Development of the Underground Railway System on the Example of Postojnska jama

Abstract

Dolgoletno vprašanje udobnejšega in hkrati lažjega obiska Postojnske jame je bilo rešeno leta 1872, ko so po jami položili prve tire. Pot po jami ni imela ne velikih vzponov, niti ne velikih padcev, zato so se odločili da bo vozove po jami “človeška moč gonila”. Po letu 1900 je zanimanje za obisk Postojnske jame skokovito narastlo. Uprava Postojnske jame se je trudila izboljšati in “lajšati promet” v jami, poleg tega pa je, upoštevajoč želje in potrebe obiskovalcev, skrbela za vedno večje udobje slednjih. Kljub vsemu, pa mala ročna železnica ni več ustrezala potrebam tedanjih obiskovalcev. Prve poizkusne vožnje z lokomotivo so opravili med aprilom in junijem 1924. Aprila 1957 so pri Postojnski jami stare dotrajane lokomotive zamenjali z dvema novima, akumulatorskima.

The problem of making visits to Postojnska jama more comfortable and easier was solved in 1872 when the first railway was put in the cave. The path through the cave did not have many ascents or descents; therefore it was decided that the carriages in the cave could be ˝driven by manpower˝. After 1900 interest in visiting Postojnska jama increased. The Board of Postojnska jama constantly improved and ˝facilitated the cave traffic˝ and took care of the utmost comfort of the visitors. For all that, the small, manually operated railway was becoming less and less appropriate. The first test-drives with a locomotive were performed between April and June 1924. In April 1957 two new locomotives with batteries replaced the old, worn-out ones.