Christian Vaklinov, Pazardzhik

Ever since he was little, Kristian has been impressed by the Rhodope narrow-gauge train he sees every time he travels to his villa in Velingrad. Then he started taking his friends on adventures with it and when he was assigned a project at school that had to do with something social, he immediately thought of the Septemvri-Dobrinishte route. He conducted a survey, wrote letters to the BSR and after much effort received a reply from the Prime Minister that his request would be considered.

That way, he wins an additional train for the line. The narrow gauge railway then becomes his mission, and he aims to introduce it to the people so that they see the same charm in it as he does. “From the people for the people” is how Christian describes the railway from Septemvri to Dobrinishte and he continues to fight for its causes to this day. He is currently collecting all the beautiful stories about it in a book to remind us of the beauty of the Rhodope Mountains and the wonder of the narrow gauge train.