This was quite interesting for a non American. Thanks for this post.
@Bob Dylan: I know that the Boy Scouts of America use the
Southwest Chief to go to their Camp in New Mexico.
Actually the program in the USA is not the most interesting in the world. In the former Soviet Union and her satellite states there were several "Young Pioneer" Railways. The premise of them was to provide young people training in an industrial sectors. Children between the ages of 10 and 18 work on these railroads with some but fairly limited in the case of Berlin supervision. In Berlin the children provide all of the track maintenance, signal maintenance, station maintenance, conductors, engineers, station staff, work in the mechanical shop, and dispatchers. The adults who supervise are only in the main station for it, and the mechanical shop overseeing the operation. At times there are four trains operating at the same time.
Berlin's Children's Railway operates 7.5 Killometers of track around Wuhlheide Park, it has an interchange station with the Berlin S Bahn, and the Berlin Tram Network, it operates a primitive form of CTC, services seven stations, and multiple grade crossings (Two with actual road traffic). The park itself if one is ever in Berlin is incredible too. It feels just like the old Soviet Days, run down, neglected and not paid any attention to since the 1980s!!! Oftentimes when I've been there for the Railway there have been more employees of the railroad than passengers.
As far as equipment goes here is the active roster.
9-Diesel Electric Locomotives
4-Steam Locomotives (One from 1918)
13-Passenger cars
3-Freight Cars.
Every time I'm in Berlin I will always pay a visit to my friends at the Children's Railway, and I will donate to them a few times a year to keep the operation running. Such a cool little railroad.
Budapest also has a unique one as well. Theirs is an 11 KM single track line that actually functions as part of the public transit network. It is also ran entirely by children in the same style as Berlin's. The two railroads even send their students to each other to learn different systems. Budapest sends a train out on each end of the line once an hour between 8:45 AM and 6:00 PM. They operate 9 stations. I have not been on the Budapest one yet. But it is on my to do list.
Of interesting note Russia still has several, and St. Petersburg has two of them.
One is a recently rebuilt one that parallels the mainline to Mockbe for a few kilometers. While the other one runs duel gauged with the actual Russian Mainline between Helsinki and St. Petersburg for a portion of it's route. I wan to say the duel gauge section is maybe only a kilometer long, but still rather impressive. Children operating a narrow gauge train over portion of the mainline to Finland with the broad gauged mainline trains.
I've always thought we should have a Children's Railway in the USA, such creative little railroads, that provide good education.
Would anyone want me to write a trip report up on the Berlin Children's Railway?
