The first section of the 600mm gauge Wirsitzer Kreisbahn opened on 21 February 1895 from Bialosliwie (on the standard gauge Pila – Bydgoszcz line) to Lobzenica (30km), with a branch from Czajcze to Wysoka (5km). A year later it was extended 18km from Lobzenica to Witoslaw. Later extensions included lines to Bialosliwie Port, Wysoka – Mosciska – Kocik Mlyn (providing a loop from the main line), Naklo – Zaklady Przem. (46km), and Trzeciewnica (near Naklo) – Suchary (6km). In 8 years 167.5km of line were built. After the First World War the line became the Wyrzyskie Koleje Powiatowe, and in 1923 the Kocik Mlyn – Mosciska section was dismantled. Renewed construction of this line began in 1944 but was not completed, and it was dismantled in 1946-1948.
Meanwhile the first section of the Bromberger Kreisbahn, also 600mm gauge, had opened on 12 May 1895 from the standard gauge station at Maksymilianowo (on the Bydgoszcz – Gdansk line) to Gadecz. A week later another section opened from Bydgoszcz to Koronowo (25km) with a branch from Morzewiec to Kasprowo (11km). Further sections were added from Kasprowo to Wierzchucin Krolewski (15km) and Kasprowo – Suchary (10km), where it was later joined to the Wirsitzer Kreisbahn). Another branch followed from Lukowiec to Wawelno (6km), while at the eastern end the line was extended from Gadecz to Wloki, and numerous branches were built to agricultural estates. The two sections of the Bydgoszcz system were linked in 1907 when a bridge was built across the river Brda and the Maksymilianowo – Smukala Gorna line opened. This system now totalled 105km. After Polish independence it became the Bydgoskie Koleje Powiatowe. In September 1939 the bridge over the Brda was destroyed and traffic over the Smukala Gorna – Smukala Dolna section was suspended. Traffic on the isolated eastern section continued until 1949, mainly in the autumn period of harvesting crops.
In 1949 both the Wyrzysk and Bydgoszcz lines were taken over by PKP and operated as the Bydgoskie Koleje Waskotorowe. PKP took over 256km of lines, 6 transhipment stations (with the standard gauge), 8 locomotive depots and two repair shops in Koronowo and Bialosliwie. In 1955 the system carried 256,000 tons of freight and 1,474,000 passengers.
In 1959 the system was as follows:
Bialosliwie - Zaklady Przemyslowe | 12km |
Zaklady Przemyslowe - Czajcze | 5km |
Czajcze - Wysoka - Mosciska Wyrzyskie | 19km |
Czajcze - Lobzenica - Liszkowo Rozgraniczenie | 20km |
Liszkowo Rozgraniczenie - Witoslaw | 11km |
Liszkowo Rozgraniczenie - Radzicz Rozgraniczenie | 6km |
Zaklady Przemyslowe - Radzicz Rozgraniczenie | 19km |
Radzicz Rozgraniczenie - Trzeciewnica - Naklo nad Notecia | 27km |
Trzeciewnica - Kasprowo | 16km |
Kasprowo - Lukowiec | 10km |
Lukowiec - Wawelno | 6km |
Lukowiec - Wierzchucin Krolewski | 5km |
Kasprowo - Morzewiec | 11km |
Morzewiec - Bydgoszcz | 13km |
Morzewiec - Koronowo | 12km |
Total length 192km |
In 1969 passenger traffic ceased on the Bydgoszcz – Koronowo route and in the following year the Bydgoszcz – Morzewiec section was lifted. In 1973 the Wysoka Wask. – Mosciska section closed; Debno Wyrzyskie – Witoslaw closed in 1988. In 1989 there were 162km of line and traffic amounted to 8,307 passengers and 115,163 tons of freight. In 1991 the Wtelno – Koronowo and Lukowiec – Wawelno sections closed, and the Radzicz Rozgraniczenie – Zaklady Przem. and Liszkowo Rozgraniczenie – Debno Wyrzyskie sections followed in 1992. The remaining sections, totalling 107km, were closed from 1 January 1994. At the beginning of 1996 the system was recorded as having 153.1km of track, with none of it operational.
Part of the system based at Bialosliwie has been taken over by the local authority in Pila. In summer 1999 the majority of the goods rolling stock was scrapped, but by spring 2000 work was under way clearing the line, with the eventual aim of running tourist trains to Lobzenica. Public passenger trains were finally believed to have started operation in 2002 over the first few kilometres from Bialosliwie, with plans for further extension in 2003.
The history of this system is covered by Bogdan Pokropinski's book "Koleje Waskotorowe Regionu Bydgoskiego", published in 1997 by Muzeum Ziemi Paluckiej in Znin, ISBN 83-907701-6-4
The restoration group also have a web site at: www.twkp.most.org.pl
Number | Built | Works number | |
Lyd2-51 | 1977 | 23380 | The first Lyd2 ? |
Lyd2-52 | 1977 | 23381 | Now moved to Znin (1997) |
Lyd2-53 | 1977 | 23382 | |
Lyd2-54 | 1977 | 23383 | |
Lyd2-56 | 1977 | 23385 | |
Lyd2-57 | 1977 | 23386 | Now moved to Znin (1997) |
Lyd2-61 | 1977 | 23390 | Previously owned by Ogrodzieniec Cement Factory |
Lyd2-62 | 1977 | 23391 | Previously owned by Ogrodzieniec Cement Factory |
Lyd2-64 | 1981 | 23468 | Now moved to Znin (1997) |
Lyd2-65 | 1981 | 23469 | The only operational Locomotive ? |
Lyd2-66 | 1981 | 24597 | Now moved to Znin |
Lyd2-67 | 1981 | 24598 | Now moved to Znin |
Lyd2-71 | 1981 | 24378 | Sold in 1986 to Naklo Sugar works |
3 unknown Lyd2's in Bialosliwie yard |
Lyd2-65 shunts in Bialosliwie yard |
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© Andrew
Goodwin, Stephen Goodwin & Dave Meller
1996-2003
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