| Popis: |
The names of railway stations and halts along the earliest railway lines on Lithuanian territory have been studied, i.e. along those railway lines built between 1861 and 1873. Especially, attention has been drawn to names that are not obvious regarding the geographical location of the station or halt. Some 50 percent of the names are showing some kind of irregularity in this respect. Most common (about 30 examples) are stations or halts that are serving a population centre situated at some distance from the station, but still bearing the name of that population centre. Another group of interesting cases is where the names have been changed over history for different reasons. These examples are about 20 in number. Among the examples of changed names are those, mostly minor halts, initially with no name but just a number, but later on provided with proper names. Most striking examples of name giving policy of the stations are railway junctions or border stations like Kaišiadorys, Virbalis/Kybartai, Švenčionėliai, Sniečkus/Visaginas, Maţeikiai/Muravjevo and Turmantas. Another dimension regarding names of railway stations in Lithuania is the fact that several languages (Lithuanian, Russian, Polish and German) have been used officially during the 150 years of the existence of Lithuanian railways. |
