Zvuky Prahy / Sounds of Prague

The area around Palmovka and Balabenka is filled with sounds of passing trains. Today they meet on two bridges across Sokolovská and Na Žertvách street. Before the trains were directly on the street, separated only by crossing barriers. Steam locomotives were pulling out from the station Těšnov over Rohanský Island, at Šaldova street crossed the iron bridge over the later buried Karlín harbour and boomed over the shore around the Invalidovna towards the Lower Station Libeň. Rails are long gone, but the path where used to be the tracks along the street are still visible. The track led from the Libeň Station down to the street Na žertvách and under Kotlaska hill went out under the viaduct of Turnov - Kralupy - Praha tracks, crossed the bridge at Kolčavka hamlet, went to the station Praha - Vysočany and continued towards Lysá nad Labem. All this was true between 1873 and 1972, but physically the track lasted until 1984, when it 14 years has served only as a delivery track. To the scrap everything went two years later. At Palmovka was the crossing of the railroad and cars and trams and drivers and pedestrians rememeber the place as exciting. The photography by Petr Paul from 1963 shows the crossing gate Na Žertvách near Vacínova heading the hill Kotlaska.