The railway is one of the main elements of a HUF 2.2 billion reconstruction and expansion programme at the museum, said deputy director Ibolya Bereczki. The programme, which is being paid for in large part with European Union grant money, will be completed in four phases by 2010.
The train will be pulled by an engine made by the famous Ganz engineering works in the 1920s. The engine was originally intended for export to Bulgaria, but stayed in Hungary and was put on the tracks in the area around Békéscsaba. It finished its service in 1960 and spent decades standing as a curiosity in front of the Vésztő railway station. The engine is now undergoing a restoration at a repair station of railway company MAV in Szentes. When completed, it will travel by rail to Szentendre. It will then be placed on a special vehicle for the short trip to the Skanzen.
The green and black engine will travel about 15 kilometres per hour on the museum track.
Preparations are being made to add an eighth village to the museum's "collection", showing the folk traditions of the Palóc region of northeast Hungary. The project is expected to be completed in 2010.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
Photo: Museum of Transportation
