SK, Čierny Balog: Čiernohorská Railway II – Experience on Bikes

As we indicated last week, we didn't just stay at the station in Čierny Balog. We wanted to experience the ride that the railway offers. The ticket office will sell you tickets depending on which route you choose. There are more ways to ride the train.

The most visited is the first reconstructed track to Vydrovská dolina, where people travel most often, at hourly intervals from 9.30 am to 4.00 pm. In addition to the train ride, you can spend a day here in the forest open-air museum. The other two tracks are less frequented. One leads to Dobroč and the other to Šanský. If you want to experience a train powered by a steam locomotive, choose from these two routes. Train tickets are all-day and return, but you can also create combinations for two or all three lines, or for two days. It depends on how long you want to stay here.

The Černohorská railway also offers its services to people with physical disabilities or moms with strollers. Be sure not to expect a rush of prams or wheelchairs, but you can be sure that the staff makes sure that order is maintained and that there are no other passengers in this car.

You can shorten the wait for the train not only by admiring the museum's internal exposition, but also pieces of railway history right on the tracks. The railway rolling stock consists of four steam locomotives, five engine locomotives and a reconstructed motor vehicle M21 004. The locomotives are in operation together with a set of historic passenger cars. Most of them, including the restaurant car, are in the design of summer sightseeing wagons, which were created by reconstruction from the original freight wagons. One of them is even an original sightseeing wagon rescued from the canceled line Ružomberok - Korytnica Spa. Before the trip you can also have a snack in the restaurant, find out something interesting in the local information center and children will shorten the wait on the small playground with swings and a slide.

Pokud byste ale chtěli zažít na některé z tratí něco výjimečného, ​​můžete si vyhlídkový vagon pronajmout na různé příležitosti a oslavy, výjimkou není ani svatba, protože v lesnickém skanzenu ve Vydrovém je krásná kaplička z jedlové kůry. Sezona provozu Čierné železnice trvá od května do září, ale tyto mimořádné služby si můžete objednat i mimo sezonu.

Seasonal attractions include the action of the archipelago, where you can enjoy a night ride combined with a walk through the woods to observe the stars at the old hunting lodge. A lecture and expert explanation led by astronomers from the Maximilian Hill Observatory in Banská Bystrica is also waiting for you.

A very interesting attraction was the launch of cycle paths in 2019 on a part of the line that is not suitable for trains, but despite great public interest, operators received a stop sign from the authorities in 2020. Whether visitors to the railway will be able to experience such a unique experience in the following seasons, where you are driven on the tracks by your own strength by pedaling, is only in the hands of officials.

GPS: 48°44'46.9"N 19°39'26.4"E

Text and photos: Mgr. Anna Nociarová

Edited by: Infoglobe