Chabówka 201-12-16
Chabówka railway station.
The Chabówka railway station is located in the southern part of Poland, in a mountainous area, near Rabka Zdrój, Nowy Targ, Sucha Beskidzka and Zakopane. Chabówka station is located at an altitude of 488 m above sea level. The geographical coordinates are 49 ° 35′49.3 ″ N 19 ° 56′10.8 ″ E or according to the new designations 49.5979123, 19.9352325.
The railway station in Chabówka was built as part of the Transversal railway line during the Austrian partition. Officially, on December 16, 1884, the Transversal Railway section was opened: Żywiec - Sucha (now Sucha Beskidzka) - Chabówka - Nowy Sącz. The local line Chabówka - Nowy Targ - Zakopane was put into operation on October 25, 1899, and two years later, on July 1, 1901, the Nowy Targ - Podczerwone - Sucha Hora line was opened, continuing towards Hungary. Chabówka station became a junction and gathered three railway lines: from Sucha Beskidzka, Nowy Sącz and Zakopane. Railway traffic on the Kraków - Sucha - Chabówka - Zakopane line was gradually increasing, because Zakopane became a resort that every Pole had to visit.
The trail of Sucha Beskidzka - Chabówka in Poland was No. 140, then No. 135, and now No. 98. The length of the trail is 34.74 km. The Chabówka - Nowy Sącz trail was No. 141, then No. 136, and now No. 104. The length of the trail is 76.65 km. The Chabówka - Zakopane trail was No. 140, then No. 135, and now No. 99. The length of the trail is 43.33 km.
The branch from Nowy Targ to Sucha Hora retained its local character and there was little traffic on it. After the Second World War, the trains began to commute only to Podczerwone, and in 1991, the traffic was suspended completely. The trail was demolished in 1995. Slovakia has dismantled 14 km of track on its side, and the rest of the route is still used by the Slovak railways.
Chabówka station developed dynamically. A typical railway station building was built. There are ticket and luggage counters, a waiting room and rooms for railway services in the building. The toilet is located in a separate small building. A water tower, a locomotive shed, warehouses with loading ramps and a control room were built.
There has never been a footbridge over the pedestrian tracks or a tunnel under the pedestrian platforms at the station. A steel, riveted, truss, double bridge over the Raba River was built from engineering structures.
It quickly turned out that the locomotive shed was too small and the station level did not allow for its expansion. Therefore, in 1944, it was decided to build a new locomotive depot located at a distance of about 1,300 m to the west, behind the Raba River, on the southern side of the railway routes No. 98 and No. 99. An important car road Krakow - Zakopane runs nearby, crossing the railway tracks with crossings railway. In the 1970s, as part of the modernization of the entire Krakow - Zakopane road, a road viaduct was built over the railway tracks. Currently, the National Road No. 47 runs along it.
In January 1945, the Germans destroyed the railway station in Chabówka. The station, warehouses and railway traffic control devices as well as the newly built locomotive house were blown up. After the war, in 1945-1946, railway traffic control devices, including shaped semaphores and a new locomotive depot, were quickly rebuilt.
In the 1960s, a new station building was built in the socialist realist style. There are three cash desks, a hall with a waiting room and rooms for the railway services in the building. The station for travelers was closed in 2009.
The electrification of the railways in Małopolska in the Krakow Directorate began in 1959. In 1975, the electrification of the Krakow - Zakopane route was completed. There were also plans to electrify the Chabówka - Nowy Sącz line. It ended with electrification on the section Chabówka - Rabka Zdrój (1993, approximately 1.50 km) and Nowy Sącz - Marcinkowice (approximately 9.50 km). The effect was that it was impossible to close the locomotive shed in Chabówka, where steam and diesel locomotives were serviced. The second effect was the dragging of passenger trains with electric traction on steam and diesel locomotives on the Chabówka - Nowy Sącz section. These were the trains from Zakopane to Tarnów and further to Rzeszów and Lublin. During electrification at the Chabówka station, shaped beacons were replaced with traffic lights.
In 1991, the depot was converted into the Railroad Museum in Chabówka, which is currently financed by the PKP Cargo company (since 2003). The official opening of the open-air museum took place on June 11, 1993. In addition to its own historic rolling stock, exhibits were brought from Sucha Beskidzka and other stations. A special platform with a roof was built, from which retro and special trains depart. For example, a train carrying wedding guests or birthday parties. In 2000, several steam locomotives were placed on pedestals, due to the high density of the exhibits and to facilitate photography. The open-air museum in Chabówka cooperates with other institutions of this type, carrying out renovation and replacement of exhibits. The open-air museum has several tracks, which in the western part connect into one track ended with a stop trestle. The entrance to the museum is only from the east. There are several buildings in the open-air museum. The most important is the passable repair hall with four tracks. The building is made of brick with a steel structure supporting a gable wooden roof covered with tar paper and provided with a long skylight. The second important building is the social building.
In winter 2001/2002, as a result of severe frosts, the water tower located within the Chabówka station was damaged. This forced the collection of water for steam locomotives from the municipal network. In 2005, the problem was solved by installing a hydrophore pump in the building of the former sandpit. In 2013, the water tower was demolished.
Chabówka station now.
The station currently serves about 50 travelers a day. The station serves local electric trains of the PolRegio company and long-distance trains of the InterCity company. There are two platforms at the station. 1 The platform is next to the station building with one edge and is 150 m long. 2 The platform is island-like, 280 m long. 2 The platform is relatively narrow and 5 m wide at its widest point. Both platforms are of the low type. Traffic is heavy on both platforms. Long-distance trains have a change of direction here, and therefore electric locomotives have to go around the train. The stopover takes approximately 15 minutes. Local trains are EN57 and newer NEWAG Impuls trains. These trains go to the Rabka Zdrój station and there they change direction. During the summer holidays, Retro trains pass through Chabówka station on Saturday and Sunday.
The station has two main tracks and approximately 8 additional tracks. The control box has the designation "Ch". The loading ramp is located at the western head of the station, on the south side. On the northern side of the station, all buildings belong to the PKP. There is a long depot with two tracks, four workshop and warehouse buildings and a control room "Ch".
In the building of the station there is a bar called "AZYL". There is a "pizza restaurant on the tracks" and two grocery stores nearby. Zakopiańska Street runs in front of the station building. Due to the terrain, the street is much higher than the station and a footbridge leads from the street to the second floor of the station building. There are bus stops on the street. On the northern side of the station there is a lowering of the land with private houses and the Raba River flows there.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman