Tag Archives: heritage railways

Riding the Children’s Railway in Budapest

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Marcus Wong

Up in the hills above Budapest is a unique railway – the Gyermekvasút (Children’s Railway), where children aged 10 to 14 operate the railway under the supervision of adult staff. Opened in 1948, the 1.2 kilometres long 760 mm narrow […]

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Moscow Metro trains on display

Posted on January 7, 2021 by Marcus Wong

Plenty of cities have railway museums filled with old trains on display, but on the 80th anniversary of the Moscow Metro they did something different – they brought the museum pieces to the people. Photo by Artem Svetlov from Moscow, […]

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Turning a locomotive on a reversing star

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Marcus Wong

There are many ways for a locomotive to be turned – reversing loops, turntables, and triangular junctions. But there is one bizarre track configuration that can also do the same job – a reversing star. Google Maps How they work […]

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Delivering a crane by train

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Marcus Wong

I’ve seen many interesting pieces of Russian heavy machinery, but this is a new one – a crawler crane that can be moved by rail. The crane arrives at the Tyosovo Railway Museum in Novgorod Oblast on the back of […]

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Why did the train stop to close the bridge?

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Marcus Wong

On Facebook I recently came across a video of a train coming to a halt, so that a man could swing a piece of track into place before it could then proceed. So what is the story behind it? The […]

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A whistle stop tour of Sinaia railway station, Romania

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Marcus Wong

As I travelled across Romania by train, the railway station at the mountain resort of Sinaia in Prahova County caught my eye. Photo by Andrei Stroe, via Wikimedia Commons Căile Ferate Române 4-6-0 steam locomotive 230-039 was plinthed outside the […]

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Riding the Kiev Funicular

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Marcus Wong

Funicular railways seem to be quite common in European cities, and the Ukranian capital is no different. The Kiev Funicular is a 238 meter long railway opened in 1905 that links the top and bottom of a hill. Here is […]

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Ретропоезд – the heritage trains of Russia

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Marcus Wong

In Russian there is a word for old time trains such as steam engines – «Ретропоезд». It roughly translates to “retro train”, and on my visit to Russia, I saw quite a few of them.

Collection of locomotives at the south end of the museum Continue reading →

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Named trains of the Moscow Metro

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Marcus Wong

I only spent a few days in Moscow, but in that time I still managed to find a number of Moscow Metro trains wearing commemorative liveries.

'Red Arrow' liveried Moscow Metro train arrives Continue reading →

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Stumbling upon a heritage train in Hungary

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Marcus Wong

I spent a couple of days in Budapest on my trip across Europe, and on one of them I was lucky to stumble upon a heritage train parked at Budapest Keleti railway station.

MÁV heritage train at Budapest Keleti pályaudvar Continue reading →

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