A railway into the hills
After the Second World War, Hungary decided in 1947 to establish a children’s railway influenced by examples in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Transport minister Ernő Gerő was a principal advocate; Hungarian State Railways, MÁV, handled railway technology and operations. The project also served the developing Csillebérc Pioneer camp, bringing city children into the Buda woodlands.
Sites considered included Margaret Island, Népliget and the Gödöllő palace grounds before the hills were selected. The southern end lay near the rack-railway terminus at Széchenyi-hegy; the eventual northern end at Hűvösvölgy connected to city trams. The layout linked the camp, visitor destinations and public transport at both ends, serving recreation rather than mineral or freight transport.
Opening only the first section in 1948
A construction-start event took place on 11 April 1948 and work advanced rapidly. Volunteers joined engineering personnel, while child railway staff trained in parallel. Róbert Ertl designed the line and Jenő Fodor the station buildings. The 760-millimeter gauge made it an operational narrow-gauge passenger railway.
On 31 July, the approximately three-kilometer section from Széchenyi-hegy to Előre opened through Normafa and Csillebérc. Előre means Forward; it became Virágvölgy in 1990. Government leaders attended the ceremony, celebrating construction and the educational ideal of children’s participation in work. Further sections of the hill railway remained to be built.
Extending through the valleys to the northern end
The second section opened on 24 June 1949 to today’s Szépjuhászné station, adding János-hegy along the way. That station sits on the hillside rather than the summit of its namesake mountain. Gradients and terrain shaped the route between visitor destinations.
The final section formally opened on 20 August 1950, reaching Hűvösvölgy and bringing the line to approximately 11.2 kilometers. Work included the 198-meter Hárs-hegy tunnel and road bridges. A depot, turntable, maintenance facilities and accommodation for children’s training subsequently developed at the northern end, broadening the operating base beyond the original section.
Equipment suited to sharp curves
At opening in 1948, the railway used Camot 001 and passenger cars Cax 501 and 502, built by Géza Nagy’s coachbuilding factory, with additional vehicles borrowed from the Lillafüred forest railway as reserves. This mixed early fleet differed from the diesel locomotives familiar later. Rolling-stock development followed several paths.
Older vehicles borrowed from Békéscsaba had wheelbases and turning characteristics unsuited to sharp curves, causing serious rail wear. They were returned after about a year. Equipment also served demonstration and teaching: early communications used Morse telegraphy, which children had to pass examinations in. Hand-cranked magneto train-communication telephones replaced it in 1962, with desks adjusted to children’s height.
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Children’s duties and adult responsibility
Children sell and check tickets, guide passengers and undertake some station traffic duties after learning the operating rules. Adults provide professional supervision and perform technical roles including driving. Participation in real service is supported by railway procedures and adult staff.
On the single-track line, trains pass at stations. Departures, points and signals require coordinated operation. Training teaches actual workflows, while hill passenger services provide a continuing setting for practice.
Political promotion changes while training continues
The early Pioneer Railway had a clear political role. Völgyesi’s archival study discusses a 1949 brochure that described engineering, training and service while attributing children’s welfare to the ruling political forces. It concluded by asking parents to support the People’s Front in the 15 May election. Uniforms and children’s work were therefore also displays used for political mobilization.
In 1990, Úttörővasút became Gyermekvasút, the Children’s Railway. Renaming accompanied political change, while professional training and hill passenger service continued. Children’s education, adult supervision and defined roles sustained recreational transport beyond the earlier Pioneer political propaganda.