Trip to Poland

[Dave Buczkowski]

All,
I'm in the process of planning a trip to Warsaw and Krakow in late September with my son Adam. I understand there are some two footers in Poland. Are any of them near either city - like within a few hours? Any advice you might have would be appreciated. Thanks.
Dave

[Dale Reynolds]

hey dave, should be a great trip. have seen many Polish videos on utube. some near Warsaw i think. and the kielbasa is wonderful!  if you have not done the Brocken in eastern Germany not far away from Berlin I recommend it, meter gauge, tons of steam engines, great scenery. not visitable until the communist regime fell, as the summit was East Germanys secret communications center.  dale   

[Wayne Laepple]

Ask Ira -- he knows.

[Glenn Christensen]

Hi Dave,

I haven't done a lot of research on narrow gauge lines in either Eastern Europe in general or Poland in particular.  But what I have found tells me the loss is mine because from what I can tell, there was/is a WHOLE LOT of narrow gauge in the region. 

The only completely Polish reference I have is: "Nasze Koleje" by Bogdan Pokropinroh.  I think this line ran/runs between Warsaw and Radzymin, a distance of 19 km, and was/is 800mm gauge.  The only other thing I feel very sure of is the word "obrotnica" means "turntable".  The book was published in Warsaw by WKL. 

I've had this book for decades and can't read it.  (It was free and needed a home.)  I'd be happy to talk with Dave, Ira, anyone else - if they can help unlock this multi-decade mystery.

Please send me email.


Best Regards,
Glenn

[Stephen Piwowarski]

There is an interesting phenomenon to check out in Poznan called a Chlidren's Railway. These were built during the Soviet Era to prepare youngsters for work on the railroad- learning how to maintain locomotives, signals, and railway, and operate the same. As the soviet infrastructure was phased out these were mostly abandoned, but some have been preserved for nostalgic reasons. I met with one of their mechanics while visiting and have his information- Poznan, by the way, is about halfway between Warsaw and Krakow by train and is an amazingly lovely city. There are lots of neat things to see there, perhaps the most important of which is their wonderful main square (Rynek Glowny, pronounced rye-neck gwov-knee in polish) with its mechanical clock featuring two goats locking horns! Its great!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Railway_Maltanka

Also check out the narrow gauges at Smigiel and Sroda.

The city engineering museum in Krakow has an awesome collection of historic trams (still the best way to get around the city) and great classic cars. It's worth a visit. Plus there is a really neat market in the round that sells the best zapiekanka- a sort of Polish french bread pizza- but soooooo much better than that description!

Annie and I were just there in April. If you'd like to grab a couple beers and mull over all things Polish, that would be great!

Steve

[Dave Buczkowski]

Thanks all! Steve P, fortunately we brought plenty of pivo for our vacation. Let's chat tomorrow.

[john d Stone]

Dave, I know I sent you a link to the one 60cm outfit in Bialosliwie on Facebook. Too complicated for my burned out brain to figure out how to share here, but here's a nice video!
https://youtu.be/Klb0GPSErNw

And here's another operation, not too far away, at Znin. Both were heavily dependent on sugar beets. I think every tight gauge operation in continental Europe was. They apparently share equipment sometimes. Here's another nice video!
https://youtu.be/Q_Z05Y7TqEo

Have a great trip!

John

[Dave Buczkowski]

John,
Thanks for the FB link. I tried to answer you and somehow messaged the Bialosliwie. They kindly answered with a "?"!
Dave

[john d Stone]

I hope you're able to visit at least some narrow gauge systems during your trip. Eastern Europe held onto steam and narrow gauge decades after we moved on in the western world, as you well know. Maybe there is something to be said for repressive, totalitarian governments, from a railfan point of view! The Znin operation appears to have a display of 60cm equipment from the former PKP systems in a park, somewhere along their line. I don't believe steam is featured on either of the lines I've mentioned on a regular basis. If you can figure out their sites, perhaps you'll get lucky and hit a steam weekend. As far as conveying on-line information, perhaps John M. should cut me into the WW&F wayside phone system. More my level of communication capability!

John

[Bill Baskerville]

I am supprised that no one has committed on Dave going to the land of the great kielbasa. 

[gabrielle duncane]

So, have you visited Poland? I am also planning a trip to Poland, and I would like to visit Warsaw, Krakow, and Gdansk. Do you have any kind of recommendations about Warsaw and Krakow? I want to visit Gdansk as well, as one of my childhood friends lives there, and she told me there are many great places to be seen in that city. I have already seen some great photos of the Museum of the Second World War, St. Mary's Church, and the European Solidarity Centre. I am going on this trip with my girls. It has been a while since we have last gone on a trip. We were looking for some girls weekend ideas, how could we spend a weekend together, and we decided to visit Poland.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Hi Gabrielle,
Yes I did - to Warsaw and Krakow. We stayed in the old town in both. It was a great trip. I visited a 2 foot gauge railroad outside of Warsaw the day I arrived.
Dave

[John Kokas]

I hope to be able to go there myself in the future.  It is my understanding that the Poles refer to their little railroads as "Chuck-Choo".  My wife's family is originally from East Prussia so to visit today that area is part of Poland.  But I sure do love my Kielbasa and Perogies.