Date of issue: 24 March 2006

The Mátra Railway is among Hungary’s best known, 760 mm gauge light railways.In the early 20th century several independent railways with horse-drawn trains carrying timber and stone were built in the Mátra Hills. In 1906 the Estate of the Archbishop of Eger built a line in Nagy Valley, leading from the northern outskirts of Gyöngyössolymos through Lajosháza to Nyírjes. The track was extended in 1916 to Gyöngyössolymos, then in 1917 to Gyöngyös. Steam locomotives were introduced in 1916. In 1911 the Gyöngyös–Farkasmály section opened, followed in 1923 by the Farkasmály–Bene (today’s Mátrafüred) section. Regular passenger trains began running according to a timetable on the Gyöngyös–Bene Railway 80 years ago on 19 June 1926. In 1932 the Mátra Railway became the property of the town of Gyöngyös. The Gyöngyössolymos and the Mátrafüred railways were nationalised in 1945 and 1949 respectively, and the two networks merged retaining the name the Mátra Railway. Between 1960–64 steam engines were replaced by diesel locomotives. From 1968 passenger traffic was permitted on the Lajosháza line as well. The surviving network has carried passengers only since 1981 with trains travelling between Gyöngyös–Mátrafüred (6 km) and Gyöngyös–Gyöngyössolymos–Lajosháza (10 km). Since September 2005 nostalgia trains pulled by a steam locomotive, engine no. 394,057, that is Szilvi, which came from Szilvásvárad to Gyöngyös, have been running.

The picture side of the postcard shows the Mátra Hills in the background, and in the lower picture of the montage the Mátra Railway station in Gyöngyös, the Kozmáry look-out tower in Mátrafüred in the centre, and the building of the Charles Robert College in Gyöngyös on the right. The steam engine Szilvi appears in the stamp design and in the commemorative postmark.
Source: Csaba Károly Tusnádi: Magyarországi kisvasutak [Hungarian Light Railways], 8th edition, Budapest, 2004.

Order code: 2006003090012
Printing method: offset
Date of issue: 24 March 2006
Printed by Állami Nyomda Nyrt.
Number of copies: 10,000
Photos by Tibor Ocela - Csaba Károly Tusnádi
Selling price: HUF 97
Designed by László Dudás