Čierny Hron Railway
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Čierny Hron Railway (in Slovak: ''Čiernohronská železnica'' or ''ČHŽ'') is a
narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
in the
Slovak Ore Mountains The Slovak Ore Mountains ( sk, Slovenské rudohorie , hu, Gömör–Szepesi-érchegység, german: Slowakisches Erzgebirge or Zips-Gemer-Erzgebirge) are an extensive mountain range within the Carpathian Mountains, located mostly in Slovakia's S ...
, built as a
forest railway A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled logs to sawmills or railway stations. In most cases th ...
for
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
operations.


History

Planning for the railway began in 1898 and building began in 1908. In 1909 regular wood transport on the railway started, between
Čierny Balog Čierny Balog (until 1927 also Balog, or Čierny Hronec; hu, Feketebalog) is a municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History The village arose after 1882 (1888 mentioned as ''Feketebalog'') by a mer ...
and
Hronec Hronec ( hu, Kisgaram, , until 1886: ) is a village and municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History In historical records, the village was first mentioned as ''Hronecz'' in 1357, when it was the do ...
. The network was extended to transport wood from the forests and by the middle of the 20th century the railway had a total length of 131,97 km, the most extensive forestry railway network in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. On 19 July 1927, passenger traffic was permitted on the railway between Čierny Balog and Hronec, which operated until 1962. The railway was closed in 1982, but it has been granted national heritage status since. During the following few years it was repaired by enthusiasts and re-opened in 1992 as a
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
for tourists. The line is now 17 km long: Chvatimech -
Hronec Hronec ( hu, Kisgaram, , until 1886: ) is a village and municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History In historical records, the village was first mentioned as ''Hronecz'' in 1357, when it was the do ...
-
Čierny Balog Čierny Balog (until 1927 also Balog, or Čierny Hronec; hu, Feketebalog) is a municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. History The village arose after 1882 (1888 mentioned as ''Feketebalog'') by a mer ...
- Vydrovo. The line is believed to be the only railway in the world to pass through the middle of a soccer stadium, the tracks running along the front of a grandstand at the stadium belonging to the TJ Tatran Čierny Balog club. In 2021 the railway acquired the existing rolling stock from the
Waldenburg railway The Waldenburg railway (german: Waldenburgerbahn; WB) is a narrow-gauge light rail system in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. The long. single-track line runs from Liestal, the capital of the canton, to Waldenburg, with stops in ...
in Switzerland.


Motive Power


See also

*
The Historical Logging Switchback Railway in Vychylovka The Historical Logging Switchback Railway in Vychylovka (near Nová Bystrica, Slovakia) is preserved section technically most interesting part of the former narrow-gauge zig zag logging railway located in Kysuce and Orava region. The railway was ...
* List of transport museums in Slovakia *
List of museums in Slovakia This is a list of museums in Slovakia. * Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art *Bratislava City Gallery *Bratislava City Museum * Bratislava Transport Museum * East Slovak Gallery * East Slovak Museum *House of the Good Shepherd * Museum of Danube Ko ...


References


External links

*
Official site



ČHŽ Railway Map

Photo collection of heritage railway operations on the ČHŽ


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cierny Hron Railway Railway lines in Slovakia Heritage railways in Slovakia 760 mm gauge railways in Slovakia Forest railways