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utazás | travel Buda’s hiking train: the Children’s Railway “Forward, railwaymen forward! Under one flag we say, go forward now!” The railway team of children between the ages of 10 and 14 sing the young railway operators’ march at the morning flag hoisting by the Hűvösvölgy terminus of MÁV’s Széchenyi Hill Children’s Railway. If you want to observe the ritual you have to get up early but it’s worth it since, although you may not be enriched by a music experience, you’ll feel something of the cementing force that unites the Children’s Railway besides the rails and the trains. It’s shown by the fact that the main building and camp in Hűvösvölgy are referred to as ‘home’ by the children. The young railway operators are doing a serious job, which they prepare for during a course and in practice for months. Following a successful test and taking an oath they join a team where there is every opportunity to have the best experiences of childhood during the time they are on duty, on excursions and at summer camps. Although hikers tend to regard them as charming children who play railways and salute, punch the tickets and start the train waiving a large green disk, the truth is that without them the Children’s Railway simply could not be operated. It’s
not well known that a cashier has to account for the money and few people see how they operate the safety equipment (signalling and adjusting the points), or how they record each movement of a train. It’s all done under the supervision of an adult, but the adults don’t replace the children doing the job, given that the biggest shame is when someone cannot perform his or her duty. An assessment of every child’s daily performance is recorded in their report book in the evening. Everything happens according to the strict rules of the game and children really learn what responsibility and keeping to the rules mean. Such an environment and shared experience forge the teams which at the end of their daily shift leave their stations of work by the service train, while they end the day with group singing to the accompaniment of a guitar. If you miss the morning flag hoisting, catch the last but one train setting off from Széchényi Hill and you can hear the young railway operators singing and watch the flag being lowered at Hűvösvölgy. The Children’s Railway was originally built as the Pioneers’ Railway in the darkest period of communism in Hungary, in 1950, and these formalities are remnants from that era. Today, however, the pioneers only exist in the mosaics and paintings displayed on the stations’ walls … though they are visible on those on a rather large scale.
a kasszapénzzel, ugyancsak kevesen láthatják azt, hogyan működtetik a biztosító (jelző- és váltóállító) berendezéseket, vagy hogyan naplóznak be minden egyes vonatmozgást. Persze mindezt felnőtt felügyelete mellett, de olyan felnőttek mellett, akik nem dolgoznak helyettük. Mert az a legnagyobb szégyen, ha valaki nem képes ellátni a szolgálatát. Estére pedig minden gyermekvasutas ellenőrző könyvébe bekerül egy százalékos értékelés is az aznapi teljesítményéről. Minden szigorúan vett „játékszabályok” mentén történik, a gyerekek itt tényleg megtanulják, hogy mi a felelősség és a szabályok betartása. Egy ilyen közeg és a közös élmények jól összekovácsolják az egyes csoportokat, amelyek minden szolgálat végén a „szolis”, vagyis szolgálatos vonaton együtt jönnek le a pályáról, miközben előkerül a gitár és közös énekléssel zárják a napot. Ha esetleg a reggeli zászlófelvonásról lemaradtunk, akkor csíp54
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