Hungarian Railway History Park, Budapest

To the north west of the city centre, situated in what used to be the principal maintenance and repair workshop for the Hungarian National Railways in Budapest, is a railway ‘theme park’ giving visitors a glimpse of the development of the railway system in the country.

Obviously a mecca for train enthusiasts it also is a place for anyone with an interest in industrial history in general. There are many examples of early East European steam engines as well as redundant passenger, goods and maintenance units. In many ways it also appears to be a bit of a dumping ground for one of every working vehicle from the relatively recent past of the Hungarian railway system. That means that some of the exhibits are in a sorry state of disrepair and whether they will ever be returned to their former glory is debatable (or really very unlikely) considering how long it takes, and how much it costs, to get these massive pieces of machinery back to their original condition.

Hungarian Railway History Park – 01

Some of the things that stood out to me;

the two locomotive turntables, both of which, I think, are still in working order and one of which, the one furthest from the entrance, is regularly used to turn engines around as part of the entertainment of visitors;

a couple of statues of railway workers, near the entrance, which during Hungary’s Socialist period would have been display in a more communal space and not relegated to a museum;

the distinctive shape of the steam engine funnels;

and the way that some of the components were outside the frame of the engine;

an old snowplough, which was attached to a the front of a steam locomotive, with a huge bladed fan which would throw the snow to the sides of the tracks, all encased in a wooden frame. It would have been a wonder to have worked in it – but also, I would think, a bit like working in Hell;

getting up and close to the only regularly working steam engine which, I thought, strangely was one made for the US Army in the 1940’s, incongruously, sports a large Red Star on the front of the boiler. You don’t normally get that close to these spitting and sometimes angry wonders, the result of the first industrial revolution;

the smells of the cinders in the air when the steam engine is in motion, for those old enough to remember, a smell that indicated you were getting close to the museum;

the ability to get a relatively close view of the maintenance and refurbishment workshops, the smells and all that it entails to get locomotives up and running again;

the distinctive style of mid to late 20th century local passenger trains of Eastern Europe (all such modern units are homogenised);

as in all transport museums the class difference displayed in the comfort of the passengers in the various short and long distance carriages.

Hungarian Railway History Park – 02

I went there on a Saturday, which meant crowds of children, but at the same time there was probably much more going on due to the fact there were many people in the park. For example, I don’t think the demonstration of the workings of the turntable would have been so extensive on a quieter day in the week.

Apart from the demonstration of the turntable it is also possible, for an extra payment, to ride on the footplate, and at the ‘controls’, of a steam or diesel engine, something that would be totally unacceptable in anal fixated Britain.

Hungarian Railway History Park – 03

One slight drawback for a non-Hungarian was the fact that there was little information about the exhibits in English.

It is hoped the slide show below will provide a taste of what’s on offer.

How to get there by public transport;

From outside the Keleti palyaudvar (railway station) take the blue bus number 30 or 30A and get off at the Rokolya Ucta bus stop – indicated on the scree, and announced over the speaker, in the bus. Walk in the direction the bus was going and at the first junction turn right. Two blocks down come to a T-junction and the entrance to the park is across the road in front of you.

Memento Park

Memento Park, Budapest

This is a collection of statues, bas reliefs and busts that used to be located in public spaces in the city of Budapest during the period of the countries Socialist construction. This is similar (but not an exact equivalent) of the Park of the Fallen/Muzeon Art Park, Moscow, and the Museum of Socialist Art – Sofia, Bulgaria. It consists of 41 items, spread out over three sections, in the open air. The collection consists of what might be called the seminal works that were on display in the city but the curation also seems to have chosen some of the exhibits based upon the uniqueness of their design. Hungarian sculptors seemed to have followed a slightly different path in representing individuals and events from some of the other countries in Eastern Europe. Here you will see figures that are almost abstract, still ‘figurative’ but a shift away from the norm of the time.

What to look for;

a couple of good Lenins – although one of them looks slightly different from what we’re used to – and one of which Vladimir Ilyich holds his scrunched up cap in his left hand;

Memento Park – 01

an interesting, stylised, made of stone, ‘the only Cubist-style monument of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in the world’ to the right of the main entrance;

Memento Park – 07

a truly monumental statue of a Soviet Red Army man – who used to be placed at base of the memorial to Freedom in present day Liberty Square;

Memento Park – 02

the large statue group as a monument to Bela Kun and the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, a late statue (1986) its composition is quite unique and seems to be open to a whole number of interpretations;

Memento Park – 03

a couple of monuments to Georgi Dimitrov, the Bulgarian leader of the Communist (Third) International;

Memento Park – 04

the two bas relief panels that were originally planned to be part of the decoration of one of the Budapest metro system;

Memento Park – 05

the robotic forms of the three Hungarian volunteers of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War;

Memento Park – 06

the wall to commemorate the defeat of the Hungarian Counter-Revolution of 1956.

Memento Park – 08

More information about all the statues in the Park can be found in the official guide book, In the shadow of Stalin’s boots.

It’s a bit of a mixed message. It thinks it’s critical of the Socialist past – which the narrative puts down to be one only of Soviet occupation – but, from time to time, has to acknowledge that it was the Soviet Red Army that liberated the country from the Nazis. The only country that threw out the fascists, first the Italian and then the Germans, without the direct intervention of the Red Army, was the Albanians. The rest of Eastern Europe didn’t do it by themselves.

Perhaps one of the most telling statements made in the book is on page 4, second paragraph. Here it states ‘Hungary finished the Second World War in 1945 on the losing side’. By December 1944 the Red Army had surrounded Budapest but it took them 50 days to destroy the resistance of the German Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators. The remnants of this support for fascism obviously were not totally destroyed throughout the country and it was from this seed that the counter-revolution of 1956 grew – nurtured by the capitalist ‘West’.

Location;

To the south west of the city centre, just outside the official city limits.

1223 Budapest XXII. district, Balatoni út – Szabadkai utca corner

GPS;

47.42671015031753º N

18.999903359092098º E

How to get there by public transport;

From central Budapest take the Metro line No. 4 to Kelenfold, the end of the line. Once out of the metro system and in the passageway under the railway lines of the mainline station look for a sign pointing you to Örmezö which will take you to the bus station (blue buses) where you want to catch either the 101E, 101B or the 150. There’s an electronic information board as you come up from the underpass indicating how long before they depart. This is an express bus with few stops and Memento Park is the second of these, indicated on a screen as well as being announced. The second time the voice mentions a stop it is imminent. The entrance is just behind the bus as you get off, look for the black boots.

Memento Park website