CHIATURA CABLE CARS [GE]

Exploration #155 Chiatura cable cars . Chiatura cable cars were a network of cable cars built so that almost every corner of the mining town was accessible. Chiatura (ჭიათურა) is a Georgian municipality located in a narrow mountain valley on the banks of the Qvirila River. In 1879 large deposits of manganese were discovered in that valley and the state started the JSC Chiaturmanganese company to manage its exploitation. As early as 1905, a small town was built for the extraction of the metal and a railway link was set up to transport the ore to the Zestaponi ferroalloy plant, which is still in operation today, although it is in such a poor state of repair that walking past it could be mistaken for a disused industry.

Over the years, manganese production rose to 60% of the world’s total production, as did the number of miners employed, estimated at over 4000.
The employees worked 18 hours a day sleeping in the mines, always covered in soot, without even a toilet. The problem was also due to the logistical difficulties of moving around, as the mines were located along the valley, with access on the steep, steep slopes.

The first workers’ movements arose, led by a young Stalin, here renamed with the battle name of “Koba”, who left his mark in Chiatura, winning it over with his oratory to the cause of the Bolsheviks, the only town in a Menshevik area.
In June-July 1913 the miners went on strike for 55 days, demanding an eight-hour day, higher wages and no more night work. Working conditions improved but the problems of travel were only solved a few years later when, after the annexation of Georgia to Russia, Russian engineers decided that the best solution for transport was by air.

A network of cable cars was built so that almost every corner of the mining town was accessible. The system transported workers from their homes in the lower part of the valley to the mines that dotted the mountains. The system was also used to transport manganese to the various factories in the area. What merits Sergeant Major ‘Koba’ had in the project remains to be seen, but the cable car system was at the time one of the most fascinating engineering feats on the planet. As many as 21 pairs of cabins were built, climbing a total length of over 6,000 metres. Of these, 15 remained in service virtually unchanged for 50 years until the beginning of 2019 when they were stopped with the promise of building new, more modern ones. In 2017, the Georgian government began rebuilding the system using modern cable car technology, beginning with the central four-line hub station. The revamped system opened in September 2021.

Of the 15 cable cars that stopped some have been dismantled, of others only the departure and arrival station remains, while some rest intact and left without maintenance a few metres from their station, probably to avoid being stolen, waiting for a restart that will never happen again or for an unlikely restoration. The government plans to preserve its stations as heritage site.

LOST IN THE PINE CONE [BE]

Exploration #58. Lost in the pine cone. Some old cars abandoned in the brush along a countryside road, Belgium.

THE BLUE FUNICULAR [IT]

Eploration #57. The blue funicular. The funicular was inaugurated in 1907. In just 18 minutes it bridged the 600 metre difference in height from the lake shore below to the beautiful belvedere where there was also a restaurant. At a time when travel was not as easy as it is today, this was a very popular tourist destination, so much so that combined tickets were sold that included a train trip from Milano Centrale, a steamboat trip on the lake and a ride on the funicular up to the belvedere for 10.20 lire on weekdays or 14 lire on holidays.

The funicular operated with ups and downs for many years, transporting thousands of tourists until 1977 when the concession expired and it was abandoned.

As soon as I enter the old arrival station I am greeted by carriage number 2, carriage number 1 is obviously at the valley station. The carriage, which had 33 seats divided into 4 compartments, still retains its elegant Art Nouveau style and its beautiful original blue colour. The rest of the building is occupied by the engine room. Unfortunately, the entire traction apparatus is in a state of disrepair, but still very interesting: the large winch, many mechanisms for transmitting motion, the brakes and the pair of Oerlikon electric motors, each with a power of about 22 kW are still present.

In 2020, thanks to a €200,000 grant from the Lombardy Region, the pre-feasibility project for the reactivation was drawn up, which envisaged a total cost for the reopening of approximately €10 million, in addition to establishing the economic sustainability of the structure for tourism purposes in the event of reopening.

RED STAR TRAIN GRAVEYARD [HU]

Exploration #34 Red star train graveyard. The red star train graveyard place was once one of the most important railway repair workshops in Hungary. For the residents of Budapest this place goes by the name of Istvántelek and for the rest of the world, that name is Red Star Train Graveyard, the place where trains went to die.

The Istvántelek Train Yard, aka red star train graveyard, was built in Budapest between 1902 and 1905, going on to serve as a sprawling, modern repair facility for the city’s trains. In fact, one of the workshop halls was so large at 24,000 square meters that it was noted as Budapest’s largest building in 1902.

In this train graveyard it is possible to find some MAV class 301 locomotive that was the star of transportation from 1911 to 1914 and the huge and powerful MAV class 424 locomotive another engineering marvel that Hungary produced weighting an impressive 137 tons. The current collection of rusting gems includes also German freight cars that very well could have transported Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz during Nazi occupation.
More than 100 locomotives and railcars are here and around it in the fields rusting. The colossal locomotives were brought to this place to be repaired and transported to the Budapest Railway Museum but the museum does not have money for their restoration.