk - Irshava, Berehovo - Khmelnyk - about 27 kilometers. The narrow gauge railway was built by Hungarians, then it was finished and cared by the Czechs, then, then there have been advices for many years. In 1919, in the "Czech times", about a dozen motorized cars M-11 and M-21 run on the line. Locomotives were less. In the mid-90s, cool new Ukrainians cut about 60 locomotives for scrap. Till nowadays only one has survived miraculously. It stands in the depot of Berehovo. It is not working. It needs about ten thousand dollars to be repaired. Apparently, this is the last steam locomotive in all Carpathians. Previously, the track went through Dovhe, Kushnytsa to Lysychiv. Currently, about 15 kilometers of tracks is looted and handed over to the scrap, which led to that the section of 50-60 km length ceased to exist. In 1998, during the flood, some ways of narrow gauge railway was seriously damaged. A forest railway to Ust-Chorna generally ceased to exist. That is, at present, the last stations of "triangle" with the center in Khmelnyk – Berehovo, Vynohradiv, Irshava.

В итоге. The financing is absent. Recently, the Borzhava narrow-gauge line is wanted to close at all, but it seems the Hungarian diaspora and local human rights activists defended it. The ways are overgrown. Rails and sleepers crack up. Is there any hope? Objectively, it is difficult to say. That's such a sad story.



Here is a rail construction produced in the Czech Republic in the photo.



It is an old hand. The inscriptions are in Hungarian. The date is 1898.



Here are young "posers" on the benches between performances. Recently I have seen this band at the exhibition "Toureurocenter - 2008" in Dubky - they were smiling from ear to ear and posing, pulling backs. They are specially taught to smile "on camera".



Here is a good view. A lone driver is in a window of "TU2”.



And it is a locomotive diesel engine, which is nothing but a tank engine "T-72”



This is how close the premises of the locomotive looks.



Here is the left side of the cab. One of the two places. A recorder, an expansion tank under his feet, the first aid kit, "the wheel”.



The place the true pilot of Boeing 737… i.e. of the locomotive "TU2”.

Related links:

Borzhava narrow-gauge railway. Part One.
Borzhava narrow-gauge railway. Part Three.

05.10.2012. 09:26

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