Felsőtárkány forest railway
| Felsőtárkány forest railway | |
|---|---|
 Train at the final stop at Stimecz Haus
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| Route length: | 50 km |
| Gauge : | 760 mm ( Bosnian gauge ) |
The Felsőtárkány Forest Railway is a narrow-gauge railway starting from the Hungarian village of Felsőtárkány not far from the baroque town of Eger / Eger .
From the formerly up to 50 km long forest railway network (760 mm gauge ), a remaining stretch of 5 km has been preserved, which is used for tourism on weekends. Twice a day there is a train to the Stimecz house, a popular picnic area and starting point for hikes. First the route leads through the wide Egeres valley, then it plunges into the wooded Vörös-Kö valley, where it climbs about 90 m to the Stimecz house. The train is pulled by a small two-axle diesel locomotive of the class C-50; There are three machines of this type (C04-403, 404, 406).
photos
The premises of the Felsőtárkány Forest Railway
Former boiler house of the Felsőtárkány forest railway
Former station building in Felnémet
Felsőtárkány forest railway, tipping lorries
Former route network
Route map of the Felsőtárkány forest railway. Drawn from a plan exhibited in the Szilvásvárad Forest Museum. Based on research by Metz-Gruber in the 1970s.
The line from Felsőtárkány to the Stimecz House, which is still operated as a museum railway today, is drawn in thick, the main line is thickly interrupted.
Development of the forest railway
1915
The Archdiocese of Eger is laying the first route: Felsőtárkány – Kisnádas – Petres (Hideg Valley). Initially, the railway was operated with horses as draft animals . However, it did not play a major role, as the wood still had to be transported by carts to the standard-gauge railway in Felnémet .
From 1920/1921
The logging right is sold to Kromberger Matyas and Tarsai AG , which is merged in 1922 to form Egri Erdö and Faipari AG . The Hideg valley route will be extended and the Egeres valley - Vöröskő valley route will be built. The route into the Barát valley and further into the Oldal valley, with a connection to the Hór valley with the help of an approximately 4 km long cable car, is also built during this time. A horse-drawn circular railway (at an altitude of approx. 500 m) is also connected via the Oldal valley. Increasing economic activity requires the construction of the Kisnádas - Felnémet line, followed by the connection with Eger (Felnémet - Faraktár (wood yard)). Due to the frequent accidents, Felsőtárkány (Kisnádas - Mészégető) is bypassed. The narrow-gauge railway then transported 9,000 to 12,000 cubic meters of wood annually. The largest client was Egri Erdö & Faipari AG , which was also the owner of the railway.
Steam traction was soon introduced on the main routes, while vehicles continued to be transported by horses on the smaller wing routes .
1933
The railway goes back to the previous owner, the Archdiocese of Eger . The wood transport begins to decline, but this is compensated by the increasing transport of stone, lime and charcoal. Proof of this is the construction of the wing runway to the Berva valley quarry (1938) and the route into the Mellér valley (1942).
1945
The railway becomes state property. The transport of wood continues to lose importance. As a result, the dismantling of the 46 km long network will soon begin. The first "victim" is the Felnémet -Eger / Faraktár line.
1949/1950
Via a provisional track connection from Felnémet station, the small railway is delivering the construction material to the Finomszerelvenygyar construction site. The most used track is the wing section to the limestone quarry in the Berva valley. 500 to 600 tons are transported to Felnémet station every day.
In 1953, the small train began to transport people , initially only for workers to Felsőtárkány. Later, passenger transport became more and more important, so that in 1957 regulated local transport was offered, initially only on market days, later according to a timetable. Even then, passenger transport was unprofitable, but the losses were offset by freight transport . Hikers can take the small train to the Stimecz house or the Berva quarry .
1955
The freight volume exceeds the one million tonne-kilometer mark. Unfortunately, a dispute over the freight tariff between the quarry and the small railroad leads to the fact that the quarry company put a cable car into operation for removal in 1963, whereby the small railroad loses its largest client. Only temporarily (1969) this loss is made up for by the Várhegy quarry above Felsőtárkány, to which a track at Vadaskert branches off from the main line.
At the same time, more and more smaller routes are being shut down. These are followed by the “big ones” (the condition of the substructure deteriorates noticeably): the railway in the Mellér valley (1969), then the line in the Barát valley (1974), a little later the Egeres valley - Petres section (Hideg valley , 1980). The transport of stones ended in 1985, and passenger transport, always a problem child, was no reason to keep the railway going. Last but not least, Finomszerelvenygyar terminates the contract for the transport of workers in the same year.
Due to the many rail thefts, 18 km of the 20 km still operational sections were dismantled without any need.
1991/1994
Dismantling of the Felnémet - Felsőtárkány line. In photos from 1991/94 there are still tracks at the old Felsőtárkány boiler house and at the Felnémet station. The small station building in Felnémet is still preserved in 2007. The boiler house was demolished in late 2008 / early 2009. Outside Felnémet, on the north side of the road to Felsőtárkány, you can still see tracks in a driveway. The former crossing of the road at the beginning of Felsőtárkány can also be recognized by the other asphalt. The village bypass that begins there has been converted into a cycle path.
See also
Source
- Hungarian-language websites about the Felsőtárkány Forest Railway (see web links)
- Hiking map 1: 50,000 from the 1930s
- Current hiking maps 1:40 000 (Bükk-Fennsík, Cartographia No. 33, ISBN 963-352-133-5 and A Bükk (déli rész) No. 30, ISBN 963-352-130-0 ), former railway line as' Régi vasút 'noted; The map by Z-Press Kiadó Kft., Bükk ISBN 963-94932-9-5, is less productive in terms of railway history
- (Route sketch to Gruber-Metz. Title of the book / editor / year still unknown)
- Thomas Allgaier: Guide to the narrow-gauge railways in Hungary, Röhr Verlag ISBN 3-88490-233-4
