N. Kósa Judit - Szablyár Péter: Underground Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)
"Pioneer choo-choo" - the tunnel of the Children's Railway
"Pioneer choo-choo..." — the tunnel of the Children's Railway On i August 1948 Minister of Transportation Ernő Gerő opened the Széchenyi Hill Station of the Pioneers’ Railway. It was then that, in the style of the period and at a speed appropriate to it, the first train rolled down the 3.1 kilometre section of the line that had been constructed in sixty-six days (Széchenyi Hill Station—Normafa Stop—Pioneer City Station—Forward Station). The idea of building a children's railway had been floated in connection with a number of other locations including the Gödöllő Hills, Margaret Island and Népliget, or People’s Grove. What decided the matter in favour of the Buda version was the fact that the children's camping site built at Csillebérc required easy access. Work on the second section started on 1 August 1948 and the first train rolled through János Hill Station towards its destination at Ságvári Grove Station on 24 June 1949. Meanwhile, construction of the tunnel, that major attraction of the 11.7-kilometre line, also began. The third section led, by way of stations at Kis-Hárs Hill and Hárs Hill, all the way to the Hűvösvölgy terminus. This last bit was opened on 20 August 1950, while the Hűvösvölgy traction line was completed in 1951. The level difference between the two termini is 235 metres. ■ The Pioneers' Railway: a scheme oh the line 18
