Visiting Russia in 2012 Elena wanted to show me part of the park she used to play in as a child.
Gagarina Park is the largest park in Chelyabinsk and is located at the eastern end of Lenin Prospect, just a shot trolley bus ride from the City Centre. Discovering the miniature railway, one of the few remaining in the whole of Russia was an awe inspiring experience. The whole project was was built over 100 years ago and is still fully operational today. Open 6 days per week during the summer (closed on Tuesdays) it’s a great ride for both young and old.
After returning home I really wanted to discover more about these relics of the former soviet past and started to do a little digging into the past.
Having a mother in-law who is a professor in Russian History helps, yet what came as a surprise to me was that whilst Elena’s parents had lived in Chelyabinsk, her father knew nothing of this railway tucked into the corner of this huge park.
This phenomenon originated in the USSR and was greatly developed in Soviet times. The world’s first children’s railway was opened Moscow, in Gorky Park in 1932. At the breakup of the USSR, 52 children’s railways existed in the country.
The most famous in operation today is in Minsk. It’s fully operated by teenagers. One of many children’s railways that existed in the USSR and continued functioning after its breakup in post-Soviet states, it was opened on July 9, 1955. The railway line counts 3 stations (listed from north to south): Zaslonovo, Pionerskaya and Sosnovy Bor and a pair of rail loops after the end stops. Zaslonovo is located between the Metro stations Park Chelyuskintsev and Moskovskaya, both part of Moskovskaya Line.
Many children’s railways are still functioning in post-Soviet states and Eastern European countries. Examples include a children’s railway in Minsk, one in Yaroslavl and many other cities.
