Description of the attraction
The Children's Railway is one of the sights of Kiev worth visiting. It is located in the Syretsky park, which was originally laid to accommodate this fascinating attraction. In addition, the Small South-Western Railway (this is its official name) is used as an institution of Kiev out-of-school education, with the help of which children can receive training in railway specialties. The road begins its work on May 2 and ends on the last Sunday of August every year.
The children's railway was opened on a vacant lot near the well-known Babi Yar on August 2, 1953. Initially, a German-made steam locomotive operated on the road, later the fleet of equipment was replenished with two diesel locomotives. In plan the road is a loop with several stations. Another station is located at a dead end. Part of the road goes through a fairly large viaduct that runs through a ravine.
In 2001, the Children's Railway underwent reconstruction: all the stations were repaired, the main station was Vishenka (formerly Tekhnicheskaya, which previously served as a stand for rolling stock). Both locomotives were repaired, the main station received an educational building, which was equipped with a computer room and two classrooms. By 2005, the depot was built. In the same year, one of the diesel locomotives was taken out of service and replaced with a repaired steam locomotive, which was the first to start running on this narrow-gauge railway. Traffic safety on the road is achieved thanks to the presence of semi-automatic blocking, train, locomotive and station radio communications, six traffic lights and personnel training. The total length of the Children's Railway is approximately 2.8 kilometers.
