# ChRW - Kiev, Ukrane



## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

it seems a bit light on discussion so i'll throw this one in.

in number of big cities of USSR there was very interesting phenomena as Children Railways ChRW , and city of my birth , Kiev, had one as well. occupying a dedicated park,large enough for several minutes of ride from station to station and to not always hear the train when walking in the park.
It comprised a loop of narrow gage track, reverce loop, couple stations, maintenance depot. plan:









what is interesting that almost all the roles of this "line" were filled by kids as young as ~10. conductors, station managers, dispatchers, ticket sales, the older kids involved in machine shop (learning and working on ever braking locomotives) and even engineer assistant (firemen equivalent). we lived quite far so i didn't get to ride on it to often (let alone participate. but i was to young for it anyways when it all eneded)but the couple times we did were unforgettable! and the ride was long enough long enough to finish ice-cream cone

some apparently well known Engeneer with young worker of Kiev ChRW.














after USSR fell apart the road wasn't maintained due to lack of funding and fire destroying station building in 1997 but lately it came to life.

after long time bunch of former workers of line and volunteers restored/rebuilt steamer being tested (towed on picture). it was put back in service in 2005










diesel TU2-021. painted and repainted (was specifically built for this railroad).
none in service today.









TU7A diesel. in service since 2001










Coach











Viaduct. 















For those who interested in more detail - the english web page:
http://railways.id.ru/towns/kiev/index-eng.html


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

more pictures. (different line - Minsk ChRW)

Uniformed conductor wating for passangers (1999)









Dispatchesr (198...)


















Station manager









Engineer.
seems that "adults only" was applicable to steamers only. 










Examining the track









Maintenance of way gang




























Those kids had a blast... I wonder if something like this is doable today here.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Anton, I'm really interested, but I can't see the pictures!!!!


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

wonder if you have russian hosts firewalled for some reason. i can see all pics fine. anyone else experiences difficulties?


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## mkschram (Feb 8, 2010)

No problems here. All the pics are quite visible to me. Really interesting stuff, Anton.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

mkschram said:


> No problems here. All the pics are quite visible to me. Really interesting stuff, Anton.


Oh, yeah---rub it in that you can see and I can't! :laugh: Anton, you're probably right. I'm at work and the system has massive firewall protection. I'll look at them when I get home. Thanks for sharing them, though---it really sounds interesting.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I see the pics just fine.

No child labor laws in Russia?  Just kidding, of course ... looks like fun stuff for the kids.

There's a narrow-gage tourist railway in Maine ... small loop, maybe 1/2 mile around the track. Few times I've been there, there was a 13 or 14 year old kid working as the conductor and sometimes driving the train. Big smile on that little guy.

TJ


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

not all the schools had provisions to keep kids in until evening when parents are back home. so the idea was to keep kids out of trouble and busy with something. depending on geographic location, lots of various after school activities (not mandatory) existed. i always attended drama and 'computer programming' activities, and lots of others in between. my dad was in ship modeling one at his time, creating several state championship winning models. those who happened to live near by the railroad park had a chance to participate in that. can you think of better activity after school for your kid?

BTW, those railroads were under ministry of transportation, more or less equipped to specs, implementing more or less all regulations applicable to real railroads: signaling, interlocking rules, track-side markings. while not the flashiest one, railroad in Kiev was the exemplary one as far as technical equipment. i would think they were maintained more often even.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

tankist said:


> my dad was in ship modeling one at his time, creating several state championship winning models.


That's pretty cool, for a gov't-sponsored program. Post or PM me a pic or two of your dad's ship models, if you happen to have any. I've fiddled with ship models a bit over the years.

TJ


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## mkschram (Feb 8, 2010)

Reckers said:


> Oh, yeah---rub it in that you can see and I can't! :laugh: Anton, you're probably right. I'm at work and the system has massive firewall protection. I'll look at them when I get home. Thanks for sharing them, though---it really sounds interesting.


Here, Reckers! Want my glasses?:laugh: Anton that childrens railway is pretty cool. I wish there was something like that here.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Thanks, mkschram, but I held up two coke bottles and got the same effect. *L* Anton, I'm at home now and can see them---that train is gorgeous!!! Can you introduce me to the lil blond signaller? I figure she has to be about 35 or 40 by now. Thanks for sharing!


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

tjcruiser said:


> That's pretty cool, for a gov't-sponsored program. Post or PM me a pic or two of your dad's ship models, if you happen to have any. I've fiddled with ship models a bit over the years.
> 
> TJ


srry, no pictures were taken back then...
i hope to take on that also at some point. (1:87 river tug  )


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

tankist said:


> i hope to take on that also at some point. (1:87 river tug  )


Sounds like a fun challenge. Do you have a particular age/vintage of tug in mind? I'm partial to old tugs (steam, initially ... though most were converted to diesel in the '30's, '40's). There are a few good tug-enthusiast websites if you ever need ideas for plans.

TJ


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

hmmm... well haven't planned it so soon but sure, i could use some ideas for the future. i was actually thinking about modern days tug, ones that shove barges with sand, rock and such on rivers.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Tankist,

Here's a few tugboat snippets to keep your future-planning wheels turning, props churning, etc.:

http://www.shearwater-boats.com/opermodl.html
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/mmi_tug_plans.html
http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS2021
http://www.tugboatenthusiastsociety.org/

TJ


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## Biggie (May 14, 2014)

Wow, great topic and lovely photo material!

Btw: In our capital city Ljubljana (Slovenia), we had a ChRW named "Pionirska proga" that operated from 1948 -1954. Concept was accepted from ex Soviet union, where they had operating ChRW already in 1930. The story of ChRW in Ljubljana ended because of lack of funds. 
In 1991 they planned to build a new ChRW, this time in Maribor (second biggest Slovenian city), but it never got realized. Too bad, it would be a real attraction.


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## jesteck (Apr 15, 2014)

Great stuff!


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