Gödöllő Forest Railway

The Gödöllő Forest Railway began construction in May 2017 in the Gödöllő Arboretum. Its planned length is 2 km, of which about 1 km was built by 2022. It started from Csemete Meadow, its terminus would have been at the 80a railway line at the Gödöllő-State Lands stop, but this could not be realized due to the railway operation's termination in 2023.

Route layout

The 600 mm gauge miniature railway was intended to carry tourists by trolley; the line runs entirely through the Gödöllő Arboretum. The first three branches were built at the boiler house, at the locomotive lift junction, and at the descending end towards Csemete Meadow. From the Csemete Meadow terminus a short branch leads to a museum set up in the former boiler house.

The first built terminus, Csemete Meadow, is located on a wooded hill. In 2022 another stop and also a temporary terminus was built at the Playground, the Arboretum Miniature Railway stop, from which a short walk leads to the arboretum's main entrance. Between the Arboretum and the State Lands terminus another stop was planned at Kör Meadow.

From the museum, the Playground and Kör Meadow there are footpaths leading to Beekeeping Meadow and Valley Stage.

From Csemete Meadow the Beekeeping Museum can be reached by a walk of about half a kilometre.

Construction, operation

In addition to providing a worthy place for the collection of technical‑historical memorabilia gathered by the members of the Forest Railway Association, the construction of the miniature railway also aimed to promote tourism in the area and the Arboretum.

Like many other narrow-gauge railways, this one was also built mainly by volunteer work by the railway‑friendly members of the Forest Railway Association, founded in 2015, and helpers from local organisations. The first introductory run took place on 30 September 2017 during a professional open day, where interested people could try the small train on a newly built track between Csemete‑rét and the Fűtőház. On 2 June 2018, at the Arbofest event, György Gémesi, mayor of Gödöllő, inaugurated the El‑9 type battery electric locomotive, and on that day visitors could travel for free on the first section of about 300 metres. The scheduled service between Csemete‑garden and the Arborétum (formerly) started on 17 July 2020. One train can carry 50 people, of whom ten can travel in a covered carriage.

This was the country's only forest narrow‑gauge railway operating without state funds. The association tried to obtain state subsidies for operation, and even submitted applications in 2022 to stabilise the long‑term operation and development of the railway. All of these were rejected “due to lack of funds”.

From December 2019 (tourist) until 2022 the railway did not operate because of various technical problems and finally the wear of the electric locomotive’s batteries. After the reopening, the number of visitors began to increase dramatically.

Beyond the scheduled services, groups could also order a special train as long as the railway operated. However, the association was forced to suspend scheduled traffic for an uncertain period from 1 April 2023, because they could no longer cover the losses associated with regular scheduled traffic from donations and the volunteers' own work and money. Only the municipality of Gödöllő consistently supported their operation year after year, but due to the municipalities' funds being diverted because of the coronavirus pandemic, the city had little money left for this.

Afterwards the Gödöllő Forestry Arboretum, in cooperation with Pilis Parkerdő Zrt., handed over its role in the cooperation to another operator. On 26 September 2023 it was announced on the miniature railway's Facebook page that the arboretum's new operator had a different concept for the use of the area, into which the miniature railway and its visiting hikers did not fit. Because of the decision of the landowner, the miniature railway had to be closed. The last miniature train ran on 1 October 2023.

Track structure

The track construction incorporated rails of 7, 8, 9, 9.25, 9.3, 10, 10.3, 10.9, 11.7 and 12 kg/m system into the dismantled tracks of the Diósd military ammunition depot and the Törökszentmiklós brick factory. The rail reinforcements are bolted without base plates, using a mix of “H” and “V” type rail bolts. In the heating house there are also rail‑broken reinforcements. The track’s 7‑metre track panels were fixed to each other by a mixture of welding and straps. The rails were fixed as track panels to a 7:9 sleeper spacing.

Vehicle fleet

The specially museum‑type vehicle fleet consisted in 2022 of 4 locomotives and 22 cars; all were manufactured in the Carpathian Basin. Two locomotives and 14 cars have already been renovated. Detailed illustrated descriptions of the vehicles can be read on the miniature railway’s website.