The railway was founded in 1950 as the Kindereisenbahn with only one track, 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) long, between Zoo and Stübelplatz (which later became Fučíkplatz and then later still Straßburger Platz). The railway was planned to only last for a year, but it was kept and renamed Pioniereisenbahn in 1951. The line was owned by Dresden City Council, but operated by the pioneer movement.[3]