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HISTORY
The incredible charm of the landscapes through which our train travels month after month aroused an even greater interest among the tourists whether they came here in organized groups or on their own. They eagerly wait for any bit of information on our specially organized train travels for which they could buy an individual tickets. We are sure that this way of contact, via internet, will greatly improve the possibility of booking up tickets for our train ventures.
We invite you to our beautiful trail of Piaseczno (Grójec) Narrow-Gauge Railroad and we wish you a good time.
 The Board of Narrow-Gauge Railroad Association in Piaseczno.
The fame and success that accompanied master-engineer Henryk Huss inspired, at the end of 19th century, one famous Warsaw tailor, Mr. Eugeniusz Paszkowski. Being the first tailor of polish aristocracy he dressed even the Governor, Prince of Imertyń himself. Thanks to his powerful connections Paszkowski gained a license on building and running the narrow gauge railroad from Keksholm Square through Aleksandrian St. (Puławska) up to Góra Kalwaria with the town of Piaseczno on the way.
Góra Kalwaria was a place of pilgrimage for the Jewish people from almost entire Europe because it was here where the famous cadyk Magiet Alter "The Wonder-Maker" lived. Paszkowski, being a rather wealthy man, still didn't felt like being able to finance the construction of the railroad by himself so he created a company and involved as partners some of his clients e.g. prince Stefan Lubomirski and count Tomasz Zamoyski. Probably an unofficial member of the company was also cadyk Magiet who wanted to help Jewish pilgrims in their journey.
 In Spring of 1898 the construction of the railroad begun with the 1000mm as an adopted span of rails. The earthworks went very slow therefore it was only in October that the line reached Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria in the following year. However Paszkowski managed to get a guarantee from engineer Huss that he will receive bricks from a brickyard in Gołkow and by that reviving the whole enterprise in such a way that in the year 1900 the Grójec Railroad was already transporting passengers on route from Warsaw to Góra Kalwaria and Gołków. In the same time Huss sold his license on building a line from Gołkow to Gójec and Jesieńiec. According to this project a Joint-Stock Association of Warsaw Access Railroad was created in 1911 with the help of Belgian investors who owned the majority of shares. Many investments were possible thanks to this as well as rebuilding the existing lines and buying a new rolling stock. The construction of Gołkow-Grójec/Jasieniec line begun in 1912 but due to many difficulties the constructions went rather slow. The Russian Army was used as a work force in construction works. The military considered this to be a good idea for military exercises and they pacified few villages that didn't agree for the railroad to go through their land.
The construction ended in 1914 and the trains begun to run between Warsaw and Grójec and the "Czersk" sugar factory in Jasieniec. The long term plans of the association included also lengthening of the existing line from the city of Grójec through the town of Nowe Miasto and towards Radom. They also planed to electrify the whole line. The outbreak of the Great War thwarted those plans and most of the workers were conscripted into the Russian Army. The need of supplying the front line, which was situated on the river Pilica, forced Russian Army to build a railroad from Grójec to Nowe Miasto in spring 1915. This rough-and-ready line reached as far as the town of Mogielnice, which was destroyed during Russians retreat in 1915. The retreating army evacuated the rolling stock and transported it as far as to the town of Krut in Ukraine (where similar 1000mm span railroad was situated). The remaining buildings were burnt and what couldn't have been evacuated was destroyed. In August 1915, the Germans marched in and begun the process of reconstruction. The German military wanted a fully operational railroad in that area, that's why they were very helpful with providing the necessary equipment and materials such as rails and other accessories. They also allowed buying new engines in German factories. To make the line operational as soon as possible the Germans, in 1916, provided Grójec Railway with Borsig engine and six Wernigerode type passenger cars.
Since all the Wilanów railroad service stations in Belweder station were destroyed, as well as those of Grójec Railroad on Służewiec station, a one common for both lines service shop was created near Puławska street. It was equipped with the newest technologies imported from Germany. It was a place were routine maintenance checks of rolling stock were carried out. Since 1916 Grójec Railroad was being equipped with the new rolling stock purchased partially in Germany and in Warsaw factories such as: Liplop, Gostyński, Kosiński Parowóz. The line to Mogielnica was being reconstructed and materials for new line towards Nowe Misato were gathered as well. The Line to Mogielnica was reopened in 1917. The plans for gaining a license for creating further lines from Mogielnica to Nowe Miasto and from Nowe Miasto to Radom turned out to be successful only for the first part because Radom had been already planned to be connected with Warsaw by regular national railroad. The construction had begun and after several difficulties in 1924 the line from Mogielnice to Brzostowiec had been opened. Two years later the railroad reached Nowe Miasto. At that moment Warsaw had begun its campaign against the Association to remove the narrow-gauge railroad from the city streets.
 The length of Associations lines in Warsaw was 3,5 km and went through Unia Lubelsa sq., Pułwska st. and ended at the city boarders in Służewiec. The situation became more and more complicated because of the increased tram and car activity on the streets of Warsaw. The courts' verdict in 1935 ordered an immediate removal of all lines of both Grójecka and Wilanowska railroads. After lines removal the Grójec Railroad was shortened first to Odyniec St. than to Ikar St. Eventually the last station became the Warszawa Szopy station (Southern Station), built in 1937 and it remained the last station up till 1970. The machine shops were moved from Puławska St. to Piaseczno where a new junction had been created. The association bought in Piaseczno some land near a newly built regular-gauge PKP railroad station and created a big reloading outpost.
As it was mentioned before after the rebuilding of Wilanów Railroad for 1000mm span it was connected to the Grójec railroad in Iwiczna and by that created new connections. Up till 1915 the Grójec railway possessed 16 engines, 36 passenger cars and 240 wagons. During the Great War the Russians took all the steam engines with 30 passenger cars and devastated the rest of the rolling stock. In the years 1916-39 the lacks in rolling stock were replenished. The number of cars was even greater than before with 13, completely new, diesel locomotives which replaced some of the older steam engines.
The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 apparently didn't caused any major damages in the lines therefore soon after the end of any military activities the trains were coursing in a normal, pre-war manner. The demands for transport in that area increased for it was Grójec Railroad that during the time of the Nazi occupation served for transporting various goods, like grain, to Warsaw and also gave opportunities for people to smuggle some food to occupied capitol. In January 1945 the railroad was severely damaged and most of the rolling stock had been moved to the West. However thanks to workers enormous effort the reconstruction was possible so that in February 1945 first train from Piaseczno reached Warsaw, and in May the connections on Warsaw streets were reinstated. The lost rolling stock was found on the railroads on Pomorze and partially recovered. The machine shops in Piaseczno had been reconstructed and begun an intensive work to rebuild the existing rolling stock.
In 1949 the Grójec Railway had been taken over by PKP (National Railroad) which introduced its own regulations and management. The deficiencies in rolling stock were replenished by the use of surpluses of steam engines and wagons available from various railroads on Pomorze. In years 1950-1960 an increasing number of passengers and goods on the line had caused some serious planning about creating a connection between Goliany station, which was part of Grójec railway, with Biała Rawska station, of Rogów railway. Another connection was planned between Nowe Miasto and Rawa Mazowiecka. But before that the railway in Rogów was supposed to be upgraded from 600mm to 1000mm span. The line from Konstanicin to Piaseczno had been also planned to be changed. All those proposals unfortunately fell through because of the sudden loss of traffic. The lines of Grójec railway in many places went parallel to roads and highways and the increasing competition of local bus services became more and more significant. The number of passengers and goods was constantly falling. In 1952 the lines to Konstancin was closed. The same happened with line to Jasieniec in 1968 and in 1969 with Dąbrówka. The complete closure of the entire railway took place in the month of May 1971 when the lines from Piaseczno to South Station, from Iwiczna to Wilanów and from Piaseczno to Góra Kalwaria were closed. The entire local communication services were taken over by busses, trucks of National Transportation Services and private automobiles.
The Grójec railroad remained in fragmentary state on the line between Piaseczno and Nowe Miasto, providing transport for passengers and commodities. A 450 km diesel locomotives bought in Romania was incorporated in the middle of 1970s. A special transport wagons called transporters, that were used for transporting cars with ordinary wheel span, were introduced as well. This eliminated most of the reloading work in Piaseczno station.
Unfortunately, introducing those new technologies needed major conversions of the line and machine shops. In the next six years the lines was changed in order to support heavier equipment, the bridges and flyovers was rebuild and a special ramp for transporters was build in Piaseczno. The machine shops and its crew had also adapted to support diesel locomotives. This enormous effort unfortunately had no influence on the decreasing number of passengers and commodities, which dropped rapidly in the years 1980-90. The complete closure of passenger lines took place on the 1st of July 1991. The political and economical changes that took place in Poland in 1989 had its effects on the Grójec Railroad too. The main client of the Railroad, the Army, was lost. The military sidings were closed and the attempts introduced to sustain itself on free market created rather unsatisfactory results. The Grójec Railroad had an increasing budget deficit and was forced to close all the transport services on the 1st of September 1996. The railway however was put into the register of historic monuments and till this day provides the commercial services by transporting groups of tourists or serving for other events.
Important Dates:
1895 - first news about the plans of building a railroad
1897
July 17th - Eugeniusz Paszkowski receives his license.
1898
May 13th - the official blessing of a cornerstone on Keksholm Square.
May 18th - construction of the railway to Piaseczno begins.
October 30th - opening of the line from Kekscholms sq. to Piaseczno
1990
May - The construction of line to Góra Kalwaria is finished. Fire in Piaseczno. The construction of district line in Piaseczno. Connecting the line to the one in Gołkow
August 18th - opening of a public line to Góra Kalwaria.
1901
January 25th - the bankruptcy of Henryk Huss and Juliusz Rodys Railroad
December 2nd - opening of a line through the city streets
1903
December - closure of the line
1905
June 23rd - passing of a new law concerning private railways in Russia
1910 - allowances for certain railways in Russia
1911
July 3rd - creation of Joint-Stock Association of Warsaw Access Railroad with Belgian investors
December - opening of the new reloading station and opening a line on the city streets
1912
April 10th - a test ride from Gołków to Grójec
May 15th - opening of a public communication from Gołków to Jasieniec
1915
May - opening of a military line from Grójec to Mogielnica
July - Russians evacuate the steam engines together with machine shop and destroy the entire infrastructure
1916
January 1st - trains with steam traction
? - opening of a new machine shops on Puławska street.
April - von Bester, the governor of occupied Warsaw declares expansion of city's territory
1917
February 5th - opening of the public line to Mogielnica
1920
October 9th - opening of the public line to Brzostowiec
1923
July - creating by the magistrate a Commission of Railways, conflict with the Warsaw magistrate
1924
September 20 - opening of a line to Nowe Miasto
1934
? - creating public bus connections to the cities which railroad does not reach
1935
February 2nd - court passed the verdict concerning rails removal of Wilanów Railroad and Grójec Railroad from the streets of Warsaw.
July - disassembling of the railways, disassembling of the Wilanów Railway from the station on Unia Lubelska sq. to Belweder station and Grójec Railway from Unia Lubelska sq. to corner of Odyniec and Puławska.
October 1st - opening of a siding for ordinary trains from Piaseczno Station to paper mill "Mirków" in Jeziorna
1936 - rails reconstruction of Wilanów Railway from original 800mm span to 1000mm span and incorporating it to Grójec Railway on Iwicz station
1937
July - all steam engines are being replaced by diesel locomotives on Wilanowska line
? - shortening of the Puławska line as far as the junction of Ikar and Bukowiecka streets
1938 - shortening of the line till Szopy station
1942
April 20th - Szopy station changes its name to Warsaw South Railway Station
1944
April 13th - Karl Jurgens dies in assassination
1945
January 5-12 - Sonderkomando der Wehrmacht destroys the railway. All the machines, equipment and rolling stock are evacuated abroad
February 6th - the departure of first train from Piaseczno to Warsaw South since the liberation
March 22nd - the departure of first train from Iwiczna to Wilanów since Warsaws' liberation
May 1st - first train from Wilanów to Belweder station
1949
January 1st - Grójec Railway is taken over by PKP
1952
July 1st - closure and deconstruction of Oborski - Konstancin junction
1957
July 19th - closure of line from Belweder to Wilanów
1958 - opening an army siding at Nowe Miasto airstrip and a siding to MON (Ministry of Defense) gas station in Piaseczno
1966 - closure of public transport of passengers on the line from Grójec to Jasieniec
1968
October 1st - closure of public transport of passengers on the line from Warsaw South to Dąbrówka
1969
December 1st - liquidation of a line from Warsaw South to Dabrówka
1970
February 1st - liquidation of line from Grójec to Jasieniec
1971
September 1st - closure and liquidation of following lines: Dąbrówka - Iwiczna - Piaseczno, Wilanów - Iwiczna, Piaseczno - Góra Kalwaria
1973 - the diesel locomotive is now in common use
1976 - introducing the transporter wagons
1988
January 1st - closure of passenger transport on line Górjec - Nowe Miasto
1991
July 1st - cancellation of entire passenger transport
1994 - enlisting into the register of monuments in district of Warsaw and Radom
1996
September 1st - transportation of commodities canceled
1998
May 19th - creation of the Association of Restoration of Grójec Narrow Gauge Access Railroad
October 3rd - a 100 anniversary of Grójec Railway
October 4th - the steam engine Px48-3917, bought from ZNTK in Piła is started up for the first time
2000 - The Association of the Restoration of Grójec Narrow-gauge Railway turned into The Association of Narrow-gauge Railway in Piaseczno
2002
June - Grójec Narrow gauge railway is handed over from PKP to local government of Piaseczno
2003
The beginning of a major overhaul of railway from Piaseczno to Tarczyn thanks to the funds received from UN
2004
From the beginning of that year the official name was turned into The Narrow Gauge Railway of Piaseczno. This change was due to the fact that all the machine shops, administration and rolling stock are held in Piaseczno.
On April 30th 2004 the Association of Narrow Gauge railway in Piaseczno received a license that allowed them for passengers transport.
The theft of rails and sleepers had increased. Even though the police are doing its best, the system of junk disposal makes their efforts fruitless.
By the end of the year or at the beginning of the year 2005 some of the property that belonged to PKP S.A. will be given permanently to local government in Piaseczno. The rolling stock already belongs to local government.
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