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Pioneer (how they call them in the former Eastern Bloc) or Children´s Railway are a unique adventure for families especially in countries of the former “Eastern Bloc”. 

Here operate kids a railway for everyone for leisure. (There is always an adult that overwatch the operations and the drivers are mostly adults aswell).
These pioneer railways were used to engage childs for a Worklife in the Transportation sector.
Many of these railways still survived. The most famous one is the Railway in Budapest with a 11kilometers long line. Other cities with such railways are Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Gera, Cottbus, Görlitz, Plauen(electrified) all Germany, Kosice (Slovakia).
There are even more especially in Russia. I prefer Berlin (as iam living here), Budapest and Dresden.

Here a picture from the Childrens Railway in Budapest
Many Childrens railway have steamengines and use them often on weekends and special events here a picture from Dresden (Germany)
And here a steamtrain from the Childrensrailway in Berlin

 

These are fascinating! I think it’s a real novelty, and great for getting young persons interested and involved in rail travel.

These are fascinating! I think it’s a real novelty, and great for getting young persons interested and involved in rail travel.


It´s not quite new 🙂 In Germany they opened back in the 1950 and 1960ties 🙂 Few survived the fall of the Iron Curtain but others are now history or doesn´t operate as Childreen Railway anymore :/  Few of them tried to used models of real engines 🙂 For example Vatterode (small Village near Leipzig/Halle) have a model of the Class DR 180 🙂 or the Childreen Railway in Görlitz (on the polish border) have a model in service of Germany´s first steamengine called “Adler” (Eagle)

There are many in former Soviet countries too, to train up children to be railway employees when they grew up.

Yeah i know 🙂 Almost every bigger city in former Soviet countries have such childrenn railway. (Just wanted to be in the Eurail/Interrail validity roomal.
In Russia they even build special locomotives for these railways.

In Germany it was the sameway as they were operated by the National Railcompany of East Germany (DR) but with the reunion of Germany many changed. Now they are often in private or municipal hands. And are operated by associations or the local transport companies of the city. @Superalbs  maybe do a Interrail journey with exploring them all. :joy:

When I was a child I always wanted to take part at the Pioneer trains. But where I live, there is no such train. But even now, where I am an adult, we always visit the Pioneer train in Chemnitz when we are there on holiday. 

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