Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút

Hybrid locomotive at Lillafüred

Route length:

14 + 11 = 25 km

Gauge :

760 mm ( Bosnian gauge )

Top speed:

20/15 km / h

Legend

		Szent Anna square

		Ládi and Tatárároki branches (3 + 4.5 km)
	0	Miskolc , Dorottya utca

	1	Diósgyőr
	2	Mártabánya
		depot
	3	Majláth
		Szinva
	4 0	Papírgyár

		Injekciós üzem
		Szinva
	1	Chinoin

	2	Csanyik, Erdei Iskola
	7th	Ortástető
	10	Andókút
	12	Mahóca
		Taksalápa
		Tizesbérc
		Farkasgödör-Örvénykő
		“Mélyvölgyi” bridge
	7th	Puskaporos

		Kerekhegyi branch line (2 km), dismantled
		Szinva
	8th	Lillafüred

		“Görbe” bridge
	11	Újmassa, Fazola-őskohó
	13	Közép-Garadna
		Garadnai loader
	14th	Garadna

The current routes

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
4th	Diósgyőr (request stop)
6th	Mátra-bánya (request stop)
8th	Majláth (request stop)	Tram 1, buses 1, 5, 15 and 69
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
34	Ortás-tető Ortás peak
46	Andó-kút fountain Andó
55	Mahóca

history

At the beginning

The railway was expanded for freight traffic

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

the palace hotel

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.

One of the two Ganz railcars in Lillafüred

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

Steam locomotive in 1932

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

The renovated station building in Lillafüred

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 diesel-electric hybrid locomotive bought in 2010 in the Garadna terminus

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.

All LÁEV lines ever existed on the map


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

image	designation	Number (originally)	Number (currently)	Wagon number	Construction year	in operation	annotation
Company vehicles
	Diamond carriage	4 db		351, 352, 353, 354	1928	Since 1928	Summer coaches with 32 seats each
	Kis MÁV car	4 db		301, 302, 303, 304	1928	Since 1928	Summer coaches with 32 seats each
	Nagy MÁV wagon	4th		305, 306, 307, 308	1979	Since 1979	Summer carriages with 44 seats each
	Bax wagon	4 db kocsi		11, 12, 14, 15	1959	Since 1991	Closed carriages with 50 seats each. Can only drive on the main line
	Car No. 31	1		31	1930s		Closed car with 32 seats.
	Car no.32.	1 db kocsi		32	Rebuilt in the 1960s : 2007		Closed car with 20 seats
	Car numbers 33 and 34	2 db		33, 34	2002	2002	Closed cars with 24 seats each
Former vehicles
	Car for the motor vehicle	5	0	Aax 11, Aax 12 Bax 21, Bax 22 BDax 41	1929	1929-1990	They all operate in Budapest

Train from the Vienna trams

The two trams that are becoming narrow-gauge vehicles

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

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

Commons : Lillafüredi Állami Erdei Vasút - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

Individual evidence

[1] Országos Kisvasúti Koncepció .

[2] the history of the railway between 1917 and 1925

[3] History between 1927 and 1938

[4] The history of diesel railcars

[5] LÁEV: 200 ezren utaztunk a kisvasúton

[6] Modern motorkocsit faragnak két Miskolcról selejtezett villamosból

[7] Pályát és járműveket renoválnak LÁEV-nél, de nem akárhogyan!