Puszczykówko — Ludwikowo / Osowa Góra line

The last train

On 1 October 1999 the last passenger train left for Osowa Góra. Of the line’s five layers, only one ends that day. Move the year to see what remains, what disappears and what the source material does not say.

Year 1999

Enter a year (1910–2026)

State of the line in the selected year

Total 5 layers: ended 1 · continuing 3 · unknown 1 · not yet existing 0

Ended: Passenger service (ends this year)
Continuing: Freight service (inferred), Electric traction, Track and platform (inferred)
Unknown: Station name
Not yet existing: —

This is the year of the last passenger train (1 October).

Passenger service

END 1 OCT 1999Source: [1]

Passenger trains run until 1 October; on that day the last one leaves for Osowa Góra. The source material gives neither the time nor the train number.

Freight service

INFERRED: CONTINUINGSource: [1]

Since freight service ended later than passenger service, it was still running on 1 October 1999. This is an inference from a single sentence in the quarterly.

Electric traction

WIRE PRESENTSource: [1]

The overhead wire hangs above the track even after the last passenger train — until 2002.

Track and platform

INFERRED FROM SERVICESource: [1], [3]

The track served the last run. The source material does not mention dismantling; the track is still standing in the 2017 photograph.

Station name

NAME UNCONFIRMEDSource: [1], [2], [3]

The 2024 quarterly writes about a train “to Osowa Góra”, but this does not prove the name in 1999. The year of the name change is not given.

Own diagram: the bands are calculated from the dates in the V2 material; it is not a map and not a year-by-year register. An open left edge of a band means the material does not give a start.

solid band — stated in the material
light with an outline — inferred from the material
dashed — no data, not “zero”
rust-coloured marker — end
black vertical marker — selected year

Off the timeline — dates the material does not give: the time and train number of the last train · the start and end of freight service · the year the station was renamed · the day the overhead wire was removed in 2002. They have no place on the timeline, because any placement would be guesswork. Full list of limits.

Three dates, three different endings

Each date closes a different layer. For each one separately: what the material says, what it does not say, and where to check it.

1 Oct 1999

end of passenger service

Known: On that day the last passenger train left for Osowa Góra; freight service ended later, and the overhead wire remained hanging until 2002 (J. Nowaczyk, Kwartalnik WPN 7(2)/2024 [Greater Poland National Park Quarterly], pp. 22–23, [1]). So this was not the dismantling of the line: the track and platform are still standing in the 2017 photograph.
Not known: The departure time, the train number and the timetable for that day do not appear in the material, so the page does not give them. Their absence from the material does not prove that no such document exists anywhere.

Show 1999 on the timeline ↑

2002

removal of the overhead wire

Known: Electrification was opened on 31 May 1969 (the first train from Poznań), and the overhead wire was removed in 2002 ([1]). From the last passenger train (1 October 1999) to the start of 2002 is 2.25 years, and to the end of 2002 it is 3.25 years. So after the last run the wire hung for approx. 2.25 to approx. 3.25 years.
Not known: The day and month of the removal, and its extent. For this reason the wire band on the timeline ends with a dashed segment for the year 2002 rather than a sharp line.

Show 2002 on the timeline ↑

3 June 2017

platform photograph

Known: Photo: Szydzio, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 ([3]). According to the description in the V2 material: an “Osowa Góra” sign on the left, a former platform in the middle, a single track in the forest on the right. I do not embed the photograph on the page — the page works offline and without external images; the link leads to the original.
Not known: What happened to the track in 2000–2016 and after 3 June 2017. The photograph documents one day and one place; it does not describe the day of closure or the condition of the whole line.

Own diagram (a model), not a photograph and not a reconstruction of the frame. The layout — sign on the left, platform in the middle, track on the right — was taken from the description of the photograph in the V2 material. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (not checked when V3 was built).

The “Osowa Góra” sign. It proves that in 2017 a sign with this name stood in this frame. It does not prove the original name (at the opening: Ludwikowo, according to the material) or the year in which the name was changed.
The platform edge. It proves that the platform existed on that day. It says nothing about the number of former passengers or departure times; it does not allow the timetable of the last day to be reconstructed.
The track in the forest. It proves that track surface existed at this spot on 3 June 2017, so the end of service in 1999 did not mean the track was dismantled at the same time. It does not prove that the route to Puszczykówko was passable, the condition of the points, or uninterrupted survival since 1999.

Show 2017 on the timeline ↑

Limits of the material and changes from V2

What the page does not know and does not guess

The time, train number and timetable of the last run (1 October 1999).
The start of freight service and the year it ended — the material says only that it ended later than passenger service.
The year of the name change Ludwikowo → Osowa Góra.
The day and month of the removal of the overhead wire in 2002.
The condition of the track before the line opened (1912), in 2000–2016 and after 3 June 2017.
The continuity of passenger service year by year — the opening and the last run are known, not any interruptions.

What changed from V2

The contradiction detector and the field for the reader’s own hypothesis have been removed. They are replaced by “known / not known” blocks for the three dates and by the state of each layer in each year. The myths about dismantling in 1999, about the time of the last run and about the absence of the wire in 2000 are settled in them.
The interval calculator has been removed. One year-dependent calculation remains: the difference in years from 1999, by the timeline (the line below the state summary). The 2.25–3.25-year range for the wire is a fixed explanation beside the 2002 date, independent of the selected year.
The photo-detail toggle has been removed. The three pieces of evidence and their limits are visible at once.
Accuracy has been improved. V2 gave the name “Osowa Góra” from 1969, showed freight service as active from 1912, showed the track as “state in history” in 2000–2016, and showed the trackbed, freight service and name as non-existent before 1912. The material does not give these states (before 1 November 1912 it gives only the opening of the line for passenger service), so V3 shows them as no data or as an inference.
The 2017 photograph is no longer loaded from an external server; there is a link to the original.

The timeline in words (the same as in the chart)

Passenger service: Known: from 1 November 1912 (opening of the line) to 1 October 1999 (last passenger train). Not known: time, train, interruptions.
Freight service: Known: it ended later than passenger service. Inference: it was still running on 1 October 1999. Not known: the start and the year of the end.
Electric traction: Known: first electric train from Poznań on 31 May 1969; removal in 2002. Not known: the day of removal.
Track and platform: Known: track and platform in the photograph of 3 June 2017. Inference: the track existed while trains ran (1912–1999). Not known: the period before the line opened, 2000–2016 and after 2017.
Station name: Known: Ludwikowo at the opening (according to the V2 material); “Osowa Góra” sign on 3 June 2017. Not known: the name before the line opened, the year of the name change and the name in the intervening years.

Terrain and safety. The timeline is a historical study, not a walking route. Railway land and Greater Poland National Park are subject to railway safety and nature protection regulations. Before going out into the field, check the current rules on access to WPN trails; the page does not confirm that any given section is accessible.

Sources

[1] Joanna Nowaczyk, „Rekreacja na Morenie” [Recreation on the Moraine], Kwartalnik Wielkopolskiego Parku Narodowego 7(2)/2024, pp. 22–23 (PDF; in Polish) — dates: line opened 1 November 1912, electrification 31 May 1969, last passenger train 1 October 1999, removal of the overhead wire 2002; the sentence saying that freight service ended later.
[2] „Rozwój sieci kolejowej Polski” [Development of the railway network of Poland], Dokumentacja Geograficzna, PAN, Warsaw 1959 (PDF; in Polish) — a compilation cited in V2 as confirming the opening of the Puszczykówko — Ludwikowo / Osowa Góra connection.
[3] Szydzio, „Osowa Góra — peron” [Osowa Góra — platform], Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — a photograph of the platform, track and station sign, 3 June 2017.

Status. The dates and descriptions come from the material passed on from V2. The documents and the photograph listed were not opened when this version was built; page numbers, the wording of sentences and the description of the photograph require editorial checking. The diagram of the track, platform and sign, and the timeline, are our own illustration, not a map or a document.