POLAND:  November 2002

Nowy Dwor, Gdanski

(750mm Gauge) This railway has found a new lease of life after being disused for many years. There are a couple of Lxd2s and some rolling stock from Nasielsk. It is not clear if this is to be a 'preserved' operation or a genuine commercial transport provider. The first special train was expected soon.

Nasielsk

(750mm Gauge) There has been no activity since this railway was abandonned by the PKP. It looks unlikely to see any revival attempts.

Rogow

(750mm Gauge) This railway is being revived by a group of enthusiasts. The first trains on this preserved/tourist operation were expected in November.

Zbiersk

(750mm Gauge) This was the first ng railway to operate independantly of the PKP, and has resumed freight traffic. This is presumably just for the sugar factory, but the line north to Turek was not checked out.

Smigiel

(750mm Gauge) Passenger trains have been re-instated right through to Wielichowo, which had not seen passenger traffic for several years. Coal traffic is also now running right through to Wielichowo again. Two frieghts per day were observed on more than one occasion.

Sroda

(750mm Gauge) Nothing has been heard of from this line.

Opalenica

(750mm Gauge) Although there had been an earlier attempt to revive this railway, this visit confirmed that no trains had run for a long time.

Gniezno

(750mm Gauge) Here it is suggested that only tourist trains now run. The Mbxd1 Polish railcar from Krosniewice has been moved here.

Pleszew

(750mm Gauge) No action has been taken with this raiway. It is very likely that a simple bus service has replaced the ng operations over this very short line.

Mlawa

(750mm Gauge) Another railway where no action has yet been taken to operate the railway under private ownership.

Krosniewice

(750mm Gauge) The first passenger trains were planned to start at the beginning of November.

Sugar Beet lines

(750mm Gauge) Both Kuszwica and Tuczno were working normally although it is still thought that this year may be the last year of operation on the Kruszwica system. The removal of all ng track from Dobre Sugar Factory was confirmed, and also the branch to Strozewo has been lifted.

(Posted 18.12.02 Source: David Meller and Marek Szymanski)

POLAND:  November 2002

Dobre Sugar Factory

(750mm Gauge) It has been reported that all the narrow gauge railways serving this sugar factory have been taken up over the last summer. All sugar beet and other materials are all delivered by road from this season onwards. Some of the smaller locos (Wls75/Wls150) have been purchased by Rogow, but it is suggested that other locos have been scrapped. This seems unlikely as the Lyd2 locos here (picture) were worth far more than scrap value.

(Posted 17.11.02 Source: Today's Railways)

ENGLAND:  November 2002

Hayners Bailey Coal Mine, Forest of Dean

(1ft 8ins Gauge) This is the last coal mine in the Forest of Dean to still be worked on a commercial basis. Other smaller mines are occasionally worked part time at weekends. The coal is hauled to the surface in rakes of 2 tubs using a haulage engine at the top of the incline.

(Posted 17.11.02 Source: Steve Thomason)

HUNGARY:  September 2002

Balatonfenyves MAV

(760mm Gauge) It appears that from the 2nd of September 2002 the branches to Taska and Somogyszentpál (picture) on the Balatonfenyves narrow gauge system have been closed. After upgrades have been made to the track only the route to Csiszta Gyógyfürdo will reopen.

(Posted 28.09.02 Source: Today's Railways)

EUROPE:  August 2002

Floods across Europe

(various Gauges) The recent floods have taken thier toll on various ng railways across central Europe. In Germany, the 750mm gauge Freital to Kipsdorf line has been washed out in the area of the Rabenau gorge. No planed date for the reconstruction is known. The 760mm Ybbstahlbahn and the Zell am See line in Austria were closed, although only temporarily. In Hungary part of the AEV line at Gyöngyös was washed away on the Lajosháza branch. Also in Hungary the Gemenc AEV line was underwater and closed for possibly up to a month.

(Posted 28.09.02 Source: Today's Railways)

FRANCE:  24 August 2002

Ardoisieres d'Angers, Trelaze, Angers

(600mm Gauge) The slate works is still in production, but the railway of about 1-2km in length closed a short time ago. All track is in place except for the branch which was latterly used for dumping waste. This had been taken up prior to closure to make way for road improvements which have taken place around Trelaze. At the pithead (picture) 4 reception sidings still contain many of the metal framed bogies (picture) used for transporting the slabs of slate when coming out of the pit.

(Posted 7.09.02 Source: Steve Thomason)

FRANCE:  15 August 2002

Briqueteries du Nord, Templeuve

(600mm Gauge) When this brickworks was visited in mid August all tracks were very overgrown and covered by mud. Obviouly unused for a considerable period. If it has not been used this season, it looks unlikely to be used again. All three locos were still on site. A Whitcomb, and the two rebuilt Ruston locos(one damaged).

(Posted 7.09.02 Source: Alan Sewell)

ENGLAND:  July 2002

McDonald Engineering, Derby

(3ft Gauge) For the last 12 years this firm had used a couple of Battery locos (Greenbat) with a couple of flat wagons to move materials inside the workshops. The works has now closed and all assets were to be auctioned on the 2nd of July 2002.

(Posted 21.07.02 Source: Andrew Neale Via NGRS)

HUNGARY:  June 2002

Hortobágy Fish Farm

(760mm gauge, assumed) This railway serving a fish farm has now changed hands. The line is currently 3.7km long and is planning to apply for funds for a 4km extension to introduce passenger trains. The use of a MK48 is under consideration (does anyone know what motive power is in use at present, C50s?).

(Posted 30.06.02 Source: Today's Railways)

GERMANY:  June 2002

Döllnitzbahn, Mügeln

(750mm gauge) It has just been reported that the German ng line running from Kemmlitz to Oschatz has lost its freight traffic. No kaolin has been transported since December 2001. It is assumed that the coal traffic has also ceased. School and tourist trains are said to still continue. (For details of freight operations on this line see information about the video; Kaolin by Rail)".

(Posted 30.06.02 Source: Today's Railways)

BOSNIA:  May 2002

RMO Kakanj, Tuzla

(600mm gauge)A railway not reported before. This line is about 5km long, connecting an inclined drift to a washery. It used to be operated by Siemens OHW locos, but Italian Valente locos now haul the coal tubs. One loco was in use with a further two in the shed. For photos of this line please see the Railways section.

(Posted 23.06.02 Source: Mike Jackson)

SCOTLAND:  May 2002

Bishopton Ordnance Factory

(2ft 6ins gauge)This railway has now closed. This railway ceased operation about March 2002 according to Mark Jones. At the time the system closed there was still approx 35 miles of narrow gauge track in use on the site. All the railway equipment is to auctioned off.

(Posted 30.05.02 Source: Mark Jones)

HUNGARY:  Summary of visit from 11th May to 22nd May 2002

Csömödér/Lenti AEV

(760mm gauge)At Csömödér loading was taking place near Szentpeterfolde and a couple of timber trains per day ran during the couple of days visited. The MK48 locos were not in use. The C50 locos were used on both timber trains (picture) and passenger trains (picture). A large stretch of the track at Lenti has been relaid with heavy gauge rail on a well ballasted trackbed, but the track at Csömödér is still light gauge rail. Timber trains were confirmed to be still running into Lenti sawmill.

Mesztygno AEV

(760mm gauge)A special ran here for a rail tour. There are three C50 locos here now. 4 wheel wagons are hand pushed round the yard from the sawmill to an unlading area. Three bogie timber wagons did show signs of recent use, although this traffic is not regular.

Gemenc AEV

(760mm gauge)The MK45 (LXD2) reportedly purchased by this line is still not on site. 2 C50s were in use on passenger trains (picture) each day. There were loaded timber wagons in the sawmill but no timber trains ran on the day of the visit.

Pat Fish Farm

(760mm gauge)This had been using part of the track of an old forestry system, and used 4 wheeled platform wagons with horse haulage. However nearly all the track had been taken up (picture), and the wagons were deep in the undergrowth. It looks to have been disused for a year or so.

Gütorfolde Brickworks

(500mm gauge)This site had been out of use for a year or so although most buildings were still standing. Some parts of the track were still enbedded in concrete. Clay came in via conveyor belt, and the railway had been used internally within the works.

Vinye Timberyard

(760mm gauge)This sawmill was still active and still making limited use of the rail system, but the two small locos had been out of use for maybe a year or more (picture). Bogies of timber were hauled into the sawemill by an electric winch.

Raposka Brickworks

(? gauge)This site had reportedly had a rail system, but it had been long out of use with just the kilns and chimney left standing. No sign of the railway.

Felsöpetény Mine

(600mm gauge)Two C50s in working order with one in daily use. A LEW battery loco is used to haul skips from an adit (picture). A C50 loco is used to either take ships down to a standard gauge loading point at Bank, or to a tipping point round the other side of the works.

Torokszentmiklos Brickworks

(500mm gauge)Clay comes into the works via conveyor belt but there is an extensive internal system to move the fresh bricks to the drying sheds, and then to move the dried bricks to the kilns. A couple of locos are usually in use.

Tiszafoldvar Brickworks

(500mm gauge)Clay is taken from a stockpile at the back of the works using a bucket and chain excavator feeding a short converyor belt. A single loco is used for moving the bricks round the works. Not in use on day of visit, but showed signs of frequent use.

Szentes Brickworks

(500mm gauge)The line out to the clay pit has been disused for sometime but there is an extensive internal system to move the fresh bricks to the drying sheds, and then to move the dried bricks to the kilns (picture). 6 Hungarian built locos are present plus a home made loco using an engine from a Hungarian tractor. One loco in use on day of visit.

Szegvar Brickworks

(760mm gauge)This brickworks has been out of production for sometime but the site is now in use as a sewage farm. An extensive rail system is in use to move bundles of straw from a storage area to a barn and into the settling tanks. The line is in frequent use with many flat wagons. The motive power is an agricultural tractor.

Tömörkeny Fish Farm

(760mm gauge)A huge sprawling network of lines serving part of a complex of lakes in a nature sanctuary. 3 C50 locos are useable with up to two in use each day(picture). 5 other C50s are dumped. The railway is used to transport fish feed and fertiliser to the lakes, and for maintenance.

MAV Narrow Gauge Lines

(760mm gauge)Kecskemet (picture), Balatonfenyves and the Childrens Railway in Budapest were all working as per the MAV timetables.

(Posted 30.05.02 Source: Steve Thomason)

LATVIA:  April 2002

Gulbene

(750mm)On the 3rd of January the former state owned railway from Gulbene to Aluksne was reopened under new management. The 33km line is seen to provide a real transport service to the local community, as well as running tourist trains. There is a new web site with further details: (www.banitis.lv)

(Posted 20.04.02 Source: Today's Railways)

BELGIUM:  April 2002

Briqueteries du Ploegsteert

Confirmation has been received that this railway did have 2 Ruston locos in addition to the Moes locos. All the locos have been aquired for preservation. This photo (picture) shows a line up of all the locos that were obtained from the brickworks, with the 2 Rustons on the right. Photographed on 13th February 2002.

(Posted 20.04.02 Source: S Demblon)

LITHUANIA:  April 2002

Panevezys Anyksciai Rubikiai

(Gauge 750mm) This railway will be open again from 27th April 2002. Ordering tickets or trains can be done via email to siaurukas@omni.lt. There is also a new web site promoting the railway at www.ngr.lt.

(Posted 20.04.02 Source: Udrius Armalis)

POLAND:  9th-16th March 2002

Report on railways in the Slaskie and Opolskie regions of southern Poland

PKP Upper Silesian Narrow Gauge

(785mm gauge) All freight operations on this network finished in May 2001. Some special passenger services ran until September 2001. All track and much rolling stock is still present on the system and there is a local attempt to preserve part of this unique railway.

KWK Kazimierz Juliusz, Kazimierz

(750mm/600mm gauge)This colliery has three sites connected by a 750mm gauge railway of between 5-7km in length. At least 3 Wls150 locos are present. The railway is used to transport waste to a dumping ground outside the collieries. At lunchtime trains run between the sites to transport miners at the end of the shift. In the stockyard of the main colliery there is an extensive 600mm system for timber and materials and there are 2 Wls50 locos (picture), although one is out of use.

KWK Janina, Libiaz

(750mm gauge)This railway is also used for dumping the slag from the colliery. The line is double tracked throughout its length except for under a road bridge near the colliery. It is about 3km long, starting from a loading point just outside the colliery. There are 3 Lyd2 locos and 3 Wls180 locos. Two trains are normally in use, both headed by Lyd2 locos (picture) when visited. The Wls180 locos all looked to be in useable condition

KWK Wesola, Wesola

(600mm gauge)This colliery is south of Myslowice, and is split over three sites. A 600mm gauge line of about 3km in length connects the collieries for the movement of equipment and materials. It crosses public roads in 2 places, and a standard gauge line on the level. The railway appears to sees regular use each day.

KWK Centrum, Bytom

(470mm gauge)The extensive stockyard railway of this colliery is 470mm gauge. When viewed from the back entrance, pit props were being loaded onto wagons. Although there are several locos here, authority to visit the site was not given, and no further details could be obtained. Since the closure of the PKP narrow gauge, the 785mm gauge within the colliery is out of use.

Huta Gliwice SA, Gliwice

(785mm gauge)Once connected to the 785mm gauge PKP system, this steelworks retains an internal mixed narrow/standard gauge system for movement of waste materials and steel. Large areas of the site are being demolished but production of railway wheels and axles still continues. There are 3 Lyd2 locos and 1 Wls150. There is not a large amount of railway work, and a single Lyd2 (picture) is used when required.

ODRA Cement Factory, Opole

(1000mm gauge)The only one of 3 cement factories in Opole still using a narrow gauge railway. The railway starts from a tipping shed on the other side of the road to the factory and runs through a disused limestone quarry and then a tunnel, to reach the working quarry. A distance of about 2.5km. There are 6 Lyd2 locos (picture), and 2 are normally in use.

Ruda Brickworks, Ruda

(785mm gauge)This brickworks used to have a line running out of the works for a couple of kilometres to the clay pits. In the last year or so, it had only been used for loading clay from a stockpile at the back of the works. Unfortunately all the tracks at the back of the works have now been taken up. The skips were still present on a disused loop in the yard, and the loco was off the tracks in a nearby shed.

Brickworks, Miasteczko Slaskie

(600mm gauge)The railway here had not been used for at least several weeks/months. It was only about 200m in length, crossing a public road to the clay pit. Loaded skips were still present in a shed at the bottom of the double track incline to the tipping shed. At least one Wls50 loco was in the shed. The brickworks may be seasonal, and railway operations may start again by the end of April.

Brickworks, Niemodlin

(600mm gauge)The railway here was in use, but the clay was being tipped into a lorry at the works for transport elsewhere. The kilns and the tipping shed were all derelict. A Wls50 loco was in use, with a Gls30 (picture) loco out of use. The line is about 1km in length.

Brickworks, Jelowa

(600mm gauge)A small brickworks only used in the summer months. The loco was kept at the top of the incline in the tipping shed (picture). The Deutz loco was purchased in Germany as scrap, and has had a Polish engine fitted. The line is only about 200m long to a very small pit in front of the works.

Brickworks, Zator

(600mm gauge)Another brickworks that was due to start using the railway from about April. The line was a simple out and back line to the pit over 0.5km away. The single Wls50 loco was at the back of the tipping shed in good condition.

(Posted 22.03.02 Source: Steve Thomason)

WALES:  March 2002

Corus Shotton Steelworks

(2ft 6ins gauge) The railway in the stockyard is now reported to be out of use.

Maenofferen Slate Quarry

(2ft gauge) The railway at this mill which latterly has only been used within the mill building itself is reported to be out of use now. It is not known if this is a permanent closure.

(Posted 22.03.02 Source: David Sallery/Alan Lucraft)

POLAND:  March 2002

PKP Narrow Gauge

(750mm gauge) Several ex-PKP narrow gauge railways appear to have resumed operation under local authority ownership. The line at Smigiel (passenger) and at Zbiersk (freight) are both operating again.

(Posted 22.03.02 Source: Marek Szymanski)

AUSTRIA:  January 2002

Steiermärkische Landesbahnen, Wiez to Anger

(760mm gauge) This railway has purchased an LDH45 class BoBo Diesel loco (No.095) from the limestone railway at Hunedoara in Romania. It has been obtained for shunting the sidings at Oberfeistritz.

(Posted 25.02.02 Source: Today's Railways)

GERMANY:  January 2002

Niedersachsen Peatworks

Some updates from visits by Brian Rumary last year. All the following peat firms have either closed down or moved over to alternative ways of transporting the peat. 
Torfwerk Achternmeer, Wardenburg-Achternmeer. 
Torfwerk Brill, Bathorn. 
Torfwerk Brill, Georgsdorf. 
Torfwerk Drebber, Drebbersche Moor, near Vechta. 
Torfwerk Tannenhausen, Brockzetal. 
Torfwerk Tiste, Tiste. 
Torfwerk Strenge, Stapelermoor. 
Griendtsveen Torf AG, Schöninghsdorf. 
Torfwerk Willenborg, Wagenfeld-Stöhen. 
Torfwerk Wübbeler, Goldenstedter Moor. 
Torfwerk Wehrbleck, Wehrbleck-Strange. 
Torfwerk Rohenkohl, Wehrbleck-Strange. 
Torfwerk Warfsmann, Wiesmoor. 
 

Saarstahl AG, Völklingen

(785mm gauge)This steelworks has an internal narrow gauge railway with 2 Ruhrthaler diesels to work between the rolling mill and the stockyard.

(Posted 25.02.02 Source: Brian Rumary via IRS)

FRANCE:  January 2002

Saint Laurent du Pont

(600mm gauge)The industrial railway in the south of France serving a concrete factory has been confirmed as still operational with extensive photographs now available on the web. There are two sites, at Pérelle and at Saint Martin le Vinoux. The website of Fabien Prétou has details: (DEUX EXPLOITATIONS MINIÈRES EN ISÈRE)

(Posted 19.01.02 Source: Fabien Prétou)

© Steve Thomason 2004
Upgraded site relaunched 1st January 2004