Hungarians Take a Run on Special Hapsburg Train : Hungary: View offered of cherry-paneled car used by Communist boss. Car used by royalty was made in 1868.

Janos Kadar disliked flying as much as he did proletarian travel, so the late Communist boss used a train largely left over from the imperial House of Hapsburg.

Now, the public is getting a look at how the leader of the workers’ state got around, courtesy of a joint venture called Nosztalgia Ltd. that started taking the train out last year on runs along Lake Balaton.

Kadar’s sleeping car had two compartments, fine cherry paneling, brass handles and grips, soft carpets, blue night lights above the doors, a dining area with an adjoining kitchen and a spacious bathroom.

He conferred and played cards with his Politburo cohorts on the train, and used it to take Nikita Khrushchev around Hungary when the Soviet leader visited in 1961.

Most of the train’s cars were built in the two decades after 1910 for use by royalty and heads of state, said Gyoergy Heller, a retired employee of Hungarian State Railways. The oldest car operated by Nosztalgia was made in 1868.

The Franz Josef Royal Lounge at Budapest’s Western Station, named for the emperor of Austria-Hungary, has been restored to its original splendor and the train departs from the adjacent tracks.

A relief above the door of the lounge bears the Hapsburg motto, Viribus Unitis, or United Force.

Andras Szendrey, director of Nosztalgia, said the state railways own 57% of it, a Hungarian-Russian-Swiss joint venture 40% and three individuals 1% each.

A typical jaunt on the Hapsburg-Kadar train is a day trip to Eger, 50 miles from Budapest, with food and drinks en route, an equestrian show in Eger and a tasting of the hearty Egri Bikaver red wines, all for the equivalent of $50. It also makes trips to Vienna as demand dictates.

Old steam engines, one dating to 1870, pull trains from three to eight cars at a leisurely imperial pace.