Austrian Native Wolfram Wendelin Dreams of Transporting Tourists to Europe On the “Carpathian Streetcar”
Practically everyone who meets the Austrian Wolfram Wendelin immediately begins searching for his Ukrainian roots. How else can you explain his passionate love for Ukraine? He has a superb command of the language: even though he has an accent, he is at home with the system of declensions. When he first came to this country nine years ago, he didn’t know a word of Ukrainian — now he can even teach the language. He always carries a Ukrainian flag with him, is bursting to go to western Ukraine at the drop of a hat, and writes books about our country. When his friend Gregor Sawka, a Ukrainian-born Austrian and chairman of the P. Chubynsky Society, phoned him recently, at the start of the Independence Square protest rallies, and said, “We are picketing the Russian embassy tomorrow,” it was no surprise to all of his acquaintances that Wolfram was in Kyiv the very next morning. He put all of his affairs on hold and traveled to Austria’s capital 230 kilometers from his native city of Graz. But what are 230 kilometers if you can help your friends defend democracy? He waved an orange flag and shouted, “Down with the Central Election Commission!” Two days later he was in Lviv. His wife Elke never tried to stop him — he fittingly dedicated his first book to none other than her in gratitude for her love and understanding.
WHERE DOES THE NARROW TRACK LEAD?
No matter how hard I tried, I failed to spot Ukrainian roots in Wolfram, a hundred-percent Austrian from the family of an engineer. His grandfather, who invented Austria’s first coal mine locomotive, instilled in his grandson a love of narrow-gage railroads. Quite a strange affection for an atavism, many would say. From the mundane perspective, they may be right. But how dull the world would be if there were no oddballs and romantics! Wolfram doesn’t consider himself an oddball. The real oddball is his friend Jorg, who built a narrow gage around his house and considers riding on a steam locomotive past the windows of his house the best way to relax. In Wolfram’s case, a craze for narrow gages long ago changed from a hobby to a field of professional interest. He researches and writes books about them. The strange thing is that he studies the history of narrow- gage tracks in, of all places, western Ukraine. First he published the book The Narrow-Gage Railroad of Eastern Galicia, then The Narrow-Gage Railroads of Northern Bukovyna, and then a volume devoted to Vyhoda’s narrow gage, the so-called Carpathian Streetcar. In a way, Wolfram’s books help the reader form an accurate picture of Halychyna’s technological progress and railway thoroughfares of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Europe began building railways in the 1860s, which quickly monopolized the transport of passengers, raw materials, and military supplies. Along with standard-gage railroads (1,668-mm wide), narrow- gage tracks 700-800-mm wide were being built in the last quarter of the century in hilly and mountainous areas. Transportation was carried out by means of draft horses, locomotives, and motors, the original purpose being to deliver felled trees from the Carpathian forests directly to sawmills and wood chemical factories, as well as to transport manpower. For example, a 17.9-km-long narrow-gage track led directly to the inner yard of Uzhhorod’s Mundus furniture factory. When a felling area’s potential was exhausted, the road would be dismantled. More often than not, dismantling would stop for lack of funds, and the narrow-gage track would be “forgotten.”
PLUS RESTAURANTS AND TOILETS, PREFERABLY MODERN ONES
“Of course, narrow-gage railroads have completely lost their industrial importance today, but the remaining tracks can be used for other purposes, like tourism,” says Wolfram, who champions his views wherever he can. “Look at the way narrow gauges work in Austria! They carry tourists, whistle-stopping at various picturesque spots. True, there is a proper infrastructure: restaurants and, of course, toilets.”
Ukrainian tourists may not be demanding a toilet in the woods, but when Wolfram brought some Austrians to the Ukrainian Carpathians, they felt quite ill at ease: some of them refused to walk far into the woods even the next day. What can you do? “Habit is second nature.”
ABSOLUTE HARMONY
Few people know that the 3rd International Forum “Carpathian Streetcar” was held last year. The forum, in which Herr Wendelin took an active part, discussed the restoration of narrow-gage railroads in the Ukrainian Carpathians, for in the early 20th century this system of transport contributed significantly to this region’s progress down the path of civilization, promoting civil construction and industrial development. This kind of track can be quite easily laid even in inaccessible mountainous areas, where it is utterly impossible to build a normal-gage railroad. Of course, little is left of those tracks today, while rebuilding will cost a pretty penny and require investments. What is still functioning is the certified Lychakiv-Pidzamche AC-1 motorcar line that employs a restored diesel and a carriage called the Carpathian Streetcar, which goes through Znesinnia Regional Park as well as the sightseeing route down the Mizunka River Valley to Vyhoda. Quite a few enthusiasts also advocate the restoration of a narrow- gage track museum in Skole, Lviv oblast. That’s not very difficult to do because there is still an Austrian narrow-gage railway tank, a triple-axle PD-1 commercial handcar, and even a German wooden car. In addition to vehicles, the museum plans to exhibit copies of documents and the statute of Baron Graedl’s railroad. Trains used to travel this route in the late 19th century from Skole to Demna, where the baron built a castle still standing today. The baron was a “cool cat:” he even minted his own coins. Incidentally, this track runs through what is now Skolevski Beskydy National Park and it would be very interesting to restore it. A narrow-gage track is also an environmentally friendly type of transport. This may be attributed to a narrow alienation zone and 10 to 20 times fewer emissions than from automobile transport. In other words, here you have nearly absolute harmony with the environment.
REVOLUTION IS THE BEST ADVERTISEMENT
“I wish Western European tourists would believe or, to be more exact, see for themselves that Ukraine is an uncommonly beautiful and safe country,” Herr Wendelin says. “I’ve even been thinking about how to advertise you better. Well, your Orange Revolution became the best advertisement for Ukraine. Many people are now sure that such things as democracy, freedom of choice, and a European attitude are not just sound bites for you. I’ve known this for a very long time because I’ve been collaborating with the Lviv-based WETI non-governmental organization that is working to develop ecotourism. The members of this organization are a lot of young, cutting-edge- minded people. We have already organized two Eco- Education through Narrow-Gage Railroads trips during which the organization’s volunteers, and college and high school students laid the groundwork for a new type of tourism. Believe me, in a little while all this will become a reality. On the eve of the New Year, I would like to wish your country renewed and speedy progress toward affluence and prosperity. I also wish that you get tons of tourists, including those traveling by narrow-gage railway!”
