Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút
Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hybrid locomotive at Lillafüred
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Route length: | 14 + 11 = 25 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gauge : | 760 mm ( Bosnian gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top speed: | 20/15 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút (LÁEV) , German: Lillafüreder Waldeisenbahn , is a narrow-gauge railway near Miskolc in Hungary . The tracks are laid in Bosnian gauge of 760 mm.
The railway was originally expanded to transport wood and coal, and passenger transport has existed since 1924. Today it is only used for tourist purposes, after the Budapest Children's Railway it is the second busiest forest railway in Hungary. Today the transport is carried out by ÉSZAKERDŐ AG.
Railway lines
LÁEV currently has two railway lines, but only one of them is used regularly.
- The main line (number: 330) has its terminus in a housing estate on Dorottya utca. From there, the route leads 3 km only in the residential area, then reaches the forest, through which it winds for another 11 km to the other terminus Garadna. The route has two tunnels with a length of 110 m each, several bridges, and leads past the Újmassa blast furnace, which is over 200 years old .
- The branch line (number: 331) starts at the paper mill stop and ends in Mahóca. There is no regular rail traffic on the currently 10.6 km long route, it is only used by special trains.
The depot is located in Majláth.
Miskolc - Lillafüred - Garadna (330) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Travel time (min) |
Station translated name |
Connectivity | |||
0 |
Miskolc, Dorottya utca Dorottya Street |
Tram: 1 bus: 1, 54 |
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4th | Diósgyőr (request stop) | ||||
6th | Mátra-bánya (request stop) | ||||
8th | Majláth (request stop) | Tram 1, buses 1, 5, 15 and 69 |
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15th |
Papírgyár (demand stop) paper mill |
||||
30th | Puska poros | ||||
35 | Lillafüred | Bus: 5, 15 | |||
45 |
Fazola-kohó (demand stop) the ancient furnace |
Bus 15 | |||
66 | Közép-Garadna (request stop) | ||||
70 | Garadna | Bus 15 | |||
Papírgyár - Mahóca (331) | |||||
0 |
Papírgyár paper mill |
||||
7th |
Chinoin Injection Factory |
Bus: 5, 15 | |||
10 |
Csanyik-Erdei iskola Forest School in Csanyik |
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34 |
Ortás-tető Ortás peak |
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46 |
Andó-kút fountain Andó |
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55 | Mahóca |
history
At the beginning
The history of the narrow-gauge railway began after the Second World War. After Hungary lost its great mountains with the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, it was necessary to extract as much wood as possible from the Bükk . As early as 1919, the decision was made to build a new railway in the Szinva valley; the first, 17.7 km long route was planned from Miskolc-Fáskert via Lillafüred to Garadna. The planning posed a great challenge for the engineers, as the Mély-völgy valley was an apparently insurmountable obstacle.
After much thought, the bridge planned by Modrovich Ferenc seemed the best solution. With a height of 25 m and a length of 64 m, this is still the largest narrow-gauge railway bridge in Hungary. In February 1920, construction work for the railroad began. The first section of the line was completed within a year, and operations began as early as November 1920.
When it opened, the railway was still called Szinvavölgyi Erdei Vasút and only transported dolomite, coal and wood.
Construction of the branch lines
After the completion of the main line, further railway lines were expanded.
- The 4 km long line to Ládi was built in 1921, and ran from the current terminus at Dorottya utca, passed the tram tracks and ended in the Ládi wood warehouse. This line was also the only connection between the narrow-gauge railway and normal railway. In the same year, another 4.4 km long railway line was expanded from Ládi to Vásárhelyi rakodó.
- Between 1920 and 1922 the network was extended to a length of 11 km to Mahóca. This line started at the station of the main line paper mill.
- From Lillafüred, the tracks were expanded between 1921 and 1922 to Kerekhegyi rakodó, 2 km away.
Palace hotel, tourism
Although the railway network was only intended for freight transport, public passenger transport began very early in relation to the other narrow-gauge railway companies in Hungary. Written approval for passenger operation was granted as early as 1924. At that time, however, the Miskolc Forest Railway was far removed from tourism; the few passengers were transported in freight wagons equipped with seats. In order to create more favorable conditions for tourism, the route was extended in 1927 in the town of Fáskert to the central square Szent Anna tér. In addition, the first four passenger cars were ordered in 1928 and are still in use today.
It was not until the opening of the palace hotel in 1929 that tourism got the major boost. The hotel is a luxury accommodation that still exists today, where both the wealthy and hikers could find a suitable offer. The building was built as a government project with loans taken out to stimulate the domestic economy.
After the new hotel attracted more and more tourists and made the valley of Szinva and the settlement Lillafüred well known, the railway was able to enjoy increasing passenger numbers. As early as the summer of 1929, the two diesel railcars manufactured by the Hungarian company Ganz at the opening of the hotel , which were equipped with the best technology of their time. The name of the railway was changed from Szinvavölgyi Erdei Vasút to the better-sounding name Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút (abbreviated: LÁEV) after the Ganz railcars went into operation . After the success of the main line, passenger traffic began on the branch line to Mahóca in 1933.
The 1930s were the first heyday for the forest railway. It was used by 300,000 passengers a year, while an average of 82 fully loaded freight wagons were transported away every day.
Between 1930 and 1970
The branch line leading to Váráshelyi rakodó was closed due to an accident in 1934, but later extensions were made in other places. The branch line to Mahóca was expanded to Taksalápa by 1940.
During the Second World War, only LÁEV was able to supply the city of Miskolc with wood. Operations had to be stopped in 1944 due to major damage. After a year the damage caused by the war could be repaired and after the end of the world war the network could be further developed. The railway line, which had already been expanded to Taksalápa, was extended via Tízesbérc to Farkasgödör-Örvénykő, with a length of 17 km.
The famous diesel motor vehicles manufactured by Ganz were brought to the Children's Railway in Budapest in 1948 and 1949 , they did not come back until 1951 and 1963. The first diesel locomotives were put into service in 1954 - it was the type C-50 - which was followed a few years later by the larger Mk48 . The last steam locomotive said goodbye to regular operation in 1972.
Off for freight traffic, tourism remains
With the increasing motorization, the wood could be transported by truck, the train became more and more superfluous. With the exception of the main line and the branch line to Mahóca, operations on all other railway lines were discontinued, and these were dismantled a few years later. However, the Lillafüred settlement and the palace hotel have retained their tourist importance. As a result, hundreds of thousands of passengers could continue to be carried on the main route every year.
The only remaining branch line had to struggle with considerable difficulties. On the route not intended for tourism, there was only a short period of scheduled passenger service, which was discontinued and resumed several times over the years, until the route had to be forcibly closed in 1993 due to the poor condition of the tracks. The restoration work could only be finished in 2008 on the first section of the route to the forest school, the further route to Mahóca remained impassable until 2014. At the western end of the branch line, however, the biggest problem was not the weather damage and worn tracks, but thieves. Since the tracks were stolen again and again, even on the restored route, the operator made the decision in 2001 to remove the tracks between Mahóca and Taksalápa himself . The undamaged route between Taksalápa and the terminal was also finally dismantled in 2006 by ÉSZAKERDŐ AG.
The remaining network was developed further. In 2003, the terminus at Dorottya utca was modernized, and the vehicle fleet was equipped with air brakes until 2006. Thanks to the support of the European Union , the Lillafüred and Garadna stations were also modernized in 2010 and a diesel-electric hybrid locomotive was purchased, which is the first of its kind in Hungary. The forest railway, which is only used as a tourist attraction, has 200,000 passengers a year, making it the second most popular narrow-gauge railway in the country.
Overview of route openings and closures
The name of the opened route is shown in green, the disused route in red.
year | line | Affected route section |
---|---|---|
1920 | Main line | Fáskert - Dorottya utca - Papírgyár - Lillafüred - Garadna |
1921 | Branch line "Ládi" | Dorottya utca - Ládi rakodó |
1921 | Branch line "Tatárárok" | Ládi rakodó - Vásárhelyi rakodó |
1922 | Branch line "Mahóca" | Papírgyár - Mahóca |
1922 | Branch line "Kerekhegy" | Lillafüred - Kerekhegyi rakodó |
1927 | Main line | Fáskert - Szent Anna tér |
1934 | Branch line "Tatárárok" | Ládi rakodó - Vásárhelyi rakodó |
1940 | Branch line "Mahóca" | Mahóca - Taksalápa |
1947 | Branch line "Mahóca" | Taksalápa - Farkasgödör-Örvénykő |
1973 | Main line | Fáskert - Szent Anna tér |
1978 | Main line | Dorottya utca - Fáskert |
1990 | Branch line "Kerekhegy" | Lillafüred - Kerekhegyi rakodó |
1994 | Branch line "Ládi" | Dorottya utca - Ládi rakodó |
2001 | Branch line "Mahóca" | Mahóca - Taksalápa |
2006 | Branch line "Mahóca" | Taksalápa - Farkasgödör-Örvénykő |
Vehicle fleet
Railcar
image | Type | Number (originally) | Number (currently) | Wagon number | Construction year | in operation | annotation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Company vehicles | |||||||
Mk48 | 9 | 4th |
D02-501 D02-506 D02-508 D02-510 |
1960-1961 | since 1961 | ||
Mk48 hybrid | 1 | Mk48 2021 | 2010 | since 2010 | First hybrid locomotive in the country | ||
C-50 | 7th | 2 |
C02-407 C02-408 |
1956, 1964 | since 1964 | ||
B-26 | 1 db | C02-203 | 1952 | since 2006 | Last piece of the type | ||
Former vehicles (selection) | |||||||
Kv-4 | 1 db (issued) | 447,401 | 1954 | 1954-1972 2000-2008 |
Name: Lilla | ||
ABamot motor vehicle | 2 | 0 |
Abamot-1 Abamot-2 |
1929 | 1929-1949 1951-1982 |
One car is in operation in Budapest as a museum vehicle, the other was scrapped. |
Passenger cars
Train from the Vienna trams
After 2002, 18 former Viennese type E1 trams were put into service in Miskolc and were in service until 2015. After they were taken out of service, the forest railway made the decision to buy two of them in order to later build railcars out of them. It is planned to continue to drive the cars electrically. Since rail operations require bidirectional vehicles with doors on both sides, the two “A” parts and, separately, the two “B” parts of the two trams are assembled.
The two trams in Vienna had the car numbers 4652 and 4690, in Miskolc they were used as 189 and 195. In 2016, the two were transported to the LÁEV's depot, and in 2017 it was announced that the forest railway is entitled to state support for vehicle and railway reconstruction. The start of the renovation and the specific plans are still unclear.
Attractions
- Waterfall in Lillafüred
- Anna cave in Lillafüred
- Sankt Stephan stalactite cave in Lillafüred
- Eco center in Lillafüred
- Hanging garden in Lillafüred
- Palace hotel in Lillafüred
- Szeleta cave
- Hámori lake
- the ancient furnace in Újmassa
- Metallurgy Museum
- Ottó Herman Memorial House
- Museum of the paper mill
- Cable car in Lillafüred
- Andó-kút
- Diósgyőr Castle
literature
- Tusnádi Csaba Károly, Gáspár János, Valéria Knausz: Magyarországi kisvasutak . 2nd Edition. Pallas Stúdió, Budapest 2004, ISBN 963-9022-61-6 .
Web links
swell
- The official website of the railway
- The owner's official website
- Kisvasút.hu
- IHO.hu
- hellomiskolc.hu
- Prospect
- Hova megy a vonat? - A Bükk attrakciója, a LÁEV
- kirandulastervezo.hu
Individual evidence
- ↑ Országos Kisvasúti Koncepció .
- ↑ the history of the railway between 1917 and 1925
- ^ History between 1927 and 1938
- ↑ The history of diesel railcars
- ↑ LÁEV: 200 ezren utaztunk a kisvasúton
- ↑ Modern motorkocsit faragnak két Miskolcról selejtezett villamosból
- ↑ Pályát és járműveket renoválnak LÁEV-nél, de nem akárhogyan!