Railways as an element of pre-professional personnel training for the railway industry

Relevance. Railway transport occupies one of the key places in the functioning of various aspects of the life of the state. In this regard, much attention is paid to the training of railway personnel. One of the educational institutions for future railway workers is the children's railway. At the same time, historical research has not sufficiently covered certain aspects of the construction and operation of the children's railway system both in the Soviet state and in its individual cities. The purpose of the article is to analyze the functioning of children's railways in the USSR. Objectives: to trace the history of the formation and development of the children's railway system, to identify the main directions of their activities as an element of pre-professional training, to highlight issues related to the construction of a children's railway in Irkutsk and other cities of the USSR. Methodology. When writing the article, special historical research methods were used, which led to the conclusion that children's railways stimulated school graduates to enroll in specialized educational institutions. Results. The study of various sources made it possible to objectively assess the place of children's railways in the Soviet Union's railway personnel training system, as well as to trace the specifics of the functioning of such institutions. Conclusion. The system of children's railways developed in the USSR has become one of the elements of career guidance in the issue of railway personnel training. The successful experience of such a specific field of education stimulated the creation of children's railways in the countries of the socialist camp. In modern Russia, children's railways, built both during the Soviet period and after its collapse, also continue to operate.