This 600mm gauge line is merely one of many which once operated all over Poland for various industrial operations such as brickworks, cement works and the like. The railway was built at the turn of the century and was originally worked by horses. As early as 1911 a 12HP petrol locomotive was in use. By 1916 the railway was about 3km long, running from the clay pit to the brickworks, and used a small O&K steam locomotive and about 40 skip wagons. It had a level crossing with the PKP line out of Witaszyce, as well as the main road.
A variety of steam locomotives, mostly second-hand, were
used over the years, until WLs40 diesel locomotives were introduced.
The last steam locomotive was scrapped in the early 1960s.
In recent years there were five diesel locomotives. The railway was
operational well into the 1990s, continuing for several years after PKP’s line
closed. Sadly, however, it appears that the brickworks line has also
now closed, probably in 1997/8. A
video featuring this line, and many of the other operational PKP and sugar beet
lines (some now closed) is available from Steve Thomason at:
There were a number of other narrow gauge lines in Poland, and it is intended that further information will be added as it becomes available.
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© Andrew
Goodwin, Stephen Goodwin & Dave Meller
1996-2003
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