The rectangular running hall has recently been used for diesel locomotives of the SM42, SP42, SU42 and ST43 series. In the actual timetable, SP42 and SU42 locomotives already haul passenger trains on only two routes: Opole Główne – Nysa and Nysa – Głuchołazy Zdrój. SM42 and ST43 series locomotives are used in freight service, handling shunting duties at Opole Główne and Opole Główne Towarowe, and also hauling work and overhead line maintenance trains as well as local freight trains. In addition, ST43 locomotives are used in a pair of trains connecting the Tarnowskie Gory junction station with the Nysa freight yard.
 

The occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Herby - Czestochowa railway, which fell in 2003, induced us to reflect on the history of this short but very interesting line. The line, built by the private Herby - Czestochowa Iron Railway Company, had an unusual for Europe, rarely-encountered, 1067 mm track gauge. The railway connected Czestochowa with the customs house in Herby on the Prussian-Russian border, forming, at the same time, the shortest railway connection between Warsaw and Opole or Wrocław. Shortly before the First World War, the railway was re-gauged to the broad 1524 mm gauge standard in Tsarist Russia. The line was converted to standard gauge during that war, enabling the direct transport of goods without the necessity of transloading at Herby.
 

Among the 3,012 steam locomotives which Poland received under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles after 1918, as many as 97 locomotives of the former Prussian P4 2 series came from the conquered German KPEV railway (Koniglich Preussische Eisenbahn-Verwaltung). After 1923 these were classified as the Polish class Od2. Until 1947 these locomotives worked local trains in the Warsaw terminal region, as well as the Warsaw Region (DOKP). As the rebuilding of the PKP network from war destruction proceeded, they were also sent to serve in the Szczecin, Poznan, and Olsztyn Regions. The last of them were withdrawn from PKP service in 1957.
 

Until recently, ships and planes dominated the cardboard model market; rarely would one find vehicles or buildings. This is beginning to change. Cardboard kits of railway buildings and rolling stock have appeared, among these some eagerly sought by all hobbyists — HO scale models of Polish subjects. In contrast to the models from firms that work in plastic, these models don’t demand great expenditures in production preparation; at the same time a production run may be short, or even one-time; and they represent that which is close to everyone. Railway cardboard kits can serve in the construction or detailing of one’s diorama or layout, or as stand-alone displays. In the first instance, models in 1:87 scale are produced and assembled more than all others. Yet, in the latter 1:45 and 1:25 scale models are preferred.