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News and achievements 2016

Year 2016 was very fruitful and successful, we made a large step towards restoration of the museum railway, largely with the help of financial donation from Pindstrup Latvia Ltd. In that year we had possibilities to use construction machines in road repairs and larger rolling stock repair tasks were carried out by repair workshops.

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Restoration of canteen carriage completed

On 22nd of September 2016 we gladly announce that restoration of the canteen carriage BC1-2183, built in 1988, has been finished both internally and externally - the carriage is now pleasant and warming both to the eyes and to our hearts! During the restoration the carriage was fully cleaned from old paint and rust, completely repainted outside and inside the vestibules, and the tail doors were rebuilt for correct operation. Restoration of interior was finished previously, you can find more info here (in Latvian): Noslēdzies KKF projekts - ēdnīcas interjera restaurācijas 1. posms!

We are grateful for the financial support received from Pindstrup Latvia Ltd and State Culture Capital Fund!

Photo: D. Bušs, A. Galītis, S. Tretjakovs

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News and achievements 2015

Work has gradually progressed further in year 2015 on creation of Baloži peat museumrailway and notable results have been achieved in track repairs:

  • Depot tracks repaired - on first depot track a complete turnout and 8 m of adjacent track section was relaid completely, to safely pass from the depot to the mainline and back;

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International Museum Day - first insight for visitors

On 21th of May the first public event for visitors was held on the Pigeon railway - on the national theme of International Museum Day - opening "doors" to the world of peat extraction.

The event was not widely advertised, as the museum railway is still not finished, but nevertheless - it attracted around a thousand visitors, with people standing in queue to have a ride with the motortrolley or locotractor, to get to the main place for the event. On the background of factory buildings, visitors had the chance to explore narrow gauge rolling stock (canteen car with recently restored interior, locotractor and motortrolley), and peat extraction tractors and devices - both on the event ground, and with guided tours around the field basis, where larger devices are located. History of the peat extraction was demonstrated by movies from 1960...1970-ties, showing unique and historical extraction technologies and the whole process from preparation of fields till packaging of final product.

Participation in the International Museum Day was possible thanks to enormous efforts invested by volunteers in restoring of the railway and rolling stock in a period of last three years, and support by Pindstrup Latvia Ltd. During these years many meters of railway tracks have been completely relaid, especially around the depot tracks, to safeguard operation of the railway. Rolling stock restoration is carried out in parallel, restoring not only the canteen car, but also maintaining the locotractor and restoring another locomotive, so that the next year visitors can be welcomed aboard a narrow gauge train, not only the motor trolley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEsgZK24Vkg&feature=youtu.be

Photos: A. Galītis, D. Bušs, S. Tretjakovs

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