Poland - Last Stronghold of Steam in Europe - English • Great Railways
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- When producer NICK LERA went to Poland in 1989 his video camera revealed a half century timewarp with steam power in widespread use on the railways on both passenger and freight, including the narrow 75 cm gauge. Seven classes of steam locomotive were recorded, including an ex-German ‘Kriegslok’ passing the ruins of Hitler’s secret forest bunker, the Wolf’s Lair, near the Russian border. Also featured is rare high quality film taken in 1975 by specialist cameraman Stephen Morris showing pre-war express engines in Eastern Poland, and heavy US-built Marshall Aid locos. Narrated by Peter Snow with an historical introduction.
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Keep Poland great and safe always.
Amen!
Very cool documentary. Recently I went on a train trip to Wolsztyn from Poznan. The only remaining steam operated route in Europe. Must admit that the train was busy. You can tell it is used mostly as a commuter service to Poznan. I hope that the state company will keep funding the depo. The infrastructure is underfunded. Many of the engines in the roundhouse require urgent repairs. There are many wreckages scattered around Wolsztyn station.
Unfortunately neither federal authorities at Warsaw nor the locals at Poznań show sufficient financial support for the railway infrastructure and rolling stock. Instead they have a mindset of earning as much as possible from that undefied tourist attraction while investing as little as compulsory. Steam trains are running, but from month to month Wolsztyn is getting less attractive to railfans (especially from abroad), so the income isn't actually rising and the false circle continues...
@@TheMofRider2 Sad. Used to be the same with our politicians in India. Invested less in Railways, and used it more as a vote-buying machine to put more and more trains on already super-crowded rail lines because it is the best way to impress the voters. Thank the Gods for the Modi government. Things are improving at breakneck pace now.
Man, this is my favorite series on youtube. The editing and footage quality of these films, even off of VHS, is unmatched. Coupled with the historical insight, they can't be outdone!
I hope they'll upload all the volumes of Nick Lera's World Steam Classics.
Byczeń, Śrem, Złoty Stok- moje tereny 👌. Kłodzko Główne, tam często pracuję, ale już nie na parowozach, super film 💪
There's a lot of passionate Steam railway communities here in Poland, still working on keeping these locomotives operational - all with a use of volunteer work. It's a huge piece of history that's worth preserving.
I just 2 days ago I listened to radio interview of a railway club helping with the rehabilitation of prisoners, by getting them to working on the revival of one of the XIX century steam locomotives, teaching the prisoners new skills, such as the use of CNC machines, and giving them quality time outside of the confines of the prison cell, where they can socialise with regular people in a safe environment.
More captivating than a Hollywood production . Very nostalgic watching all those footage from decades ago . One hopes those historic buildings and works are preserved .
There was additional reason why Poland used steam engines for so long. Dual purpose - civilian/military. The whole Warsaw Pact was preparing for attack on nato, and most of our polish industry and transportation had to be ready. Factories were ready to switch to military production(thats why we had shitty consumer goods and electronics, factories couldn't been modernised) and all trains were green, majority of cargo wagons were tank lorries with added walls, and locomotives were coal fired because Poland didn't have oil fields. We even had floating railway bridges stored near Odra River ready to be unfolded after nato would bomb normal bridges. And everywhere were No Photo signs. This military effort was the main reason for bankruptcy of communism in Eastern block.
PS Thanks for this movie, we almost did't have private cameras before 1990. So except official propaganda we almost don't have any movies documenting our daily life.
"This military effort was the main reason for bankruptcy of communism in Eastern block." no the main reason was that comunism just dont work.
@karolwaching) No private cameras before 1990 U R full of shit,
and add that we lived in dugouts
P.S. If Poland had colonies like the British, French, and Germans and robbed other people's resources for centuries they did, we would also be in good economic shape
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That's why Macron is pissed at Putin because Russia helped African French colonies countries throw off their colonial chains
Well all true apart from reasons for bankruptcy. Communism cannot work and always goes bankrupt. Without arms race as well…
@@ipodman1910 that is the very reason the modern EU will collapse soon.
the quality is excellent, magnificent!!!
very narrative and beautifully captive long
shots of steam trains from Poland's past 🙂
THANK YOU
My country, Poland is like The Island of Sodor. Preserving the steam locomotives and keeping them safe
Unfortunately, all that shown exists no more, now the railways are modernized.
Your country?😂😂😂
@@6666600066666 The Środa to Zaniemyśl line is still very much there (now as a heritage railway), I know links from RUclips comments get removed, so if you google 'sredzka kolej powiatowa' you should find it. Return journey costs 40 PLN (around €10).
This is clearly not your country if you think Poland looks like that in the 21st century. It's very hard to find a steam locomotive outside of a museum.
@@PouLS Have you ever been to Wolsztyn?
Thank you SO MUCH for uploading this! I was obsessed with the VHS I had of this as a kid, but lost it many years ago - brings back a lot of memories.
Marvelous post, thank you, I've been visiting Poland for the last 16 years, there is a lot more today to see, narrow guage in Bytom is worth it, also Chabówka has a great collection of standard guage and running steam.
Amazing quality! I can't wait for more videos from Poland if there are more.
Wow! Great to have found this after many years (I still have the VHS, but nothing to play it on!). Marvellous quality of footage and commentary. An elegy for a time gone by. The Środa to Zaniemyśl line is still very much there (now as a heritage railway), I know links from RUclips comments get removed, so if you google 'sredzka kolej powiatowa' you should find it. Return journey costs 40 PLN (around €10).
I remember these as a small 8 yo kid. Visited my familiy with steam locomotive...good cozy memories ☺
Thank you for the documentary. I am watching this documentary in July 23, 2024 and 1990 is mentioned quite a bit. I hope that steam is still going at this time. Thank you again.
it's very much no longer in use besides Wolsztyn, and in fact some if not most or all of the lines mentioned got closed in the 90s and 00s
I’m pole, born in 90s and I never saw steam train on rails as normal route.
Once in tourist place I saw it, but was narrow gauge, other in trains museums.
Most of my life I was commuting by train.
@@jeder6915Only the two leaving Wolsztyn to the west are closed and more or less taken apart. On the three other lines - to Poznań, Leszno and Zbąszynek there still is daily passenger service, but mostly by diesel railbusses. Yet one steam loco is these days on duty, hauling some services, mainly to Poznań and Leszno. Freight traffic disappeared completely as far as I know.
Many thanks for showing us these wonderful footages. For a periode of over ten years I had the luck of going on the footplate of steam locos in Wolsztyn. This was organized by the Wolsztyn Experience, but unfortunately the chairman of this company , Howard Jones died last year and footplating has coming to a sad end.
Very much appreciate this production , please keep it up as i'm eager for more
18:19 Ah, spoken too soon... Not even 5 years after this was recorded, many branchlines already were getting closed (including the one filmed in the next shot and others mentioned), and this would only accelerate and continue to the early 2000's... Our saying for that is "Siekiera Celińskiego" - Celiński's Axe, which is a direct reference to Beeching's Axe. To this day many of those lines are left either disused or taken apart, and even though progress is being made on restoring them, it's slow, in some instances, glacial, even.
Cudowny film, cudowne wspomnienia. I trochę szkoda że to już tylko przeszłość ......
Fantastic document! It brought back memories of my childhood, often spent watching steam locomotives while rolling wagons to the unloading station, as well as watching an express train rushing into the station. I lived literally about 120 meters from the station towers, the location was Ostrów Wielkopolski. Best regards and thank you!
I am impressed by the professional workmanship, especially the unique audio effects!
I like your memories of Ostrow, the next junction up the main line from Kepno whose 'nest' of Tkt48 tank engines appears in my 1989 film. Thank you for your appreciation of the production work, especially the genuine sound, so very important for realism in a documentary.
Highly enjoyable professional steam document from Poland !
Superb. The perfect railway film. Enhanced by the historical and geopolitical background.
Great video, presents tecnical features and history.
Well done!
Great video documenting the history of the railways in my country. It's a shame that in those sad times, the government treated its own countrymen as spies and taking pictures of the railway infrastructure was strictly forbidden. However, people from abroad could do it.
I hope the video doesn't disappear from RUclips like many previous videos by other creators.
Regards from Poland
Dear Linia Kolejowa, thank you for your appreciation of the video. Actually quite a few of my fellow British railfans back in the day got arrested in Poland and had their films confiscated. My good friend Steve in 1975 was in a group from the UK with special permit but they also had big problems with police. I still can't figure how he got to film in the Lublin turntable operator's cabin, but then he was (still is) a very charming fellow! With a very charming and unique result for us all to enjoy. 14 years later when I was there the first democratic assembly in half a century had just convened in the Sejm. In the new mood of freedom in Poland I was able to film from the locomotive on three different lines. A very pleasant visit indeed, and fun to share with Utube viewers. The plan is it will remain posted for many years to come. After I'm gone too, but who can say?
Poland is great, but Bosnia is the last stronghold of Steam in Europe, made a video there last year where we actually got to drive the locomotives.
Of course snappy headlines can never be wholly accurate, but the Poland one is meant to imply it was the last state common carrier with steam on all services. Banovice is a delightful survivor, I agree, but an industrial line, not public, with no passenger traffic.
Dobry dokument filmowy, super jakość jak na 75.
This reminds me of my youth when I lived close to railroad tracks in southern Poland.
Bardzo nostalgiczne nagranie bezpośrednio przed "ostrym cięciem" i "siekierą celińskiego". W 33:22 widać celową polityką wygaszania popytu przez decydentów. Dzięki temu połowy z tych linii kolejowych już nie ma, a budynki poniemieckie niszczeją. Gdyby były później szynobusy i inne podejście do transportu, to polska teraz by znacznie lepiej wyglądała
The last commercial lines in Poland operated by steam locomotives were closed in 1993. Now it is only few special, historic lines for tourists.
Mindblowing! Thanks.
Awesome video!
A documentary on some past pictures...respect.
Like a time machine.
I wish this included a tour of the steam locomotive repair/building shops complex. I hope as many of these Loco's have been preserved in running order or at least on static display at stations. The narrow-gauge Loco's I hope were preserved too as they are even more rare. The passenger coaches too, I hope many of them have been preserved/used on heritage lines now in 2024.
@15:43 The Loco with the additional water tank car is a great catch on film.
@16:34 The Signal Station footage is fantastic catch on film. They still have these active in Thailand even now in 2024 on the meter gauge line system nationwide.
@18:15 & @ 21:04 Dual Headlights added in a Ditch Light configuration.
The old German water tank structures are impressive, and I am sure costly to build, but they have definitely paid off in the long run.
Is the dark green color of the coaches another hold over from the WW2 Era or adopted in the post-war Polish Era?
@34:16 The Armored Train is a huge AA++ catch on film.
@34:30 A Double Header AA++
@41:00 Std Gauge cars being transported on Narrow Gauge Dollies has to be the best catch on fil out of them all 👍👍💯 Watching how these cars are transloaded would have been even more interesting.
Overall, Fantastic Historical footage captured for eternity.
Dear 'Sugar Mountain'. Your positive comments are much appreciated. Thank you. The best docos in my portfolio invariably result from local railway staff who are friendly, and very pleased you want to document their railway, providing access that more often than not is offically forbidden! My friend and former colleague Stephen Morris proved the point most effectively with the Lublin turntable lady in 1975. He must have scored a hit there! Where possible I include in my films railway 'furniture' and equipment to give a broader feel to the subject, so I'm glad you liked the signal box at Konotop. I'm pleased to tell you that active heritage steam is a regular feature on Poland's railways today, on the standard gauge notably at Wolstyn, but elsewhere too, and no less than 3 narrow gauges can be sampled with steam; Znin (60cm), Sroda (75cm), Rewal-Podgorlice on the Baltic coast (1m). There are three other 75cm locations as well. As for loco workshops, the classic large centres have gone, such as Pila (formerly Schneidemuhl), due to EU compliance issues, but small efficient engineering firms have stepped in to the breach and one way or another the locos are kept alive! Long may it last. Why not book a flight and enjoy?
Old Polish love to horses, cavalry and steam locomotives.... to old traditions!
May not get time to see all but pressed save button but sometimes its lost Please Put on Again!? Reminds me of Gt Film ,The Train, Hi from m Ireland
Poland never stop existing as a nation .
All gone now, of course, these days Pendolinos are common, and the main lines are electrified.. Traveled a lot on steam trains there in 1972-73
I wonder if there are still some steam locks running today? I’ve been here in Poland since the beginning of the year and the locos look new and awesome! I’d still love to take a trip of a storm loco for pleasure.
There's a daily trip with a restored PKP steam loco from Wolstyn (Poznan region), as in the film, 17km to Zbaszynek and return. 3 or 4 working locos are there, and they have locally advertised special runs further afield as well. Chabowka in the south run steam specials, but schedule trips aren't confirmed. Heritage narrow gauge steam at Sroda (as in my film) and Gryfice to Rewal (on the coast) runs on summer weekends. I hope you get to see and enjoy them!
20:28 That bottle of pepsi :D
Przy dość dużym wstrząsie brak charakterystycznej piany wskazuje że to tylko butelka po Pepsi, w środku znajduje się prawdopodobnie inny napój kawa lub herbata.
@@C.tyberiusz Could be lubricating oil .
@@C.tyberiuszKiedy butelka jest fabrycznie zamknięta, a wewnątrz znajduje się gaz pod ciśnieniem - piany nie uświadczysz...😊
Now you know who invented the cup holder...😁
I was at Wolsztyn in 2022 and there was an engine I think it was the OL49-69. the engine was being repaired or something I don't know anymore. I heard 3 or 4 months ago that they have a problem with finding a new boiler for the OL49-69. from what I read a few weeks ago that the engine was send for repairs to the boiler in 2021 and that it was stopped because of repairs to a different engine the OL49-59 I think but I'm not sure about that because I could find one article about that that was short and didn't explain anything about that.
(I was searching for more information about the engine and I found something about canceling the building of a new boiler for the OL49-69 but I could be wrong and I'm 85% sure that I'm wrong)
Coś w tym jest, w tym roku na Paradzie nie było żadnej Ol-49. Jeszcze niedawno remonty kotłów robiła firma w Pile ale podobno przeżywa kłopoty finansowe. Stare polskie porzekadło mówi ''Jak nie wiesz o co chodzi to chodzi o pieniądze''.
@@C.tyberiusz hmm w pile.
nie wiem gdzie ale wiem że gdzieś słyszałem coś hyba o czechach czy coś takiego. ale pewnie to było o czymś innym.
sprawdze może później.
więc to chyba było coś innego z czechami poszukałem troche więcej i znalazłem jakiś artykuł o unieważnieniu budowy kotła i informacje o tym że OL49-69 od tamtego roku (niemówią o którym roku ale pewnie chodzi o 2022) nie będzie jeździć w 2024 czy coś takiego.
Nice video ❤️ lovely ✌️
good quality, it's possible that I wasn't born in this world, I was born in 1986, I can look at these people, children, I get very moved when I see and hear my older compatriots from the times of socialism in Polish. My beloved Poland 🤍❤️
Super video :)
I knew that one day there would be an episode from my country :)
Witam serdecznie
@@LisuYT_ Witam
In Poland they have enough coal in the ground to keep these trains running for at least three thousand years.
Love it,!!
34:40 Well, actually the line up to Zakopane is not a branch but an important main line - although still single track. Zakopane is near the Slovakian, not the Czech boarder, and it's the capital of Polish mountain tourism throughout the whole year.
When the film was produced in 1990 it pre-dated the separation of Slovakia and Czech Republic by 3 years. It was common British usage at the time to condense the proper term Czechoslovakian to simply Czech. The film is a time capsule not only of the Polish railways but also of then current journalistic custom and style.
You didn’t mention that Russia attacked Poland within two weeks of Germany’s attack.
Dokładnie ZSRR...
@@PanProper jedna z inkarnacji imperium rosyjskiego
wow have to see it
Not "Danzig"! This is and was Gdańsk!
When the present Gdansk main station was opened by the German company the Ostbahn in October 1900 the population of the city was 90% German. And had been for well over a century. Therefore in the historical context it is accurate to give the city's period name. Also, my 1985 edition of The Times (British newspaper) Atlas Of The World, compiled by Bartholomew (Edinburgh), and internationally recognised in the English speaking world, still marks the city as Gdansk (Danzig), with the sea above plain Bay Of Danzig, unqualified. This film was made and written in 1989 and reflects the British perspective on European place names current at the time.
The perspective is wrong. Time to change it.
@@ipodman1910 The map graphics are written as Gdansk, over the close ups of the station the narration clearly states 'formerly Danzig', an historical fact. Have you read my original reply? so what exactly do you want to change? If you don't like a film published in 1990, then don't view it. Do you honestly expect a complete re-write, with a new commentary recording, just to suit a nit picker like you? It's insulting to my work.
@@NicholasLera-kd5tj stop mentioning ‚formerly Danzig’. Gdańsk has been a Polish city for centuries and the number of Germans inhabiting it for a short period of time is irrelevant. Unless you claim that London is not an English city anymore.
@@NicholasLera-kd5tj Ludność germańska jest tam ludnością napływową, a nie tubylczą i napłynęła w efekcie wojen napastniczych i wymordowania ludności tubylczej. Te tereny były długo i systematycznie kradzione Polakom przez Niemców i germanizowano ludność miejscową.
POLSKA GÓROM!!!!!
Not now😢
Ciągle pracuje linia retro w Wolsztynie.
English viewers might not be aware but most of the names of the cities and towns in Western Poland were not created after 1945. These territories were part of Poland for many centuries and they just returned to the original names that were used before German invasions that started from the XII century
The time frame of the film is self evidently confined to the railway age from c1870 onwards, when all international atlases published in the UK gave German names to 70% of Partition Poland, and even after 1919 they still referred to the Free City Of Danzig, not Gdansk. The Times atlas had 'Danzig (Gdansk)' right up til 1990 when Germany finally relented and declared most of Poland no longer German territory under polish control (yes, I've seen the pre-1990 greater Germany map - 'unter polnische Verwaltung'). The French invaded Britain in the X1 century. Nobody in the UK cares what places were called before 1066. We're perfectly happy to use Norman names established now for 19 centuries such as Hurstmonceux, Beaulieu, Rievaulx, Jervaulx and scores of others. I once read an interesting study published by London University c1948 detailing the problems in post-1945 Pomerania in finding suitable Polish names for scores of towns and villages that had been German for a thousand years. Nobody knew what to call them and Polish professors of medieval history were urgently convened to come up with suitable names.
Hard to believe this was the age of Techno and Disco.
Polska przez chory zakaz fotografowania infrastruktury kolejowej, pozbawiona została możliwości posiadania dokumentów. Bardzo cenny film.
I'm so glad you appreciate the documentation. I actually had a PKP permit for the 1989 filming, a bit easier when political change was in the air. But you're right about 1975 when tight communist-era restrictions were in force. I've always had a suspicion that the priceless 1975 footage at Lublin may have been obtained by striking up a friendship with a lovely Polish girl whose mother happened to be the turntable operator. Strongly denied of course, but one can't help wondering....
Any news on the next video?
When was it filmed?
1989
@@israelbuchholz3613 thanks
Just googled Mroczen train station, still there but abandoned and in ruin 😢
Nice upscale. Topaz?
Correct!
British occupied Sri Lanka known as Serendib , sylan and Ceylon in 1815 and
Steam and coal railways were introduced in Sri in 1864
Coal Steam engines were in operation until 1970's and
Now Sri Lanka Railways have left with 10 Coal Steam engines for Tourism
Sarath Dassanaike from Sri Lanka
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Pls, make film about polish luxury train - Lux Torpeda
Your stupid, sir
still drive to this day
Niech żyje Polska!!!
@16:28
1989 year, that was probably the last days of communism or first days of democracy in my country
The diesels seem to be more smoky than the steam engines 😅
I think albania uses steam aswell
The Polish government of the 1970's issued tourist visas to some diehard British steam loving train spotters, then arrested them for espionage when they took photographs.
Your comment is indeed most apposite, which makes Steve Morris' 1975 Lublin sequence so remarkable. A real gem.
'Modernisation' is using stream traction, don't let anyone fool you otherwise.
It has always been Gdansk, not Danzig...
Bloody Beeching… even had to ruin the trains in Poland! 🤬
We import their coal.🏴
Is Poland mostly Russian or Standard gauge as of 2024?
Mostly standard gauge. Only one line is broad gauge (connecting to Ukraine).
Now Poland got better trains than 3rd world England xd
We just like to let our steam off
Native English speakers always carefully avoid learning the proper pronounciation of any non-English names... well, with just a few exceptions...
Back when Europe was still for the Europeans.
🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰🇱🇰
Sri lanka national flag
Good documentary but every single name mispronounced 😢
Fake, historic film. All Polish railways are electrified and really reliable compare to The UK. Steam Engines you can find in museums only, for example in Kościerzyna .
The film with its narration is a time capsule of Poland at the end of the Communist era in 1989. It is perfectly genuine - not a fake. It was made for the educational sector of the UK video market early in 1990. Obviously it bears no relation whatsoever to the situation in UK or Poland 33 years later in 2024.
A lot of had changed since…
What a nonsense...
Right, that was 50 years ago. LOL. What a BS video!
More like 35 years as of today, it says "1989" on the first line. If you're against historic videos being available to the public, just move along.
🇵🇱 last Strongh🇺🇦old of 🤡🤡🤡
How is it in your country?
It’s a huge shame Poland was kept in such an underdevelopment state for decades after the wars started and raged by Germans and Russians…
Poland was partitioned by German Prussians and German Austrians and German Tsarists
[all related to the German, Saxe - Coburg - Gotha, in England. These changed their Public name to, "Windsor", to save their butts during WW i. They still sign off with S - C - G - their name.
What is West Poland, today, was under German occupation for 123 years. Only the towns where Germans lived were developed. The countryside was deliberately underdeveloped and was used to feed Germany.
Danzig was also developed with 2 rail lines, from Berlin to Konigsberg. + Shipping, Ferries and air. So, feeing Danzig for GroBdeutschland was BS.
The same for the Bolshevik side. The poorest part of Europe was, Galicia, [SE], under German Austrian control. During WW ii the rail sleepers were ripped up with hooks dragged behind locomotives.
Poland received no aide after WW i and WW ii. Up by its own boot straps, if any.
@@metanoian965 yep! Poles still prevailed!
AAAAAAAAAAAALLLAAAAAAHHH
Poland can into space
1 czerwca (Dzien Dziecka ) kazdego roku organizowany jest przejazd pociagu z lokomotywa i zabytkowymi wagonami na trasie Chabowka - Nowy Sacz - Chabowka.
Skrupulatnie policzyli, ile to Niemcy zostawili Polakom, ale ciekawe czy tak samo skrupulatnie policzyli, ile Niemce w II Rzeczpospolitej zrabowali, wywieźli, zniszczyli, spalili, wymordowali? Hieny zachodnie zawsze nas traktowały jako kolonię, rynek zbytu badziewia i źródło taniej siły roboczej. Dla naszego dobra nigdy nie kiwnęli nawet palcem w bucie.