Children's Railway in St. Petersburg is the place where your child will fall into a real fairy tale created by adults for children. A ride on it can be any of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg, as well as a guest of the Northern capital. The length of the road is 8.1 km. There are three stopping points (stations): Kirovskaya, Zoo, Ozernaya. Small October Railway is waiting for you! There are always smiling guides and a holiday reigns!
Historical part
The idea to open a railway for children appeared in 1939. It was first expressed by Sinyavsky. He headed the railway laboratory of the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers. His proposal was not considered immediately, but still he managed to create a sketch of the project. He was mentioned in the pre-war newspaper Smena. It was written there that it should begin at Zagorodny Prospekt. Starting point - the territory of Vitebsk railway station. Under him were to give the royal pavilion. It was built in 1903 for the travel of the emperor and his family on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. According to the project, the route was to repeat the route of the royal road, which was built in 1901.
The Small October Railway for Children opened in August 1948. For all the time she had thousands of fans. Thanks to her, thousands of children were determined with their future profession. The children's railway in St. Petersburg has undergone many reconstructions.
Future railway workers
Malaya Oktyabrskaya Zheleznaya is a one-of-a-kind center that focuses on the orientation of schoolchildren in St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Training takes place over 4 years:
1. The first. Children learn such professions:
- car conductor
- controller,
- duty switch post.
2. The second. You can acquire skills that are useful in such professions:
- main conductor
- lineman,
- the chief and foreman of the train.
3. The third. Children get acquainted with professions:
- station duty officer,
- train dispatcher
- assistant locomotive driver.
4. The fourth year of study. Master the skills of a locomotive driver.
Tuition fee
Children study for free. In winter, the educational process takes place in specially equipped classes. The building of young railway workers is located at the embankment of Obvodny Canal, house 120. In summer, children will have practice. It takes place at the production base at the address: Ozerkovsky Prospect, 4, as well as on the southern route near the Kupchino metro station. St. Petersburg allocates money from the budget for food and railway uniforms for students during practical training.
Vacations with a profile bias
The children's railway in St. Petersburg offers its young students to spend their holidays with benefit. During the autumn and spring holidays, free trips to museums and enterprises with specialized topics are organized from the school.
Excursions
The children's railway in St. Petersburg is managed by children. They are train drivers, station managers, dispatchers and guides. Naturally, adults are always near children in hazardous work areas.
Ticket price:
- Adult in both directions 200 rubles.
- Children's - 100 rubles.
The cost of the tour is 100 rubles. for both a child and an adult. On weekends, a chugging steam locomotive clings to the modern locomotive. This is a real fairy tale for children!
At the wagons you will be met by small conductors. They have sparkling eyes and happy smiles, because they fulfill an important mission and work as adults. They will check tickets and invite you to a cozy carriage. The inside of the train is very clean. The order is also monitored by the guys themselves.
You can sit in a soft comfortable chair and enjoy quotes from fairy tales printed on curtains all the way. During the trip you will be told about the history of the Railway. The funny thing is that oncoming ordinary trains are greeted with "children's" beeps, and he reciprocates them.
The final station is Tsarskoye Selo. A guide will be waiting for you here. He will take you to the depot, dispatching and relay. The road passes through a park with wonderful wheelset benches. You can also see funny sculptures on the lawns. They are made of unnecessary parts.
In the depot, the guide will introduce you to the key concepts about the railway:
- Explains why cars do not go off the rail.
- He will tell you how the brakes on the train work.
- He will talk about such a term as a motriss.
Then you can watch how to refuel an old steam locomotive. It looks like a huge samovar. It is pumped with water from a huge faucet and added to the fuel compartment of firewood. Now the engine can go back to Kupchino, and you will be invited to the relay. This is the station duty officer’s place of work. You can watch the process of sending a train on a special console. On the walls here you can see a photo of the first issue of DZhD.
Today, the railway has two routes. The northern route is 2.1 km long and the southern one, which runs from metro Kupchino to Pushkin (formerly Detskoe Selo). Its length is 10.8 km.