ZABYTKOWY KRAJOBRAZ OBSZARÓW KOMUNIKACJI KOLEJOWEJ. Z ZAGADNIEŃ OCHRONY I KONSERWACJI*

In Poland interest in the landscape of railway areas conceived as an object of research and conservation protection remains slight. The railway is usually associated with a set of elements of rail infrastructure whose form, construction, mutual relations, technological solutions or their traces constitute material testimony of the past. The author of the article attempted to indicate basic issues connected with the modern form of the protection and conservation of the space occupied by the railway. Upon the basis of experiences from the domain of rail engineering and the protection of the historical landscape he identified elements comprising the railway landscape, their nature, co-dependence and significance in the overall landscape. Attention is drawn to the specificity of the observation of the railway landscape, predominantly by placing emphasis on the role of the rolling stock in the perception of the railway. The article also presents the origin of the railway landscape. The major part of the present-day historical railway space in Poland developed from the second half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, i. e. during a period marked by the loss of independence. This is the reason why we come across traces of three different railway systems – Austrian, Prussian and Russian. In the wake of the first world war renascent Poland witnessed a series of investments intent on unifying the various systems. Similar undertakings were continued after World War II. The complexity of the emergence of a railway network is the reason why today we may encounter railway landscapes with diverse features. The author acquaints the reader with the threat of losing the historical railway infrastructure caused by modernisation and the total liquidation of the railway. Attention is drawn to the technological character of the railway which is the reason why protection within historical space constitutes a particularly difficult task. Mention is made of the necessity of applying assorted ranges of conservation protection and trends of activity pursued for the sake of fully protected railway lines (reservations) as well as the protection of select elements of used lines and traces of liquidated lines. R. Kola points to other, earlier neglected problems: the derivatives of the conflict between the profit-oriented railway enterprise and the maintenance of the historical infrastructure, as well as the role played by assorted levels of the authorities in the preservation of the historical railway landscape.