Jedrzejow

In 1915 the Austrian army built a 600mm gauge supply railway from Jedrzejow (on the standard gauge Krakow - Kielce line) east to Motkowice on the river Nida.  When the military situation was consolidated the line was rebuilt in a more durable form, and it was extended further east to Bogoria with a 2km branch to Chmielnik.  A 16km section was also built north from Bogoria to Iwaniska, and the sugar works in Wlostow built their own 20km line linking the works to Iwaniska.  In 1918 the new PKP took over the Jedrzejow – Bogoria – Iwaniska line and a further section was built south from Bogoria to Staszow.  In 1923 an independent line was built further south from Staszow to Rataje and in 1926 this was extended via a large timber bridge across the Wisla to Szczucin, terminus of a standard gauge branch from Tarnow.

A second narrow gauge line was built by the Austrian army in 1917 from Kocmyrzow (terminus of a standard gauge branch from the Krakow area) to Posadza.  A third line was also built from Miechow (now Charsznica on the Krakow – Kielce line) 38km east to Dzialosyce.  In 1924 the local authority of Pinczow built a line south from Hajdasek, on the Jedrzejow line, to their town.  The following year this was extended south to Kazimierza Wielka and a branch was built from Cudzynowice west to join the existing line at Dzialosyce.  In 1926 the Kazimierza line was extended to Posadza, linking with the existing line from Kocmyrzow, thus joining all the sections together.

In 1930 the Pinczow district lines and the private Staszowo – Szczucin line were taken over by PKP, which now controlled a total length of 308km.  In 1944 the system was cut in two by military activity.  The eastern end was in Russian hands and, to supply materials, a further section was built from a standard gauge connection at Tarnobrzeg to Bogoria.  In 1945 however, the front had moved west and the line was dismantled from Tarnobrzeg to Koprzywnica, together with the temporary bridge over the Wisla.  Traffic serving Wlostow sugar works now joined the new line at Jachimowice.  In 1950 the Pinczow – Hajdasek section, with 4% gradients, was by-passed by a new link from Pinczow to Umianowice, and in 1950/51 the whole system was converted to 750mm gauge, with Px48 and Px49 locomotives and new rolling stock being introduced.

In 1959 the system was as follows:

giving a network total of about 340km, but the Bogoria – Iwaniska section closed that year.  In 1989 there were still 274km of track, on which 421,556 tons of freight were carried, but passenger services had already ceased.  In 1990 most of the Bogoria – Szczucin line was lifted, and the Charsznica – Dzialoszyce line followed in 1992.  The whole system closed to freight traffic on 1 February 1993, although in 1996 official records showed 161.9km as being in operation.

Tourist trains had started running some years prior to closure on the Jedrzejow – Wislica section, but following damage in spring 1997 these operations were cut back to Pinczow.  Trains consisted of a variety of stock hauled by a Lxd2 or Px48.  The 2000 timetable showed a single working Jedrzejow – Umianowice – Jedrzejow on Sundays and holidays through the summer, but in 2001 only a single day's operation was shown.  The local authority is believed to have taken over the line, but obviously only for tourist traffic.

Further photos of the line can be found at Jeffrey Dobek's site: http://www.polrail.com/pkpgallery.html

Some historic photographs can be seen at: http://www.kolej.pl/history/pkd/index.html

One of the locomotives from the Pinczow railway, Tx26-422, was the first narrow gauge steam locomotive built in Poland.  After conversion of the Jedrzejow system to 750mm gauge it was transferred to the Bydgoszcz system and is now in the museum at Wenecja.

Oct98	Oct98	Oct98
Pinczow station, no train today.	Umianowice station with an impressive passinger train.	The track east towards Bogoria  was overgrown.
Oct98	Oct98
Probably the best kept Px48 we've seen.	Jedrzejow station has seen no freight for five years.

Return to Narrow Gauge Railways of Poland		© Andrew Goodwin, Stephen Goodwin & Dave Meller 1996-2003 Last Updated 14 October 2003