Exhibition
On the 140th anniversary of the launch of the Galician Transversal Railway Zwardoń-Husiatyn 1884-2024
December 16, 2024 will mark 140 years since the Galician Transversal Railway was put into operation - a railway connection 750 kilometers long, running from Zwardoń, through Żywiec, Sucha, Nowy Sącz, Grybów, Zagórz, Stanisławów to Husiatyn - running on a large section parallel to the Kraków line –Lviv. We invite you to watch the board exhibition presenting the first twenty years (1884-1904) of the operation of the Chabówka–Nowy Sącz section
The line was created by combining existing fragments of railway roads with newly built sections Zwardoń–Żywiec–Nowy Sącz (184 km), Grybów–Zagórz (114 km) and Stanisławów–Husiatyn (146 km), with a length of 444 km. In addition, "side" connections were created to connect the new line with existing railways - such as Oświęcim-Skawina-Podgórze (48 km), Sucha-Skawina (62 km) and Zagórzany-Gorlice (5 km), which makes the total length of the newly built sections amounted to 559 km.
We can admire the efficiency of the builders of that time, who in less than two years (1882-1884) performed all the earthworks, erected engineering structures such as bridges, culverts, viaducts, station buildings with accompanying buildings, stop buildings, warehouses, guard houses...
For the needs of the new line, technical designs of tracks, bridges, culverts and unified structures were created in the Vienna state railway offices.
At the time of its commissioning, the Galician Transversal Railway with its branches constituted 25% of the length of all railway lines in the Austrian partition. It contributed to economic growth for the region through which it ran, giving its inhabitants, in addition to the traditional "window to the world", also opportunities for economic development - the best example of which is the history of the refinery in Sowliny. Its construction was also determined by military considerations, and its usefulness for war purposes was confirmed at the beginning of World War I, but that is a separate story.
For the needs of the new line, technical designs of tracks, bridges, culverts and unified structures were created in the Vienna state railway offices.
At the time of its commissioning, the Galician Transversal Railway with its branches constituted 25% of the length of all railway lines in the Austrian partition. It contributed to economic growth for the region through which it ran, giving its inhabitants, in addition to the traditional "window to the world", also opportunities for economic development - the best example of which is the history of the refinery in Sowliny. Its construction was also determined by military considerations, and its usefulness for war purposes was confirmed at the beginning of World War I, but that is a separate story.
It so happened that in the year of its anniversary, a fragment of the Galician Transversal Railway, which until now constituted the railway line No. 104 Chabówka–Nowy Sącz, was dismantled and work is underway to build a new connection in its place, adapted to modern requirements. Nevertheless, it is worth learning about the beginnings of the railway crossing the picturesque areas of Małopolska, running among the beautiful landscape, the popularity of which has increased as a result of retro train rides carried out over the last dozen or so years with the support of the Małopolska Voivodeship.
Due to the breadth of the topic and the limited amount of space on the boards, with this exhibition we try to present only the first 20 years of operation of the Chabówka–Nowy Sącz section that interests us the most. We show the beginnings, the concepts of the route, the course of construction, the use at the beginning of the activity, we show characteristic buildings, the rolling stock produced especially for the new railway, and we end with the biggest railway disaster that occurred in July 1903, and around which some legends have grown up...
Due to the breadth of the topic and the limited amount of space on the boards, with this exhibition we try to present only the first 20 years of operation of the Chabówka–Nowy Sącz section that interests us the most. We show the beginnings, the concepts of the route, the course of construction, the use at the beginning of the activity, we show characteristic buildings, the rolling stock produced especially for the new railway, and we end with the biggest railway disaster that occurred in July 1903, and around which some legends have grown up...
