Magyar News, 1999. szeptember-2000. augusztus (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1999-12-01 / 4. szám
1870; GETTING AROUND IN BUDAPEST Opening of the horse drawn train on August 1, 1866 There are other periods of time when very interesting things were happening in the capitol of Hungary. I just picked this at random. The inspiration was the celebration of the Fogaskerekű that was built in 1873. At that time Budapest was growing at a fast space and the people in the city were looking for an escape into nature. They wanted to enjoy nature, be out on the green grass, walk among trees and breath the air that was very different to the polluted city streets at that time. So what is the Fogaskerekű? Well it is a train that could climb the hills. It is like the cable car in San Francisco. The difference is that there is no cable. Instead a rack is built in between the two rails. It is like a corrugated board. The engine has a wheel like a gear that meshes with the rack. This way the train could travel up-hill without slipping. The Fogaskerekű goes from the low level Városmajor up to the Svábhegy, later named Szabadsághegy, the was extended to the Széchényi Hegy. This is about a distance of two miles. The difference in levels is just above a thousand feet. Cable-car to the Castle Hill This train, five years after the first one in the world, had a locomotive, then in 1929 it became electrical. For this 125-th anniversary they restored a “nostalgy train”, the only one in the world. With new equipment and trains they are planning to carry 2.5 million tourists a year. The other train to scale the hill is the Sikló. This transported people from the entrance of the tunnel at the Chain Bridge, up to the Castle Hill where by 1870 many government offices were located. The length of the railway was only 330 feet but became veiy handy for those who had to go up the hill every day. Ödön Széchényi initiated the building of the Sikló. Later, during WWII it got so damaged that it was demolished. It took time to rebuild it and now it is in full operation. This train is a cable car and it works on two tracks. When a car is going up on one track another is descending on the next track. They are connected with a cable. For transportation they already had the horse drawn streetcar from 1864. Soon the horses were replaced by the steam locomotive then the electric engine. Still the horses were welcomed in 1871 at the Margit Island, a year before the bridge was buüt, and stayed till April 1928 . For transportation the carriages were still in operation, and stayed for many more decades. They had two types; the fiaker and the konflis. So what was the difference between them? The fiaker was drawn by two horses and the konflis had only one horse. The law was very strict. They were only allowed to use horses in good health. A person who wanted to be a driver had to have five years of service as an apprentice to take the master exam. The major part of the exam was to drive though an 8 shaped track without touching the bundles of twigs on the sides. An apprentice was never allowed to stay out in the street after 8 o’clock in the evening. To accommodate people moving around in the city, probably far from their home, they received relief at least in one place, at the Deák Tér. In 1870 the city built the first public restroom. Many to follow. Joseph F. Balogh The “Fogaskerekű Vasút” in the 1870-s Page 3
