Orenburg Children's Railway - through my eyes. Twenty years later

This toy is probably one of the most common childhood dreams. Previously, it appeared on the shelves extremely rarely, but it cost a lot of money, and its quantity was so limited that not everyone got it. Now there is no such problem.

And, besides, you can choose almost any option you like: from minimal configuration to large sets with additional parts. Therefore modern toy railway- This is not just a toy for a child, but also a construction set for the whole family. Playing with the railroad will occupy your child’s attention for a long time, and the possibility of modernization will increase the length of the game for a long time, and will constantly attract the interest of children of different ages.

Children's railway for the little ones

The simplest railways, which are offered in a minimal configuration, are suitable for young children. But for older children, the options are more varied, that is, it can include a larger number of elements, and the set can include a variety of figures. You'll see, even adults can get carried away with this fun game!

Both psychologists and teachers agree that toys that reflect the essence of the surrounding life are useful for a three-year-old child, because it is at this age that the child develops a basic understanding of the environment and his self-identification occurs. And in the child’s mind there is a classification of everything visible and felt. At this time, role-playing games are very important. They are the ones who help the child behave correctly in a given situation and help develop skills that will be useful to the child in later life.

will be a very good choice for a gift; this toy will be one of the baby’s favorites for a very long time.

When you choose a railway for a child under four years old, it is best to choose simpler options with a more colorful design. Buy models made from environmentally friendly materials. For small children:

IKEA, Brio, Thomas, Chuggintones, Lego duplo.

Children's railway for older children For older children, from five years old, you can purchase more with objects such as trees, towers, water stations, etc. Such kits provide an opportunity to actively develop imagination. And some manufacturers even offer themed games, that is, you can separately assemble a training ground or a factory with railway tracks.

For school-age children, a good choice would be railroads that are replicas of real ones. In fact, these are real masterpieces. Such toys repeat every detail of the reproduced object.

It is also worth noting that currently the buyer has the opportunity to choose, that is, you can give preference to a railway that completely corresponds to a modern one, but you can also choose a model that will be stylized to resemble objects corresponding to the Wild West, for example, or Europe. And caring parents will be able to come up with many exciting, educational games for their child with her participation. Good luck with your choice!

For older children: Arrow, Tomica, Lego city.

Children's railway - photo

Unofficially, also Kratovskaya Children's Railway, named after the village of Kratovo, where it is located - a narrow-gauge children's railway in the Moscow region. All railway maintenance is carried out by children - schoolchildren aged 11-15 from 25 different schools under the guidance of experienced instructors. Children's Railways is an educational institution designed to train schoolchildren in railway professions. The full course lasts 4-5 years. During the school year, schoolchildren undergo theoretical training, and in the summer they undergo practical training, working as station attendants, switchmen, conductors, and machinists. The Russian Railways are subject to operating rules and technical means adopted for public railways.

There are two stations on the line, Yunost (historical name Put Ilyich) and Pionerskaya (both terminal), and one intermediate platform Shkolnaya. (see map at the end of the post)

They say that the idea of ​​​​building the Children's Railway arose without instructions from above. At a rally of pioneers of the Ramensky district on May 30, 1935, a call was made to build children's railways throughout the country, and the idea seemed so interesting to the children that on the same day a council was elected to promote the construction of the Children's Railway in Kratovo. The pioneers built the road themselves; at the most difficult stages of the work, Komsomol members got involved. The grand opening of the Small Lenin Railway (as it was called then) took place on May 2, 1937.

From the memoirs of B.P. Borisov: “ I will not forget the day of June 6, 1939. On this day I came to the Small Lenin Railway as chief engineer. At first it seemed to me that I was in a fairyland of children, where the children themselves do everything. Everywhere you look, serious, attractive children's faces are everywhere.

The engine driver on the locomotive was a curly-haired boy, looking proudly at everyone. The switchman looked like a sentry, and I, barely holding back a smile, looked at his impenetrably important face. I went up to the ticket office - a neat girl with a thick red braid was selling train tickets...»

The opening of the 1941 summer season was scheduled for June 22. Instead, the young railway workers who had gathered for the rally listened to the message of the Sovinformburo about the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR.

In the summer of 1941, the children's railway was still operating for some time, but closer to autumn it was closed due to the outbreak of air raids.

In the spring of 1942, young railway workers responded to the call “Let’s replace fathers and brothers who went to the front” and took part in the construction and operation of narrow-gauge railways of the Spetslestranskhoz of the People’s Commissariat of Railways in Bronnitsy, Faustovo, Khobotovo. Throughout the war, these branches carried the delivery of timber necessary for the production of sleepers to the front-line railways.

For heroism and selfless work during the war years, three young railway workers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and another 12 were awarded medals “For the Defense of Moscow.” At the end of the Great Patriotic War, young railway workers, again on their own, began to restore the children's railway. On June 14, 1945, traffic on the ChRW was restored, although complete restoration work was completed only in the summer of 1947.

Currently, the border between the city of Zhukovsky and the village of Kratovo runs along the line of the children's railway.

View from the side of the dead end to the Yunost station. This station is located near the Otdykh platform of the Kazan direction of the Moscow Railway:

Arrival of the train at the Yunost station:

The driver uncouples the locomotive from the cars:

The locomotive went into a dead end for a turnover.

Car markings:

Sign inside the carriage. Manufacturing plant "METROVAGONMASH":

Train interior. The seats are made very small - all for the convenience of young passengers.

The windows in the car, exactly the same as in the metro cars of the model 81-740 (Skif), are closed with a three-sided lock, but not with two locks, as in the metro, but with one:

A young railway worker adjusts the coupling:

The “branded” train, as everyone calls it there, is at the Pionerskaya station, waiting for passengers. In fact, a branded train is called:

Dead end behind Pionerskaya station:

Car control panel. For some reason, it doesn’t allow me to turn off the sound in the carriage, although it is very annoying:

As expected, the carriage indicates the number of seats (although the seats are designed for children, they are very small) and the weight of the carriage:

View of the reverse dead end of the Yunost station:

A locomotive at the return dead end of the Yunost station.

From Moscow you can get to the Kratovo road from the Kazan station by electric trains in the Ryazan direction to the Kratovo platform.

Today I will show you a report that I filmed quite a long time ago, on August 18, 2011. D These materials can probably already be considered historical. I shot with my old Canon 350D, there will be quite a lot of pictures. In fact, the post is mostly documentary, so to speak, in order to perpetuate history.

The children's railway is far from foreign to me. I studied there at one time, and everything was very interesting to me. Especially in those days when there was no Internet and other things, it was something unearthly for a teenager to master almost all railway professions from switchman to assistant driver.

Therefore, my story will be supplemented with some memories. The Orenburg Children's Railway was built in the year my parents were born (by the way, my dad also passed his first journey as a railway worker on this same road) in 1953. Construction began on May 18 and was completed at an accelerated pace in 68 days. For the first five years of operation, the road ran on steam locomotive traction, so the railway infrastructure was equipped with turning triangles (the locomotive had a cabin on only one side, and to turn it around, a triangle of railway tracks and switches was used) and water pumps. Later they were dismantled as unnecessary. In 1958, all rolling stock was completely replaced, and diesel locomotives began operating on the road.TU2-008 and TU2-083, and in 1986 a diesel locomotive was added to themTU2-086. Thus, at the time of my work there, there were two trains in operation at the same time, “Pioneria” and “Orlyonok”, consisting of carriagesPAFAWAG. On a single-track railway, from the terminal stations the trains moved towards each other, and the stations were equipped with sidings at which the trains separated and moved on, each in its own direction. The third locomotive served as a reserve in case one of the workers failed. To ensure train safety, the railway was equipped with switches with locks, a track signaling and blocking system. In the troubled 90s, the road quietly lost one of the trains (Pioneria) and one diesel locomotiveTU2-083, whose fate is unknown. Apparently, there were no funds to maintain the train, and it was subjected to “cannibalization.”

The narrow gauge railway has a length of 5.62 km and has four stations: Komsomolskaya, Pionerskaya, Dubki and Kirovskaya. The railway connects the city center with children's camps located in the floodplain of the Ural River. The road is laid along the river bed, and during periods of large floods it is partially flooded.

In October 2013, a new diesel locomotive entered the road. TU10-021 with new cars VP-750 , according to some, the road is expecting a second new diesel locomotive - TU10-028.
Regarding the old TU2, of which, until recently, the main working locomotive was TU2-086, and the “eight” was in reserve. According to the stories of the guys who have been using the road lately, it often failed and caught fire several times along the way.

2. And now, after two decades, I am again on the children's road. Already as an adult passenger. This moment turned out to be quite exciting for me, and I tried to capture everything as best I could. The main station is Komsomolskaya, the train has arrived and is ready for passengers to board.

3. Some pictures I only have in JPEG, like this one. That’s why he’s so “vigorous”) I looked into the cabin of the locomotive. Almost everything is the same as before.

4.And here we are in the carriage. Stop valve, how many years, how many winters

5. It must be said that the carriages have undergone significant changes inside during this time. It's even difficult to remember what exactly has changed. The ventilation grilles were definitely different, and the windows were also replaced. Most likely, for safety reasons, there used to be sliding windows, which were removed from everywhere.

6. Camp schemes, schedules, current at that time

7. The main initiator of our train trip is my daughter. When we drove across the bridge, we showed her the trains. My mother also showed it to me when I was a child, from the bus window. This is continuity.
The slatted seats were previously varnished and the wood texture was preserved. And now they are painted over. There are nameplates on the seats with seat numbers; once upon a time, seats were indicated on tickets. Now there are few people in the carriage, and boarding is carried out on empty seats.

8. At one of the stations that does not have track development

9.Little passenger

10. Coupling carriages, funny weights. They either welded sheets of metal onto the buffers or glued rubber on them for a smooth ride.

11.Lamps in the upper part of the car were dismantled during repairs as unnecessary. The train operates only during daylight hours.
There are also no platforms between the cars; if I'm not mistaken, previously it was possible to walk from car to car.

12.The girls are in uniform and working. Once upon a time I saw off a train like this with a flag. If I'm not mistaken, this position is called station duty officer.

13. Terminal stations have detours for shunting work. The diesel locomotive is unhooked from the train and driven along a bypass track to the other end of the train, and the train travels back.

14. The switchman is working to prepare the track. In my time, switches were equipped with locks, to which there were large keys, which were handed over to the station upon completion of shunting work.

A switchman, a station attendant - this is work “on land”, as we called it then. We didn’t really like it, most of the guys wanted to work on the train. On the contrary, I liked it at the station; besides my work, I had to see a lot of things. Even the work of a switchman implied enormous responsibility and, accordingly, importance. One thing that was bad at the station was that if there were mosquitoes, there was a way to escape from them: they were literally everywhere! What I enjoyed most was working “on the ground” as a station manager. There was a large remote control on which the path, arrows, and semaphores were drawn. The lights came on, it all had to be controlled.

Then I became acquainted with an unprecedented black ebony telephone, without a dial, but with a handle that had to be turned. After which you had to wait for the phone to ring, and you could pick up the phone and start a conversation. There was such a connection between stations. Some kind of regulation implied communication with the neighboring station in order to make sure that the section was clear before releasing a train onto it. It's a pity I didn't have time to film it all then.

16.

17. The road is now equipped with such anti-vandal iron stations. The platform used to be made of wood, as were the elegant stations. At the main Komsomolskaya station, music was broadcast from a loudspeaker.

18.
Here's an old photo of the elegant wooden station. They built it with passion, but these stations have disappeared forever. Some fell into disrepair and collapsed, but most were burned by vandals.

19. In some places there are still wooden sleepers

20.

21. The train is assigned to the South Ural Railway. The lantern on the carriage survived, although it was painted over.

22. Train at Kirovskaya station

23.Moved, now they’ll catch you

24.

25.

26. Work on coupling with the train. In our time there were a minimum of adults on the road; everyone was already quite disciplined.

27. There is a speedometer with a white scale in the cockpit. In fact, it shows the indicated speed and is a mechanical recorder that “draws” the speed of movement on a paper tape. I don’t see a refilled tape in the photo; perhaps the recorder is now electronic. We were a little mischievous at one time: in the morning we drove the locomotive from the Pionerskaya station, where it spent the night. And without a train, we could ride like a breeze. Although, of course, it was impossible. Therefore, we then literally drew the “correct” graph on the tape.

The large “wheel” on the left side of the cockpit is the handbrake. A little closer is the controller that controls the power of the power plant. And near the window there is a brake valve. There are two of them in a diesel locomotive: its own No. 254 (locomotive) and train No. 394. The difference between these cranes is that the first controls the brakes of only the locomotive, and the second controls the brakes of the entire train. To control the train delicately, it was necessary to use both perfectly so that the train moves without jerking. But since the speed of the train rarely exceeds 25 km/h, and the train is light, operating the locomotive brake valve was generally sufficient.

28. The station is stylized as a train. These stations were built relatively recently.

29.

30.Safety

31.We started moving. Train to childhood...

32. Almost empty carriage

33. Tambour

34.

35.We accidentally managed to photograph the now deceased Gennady Nikolaevich Sorokin, cheerfully jumping onto the train. He devoted more than 30 years of his life to working at the Orenburg Children's Railway. Being her boss, he made a great contribution to her development.

36.

Before retiring in the fall of 2011, he worked as an instructor.

37. Reinforced concrete sleepers; the tracks were completely replaced in 2011.senior instructor of the children's railway Viktor Afanasyevich Boyarkin. He also taught me at one time. Here, I filmed the mentor. But for most of the time my instructor was Tyrina Larisa Georgievna (if I’m not mistaken). The road is open only during the summer holidays, and the rest of the time children study instructions and the structure of the railway.

39. Photo of me as a souvenir in the carriage, it’s a pity that I don’t have a photo of those times...

40. Kilometer picket post. The difference between them is that pickets are placed every 100 meters.

41.Two locomotives: the main one, and a reserve one at the dead end

42.

43.

44. TU2-008

45.

46. ​​Hand-operated arrows were replaced with more modern ones with electric drive.

47. The train is ready for the next trip

48. Another look into the cockpit

49.This is how the excursion turned out

50.Hard worker 086

Address: Nizhny Novgorod, st. October Revolution building No. 23a

Photo by Boris Izvekov

Below is a page from Olga Naumova’s book "100 BIOGRAPHIES OF HOUSES OF Nizhny"

In the article by L.A. Nifontov “From the merchant Nizhny to the socialist city of Gorky” (To the 90th anniversary, and then to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the architect A.A. Yakovlev) it is written:

- “The building of the Rodina station of the children's railway should also be included among the best works of Alexander Alexandrovich. Here the architect was faced with the task - on the one hand, to find some original forms of the building, taking into account the fact that the building was being built for children. On the other hand, it was necessary to “enter the ensemble without shouting down” the nearby Palace of Culture named after. V.I.Lenin. A.A. Yakovlev coped with this task well. The cylindrical part of the station building with elegant classical details and with figures of pioneers in the upper part attracts attention with its interesting volumetric design and careful drawing of details. In general, the building still has a subordinate character in the overall ensemble of the square.”

“The decision to build the road was made on May 13, 1939 at the bureau of the Gorky Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Already on May 15, a committee to promote construction was created, the chairman of which was the first secretary of the Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, A.I. Shakhurin. The completion date for construction was set at October 1, 1939. Design and survey work began, which was carried out in the shortest possible time by the design team of the track service of the Gorky Railway together with the architectural and planning department of the City Council.

Construction itself began on May 30, 1939. Like all children's railways built before the war, the Gorky Children's Railway was built using the method of Komsomol subbotniks. In total, more than 36 thousand people took part in its construction, and not only city residents, but also residents of surrounding villages took part in the cleanup work.”

A train with a hooded steam locomotive LK-01 at Rodina station, 1939.

At the terminal stations, Rodina and Schastlivaya, two beautiful station-palaces were built, designed by architects Yakovlev and Anisimov, respectively. The two-story station building at Rodina station, topped with a round turret, is more than 40 meters long. On the ground floor of the station there were offices of the chief, the station duty officer, a waiting room, ticket offices, an information desk, a buffet, a first-aid post, and book stalls. On the second floor there are educational and technical rooms for study groups, a control room and a radio center, and in the turret there is a museum of the history of railway transport.

The road was equipped with the most modern and advanced means of communication and signaling at that time. There were telephone, telegraph and teletype communications. The movement of trains was carried out using an electric train system.

The road had a well-equipped locomotive and carriage depot with an inspection ditch and repair shops, which was named after Chkalov.

By special order, the Gorky Carriage Depot built 12 soft cars for the Russian Railways, equipped like the Moscow Metro cars. And the Krasnoye Sormovo plant specially prepared two hooded steam locomotives of type 63/65. The streamlined hood made these locomotives look like the IS locomotive, Joseph Stalin, which was very popular in those years. On the ChRZ they received the designations LK-01 and LK-02 (Lazar Kaganovich). Apparently, the hoods were subsequently removed, at least in later photographs they are no longer visible.

On August 7, 1941, the children's railway was closed, and all its property was transferred to the management of the personnel training department of the Gorky Railway Administration. Almost throughout the war, the road was used for training high-road railway workers.

On August 25, 1944, the head of the Gorky Railway issued order No. 523/43 on the restoration of the children's road, but the restoration of the road proceeded very slowly. Only two years later, on July 25, 1946, a second order (No. 285/43) was issued on the transfer of its property to the children's road. The deadline for the execution of this order was indicated on August 10, 1946, but unfortunately we do not know the exact date of the opening of the road

Photo 1943

The 9.1 km long children's railway connected the Zheleznodorozhny district of Gorky (Kanavino) with the Avtozavodsky district. The tram line laid in the same direction was very overloaded in those years and citizens began to use the ChR as another type of urban transport. In the first year of operation alone, the road carried more than 100 thousand passengers. It is for this reason that the Gorky Children's Railway has repeatedly been accused of excessive commercialization and exploitation of child labor to the detriment of the ideological and political education of young people.

In those years, this was a very serious accusation, and in order to avoid consequences, the railway management began to gradually narrow the range of responsibilities of young railway workers. In 1947-48, only 45 young railway workers worked on the children's railway (compare with 1,200 pupils of the Tbilisi Children's Railway), and only instructors were engaged in transporting passengers.

This led to the fact that the Gorky Children's Railway gradually decayed and turned from the best children's railway in the country, with the highest level of technical equipment, into the most ordinary narrow-gauge line.

Now this railway is operating and there is a lot of material about it on the Internet. If I get to Nizhny Novgorod, I’ll definitely go for a ride. I would like to see with my own eyes the RODINA station, built by my grandfather.